From the Trenches To the Tables: Dulmage Goes from Operating Big Equipment To Making Big Bets

By Sean Chaffin

The plains of Oklahoma are a long way from New York for William Dulmage, but he’s living the dream today as he enters the Season XVI WPT Choctaw Main Event.

A ClubWPT.com online qualifier, Dulmage was all smiles as he took his seat in the Choctaw Casino Resort’s Grand Theater. Hundreds of players stand in his way to claim a prestigious WPT title, but he’s faced a similarly tall task before, topping a massive field only a few months ago to earn his shot at the biggest cash of his career.

Back home, Dulmage works as a heavy equipment operator in New York, installing gas lines throughout the Bronx and Manhattan. It’s a busy time for his company, and the 49-year-old finds himself on the clock a lot – six days a week manning a backhoe, digging trenches. It’s a tough job and can be stressful, but it’s nice to have plenty of work.

A father to three grown daughters, Dulmage grew up in Flushing, NY, and now lives in Goshen, which is about 45 miles outside of New York City. Poker has been a lifetime love.

“I’ve been playing poker since I was a kid,”Dulmage said. “Not hold’em, but family games and friendly kind of games and stuff. And then when it became legal on partypoker, I actually started playing there.”

While Dulmage also plays regularly at the Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut, online poker’s Black Friday put a halt to his action. He craved the convenience of playing a small tournament or sit-and-go after a long day of work in construction.

After a two-year hiatus, Dulmage jumped on ClubWPT.com to get his poker fix again, pleased to pay the membership fee for some fun and a shot at $100,000 in cash and prizes each month. He’s won some cash through the years, enough to pay for some of his months’ subscription fees, but always hoped for a bigger payday. He plays mostly smaller tournaments because his work schedule is so hectic, and Dulmage says ClubWPT.com is perfect for a recreational players just looking for some fun.

“For $25 a month, you can’t beat it,” Dulmage said of the ClubWPT. “I work most Saturdays, so I really don’t have the time to sit there and play for long periods. They have really good tournaments with really good prizes, but you have to have the time to play. If you’re going to play, you want to do your best and you have to have the time to play.”

In April, however, Dulmage had a day off. It was Sunday and he had no jobs scheduled, nothing last minute to take him away from his computer. He planned ahead had accumulated enough points online to play a WPT Choctaw Main Event qualifier. There were more than 1,900 players in the qualifier and only one would win the $6,500 package to fly in and take a seat in the field.

Dulmage logged in and clicked to join the tournament he had been looking forward to. As it turned out, he found himself clicking and clicking and clicking for several more hours.

“I went over my strategy and played really well,” Dulmage said. “I just stayed real patient. I watch poker a lot on television and I watch all the guys play and learn strategies. I really focused. I think I sucked out on the river one time through the whole thing, but other than that I played pretty solid.”

Six hours later, Dulmage had done the unthinkable. While others “in the money” earned a hefty number of tournament points, the New Yorker was headed to Oklahoma and couldn’t wait to take his shot in a World Poker Tour event. The ClubWPT.com package that Dulmage won paid for everything, with some cash left over.

“I was thrilled,” Dulmage said. “I played very well that day. It was a really good time and when I got down to the final table I was really determined.”

Playing in a major WPT tournament is a dream come for Dulmage. He’s not a pro and doesn’t travel the circuit, but he loves to play poker and loves to compete. WPT Choctaw will definitely be the largest tournament in which he’s ever played, but has some smaller scores in some daily events that have given him experience.

With the new Action Clock in play beginning when the field is one table off the money, Dulmage believes that may be an advantage to his play if he makes it to that portion of the tournament.

“The WPT now has the 30-second [Action Clock], but on the computer every hand is like that where you have to make split decisions,” Dulmage said. “I try to teach myself to think ahead before the flop and stuff to know what I was going to do before I had to make a decision.”

Away from the tables and work site, Dulmage is active in his church, Our Savior Lutheran Church in Valley Stream, near his hometown of Goshen. The pastor for the church is retiring and Dulmage is one of the church volunteers that fills in, preaching occasionally on Sundays while the congregation awaits a replacement clergy. He also takes the occasional cruise out of New York when he has time for a vacation – a getaway where he gets a break for a while from driving a vehicle.

Growing up, Dulmage was a fan of the New York Mets and Giants, but most of his pastimes are now on the back burner. His company was recently taken over by a larger corporation and his work schedule never seems to slow down. That’s a good thing, though, because he loves his job and his company.

In the hours he does have free, poker fills the void, challenging his mind and need for some competition.

How big would it be for him to cash in the event after coming so far?

“It would be amazing!” Dulmage said. “I tell myself that I’m going up against some professionals and some guys who obviously spend a lot more time playing than I have the time to play. So I’m kind of coming into their backyard, but I’m going to stay focused and play the game that I’ve learned how to play, try to keep my emotions out of it, and stick with the fundamentals and the percentages and the math. A win would be a story I’d love to tell. I’m going to give it my best.”

Looking to win your way to a World Poker Tour event for your shot at becoming a WPT champion? Play for your chance on ClubWPT.com, where eligible VIP Members can play for over $100,000 in cash and prizes each month, including seats to WPT events, no purchase necessary.