2007:
Went to Vegas for the first time.

2006:
Played in my first WPT event, The North American Poker Championship at Fallsview Casino, Niagara.

2005:
Started playing in Canadian Poker Tour (CPT) events accross the Country.

2004:
Met Jay and 2 at the GTA Poker Tour in Missassauga. I was outside having a cigarette when I heard someone asking 2 for a smoke. I noticed that he smoked Marlboro Lights (My favourite brand). I remember saying "I Like this guy, he smokes my brand".

Note from 2:
I remember meeting Azim that night in Missassauga like it was yesterday. Jay and I, along with Jay's brother Rob, were very new in the Toronto Poker Scene. Although it's not a big deal these days, at the time, it was as serious as it got for us. After returning to the tournament from my cigarette break, I remember speaking with Jay about Azim. Jay mentioned how impressed he was with Azim at the poker table. We played home game at Azim's house a few weeks later where Jay and I met Liza. Since then, we've become good friends. Jay and I owe a great deal to Azim for our involvement in the Toronto Poker Scene. Jay's gone on to become a very successful poker player and for that I'm greatful. He's also been a good friend I could count on for all sorts of advice. I look forward to seeing him grow old and grey. Cheers buddy!

Note from Jay:
Year 2010... World Series of Poker final table... 2 players left... Jay Pizzo vs Azim Kassam.. Teacher vs Student.. Mentor vs Apprentice..

This is where I picture us in a few years.

The one piece of advice Azim gave me that sticks with me the most is, "Poker is one long session kid, you'll be back tomorrow" after going broke my first time.To this day I've kept that advice and I've become a very successful poker player ever since.

The river falls and the student wins the World Series of Poker... the teacher hands over the bracelet with abundant joy.

Good game Azim..

2003:
Got Married to Liza on August 31st (3 days after my 30th Birthday) in London Ontario. I went back to London shortly after the wedding and moved to Toronto in December.

2002:
Liza moved back to Canada. I lived the life of a bachelor 'till I proposed on the phone while half asleep at 2am! She said Yes!

2001:
Moved in with Liza in a tiny bachelor apartment in Harrow, near Wembley, in London. Went to see Elvis – The Concert at Wembley Arena, Amazing!

2000:
Met Liza, YAY!

1999:
Went to New York to bring in the Millenium New Year and went to Atlantic City on January 1st, 2000.

1998:
Played in Amsterdam & Paris again this year. Also Assisted My Cardroom Managar, Roy Houghton, in running some of the biggest poker tournaments in the Isle of Mann.

1997:
Started taking poker seriously and my way through Europe, hitting Amsterdam & Paris. Learnt a lot from dealing the big Omaha game. This game featured a lot of heavywieght stars including Dave 'Devilfish' Ulliot, Surinder Sunar, Donnacha O'Dea and Stuart Rueben, amongst others.

1996:
Transfered to London to deal at a London Casino. Started to play poker.

1995:
Met a girl, fell in love, fell out of love. Enough said.

1994:
Started working in a Casino as a Dealer.

1993:
My last year as a teenager. I become a Man! I'm not a Bastard, I'm Bruce Lee!

1992:
My addiction to gambling really came into fruition in this year. 0,2,3,7,8,13,17/20 split, 28,29 & 32/35 split was my standard bet on the Roulette wheel.

1991:
18th Birthday. My parents bought me a car, a SEAT IBIZA 1.2 GLX. Thanks folks! Got my own membership for the Casino.

1990:
Passed my Driving test, left school and went to work for an Import/Export company. This is also the year I started going to the Casino with my best friend Jason MacKay. I was underaged but I talked my way in. People took your word for it back in those days. "I am 18, Honest!"

1989:
Sweet Sixteen!

1988:
Too stoned to remember this year (then, not now!)

1987:
Went back to the hospital to remove the second set of pins from my hip. More time off school.

Another one of my all time top 10 movies, The Untouchables . "You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. *That's* the *Chicago* way! And that's how you get Capone. Now do you want to do that? Are you ready to do that? I'm offering you a deal. Do you want this deal?"

1986:
My earliest recollection of watching Manchester United on TV. Sir Alex Ferguson becomes the new Manager of Utd and is now the most successful manager in English football history.

Got the pins removed from my hip. While I was healing, I applied to much pressure onto my good hip and dislocated that one too. Had to go back into hospital to get pins put into the other hip. Another 4 months out of school.

1985:
Started smoking! Big mistake, cough, cough.

Got arressted for the third and final time. Influenced by peer pressure at the time I was arressted for underaged drinking. I was sitting outside the store, drinking, with a few friends when somebody yelled police, my friends started running one way and I went the other. I ran straight into the police who asked me where I was going in such a hurry. "Home" I said. Not with that in your hand your not! (The policeman was referring to the £3 bottle of Buckfast Tonic Wine). My parents were not home so I was taken to my cousins' house. I can still see the embarressment on my mum's face when she came to pick me up. Sorry Mum.

Dislocated my hip while WATCHING a rugby match! Had to get pins inserted into my hip. Spent 6 weeks at home.

1984:
My parents opended a Hardware store and so my childhood Saturdays were lost forever!
Soon Kali Maa will rule the world!
Your clothes - give them to me, now.

1983:
Got arressted for the second time. Influenced by a friend, Daniel Penman, my brother and I went with DP to our school and started to set the garbage bins on fire. The next day the police came to the house after witnesses told them we were there. We had to go to kiddy court and got a year's probation.

The last episode of CHiPs airs on TV. A sad day indeed!

1982:
Moved with my family to Cumbernauld (near Glasgow), Scotland.
Kissed a girl for the first time. Her name was Susan and we kissed in the bushes outside her house.

1981:
Got arressted for the first time. Influenced by my neighbours, Lee and John, I went with them to play in a bulldozer at a nearby farm. The window broke, the farmer came out, I got caught, the police were called. I can still see the embarressment on my mum's face when the police knocked on the door. Sorry Mum.

Another one from the all time top 10, Indiana Jones & The Raiders of the Lost Ark . Give me the whip.

1980:
Who shot JR?

1979:
Moved with my family to Leicester, England.

1978:
One of my earliest memories is of me and my brother fighting at the bottom of the stairs. Can't remember who won.

1977:
My favourite movie came out. Star Wars . I didn't go to the movies to see it but I do have memories of watching it on VHS a few years later on a VCR with big buttons the size of dominoes and wired remote control...attached to the VCR! Those were the days... One of my heroes died, Elvis. Although I don't remember that day it was a sad one.

1976:
Another one of my favourite movies came out. Rocky , starring Sly Stallone. You're gonna eat lightnin' and you're gonna crap thunder!

1975:
This year started on a Wednesday. My future wife was born.

1974:
My brother, Aly, was born. 2 movies from my all time top ten came out. The Godfather Part 2 and Thunderbolt & Lightfoot .

1973:
August 28. I was born in Sutton (near London), England. Also the year of Roger Moores' debut as Bond in Live and Let Die

1972:
Late November - Early December. I WAS CONCEIVED!