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Duane “Dewey” Tomko is an American professional poker player, born in Pennsylvania in 1946, who taught kindergarten in Florida before turning to poker full time. He won three World Series of Poker bracelets, finished second in the WSOP Main Event twice, in 1982 and 2001, and was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2008. [1][3][4]
Dewey Tomko: key facts
| Full name | Duane “Dewey” Tomko [1][10] |
|---|---|
| Country | United States [1] |
| Born | 1946, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania [4] |
| Lives in | Florida [7][9] |
| Known for | Two WSOP Main Event runner-up finishes; high-stakes poker and golf |
| Poker Hall of Fame | Inducted 2008 [3][10] |
| WSOP bracelets | 3 (46 WSOP cashes, 26 final tables) [2] |
| WSOP Main Event | 2nd in 1982 and 2001 [1][3] |
| Live tournament earnings | $4,934,681 as of October 5, 2026 [1] |
Early life: Pittsburgh pool halls and a classroom in Florida
Tomko was born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, in 1946 and grew up in Glassport, a small town on the Monongahela River near Pittsburgh. As a teenager he found his game in the pool halls of Pittsburgh, playing poker against men twice his age, and the winnings from local games helped pay his tuition at Salem College. [4]
After graduating from Salem College in Salem, West Virginia, he taught kindergarten in Florida from 1970 to 1975. At night he played in larger and larger private games, often winning $5,000 to $10,000 in a session, while his top teaching salary in 1975 was $6,700 a year. According to a 2007 PokerNews column by Tom Sexton, the decision to quit teaching came after a golf match: Tomko had lost $18,000 and called his principal the next morning to resign so he could go back to the course and win it back. [6]
Beginning in poker: from $10/$20 to the big games
In 1973 Tomko went to Las Vegas to play poker during his summer break, and after several successful trips he started entering the World Series of Poker. [5] In his first years there he played $10/$20 and watched the bigger games, then started sitting in against players such as Doyle Brunson and Jack Binion, who later became his friends and business partners. [4]
Tournament director Matt Savage wrote in 2008 that Tomko regularly played sessions of three days in a row in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and that he was one of the most successful tournament players of the early 1980s. [5]
Playing style
Tomko’s bracelets came in three different games: No-Limit Hold’em, No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball and Pot-Limit Omaha. [1] Decades later he made the final table of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event at the 2006 WSOP, a mixed-game tournament, and finished tenth in the same event in 2007. [2][9] Writers who covered him tend to stress his temperament: Tom Sexton, who photographed the 2001 Main Event for Binion’s, remembered “the composure and class” Tomko showed after his second runner-up finish. [6]
Greatest achievements
WSOP bracelets
| Year | Event | Result | Prize | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | WSOP Event #12: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (Rebuy) | 1st | $135,000 | [1] |
| 1984 | WSOP Event #11: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball | 1st | $105,000 | [1] |
| 1979 | WSOP Event #11: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 1st | $48,000 | [1] |
Other major results
| Year | Event | Result | Prize | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | WSOP Main Event, $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em (613 entries) | 2nd | $1,098,925 | [1][7] |
| 2003 | WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, Bellagio (314 entries) | 2nd | $552,853 | [8] |
| 2006 | WSOP Event #20: $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. (143 entries) | 7th | $343,200 | [9] |
| 1982 | WSOP Main Event, $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 2nd | $208,000 | [1] |
| 2005 | WSOP Event #39: $5,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball (65 entries) | 3rd | $138,160 | [2] |
| 2007 | WSOP Event #39: $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship (148 entries) | 10th | $131,424 | [2] |
Two Main Event finals
In 1982 Tomko reached heads-up play in the Main Event against Jack Straus, the year of Straus’s “chip and a chair” comeback. [3] On the final hand Straus caught a ten on the river to beat Tomko’s pair of fours, and Tomko took second place for $208,000. [1][4]
Nineteen years later, in 2001, he was heads-up for the title again, this time against Carlos Mortensen, after a record field of 613 players had competed for $6.13 million in prize money. On the final hand Tomko held pocket aces against Mortensen’s king-queen of clubs on a flop of jack, ten and three. The turn was a three and the river a nine, which completed Mortensen’s straight. Tomko received $1.1 million, and the Las Vegas Sun reported that he was the first runner-up in WSOP history to win more than $1 million. [7] Tom Sexton wrote that Tomko and T.J. Cloutier were the only two players to have finished second in the Main Event twice. [6]
