Tom was an amateur Duelist and a genuine fan of Duel Monsters, but his love for the game was limited by his lack of allowance money—he couldn't afford to build a decent Deck. He's best known for being used by Pegasus J. Crawford as an unwitting pawn to humiliate Bandit Keith.
When Pegasus arranged a high-profile Duel against Keith at the New York Duel Stadium, Tom was in the audience. Before the match, Pegasus took time to teach a group of kids the basics of Duel Monsters, including Tom, and even complimented how quickly Tom was picking things up. Learning that Tom couldn't afford to build a strong Deck, Pegasus simply handed him one as a gift.
The real setup came at the start of the Duel itself. Pegasus used his Millennium Eye to scan Keith's mind, then scribbled instructions on a piece of paper and handed them to Tom. Following those notes, Tom defeated Keith—though he was really just playing Pegasus's moves. Pegasus then brought Tom in front of the cameras to deliver a sales pitch: see, this is a game where even a beginner can beat a champion. Buy Duel Monsters.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
