Marc Alioto began playing gin rummy with his grandfather at the early age of seven. In elementary school, he took his logic to the game of chess, and competed in tournaments around the Bay Area. Growing up in the 90s, he took his competitive spirit to the fantasy driven game of Magic the Gathering. After playing football and basketball in high school and three years of studies at Santa Barbara City College, it was clear that Marc could put his mathematical skills to better use outside of the academic arena. After working at the family restaurant in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf for a few years, Marc felt that he was not meeting his full potential and needed to move on.
While dabbling in home games and playing at local cardrooms, Marc found his next challenge: poker. Two years of grinding, both online and live, resulted in a lot of frustration and headaches. Devastated that he finally met a game he couldn't beat, Marc entered a $7.50 satellite and worked his way up to a PCA package in the Bahamas. Watching Elky win and remembering all the hands played online with the self-made genius, Marc came back to the states motivated once again. He began 12-20 tabling Double or Nothings and 9 Men Non-turbos and hasn't looked back since. On any given day, you can find Marc playing Sit n Go's at every entry level.
"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing."
-Vince Lombardi