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Poker player profile: Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan
Tom "Durrr" Dwan plays at Full Tilt Poker. Click here now to play online with Durrr.
Do you remember what you were doing at 17? If you were like me, you probably went to school, maybe worked a part-time job, and hung out with your friends. If your name happens to be Tom Dwan, you were beginning your journey toward being one of the greatest online players of all-time!
Dwan, known online as ‘durrrr’ --with a varying number of R’s depending on the site—can now be found sitting in Full Tilt Poker’s biggest games, buying-in for $40,000-$100,000 a table. While most kids his age were picking colleges, and worrying about summer jobs, Dwan was working his way up through the online ranks.
Casual poker players are just beginning to be aware of the now 22 year old prodigy who tests his skills against the best players in the world on a daily basis: Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, and Gus Hansen are in his regular game. And, if that lineup wasn’t oozing enough danger for you, Dwan also has to contend with the top online players: Di ‘URindanger’ Dang, Ilares ‘ziigmund’ Vilahes, and Dwan’s close friend Phil OMGClayAiken’ Galfond.
So where has Dwan been hiding? The obvious answer is at Full Tilt, Poker Stars, and any other number of online sites: The real answer is, Dwan has been unable to cash in on the poker boom until recently, because of his age!
All that is changing now that ‘durrrr’ can compete in televised tournaments and events. Dwan’s relentless aggression and fearless play on Season 5 of High Stakes Poker has brought his name to the forefront; alongside Doyle, Daniel, Ivey, and Hellmuth. When the WPT first hit the airwaves everyone wanted to be Gus Hansen, now every high school and college kid wants to be Tom Dwan.
Dwan made huge headlines in January 2009 when he issued a $1,000,000 challenge to play anybody heads-up --for 50,000 hands-- 4-tabling 200/400 or higher No Limit Holdem or Pot Limit Omaha. In addition to the winnings, if his opponent is ahead after 50,000 hands, Dwan agreed to give them $1,500,000. If Dwan is ahead he will get an additional $500,000 from his opponent: Effectively laying the best players in the world 3 to 1 odds..
The challenge –known as the durrr challenge online—caused a huge buzz on forums like 2+2 and pocketfives. Dwan’s first taker was Patrik Antonius. At this time Patrik holds about a $400k lead, after 14,000 or so hands. After Patrik, it is believed that Dwan will be tangling with Phil Ivey. But don’t feel too bad for Tom, or think the 22 year old has bitten off more than he can chew: According to highstakesdb.com, Dwan won $5.4 million on Full Tilt in 2008!
Dwan also has a couple of distinctions:
#1 – Dwan lost the biggest pot ever recorded in an online game --$723,938—to Di Dang. Dwan held KK, and Dang had the cooler, AA.
#2 – Dwan won the biggest pot ever during season 5 of High Stakes Poker --$919,600—from Barry Greenstein. WSOP Champ Peter Eastgate opened the pot with AKs, Greenstein popped it to 15k with AA, Dwan called with KQs, and Eastgate made the over-call. The flop came 42Q with two spades, giving Dwan top pair and a flush draw. Dwan bet out, Greenstein raised, Dwan re-raised, before Greenstein pushed all-in. Of course Dwan made the snap-call. Greenstein (who wanted to run it once) offered to take some money out of the pot, but Dwan rejected the offer. When a second Queen hit on the turn, and the river was a blank, Dwan took down the pot of $919,600.
What are you waiting for. Sign up at Full Tilt Poker now and you could be the next Durrr. |
