One day removed from his 22nd birthday, PocketFiver Ben bttech86 Tollerene sat down with PocketFives.com to discuss his already successful poker career. Beginning primarily as a cash game player, Tollerene has gradually moved to competing in the world’s largest tournaments, including a recent 17th place finish in the $15,000 buy-in World Poker Tour Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic held at the Bellagio. He pocketed $57,645, gaining valuable live tournament experience in the process. The Lubbock, Texas native is now officially on the map.

Despite his 17th place finish for over three times his buy-in, Tollerene commented that he still came up short of his ultimate goal in the marquee Las Vegas poker tournament. He told PocketFives.com, “You’re happy that you made some money, but when you get 17th and reach the final two tables of a WPT championship event, you’re still mad. I folded for about seven hours playing a 15 big blind stack and then got A-9 in the small blind. Unfortunately, Chino Rheem woke up with A-K. It was as disappointing as winning $50,000 can be.” Rheem, a World Series of Poker November Nine member, ultimately took down the Five Diamond for $1.5 million. He placed seventh in the WSOP Main Event.

On his journey from the cash game world to playing on the major tournament felts, he’s received coaching from fellow PocketFiver Luke IWEARGOGGLES Staudenmaier. He roomed with Staudenmaier in Las Vegas during the WPT tournament and reminisced on his first day of being tutored in tournament play: “The first day he coached me, I got to watch him play down to his third place in the $300 Full Tilt Online Poker Series event. I learned so much in five hours.” Staudenmaier’s showing in that tournament was worth $119,000.

The adjustment process has primarily affected his late-game tournament play, when the number of big blinds held by each player is low. He explained, “Being a cash player, I’m really good with a few hundred big blinds, but when I get down to 30, I get confused. Luke helped me fix my open shoving ranges. I also had no knowledge of Independent Chip Modeling.” He’s gradually become more comfortable understanding ICM.

So far, much of Tollerene’s tournament success has been in events which mimic the structure of cash games. He finished third in a World Championship of Online Poker Six-Handed Second Chance event in September for $27,000. He also logged an eighth place finish in a $530 buy-in $250K Guaranteed on PokerStars for $11,000 in August. Tollerene is a finance major by trade at Texas Tech University and has just nine hours left until graduation. He spoke to PocketFives.com in transit for Christmas.

As a poker player who is about to head out into the “real world” after graduation in May, he plans to do what every poker player dreams of: Head to Las Vegas to compete in World Series of Poker events. On how his mother and father have taken to his chosen career path so far, he commented, “It took a little while to win by mom and dad over. My whole family was text messaging me on breaks and following me on the internet during the Five Diamond tournament.” Tollerene added that when he had 18 hours remaining in school, his parents gave him the okay to split up his schedule into two semesters of nine hours each in order to allow him to focus on playing poker.

Like many poker players who decide to pursue the game professionally, the process of making the final decision to turn pro requires a considerable amount of thought, weighing the expected benefits against potential forfeited income. For Tollerene, having a job that he enjoys is of the utmost importance: “As poker players, our ups and so high and our downs are so low. When I’m in a downswing, I would I rather wake up and play a game that I love than sit at a desk and do someone else’s taxes. Also, I can’t make this kind of money anywhere else.”

Another PocketFiver that he attributes success to is Aaron aejones Jones. On what aspect of the game Jones has helped Tollerene out with, he commented, “For my post-flop play and general understanding of the game, I spent a lot of time with him and he’s been extremely influential on my game. He’s made me so much better. I couldn’t give him enough credit. He’s brilliant and really understands how to play two card poker.” Jones is an Indianapolis, Indiana native.

Congratulations to Ben bttech86 Tollerene on his recent tournament cash, his largest so far. We look forward to more from this up and coming star in the future.



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