“I feel great. It hasn’t really hit me yet. Especially because of the tournament’s structure, it doesn’t feel real.” Those were the words of Canada’s T.J. 1bigaceholeUlmer (pictured), who was part of a seven-way chop of the 2013 PokerStars Turbo Championship of Online Poker Main Event. The TCOOP’s finale brought out a healthy field of over 5,000 entries, each of which cost $700. Over $3.3 million was shelled out in what will likely be one of the richest online poker tournaments of 2013.

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Ulmer collected $232,000 in the chop and officially took third place, while the event’s champ, frma1103, pulled in $326,000. The deal was apparently a quick process, as Ulmer rehashed, “I was expecting something around $180,000 before the deal was proposed, so I was really happy when I saw the numbers. I think everyone felt the same. We didn’t have much time to think about the money because it was such a quick structure. I think we all saw those huge numbers and everyone snap-agreed.”

Ulmer is ranked #2 on PocketFives and was last #1 in September 2012. He assessed why he thought he had an edge in a large-field TCOOP tournament like the Main Event: “The soft spots at the final table were really soft, but there were a few good players left. I think I had an edge at the final table because of my Turbo experience. I play a ton of Turbos, so I am used to a lot of Turbo situations that people don’t usually see. I am also good friends with some of the best 180-man players. They are always talking about different Turbo situations and keeping me sharp. kekim1 always gives me trouble and GadMO was really tough to play against with three tables left.”

He added, however, that it’s difficult to have much of an edge with just 10 big blinds to your name. “That’s why we were so eager to make the deal,” he admitted. “We knew anything was possible.” The smallest payout in the chop was $160,000.

Why is he so into Turbos? Why would the rapid-fire format be his game of choice? “I feel like I am a strong Turbo player. The things I do well are all things that can make a huge difference in Turbos and my weaknesses aren’t as exploitable.”

After his massive TCOOP haul, Ulmer is just $200,000 shy of becoming one of only a handful of PocketFives members to surpass $5 million in tracked online MTT cashes. He has been a member since our very first year in existence in 2006. The TCOOP chopper is top dog in the Quebec poker community and in his hometown of Montreal.

We would think it’s possible that a player who has been in the game for as long as Ulmer has would get bored of the traditional games and grind. Is this the case for the Canadian? Ulmer evaluated, “I think all regs get bored from time to time with the standard schedule nowadays. We all look forward to the big series, but it’s part of the job, so I grind through it.”

Despite saying he gets bored from time to time, Ulmer chooses not to branch out to other games. Cash games, Omaha, and the like are not his cup of tea: “I have very little experience in cash games and Omaha. I guess you can say I’m a one-trick pony right now. I know I should start learning how to play cash games because it will definitely help my deep-stacked tournament game.”

Many players we interview for feature articles here on PocketFives got started around the Moneymaker Boom, while others began their careers in the last few years. Ulmer has been engaged in No Limit Hold’em tournaments for the last decade, as his friends began playing home games in 2003.

On his early poker career, Ulmer shared, “We would play $20 sit and gos every weekend. I did pretty well and was crazy about the game. Whenever I won, I would use the money to buy books.”

His other signature scores include wins in the Full Tilt $1K Monday (May 2010) and Sunday Brawl (March 2011), which were each worth over $110,000. Late last year, he continued his winning ways by taking second in the Full Tilt $500,000 Guaranteed for $72,000. He also has victories in the PokerStars Sunday $100 Rebuy and Wednesday Quarter Million for $67,000 and $57,000, respectively.

Congrats to everyone at PocketFives who cashed in the recently completed PokerStars TCOOP. If you don’t already have a PokerStars account, sign up through PocketFives to help support our online poker community. You’ll also get a 100% up to $600 bonus when you make your first deposit. Get started here.

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