When it comes to the $500 Pot-Limit Omaha Eight-or-Better event here at the Borgata Winter Poker Open, Thomas Hill is one of a kind. As in, he was the sole online qualifier for the event. He beat a friend heads up in a $50 satellite.

"There weren't that many people in it, but a win's a win," he said.

Hill, 26, hails from Robbinsville, N.J., which he said is about a 90-minute drive away. Most of his play comes online nowadays, but he was drawn to the Winter Poker Open to play his favorite game.

"There's a lot more people willing to gamble and get it in," he said when asked what he likes best about PLO8. "It fits the way I think better."

When Hill does decide to play live, he travels with a small group of about seven that Hill called a "team/study group."

"We call ourselves 'Team Kitten,'" he said, pointing at his T-shirt, pictured. "We all have the shirt but nobody's wearing it. We usually reserve it for final days or final tables, but I figured since this was a one-day event, it counts."

His only concrete plan for the rest of the tournament series is, unsurprisingly, to enter the limit O8 tournament.

Tags: Thomas Hill