Massachusetts golf rep has side gig as pro poker player — and he's made $4 million

A screen grab of Leominster's Bryan Leskowitz pondering his next move in the Borgata Winter Poker Open in January in Atlantic City, where he finished third and won $148,180.

Leskowitz probably won’t play poker again in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas in July. He’ll be too busy with golf.

He’s been a sales rep for Cobra Puma Golf since 2019 and he’s responsible for all of Massachusetts except the North Shore, as well as northern Connecticut and all of Rhode Island. He sells golf equipment to managers at such stores as Golfers Warehouse and PGA Tour Superstore and to golf pros at golf courses.

Cobra Puma’s hot items are the 3D printed irons which are designed for improved forgiveness. Lewkowitz said a set of seven of them sell for $2,000, but that’s down from the $3,499 original cost.

Leskowitz believes he’s become better at poker than golf because he’s played it much more often. He takes different approaches with the two.

“I fire at the pins,” he said. “I’d say I’m more of an aggressive golfer than a poker player. In poker, I tend to play a little closer to the vest, play a little more passively. In golf, I’m firing away for sure.”

The 2.7 handicapper drives the ball about 275 yards and his iron play is his strength. He hits a lot of greens.

“There’s going to be luck in golf every once in a while,” he said, “but you kind of make your own breaks in golf. In poker, the cards are going to fall as they may. You just need to try to play each hand optimally and hope it works out in your favor. You have a little more control on the golf course.”

It’s important to remain calm on the golf course, but even more so at the poker table. That can be a challenge, however.

“I get more frustrated in poker than in golf now,” he said. “It used to be vice versa. Now, I just enjoy my golf.”

In addition to working in golf and playing poker, Leskowitz plays pool, travels the world and takes classes to earn his pilot’s license.

“It’s not boring,” he said. “I’m a Renaissance Man for sure. I can never stay in one place at one time. I’ve got to have a lot of activities. Even in poker, just the social aspect, I try to use that to my advantage. Yeah, it’s a fun life. I can’t complain.”

Leskowitz has also had fun working dozens of golf tournaments off-camera for NBC, including three Ryder Cups, two U.S. Opens and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil. He uses a yardage book to figure out yardages to the front of the green and to the pin for on-course reporter Notah Begay.

NBC pays him enough to cover his expenses, but not much more. He doesn't care.

“I definitely would have done it for free,” he said.

He met the NBC staffers while he and his father volunteered at the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston in 2004 to track distances via ShotLink lasers. He was a student at UMass-Amherst at the time working toward a degree in sport management.

Leskowitz served an internship for the New England PGA in tournament operations and junior golf. In 2008, he joined the NEPGA as director of junior golf operations for the next four summers.

NEPGA executive director Mike Higgins hired Leskowitz and introduced him to poker. Higgins worked with a poker company that raised money at golf tournaments for charity. Leskowitz dealt at the events and began playing poker on the side.

Eventually, he decided to try playing poker for a living.

He left the NEPGA in early 2011 and played poker full-time for five years until 2016. You might say that he took a gamble, but it paid off. In March of 2011, he finished fifth in a No Limit Hold’em in L.A. and won $100,000.

In addition to traveling to poker tournaments, he supplemented his income by playing online. He did well the first couple of years, but the Department of Justice shut down several online gaming sites so his last couple of years weren’t as profitable.

So he got back into golf. He worked for Titleist as a field service rep for two years, handling local fitting events and demo days in greater Boston and northern Rhode Island. In 2019, he joined Cobra Puma Golf.

From March of 2019 until June of 2024, he played in only two poker tournaments partly because of the pandemic and also because he was establishing himself with Cobra Puma. Over the past couple of years, he’s played much more frequently, especially during the winter when the golf business slows down.

Leskowitz also plays 9-ball and 8-ball pool at the Leominster Eagles Club on a team made up of all men with one exception - his mother. Their team reached the nationals in Las Vegas in 2023 and 2024, and finished seventh in 2023 out of 760 teams. The players split $4,000.

In November, Leskowitz began taking classes at FCA Flight Center at Fitchburg Municipal Airport and he expects to earn his pilot’s license within the next year.

Leskowitz loves to travel. He’s played poker throughout Europe, including at Prague, Barcelona, Amsterdam and London. He’s also been to Serbia, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan. He’s visited 45 countries in all, but his father has been to even more.

Leskowitz played baseball until he got hooked on golf during his freshman year of high school. He golfed for Leominster High, rotating between No. 1 and No. 2 with teammate Phil Johnson. He won a couple of events and qualified for the state tournament twice. His best round was a 2-under 33 for nine holes at Monoosnock CC, Leominster’s home course.

He plays in a golf league on Wednesdays at Butternut Farm Golf Club in Stow and he also plays at such courses as Red Tail, Shaker Hills and Oak Hill.

Higgins invites him to play at Worcester Country Club a couple times a year.

“I would say that Worcester is probably my personal favorite,” he said, “in a 30-mile radius.”

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—Contact Bill Doyle at bcdoyle15@charter.net.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Massachusetts man's poker wins help golf career