Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan
Legendary online poker star Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan recently journeyed across the Pacific to have another run at super rich Chinese businessmen in round two of the big game in the Asian city of Macau. Joining Dwan were fellow pros Patrik Antonius, John Juanda, Johnny Chan and Phil Ivey. The stakes began at 10,000 / 20,000 HKD (1 USD = approx. 7.8 HKD) in the private high rollers no limit hold’em game at the Starworld Casino.
Dwan reportedly played in the first session for thirty hours straight, though he is known for his stamina, having played more hands of poker than just about any pro around. At the last big game in Macau in November 2010, he is said to have bagged over $9 million in winnings when all was said and done.
Born in Edison, New Jersey on July 30, 1986 Dwan’s poker beginnings have a familiar ring, being yet another young gun who had made over a million dollars playing online before saying adios to college and focusing solely on improving his poker game. He started with a fifty-dollar deposit (a 17th birthday present from his dad) in 2004, and never looked back, amassing a mega-bankroll and quickly moving up through the levels, on the way up playing against the very best in the world.
He recently blogged that he made a $25 deposit on both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker for his girlfriend in the hopes that she will be able to build a bankroll with her first fifty dollars as well.
Dwan multi-tabled his way into legend with a super-aggressive style of play, pressing the margins and frustrating opponents. His play is analyzed endlessly and members of poker forums follow his antics with a fervor usually reserved for rock stars.edian and former ‘Wee Back Kotter’ star Gabe Kaplan likes to say, “It’s durrrr’s world – we just live in it.”
He plays on his own schedule and lives withoutmitment, making decisions on the spur of the moment and giving into whim. He makes millions, loses millions. He has been involved in historic hands and two of the biggest pots yet televised.
The first was during the fifth season of High Stakes Poker. Playing against Barry Greenstein, he pulled three Queens to win in excess of $919,000. Then, playing against Phil Ivey on Full Tilt Poker’s Million Dollar Cash Game, he won the largest pot ever televised thus far, a monster equaling $1.1 million. In total, Dwan has been a part of four of the seven biggest pots in the history of online poker
But the Full Tilt pro made his biggest splash to date issuing what’s known as the Durrrr Challenge. He put up $1.5 million against any player’s $500,000 to play heads up multi-tabling four tables for a total of 50,000 hands. The first player to accept was Patrik Antonius, and they have thus far played over 39,000 hands.
The second pro to take part has been Dan “jungleman12” Cates, and their sessions have exceeded 17,000 hands. Phil Ivey and David Benyamine are also expected to take the challenge at some point.
Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan is also a member of the prestigious Team Full Tilt.
