PocketFives caught up recently with Tommy Romeo8880Romeo, who hails from Garfield, NJ. When not watching a sporting event with friends, you can find him grinding on the virtual felts of New Jersey. Romeo has over $152,000 in recorded online cashes with his biggest cash coming on April 26th, 2014 when he took down NJCOP #12 – $20,000 guarantee Bounty on PartyPoker/Borgata Poker for $4,604. He also has three wins in the PartyPoker/Borgata Poker $5,000 guarantee and two wins in the network’s $10,000 guarantee for a total of $7,543.

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

Romeo8880: I started playing at the end of 2006 when I went away to college. It was appealing to me because I began to notice that a lot of the same players were always winning. Then I did some research and realized that there are actually people who play ONLY poker, and were making a career out of it. That’s when I decided to learn the game and dedicate more time to it because it must be beatable right? It was an expensive learning experience to begin though, and sometimes still is haha.

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

Romeo8880: It varies by the week. Some weeks I will play 70+ hours and others I will play 20 hours, or not at all! That’s the beauty of being a poker player. You can play when you want and take days off when you want.

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

Romeo8880: Well for the most part Party Poker was my go to site for the longest time. I really liked their tournament schedule and I just got comfortable playing there and had some success. These days though it’s hard to call any of them my favorite since PartyPoker/Borgata Poker has drastically changed their tournament schedule.

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

Romeo8880: I would have to say the NJCOP #12 – $20,000 guarantee Bounty on Party Poker for $4,604. I took first in that but it wasn’t without some stiff competition at the final table. My boy Jim jimmyice99 Oriente took 3rd and then I had to duel it out heads up with Flawlessbink, which was no easy task.

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

Romeo8880: When I first started out I was a complete fish. I had no idea what I was doing and was just giving money away playing sit and go’s on the cake poker network. Then after reading Harrington On Hold’em and watching lots of poker shows I got a sense of what was going on. Phil Hellmuth has always been my favorite player because he’s entertaining to watch and he really excels at tournaments. As much as people love to bash him, you can’t deny his tournament success and he’s clearly doing a lot of things right that are causing him to win.

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

Romeo8880: I’m a huge sports fan. If I’m not playing poker I’m definitely watching some type of sporting event, and probably losing money betting on it. I also like to go out and have a good time with my friends from time to time. Shout out to ‘sas’ and ‘$team’!

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