Marc “aznAllin007” Alioto Finishes 2014 Atop the Merge MTT Leaderboard

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Marc “aznAllin007” Alioto started his professional poker career grinding Double or Nothing Sit N Gos. Two years ago he made the switch to Multi-table tournaments with a goal of becoming one of the elite MTT specialists. He seems to be off to a good start.

Alioto, who is an instructor at the poker training site Tournament Poker Edge, finished 2014 at the top of the Merge Leaderboard for MTTs, profiting over $80,000. The accomplishment would be impressive for anyone, but seems especially so for a guy who is a relative newcomer to tournaments.

“This was the first year I dedicated all my focus towards MTTs and I really wanted to be #1 on the Merge Network,” Alioto had to say. “Once I got into the lead in January, I made it a point to grind my ass off in order to keep it. The big difference in 2014 compared to the previous years was the amount of work I put in off the virtual felt.”

“I had heaps of help on the way thanks to coaching from Daryl Jace, Mark Herm, Ben Reason and of course the Bigdog. Adding a mental game coach, Elliot Roe, put me in the right mindset to play my “A” game around 90% of the time which was very clutch down the stretch. Also, props to my adopted dad KB for keeping me calm and sane throughout the year. Team TPE effort.”

Sharkscope, who tracks results for the leaderboard, interviewed Alioto back in March about being at the top, and his aspiration to stay there:

“I would be lying if i said i didn’t wake up every morning and check SharkScope to see if I am still number 1. I want to be the best in the world and this is a small step towards that goal.“

As for his goals for 2015, Alioto plans to keep grinding tournaments. He did not wait too long to get started. Just five days in to the new year he is already back in the top spot with an impressive $27,000 in profit after winning the first Sunday Big Ticket ($135K GTD) of the year. He’ll be doing a hand history review of the win for his next series on Tournament Poker Edge.

To keep up with his progress in 2015, you can follow him on Twitter @aznAllin007.