It was his very first Father’s Day, but Ben Ponzio ended up spending it at a poker table rather than at home with his wife and daughter in 2007. Not many would blame him for making that choice, though, as he was on his way to a World Series of Poker victory.

Ponzio is an advertising sales manager for WBBM-FM in Chicago and lives in nearby Elmwood Park, Ill. He makes too good a living where he’s at to consider becoming a full-time poker player, but that doesn’t stop him from dabbling in it as a serious hobby. He’s been to the World Series three times and has a previous cash in 2005 in the $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em event.

The graduate of the University of Illinois definitely has the brains to be a poker pro, though. He may have a degree in speech and communications, but he was no slouch in mathematics either.

Ponzio developed and was credited with a math theorem while in high school. He had come up with a formula designed to measure the size of circles.

Those math skills will definitely come in handy as he’s counting his $599,109 winnings from the 2007 $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em event, and as he straps on his WSOP gold bracelet as well.

He may pop up in more WSOP tournaments in the future, but in the meantime, Ponzio plans to go back to his day job and continue to play poker tournaments on the side in Chicaco where he gained most of his experience.