Tournament Tested: NJ Online Poker Streamer Jeremy Sissman Racks Up 25 Wins in 25 Days
The thrill of victory goes hand in hand with winning an online poker tournament. From a simple sit and go to a massive multi-table tournament, a real sense of accomplishment comes with finding a victory for most players.
South New Jersey online grinder Jeremy “Jermz” Sissman hoped to ramp that feeling up even more recently. The 36-year-old Twitch streamer set out to win 25 tournaments in 25 days throughout December.
“I was mostly inspired by the PokerStars promotion ‘25 Days of Tournaments,’” he says. “But I wanted to take it to the next level. Why just play tournaments for 25 days, when you can win 25 tournaments?”
The effort proved to be a success and Sissman recently spoke with USPoker about the experience and his poker life.
Two dozen online poker wins in a single month
When it comes to online poker, Sissman puts in numerous hours at the tables. He plays full time and mixes in plenty of tournament play on his stream. He was one of the earlier American players to jump on board the platform when online poker returned to the US.
“I started streaming on Twitch because I wanted to help grow online regulated poker in the US,” he says. “Unfortunately this was back in 2014 and most people didn’t even know online poker was legal and regulated in New Jersey and Nevada at the time.”
The PokerStars promotion seemed like an interesting jumping off point for Sissman. The idea offered a fun goal and a way to share some tournament action on stream.
“There were a few parameters,” he says. “First, no satellites. Also, I didn’t want to play too much lower than my normal buy-in amount. Finally, I wanted decent field sizes. Anything less than 20 runners I wouldn’t even consider.”
With those few caveats in place, the challenge was on. Right out of the gate, things seemed to be going well when Sissman chalked up some early wins. Two big moments stand out.
The first came on day one, when he won the $320 Thursday PKO event at Borgata Poker/BetMGM. The event featured a $7,500 guarantee and Sissman booked a win of more than $4,000.
That first night also brought two more wins as well, and he continued chronicling his success online.
“That night gave me the motivation to think I could actually get 25 wins,” he says.
Trying to go sicko mode this December and get 25 poker tournament wins. Here's 3 wins tonight.
With one real banger. pic.twitter.com/P2D70qTLSy
— StoicJermz (@PokerJermz) December 2, 2022
Finishing the challenge
Another nice finish came on PokerStars in the series that led SIssman to take up the tournament journey.
“The other big moment was winning a 25 Days of Tournaments event,” he says. “It was a small win but it was fun to take down a tournament that helped inspire the challenge.”
The wins kept piling up for this online poker pro and Jermz actually finished the challenge a few days early. He struck gold on Dec. 22, cashing in for the top spot in a $50 Bounty Builder PKO event at PokerStars for $508.
Sissman shared a video of the win with his Twitter followers – raising his hands in victory. He actually accomplished his goal in only 22 days – and a nice track record of success that many players would envy. The final tally saw Sissman rack up winnings of more than $27,000.
Beyond the challenge, Sissman also ran a charity stream in December as well, raising funds for St. Jude’s Foundation. When he reached his goal, Sissman simply called the experience: “truly a December to remember.”
Victory!!!! 25th win and the 25 Wins of Christmas Challenge is complete.
Truly a December to remember pic.twitter.com/qj6RuoRcyS
— StoicJermz (@PokerJermz) December 23, 2022
Life at the online poker tables
Poker streaming has become a major part of the industry in recent years and Sissman was one of the country’s early Twitch devotees. The industry has seen a few additional states legalized since then, gaining a bit of momentum. More players are now taking to the platform to share their own play and personalities.
“It’s pretty cool to see some US regulated streamers get a pretty big audience now,” Sissman says.
Online poker has been good to this married father of two. He makes enough money to go without a day job. That allows him to stay home and take care of the family’s 1-year-old child.
The 25 wins in 25 days challenge exemplifies Sissman’s life at the tables. He’s loved the game since learning to play at age 9. Home games with friends and family followed before transitioning to playing more online. He seems to have found a nice routine and is hoping the winning continues.
“Right now I’m playing online tournaments five or six times a night,” he says of his poker routine. “I start around 7:30 pm and finish pretty late, usually between 1 and 3 am. The later I finish, the happier I am because it means I’m making a deep run somewhere.”