PocketFives had the opportunity to interview Mergulas (pictured, ranked #2 in New Jersey), who is one of the most respected and consistent winners in the online poker world here in New Jersey. He has held the #1 spot several times in the New Jersey Rankings on PocketFives and continues to stay motivated to remain in the conversation as one of the players to watch.

Despite thoughts of relocating out of the country to pursue online poker professionally, Mergulas decided to stay local and play more live poker. But then regulated online poker was born and he settled back into his home state to grind the game he loves.

With over $738,000 in tracked online cashes, some of his notable cashes include taking down the 888 Poker/WSOP Sunday Majors three times and getting second in both the PartyPoker/Borgata $50,000 and $100,000 Guarantees for a total of $48,084.

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PocketFives: Give us your thoughts and experiences of regulated online poker in New Jersey.

Mergulas: It’s great that New Jersey was one of the first states to regulate online poker, as it is my home state. There was a time when I contemplated moving out of the country for online poker. Instead, I decided to relocate from New York City to Atlantic City in order to make the shift to playing more live poker.

For me, online poker is infinitely better than live poker, so it’s great to not have to move locations to be able to play online in a regulated market. I think that the one aspect that is keeping the regulated poker market from exploding is the limited pool of players. If other states can regulate online poker and find a way to work together to join their player pools, online poker in the USA could eventually be on its way to returning to peak levels.

PocketFives: Is there a meaning behind your screen name?

Mergulas: Yes, but explaining the meaning would ruin its purpose.

PocketFives: Do you recall any memorable hands that helped you win or lose a big tournament?

Mergulas: The hands that stick out are mainly from live tournaments. They’re all hands I lost and now leave me reflecting on what could’ve been. In a WPT Borgata event at the beginning of this year, we were in the money and at a pivotal point in the tourney when Cunix got all my chips in with AQ versus my QQ in a 5bet pot for a lot of chips.

Two players at the table stated they had folded an ace, but Cunix flopped the last ace anyway, winning the hand and then going on to the final table. If my dominant hand held, it would’ve perhaps been a hand I remember for entirely different reasons. It is those kind of situations that stick out in my memory.

PocketFives: When did you start playing poker and why was it appealing?

Mergulas: I started playing poker in high school with friends. We would play $10 sit and gos twice a week or so. At the time, I enjoyed the gambling, social, and competitive aspects of the game.

PocketFives: How do you prepare yourself before an online session?

Mergulas: I try to limit potential distractions during my sessions. I find the most common distraction I encounter is hunger, so I try to eat a meal just prior to starting a session. I also like to make sure I have enough snacks and drinks within close reach. In other words, my normal preparation is a trip to Wawa where I load up.

PocketFives: Since the launch of regulated online poker in New Jersey, what has been your most memorable cash or win?

Mergulas: The whole month of March 2015 was surreal due to the number of wins, but I would say the two most memorable wins were the WSOP Sunday Majors on May 17th and August 23rd. Each of those wins capped off the weekend after I made trips to celebrate my mom’s and my brother’s birthdays with them. Family is very important to me and they are also my biggest fans, so winning a Sunday Major immediately after celebrating their birthdays made the wins much more meaningful.

PocketFives: How many hours do you dedicate to poker a week?

Mergulas: I don’t really dedicate a specific number of hours weekly to poker. I think about it a lot and play whenever I feel like it.

PocketFives: To what do you attribute your current online success?

Mergulas: I think I have a lot more experience than most of my opponents, especially in terms of hands played. I have played over 10,000,000 hands of poker in my life.

PocketFives: What do you do away from poker? What else interests you?

Mergulas: I have been really interested in daily fantasy sports lately and have been active on DraftKings for reasons that are very similar to what attracted me to poker. The large prize pools attract a lot of recreational players, which is what I hope could eventually happen for online poker in the USA with regulation and shared player pools.