PocketFives had the chance to catch up with Zack stickykingHolzer (pictured), who did not play any online poker prior to Black Friday. Holzer has over $55,000 in recorded online cashes since the launch of regulated poker in New Jersey. Some of his notable accomplishments include a win in the PartyPoker $10,000 Guarantee for $2,491 and three wins in the network’s $5,000 Guarantee for a combined $3,089.

PocketFives: What got you started playing online poker?

Zack Holzer: Before Black Friday hit, I had never played a game of poker in my life. When in college, I used to watch my brother, Dale Grat3fulDead Holzer, play on PokerStars and Full Tilt and never really made anything of it. Right before New Jersey legalized online poker again, I had played a few home games and caught on pretty quickly.

Once online was legalized, I was starting to attend college and was recently unemployed, so I followed my brother’s footsteps and decided to give online a shot. After putting on $50 a few times and losing it quickly in cash games, I decided to give tournaments a shot. I started off with smaller tournaments, working my way up, and began profiting and kept at it. After realizing I could make money doing this, I expanded to other sites and built up my tournament volume.

PocketFives: Is there any meaning behind your screen name?

Zack Holzer: On WSOP.com, I go by zackattack, which is an old nickname I had. When going on to other sites like 888 Poker and PartyPoker, I decided to change it to sticky and stickyking, which is what I used to go by when I competed professionally in Major League Gaming. Besides that, it is an old gamer tag that stuck with me as a user name throughout the years.

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

Zack Holzer: Right now I’m playing on 888 and PartyPoker. My favorite site to play on is Party, although I think the layout could use some work. They have the biggest assortment of tournaments with a wide price range and different styles. When I play, I put in a lot of volume and PartyPoker allows me to do that at any time of the day. The site also runs a high volume of satellites throughout the day.

I also enjoy playing on 888 because I am a big fan of Turbo games and it allows me to switch to a different style of play. 888 offers the biggest variety and number of freerolls on any of the New Jersey sites I have seen.

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

Zack Holzer: Since online has returned to New Jersey, my most memorable cash is when I won the PartyPoker Daily $10K Guarantee for $2,490 in early July. It is my biggest cash online and one of the games I had the most excitement in playing. With two tables left, I made a move by jamming all-in on the river with king-high on a missed flush draw and getting my opponent to fold top pair. Going into heads-up, I had a 10:1 chip deficit, which I was able to grind down to the win in about 30 minutes.

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

Zack Holzer: About a year ago, poker was nothing in my life until my brother convinced me to give it a shot and told me it could and would be a profitable investment. Although I started off relatively small, I would watch my brother and friends, DJ LoPresti (kickdj) and Anthony Velocci (TonyFlow), and learn from their gameplay. I also get advice and play poker with Jim Oriente (jimmyice99), who I watch and learn from. I want to give a shout out to HankDaTank, PlantLeaf, Grizzly, Zero69cool, and Sandip.

PocketFives: Do you play any live poker?

Zack Holzer: Whenever I find time when school isn’t too stressful, I like to go down to Harrah’s and Borgata and play the occasional tournament. I would like to play more live tournaments once I can find some to fit into my school schedule.