Nicolas "CrocMonsieur" Levi  

Nicolas Levi is easy to spot in his fedora-style hat at final tables around the world. He is one of the new generation of young European professionals raised on online poker. Levi has earned over $100,000 from tournament poker every year since his initial foray into live tournaments in 2006. A Frenchman who has made his home in London, Levi plays world wide, but considers Paris his favorite place to practice his trade. Levi started as an online player playing under the name CrocMonsieur, but prefers the travel, excitement and opportunities of international tournament play.

Levi discovered online poker while studying Computer Science in England and played his first poker hands with “play money.” Within two weeks he had switched to real money games.  Levi was fascinated by the mix of mathematics and psychology and immediately recognized this was a game he could master. Online poker gave him the opportunity to play thousand of hands quickly. Within two years of him taking a shot at his first online game he made the decision to become a professional poker player.

His first live tournament win was a €500 NLH 2^nd place finish in Paris, which brought him €11,920 in October 2006.  In the 3 remaining months of 2006, he made four more final tables, traveling to Dublin and St. Kitts to earn his winnings.

In March 2007, less than five months after his first live tournament cash, Levi took home his first six- figure dollar prize valued at $112,299. While a first place finish eluded him, he cashed in 26 tournaments in his first four full years of live play, and he and his trademark Fedora were seen at 14 final tables. Clearly the accelerated pace of online poker (combined with his native skill and background in mathematics) created a first rate live player in a fraction of the years it would take to reach playing only live games.

Levi continued to travel and win in Kiev, Las Vegas, Paris, Prague, Monte Carlo, Marrakech, and Los Angeles. His next really big win required no travel as 5th place earned him £208,199 from the £10,000 NLH WSOP Europe NLH in his home base of London.

Levi continues to travel, play and win consistently, taking 2^nd place in both the €10,000 NLH in Marrakech in 2010 and again in the $5,000 NLH event at the L.A. Poker Classic in 2011. His final table appearance, and eventual 6^th place finish, in the $5,000 PLH event at the WSOP. Levi earned $114,525 and continued recognition as one of the top European professionals

In his first five years of live play, Levi has cashed for over a million dollars, and he never earned under $100,000 in a full year. As of the end of the year 2010, he was on the top 200 European All Time money list. As a skilled young player, he is likely to continue to rise on the list.

At the tables, Levi likes to listen to Ray Charles or Gnarls Barkley in his headphones, but off the casino floor he prefers Jamiroquai, a British Jazz and Acid funk band. When at home and while he travels he enjoys a game of tennis or snowboarding down an available mountain.  Unlike his favorite celebrity Homer Simpson, Levi is a winner who has earned the respect of fans and players alike.