PokerStars' JB_Dog: PokerStars Sunday Million Winners

JB_Dog has been playing on PokerStars for a long while now, but he's not the type of guy you read about on the big poker forums. He is like most players--a combination of serious and casual play mixed in with the responsibilities of real life. If you watched the final table, you saw that JB_Dog went in strong and finished off the the remaining players with nary a blink. Oh, not only that. He was in on a $8 rebuy satellite entry and didn't make a deal at the final table. He cashed for more than $191,000. So, what of this guy? What's he all about? We found out.

JB_Dog

Age: 35
Hometown: Norwalk, CT (moving soon, wife
and I just bought a larger house nearby).
Profession: I work in financial services in Manhattan, specifically mergers
and acquisitions.

Poker Background: I got hooked in 2001 when I was hit with the deck at
my best friend's bachelor party and then deposited $100 on-line shortly after that. I learned the game playing .25/.50 limit holdem, then $5 NLHE sit and gos. I was a winning player from the start, until a recent downswing. I play all games and really enjoy short handed PLO and mixed games.

Other big wins: It is far and away my biggest win. Previous wins include a chop of one of the smaller $10R on Stars for like $4k-ish.

Plans for the $191,000: I'm not a good study of bankroll discipline because I
am not pro and don't ever want to be. I don't keep a separate pool of poker money, but I do track my net winnings or losses. I will withdraw almost all of the
money for use in improving our new house and investments. I'll go right back to playing the same games and limits I did before (OK, maybe a little higher).

An $8 rebuy satellite into $191,000? Are you serious?: If my wife works on Sunday, I usually take a shot or two at the Sunday Million via either DS or rebuy MTT. I satellited in through an $8 rebuy for a total investment of either $40 or $48 (can't remember). I was actually playing badly during the afternoon and considered unregistering for the Million just before it started.

A married man, deep in a big event: My wife works in emergency medicine and got home around 10pm. She usually prefers that I am done with poker by the time she gets home, but I told her I was deep in a "big one" and she just went to bed. So the final few hours were me, alone, trying not to yell because she was sleeping in the next room. The final hour of play I was calm, primarily because I was able to chip up nicely going from 27 to 9, picking up some nice hands in the right spot. I came to the final table with a pretty commanding chip lead, so I felt good
about my chances.

The Afterglow: After I won, I tried to go to bed right away because I
work normal hours, but I was too amped up and had to wake my wife up to tell her. I told my step father this morning because he gets a kick out of it when I make a score and that's it. I'll tell my best friend (the one whose bachelor party was my poker kickoff) later today.

Tournament pro? Or not?: Don't be surprised to see me playing $5 tournament and making a donkey play in the near future. I am well aware that this incredible thrill is almost certainly a one time event.