Tomko was born and raised in Glassport, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. He began playing poker profitably as a 16-year-old in Pittsburgh pool halls which allowed him to finance his education. Tomko worked as a kindergarten teacher for several years, but often played poker through the night. After Tomko realised that playing poker was more profitable than his job, he invested a sum of his winnings into businesses while choosing to play poker full-time and leaving his full-time job.
Poker career
Tomko won his first career WSOP bracelet in 1979 in the $1,000 No Limit Hold'em event. He defeated Duanne Hammrich heads-up to win the title and $48,000 cash prize. At the 1984 WSOP, Dewey won two bracelets. First, he won the $10,000 Deuce-to-Seven Draw event. The next day, he went back-to-back, winning the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha with re-buys event for his third bracelet. In addition to his WSOP success, Tomko has made two World Poker Tour final tables. He finished runner-up in the 2003 Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $552,853 and in fourth place in the Costa Rica Classic for $14,650. Tomko has played every WSOP Main Event since 1974 which is currently the longest active streak. Tomko finished in 3rd place in the 2005 WSOPDeuce-To-Seven lowball event worth $138,160. He also made the final table of the first WSOP $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. tournament in 2006 which featured some of the best tournament and cash game poker players in the world. He finished in 7th place earning $343,200. As of 2010, Tomko's total live tournament winnings exceed $4,960,000. Just over half of his tournament winnings, $2,641,573, have come at the WSOP. He is a 2008 inductee into the Poker Hall of Fame. He was inducted alongside Henry Orenstein.
World Series of Poker bracelets
Family
Tomko is married with an 8-year-old son. He also has three adult children from his first marriage. His son, Derek, encouraged him to return to playing poker tournaments.
Golf
Tomko is an excellent golfer, spending much of his time on the golf course when he is not playing poker. He has played with many of his fellow high-stakes poker players like Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, and many others. One of his most frequent golf partners is fellow poker professional Hilbert Shirey, who also lives in Tomko's hometown of Winter Haven, Florida. Rick Reilly chronicles a day with Dewey on a golf course in his book Who's Your Caddy. In it, he contends that Tomko is not interested in competition if there is not a wager riding on it. On NBC's Poker After Dark, poker professional and 2004 WSOP Main Event champion Greg Raymer noted that professional golfer Rocco Mediate has said that if he had one person to putt for his life, it would be Tomko.
