PocketFives had the opportunity to catch up with Sean wishihAdsOMeLUcK Martin (pictured, ranked 10th in New Jersey), who is a part-time poker grinder from Woodbridge. Martin got started in poker by playing in some of the underground games that were held in New York and New Jersey, which helped developed his skills. Now with online poker being legal and regulated in the Garden State, when he comes home from work, he is ready to fire up some of the nightly guarantees offered across all sites.

With over $147,000 in tracked online cashes, some of his notable accomplishments include a win in the PartyPoker/Borgata $50,000 Guarantee Sunday Major, a win in the 888Big Sunday $10,000 Guarantee, and a win in the 888 Poker High Roller $2,500 Guarantee for a total of $15,136. Visit PocketFives’ New Jersey poker community for the latest news and discussion from New Jersey players.

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

Sean Martin: It’s great. No more worries about cashout problems on offshore sites. It’s my money if I need it, it’s just a short drive to Atlantic City, or I could just have it wired into my account worry-free.

I just wish the schedule were juicier during the week with more guarantees and more to offer, but it’s a working progress. Hopefully more to come, hopefully some states merge and combine player pools just like Nevada and Delaware, but that’s really stretching it. It has been generating money for struggling casinos, which in turn helps the whole economy, so there isn’t really anything negative about it. All positive.

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

Sean Martin: I had to be like 12 when the Moneymaker boom happened. I was in Florida at my aunt’s watching the WSOP and was just hooked. I got back to New Jersey and found out some of my friends played and we had small sit and gos in my boy’s basement. It became our hustle.

My longtime friend Anthony Thatgood45 Pagan and I found a way into underground cash games and tournaments throughout New York and New Jersey starting at age 14. We told everyone we met we were 18. We were 18 for at least a good four years straight.

Then, through the games, we met a mastermind behind a lot in the poker world, Eddie Pompiaa2 Roman. He introduced us to bigger games throughout New Jersey and New York, from South Jersey all the way to Manhattan. He took a shot staking us online and staked us on various sites (post-Black Friday). We didn’t do too badly, but then issues with cashouts happened and that put an end to it until New Jersey regulated online poker arrived. Here I am today working a full-time job and playing poker when I get a chance.

PocketFives: Is there a meaning behind your screen name?

Sean Martin: My 888 Poker name is a lyric from a song from one of my favorite bands, Slipknot: “The Heretic Anthem.” The chorus goes, “If you’re 555, then I’m 666.” I figured it could make sense with a poker term too.

My Smellslikeirishtag for PartyPoker was going to be smellsliketeenspirit, a song by Nirvana, but it was too long and I was drinking an Irish coffee that day, so I just used Irish instead and it stuck.

Sean_naes for WSOP was my name because I wasn’t going to waste four hours trying to make a name for a site and miss tournaments, so I just went with it.

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

Sean Martin: It has to be all of them. They all offer something beneficial, but if I had to just choose one of them to play, it would have to be 888 Poker. They are most appealing to me, but that’s just my opinion. Some will disagree, some will agree. I’m just curious to see how the 888 purchase of bwin.party could affect the New Jersey sites being that 888 and WSOP have a shared player pool and Borgata and PartyPoker have a shared player pool.

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

Sean Martin: It is either my first weekend when I started back in August 2014 when I shipped the $10,000 Guarantee on PartyPoker or this past Memorial Day weekend when I shipped the $50,000 Guarantee Sunday Major on PartyPoker. The $50k was by far my largest cash, but the $10k ship was the one that got me going on the New Jersey sites.

The feeling of shipping the $50k was pretty incomparable to the others I had. So, I’d have to settle on the $50k as being my most memorable. It made that day off from work on Monday that much better.

PocketFives: Is there anyone or anything that helped change how you approach the game?

Sean Martin: There have been a lot of people I’ve discussed hands with. I’ll take input from a lot of people. Anything that can improve the way I play is always a plus. I’ve discussed several hands with several different people like Anthony, Eddie, Kevin sofcknisickkCampbell, and Maureen Redhotmomma Ludwig.

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

Sean Martin: I’m a huge Philadelphia Eagles fan. So come football time, I try to make it out to Lincoln Financial Field to see my boys play. I enjoy going out to the shooting range and shooting some guns off if I ever get a chance to get out to my pops’ house in Pennsylvania. We would go to the outdoor range with some of my cousins and shoot whatever he has in his arsenal, which is a lot of different things.

I’m also a big hockey fan. I played hockey my entire life, but as of late I don’t really have time between life and growing up. I also like to think of myself as a pool shark even though I suck, but what can you do. I also enjoy playing video games, mostly first- or third-person shooters. I never really was a club type of person, but the hole-in-the-wall bar is just enough to keep me happy. That’s basically it. I don’t really live a crazy life. I just like to keep things simple.