PocketFives caught up with South Bound Brook resident Dan dp0330 Pipitone (pictured, ranked 51st in New Jersey) whose primary game of poker was Seven Card Stud, but converted over to No Limit Hold’em after watching the movie “Rounders.”

A season ticket holder for Rutgers football and also an alumni, Pipitone is a family man first before he fires up some tournaments at night so he can feed his competitive drive. With over $172,000 in tracked online cashes, some of his notable accomplishments include two wins in the 888 Poker/WSOP New Jersey High Roller $2,500 Guarantee and a win in both the network’s $5,000 and $10,000 Guarantees for a total of $8,393.

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

Dan Pipitone: I was never into card or board games as a kid other than the occasional game of Rummy. I was more into the old school console gaming. So, I spent a lot of time playing Mario Brothers, Zelda, Baseball Stars, Tecmo Bowl, etc. on the NES.

My first real experience with poker came in college. I started playing nickel and dime games with my friends while at Rutgers, where we played a lot of the Seven Card Stud wildcard games like Baseball and Follow the Queen. It wasn’t until “Rounders” came out and I saw the Scotty Nguyen heads-up WSOP final table where the other guy went to the bathroom in the middle of the hand that I really got hooked.

I turned 21 the year before, but had only played Seven Card Stud at Tropicana before that. After “Rounders,” I got more into NLHE and have played that as my game of choice since then.

The biggest reasons it clicked for me were the competition and elements of math in the game. Also, while I like the casino atmosphere, I’m not a fan of the house edge, so the personal element of poker is the best compromise of that situation.

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

Dan Pipitone: Probably about 20 to 25 hours or so per week, maybe more in the winter and fewer in the summer depending on what I’m doing with the family. I have two kids who take up most of my time, but I’m able to get on the sites around the time when we put my youngest to bed around 8. Most of my time is spent playing and browsing the forums on PocketFives and other sites. One of my goals for this year is to take some of the playing time and convert it to studying and improving my game.

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

Dan Pipitone: I play mainly on WSOP and Borgata. I use those skins instead of their sister sites 888 Poker and PartyPoker because of the links to the brick-and-mortar casinos. Buying Borgata rewards points with the player points accumulated on their site and using them for rooms and meals is a huge value-add for me, allowing some “free” nights for my wife and me. On WSOP, I like the rebuy tourneys because if I’m doing something else, I can late reg them and still have a decent-sized stack relative to the blinds and the rest of the field.

Going forward, I’m anxious to see what PokerStars brings to the market. Hopefully their inclusion will be a rising-tide-floats-all-boats sort of thing and all of the sites take steps to improve.

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

Dan Pipitone: In April 2014, I won the WSOP $5,000 Guarantee and finished third in the $10,000 Guarantee in the same weekend. I’ve had a couple of other good scores including a win in a $10,000 Guarantee, but those two scores seeded my bankroll and have helped keep me going.

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

Dan Pipitone: When I first started really thinking about poker, I brought the bible of poker, Doyle’s “Super System.” After that, I moved onto other classic poker books such as “Theory of Poker,” “Harrington on Hold’em,” and some of Ed Miller’s books.

Although they are all a bit outdated now, they offer a sound basic understanding of advanced concepts and reading those really opened up my eyes as to how professionals were approaching the game. I can’t believe I played poker for real money for a period of time without understanding hand ranges and EV.

I’ve also been a longtime lurker on PocketFives and other forums. Reading the posts back in the day from all of the young guns crushing the games really helped. I specifically remember post from guys like Shaun Deeb that made me realize what a different level those guys were on.

More recently, I’ve been trying to pay more attention to what the guys putting in a lot of volume and playing well on the New Jersey sites are doing. There are a lot of really talented, hardworking players in New Jersey who are putting the time and effort into playing the game at a high level. My game doesn’t compare to theirs, but I hope to continue to improve by watching them.

In that same line of thought, I am friends with Bob “s.l. halper” Taylor (my wife went to high school with him) and I’ve talked to him a little about the regulars on the New Jersey sites, but not nearly enough.

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

Dan Pipitone: I enjoy spending time with my family and my kids. We try to do a lot with them; there is no greater reward in life then seeing them smile and hearing them laugh.

I love watching sports and attending live games, specifically football and baseball. I’m in a couple of season-long fantasy leagues in each (Halper is my partner for one football team) and have begun dabbling in daily fantasy sports a bit. I am a huge Philadelphia Eagles fan and have season tickets to Rutgers games. Tailgating at Rutgers games is an all-day affair for me; we usually try to match our menu and beer list to the opponent.

I’m a big fan of the craft beer movement that has overtaken the US. Finding a good craft brew is like table selection for my taste buds. I also recently have gotten into smoking meats. I’ve done pretty well with ribs and pulled pork, but have yet to master brisket. In my day job, I work for a large tech company and like playing with and reading about all of the different tech innovations and gadgets.