The 1984 and 1985 tournament run
Matt Savage listed Tomko’s results from 1984 and 1985, which include his two 1984 bracelets, first places in a $10,000 Grand Prix event in 1984, in $2,500 and $10,000 Grand Prix events in 1985 and in the 1985 $5,000 Super Bowl of Poker 7 Card Stud event, and second place in the 1985 $10,000 Super Bowl of Poker. Savage added that when Amarillo Slim’s Super Bowl of Poker, Bob Stupak’s Vegas World events and the Grand Prix of Poker came to an end, Tomko was the leading money winner in all three. [5]
Poker Hall of Fame and records
Tomko was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2008 together with Henry Orenstein, as the hall’s 36th and 37th members. The ceremony took place on November 9, 2008, at the Rio in Las Vegas, during the resumption of the 2008 WSOP Main Event. The announcement noted that Tomko held the record for participation in the WSOP Main Event, at 35 years. [3]
His WSOP.com profile lists 4 wins, 3 bracelets, 1 ring, 26 final tables and 46 cashes, with $2,725,128 in earnings. [2] At the 2006 $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. final table he sat beside Doyle Brunson and Chip Reese; the official WSOP report noted that Tomko had spent more than twenty years in the same poker circles as both. [9]
Golf, business and life away from the table
Golf has been a constant in Tomko’s life. On the advice of Jack Binion he invested his poker money, and with Binion, Doyle Brunson and other partners he became an owner of Southern Dunes, a golf course and real estate development near Haines City, Florida, which opened in 1993. He also owns the Horseshoe Casino in downtown San Jose, Costa Rica. [4] PokerNews reports that professional golfer Rocco Mediate said that if he had one person to putt for his life, it would be Tomko. [1]
In October 2007 ESPN aired “High Stakes Entertainment”, whose first episode featured the Doyle Brunson & Dewey Tomko Golf Invitational. [6] Tomko has three sons and is married to Marianella, whom he met in Costa Rica. [6]
In his own words
- “No one played more hours than I did.” On the late 1970s to mid 1980s, to Matt Savage, 2008. [5]
- “Poker used to be a game where everybody knew everyone else; now, when I enter a tournament, I look around at my table and I don’t know anyone.” 2008. [5]
- “I’ve got to go back to the golf course and get my money back.” His thought on the morning he quit teaching, as told to Tom Sexton, 2007. [6]
FAQ about Dewey Tomko
How old is Dewey Tomko?
Dewey Tomko was born in 1946 in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. [4]
What is Dewey Tomko’s real name?
His first name is Duane; “Dewey” is the name he is known by. [1][10]
Where is Dewey Tomko from?
He is American, from Glassport, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, and has long been based in Florida. [4][7]
What is Dewey Tomko’s net worth?
There is no reliable public figure for his net worth. What can be verified is his live tournament record: $4,934,681 in earnings as of October 5, 2026, according to PokerNews. Cash game results and his business interests are not published. [1]
How many WSOP bracelets does Dewey Tomko have?
Three: the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em event in 1979, and the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball and $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha events in 1984. [1]
Did Dewey Tomko ever win the WSOP Main Event?
No. He finished second twice, to Jack Straus in 1982 and to Carlos Mortensen in 2001. [3]
When was Dewey Tomko inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame?
In 2008, together with Henry Orenstein. [3]
Who is Dewey Tomko’s wife?
According to a 2007 PokerNews column, he is married to Marianella, whom he met in Costa Rica. [6]
Related Poker Legends
Read more about Doyle Brunson, his friend and Southern Dunes partner, T.J. Cloutier, the other two-time Main Event runner-up, and Chip Reese, who won the 2006 $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event in which Tomko finished seventh.
Sources
- PokerNews, Dewey Tomko player profile, accessed October 5, 2026.
- WSOP.com, Dewey Tomko player profile, accessed October 5, 2026.
- PokerNews, Poker Hall of Fame 2008 Inductees Announced, November 1, 2008.
- PokerNews, Legends of Poker: Dewey Tomko, by Al Moe, February 21, 2006.
- PokerNews, The Other Side of the Felt, Vol. 6: Dewey Tomko, Sometimes Nice Guys Finish Second, by Matt Savage, March 25, 2008.
- PokerNews, Sexton’s Corner, Vol. 7: Dewey Tomko, Part 1, by Tom Sexton, August 2007.
- Las Vegas Sun, Mortensen claims poker championship, May 18, 2001.
- PokerNews, A Look Back Through the Sparkling History of the World Poker Tour Five Diamond, December 14, 2015.
- WSOP.com, Event #20: H.O.R.S.E. World Poker Championship, official results and report, 2006.
- WSOP.com, Poker Hall of Fame, accessed October 5, 2026.
Last verified: October 5, 2026. Figures that change over time, such as career earnings, are given with the date they were checked.
