Mike Haberman (JohnnnyDramaon PocketFives, pictured) out of Brick, New Jersey is one of the most successful and highly respected New Jersey poker players around. He is currently ranked #3 in the PocketFives New Jersey pokercommunity and has over $69,000 in recorded online cashes. In May, Haberman won the PartyPoker/Borgata Poker $50,000 Guarantee Sunday Major twice for a total of $18,205. He also took down that network’s $10,000 Guarantee the same month for $2,400.

PocketFives: When did you start playing poker?

Mike Haberman: Like many others around my age, the Moneymaker Boom definitely pulled me into the World of Poker. So, until I was old enough to make an account, I played online for play money and small games with friends after school. We were all still teenagers, so we were playing for $10 to $20 bucks each.

PocketFives: How many hours do you dedicate to pokereach week?

Mike Haberman: I’ve been taking a break the last month or so, but usually I’m grinding anywhere from five to seven nights a week from 6:00pm on. I am also studying one or two days a week for a couple of hours. You definitely need to study the game. It’s always evolving and, with our small player pools, it’s very easy to quickly learn people’s tendencies.

PocketFives: What are your favorite New Jersey online poker sitesto play and why?

Mike Haberman: I don’t have a favorite, but I definitely like the looks of the Ultimate Poker‘s software and the avatars; it reminds me of Full Tilt. Their software does have its drawbacks and I would like to see those get fixed, although they treat players better than any of the other sites.

I like what WSOP.com did with the satellites to live WSOP events, but why stop them? Keep them coming year round! I’m not a fan of the software, but I do like Borgata Poker. The idea of merging a casino with an online counterpart in the same name is pretty cool.

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

Mike Haberman: While winning a $1,500 WSOP seat was an amazing feeling at the time, this is between my $50,000 Guarantee outright win on Borgata Poker and my Borgata Summer Open Event 17 chop. The $50K win was a couple of weeks after I chopped it four ways. I went up to my friend’s house in Connecticut on Friday and Saturday and came home at 6:00am Sunday morning, slept a little, and logged on for a Sunday session.

I got to the final tablee with about 300,000 in chips and just tried to chip up and avoid marginal spots. I had position on the other players and stayed aggressive in the right spots. Once we were five-handed, I felt if I could avoid any bad beats or coolers, there was no way I was losing. Luckily for me, I was able to cruise to the win when I saw three-handed that my opponents were both trying to money up.

Chopping four ways in the Borgata Summer Open event was also a great feeling. Although I technically took second and it’s not an outright win, I did have the chip lead when we chopped. The reason this means something to me is because prior to the series, with the intent to play only five or six events, I told a couple of people I was going to win one, so I’ll take it.

PocketFives: To what do you attribute your success playing online poker?

Mike Haberman: I worked really, really hard at improving my game the couple of months before Black Friday happened. I think some of these results are because of that hard work. While I barely played between then and New Jersey’s launch, I still had the knowledge. Being a bankroll nit and value-hunting since the launch of New Jersey sites have definitely contributed to my success. Once I started grinding, I really got back into the swing of things pretty quickly.

PocketFives: Do you plan in playing in the PocketFives Open at Borgata from July 27 to 29?

Mike Haberman: Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend the PocketFives Open. I’m pretty disappointed about it. I’ve had a vacation to California planned since before the launch of New Jersey poker. A couple of my best friends from college and I will be going to San Diego and Los Angeles for a week. It’s going to be a lot of fun since I’ve never been on the West Coast.

Want the latest poker headlines and interviews? Follow PocketFives on Twitterand Like PocketFives on Facebook. You can also subscribe to our RSS feed.