Dewey Tomko, born in 1946 in Glassport, Pennsylvania, is a former kindergarten teacher turned professional tournament poker player who is in Florida. As of 2009, his total live tournament winnings exceed $4,900,000 and he has had 42 WSOP cashes. Tomko has played every WSOP Main Event since 1974 (which is currently the longest active streak) and is a 2008 inductee into the Poker Hall of Fame.
Most people know Tomko from his TV appearances at the two final tables at the World Poker Tour (WPT). Although most people don't consider Tomko a poker star, he has an impressive poker resume. He has finished as the runner-up in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event twice - in 1982 to Jack Straus ($208,000) and 2001 to Carlos Mortensen ($1,098,925). He has won 3 WSOP bracelets - the 1979 $1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em, the 1984 $10,000 No-Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball and the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha w/ rebuys. He also has the aforementioned two World Poker Tour (WPT) final tables - a 4th place finish during season one and a 2nd place finish during season two for $552,853.
Tomko began making money at poker in Pittsburgh pool halls since he was 16 years old. He used the money to pay for a college degree in education from Salem College in West Virginia and later became a kindergarten teacher. He quit teaching to play poker full-time after he was making more money from playing poker at night while investing part of his money to mitigate the inherent swings of his poker-related income.
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He's a DONK!