In a recent running of the iPoker Network $150,000 Guaranteed, which takes place on sites like Titan Poker, Dale crazytoothSimmons (pictured) blasted through a field of 949 players en route to a $32,000 payday. If you’ve never played in that particular tournament, it has a buy-in of $215 and shelled out five-figure paydays to the top four players. Simmons is a member of the United Kingdom poker community and is currently tops in the city of Portsmouth.

PocketFives: Congrats on taking down the iPoker $150K. Can you walk us through the tournament?

Dale Simmons: Ever since a group called Bankroll Supply has sponsored me, they have encouraged me to play satellites into the bigger weekly games. So, after winning a satellite to the $150K for only $25, I was looking forward to playing. The game started off in a great way for me, as by the end of the first two hours, I was the chip leader and running good. I got most of my chips in a span of four hands.

After that, I was up to 40,000 in chips. I was just picking up chips, but nothing massive. Once we were down to four tables, I was looking to ladder up, pick up chips, and stay alive as long as I could. I got to the final two tables with a pretty short stack, but hit a couple of hands in the right spots to put me fifth in chips entering the final table.

Once at the final table, the pay jumps were huge and I was keeping a close eye on them, as it was looking like my biggest win to date. Once we got to four-handed play, I took the line that I was going to go for the win and after that, I didn’t look back. The game ended in a three-way all-in with a short stack shoving the button with Q-7 suited, me flatting with A-K, and the big blind shoving with A-Q suited. My hand held to give me the win.

PocketFives: Your $32,000 cash represents your breakthrough win thus far. How will this score change your poker career and how did your backers respond?

Dale Simmons: They are really happy with me. This cash gets me one step closer to being the pro I’m trying to be. This result means that me leaving work just over two months ago to play poker has proven to be the right move so far. Overall, I feel like this is only the start of me playing poker for a living. With my backing group behind me as well as everyone else supporting me, I’m sure it’s going to be a good few years.

PocketFives: How did you get started in poker originally?

Dale Simmons: I started playing online about seven years ago when it was the big thing to do, but never really had a lot of success. I found a local card room, which was the place I played in the most. I loved the game and the people and learned so much from all of the old school and new school guys I was playing with, so I never stopped. I kept poker going as a hobby from then on.

By the way, you can get a free fitted hat and an organic cotton t-shirt from Blind Squirrel Apparel, a $55 value. All you have to do is sign up through our link for Titan Pokerusing the code “PF5” and make a deposit before Thursday, August 30th at 23:59 ET. Then, e-mail support@pocketfives.com to claim a high-quality fitted hat and shirt. Play in this week’s $150K and get free gear, only by signing up for Titan Poker through PocketFives. Get started here.