We personally love the PocketFives user name gaggleokings(pictured), the brainchild of Tom Ambler. The Chesterfield, England resident recently took down the iPoker Network Sunday Specialto the tune of $34,000, defeating a field of 930 entrants. Three of the top four finishers in that tournament were members of the PocketFives community and the $38,000 made for some premium Christmas shopping money.

“It was just a standard Sunday, with me grinding a number of tournaments via different clients, so I didn’t really pay any special attention to the Sunday Special until we got in and around the money,” Ambler told PocketFives in an exclusive interview. “After the money bubble popped, I don’t think I was ever out of the top 120 in chip counts and from 30 or so players down, I think I had the biggest stack all the way, certainly at the final table.”

He added that the deck was on his side, which certainly didn’t hurt: “I ran pretty well throughout, but certainly from 30 left onwards, picking up at least my fair share of premium hands. Also, feel I played very well, as by this time I was one-tabling the tournament and therefore could give every situation I encountered my full attention.”

Last January, Ambler took down a PokerStars TCOOP $11 Rebuy 3X Turbofor $76,000 officially. “The TCOOP win was pretty huge for my career in terms of significantly boosting my bankroll, but also in terms of confidence. I was in the middle of what was a pretty big downswing at the time, so it couldn’t really have come at a better time.” The tournament had well over 14,000 entrants, but four of the top eight finishers were PocketFivers.

He added, “There were times during the TCOOP, particularly at the final table, where I was pretty nervous, as it was the first major online final table I’d made. However, I put that down to inexperience and, since then, I’ve been a lot more composed when deep in a tournament. This is most probably a direct result of winning the TCOOP.”

After taking down the TCOOP, Ambler told us that he didn’t make any significant purchases. Instead, the money went into his bankroll and allowed him to buy into major live events around the UK. He also spent a month in Ayia Napa in Cyprus (pictured) courtesy of his bankroll boost. That’s posh.

He still has quite a bit to prove on the live scene, saying, “I think I cashed in one event I played last year and that was only a min-cash. I was actually playing a live event right before the iPoker Sunday Special. It was the Grand Final of Genting Poker Series, which was being held at my local casino, and I think I busted midway through Day 2, which was Saturday. It was probably a good thing, as had I made Sunday, I probably wouldn’t have been playing online. Live cash wasn’t bad to me last year though!”

Before we parted ways, Ambler wanted to send shout outs to “a few people who helped me and advised me throughout my downswing and kept me motivated: Stefan, Patrick, Picken, Callum, Brandon, Igor, Niko, and Naomi. They were all a massive help to me, so thank you guys. I appreciate it.”

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