Arguably the Best Player Online
Many people download Full Tilt Poker thinking that with enough studying, they will eventually have the bankroll to play versus Tom Dwan, otherwise known as “durrr”. The 23 year old has become one of the most well known poker players in the world. He started as an online player, so it makes sense that most of his success has come online. He’s starting to turn heads in the brick-and-mortars recently, however. He has played in several live events since turning 21, and he has appeared on TV on several high stakes poker shows.
Dwan’s first real money poker was played on Paradise Poker, one of the top gambling sites around that time. Once he was able to beat the sit-n-go’s there, he moved to cash games on Full Tilt. Dwan has played countless hours online. Becoming great at multi-tabling gave him the ability to download Full Tilt Poker and see incredible volumes. Because of this, his bankroll rose impressively as he climbed to higher buy-ins.
Being the cream of the crop doesn’t mean your game is variance-free. Dwan prefers to play heads-up poker, so it’s not surprising that he has had some crazy swings during his career. He has both won and lost millions in a single session. The most famous downswing he’s had was courtesy of a player from Sweden named “Isildur1”, who sat with him on multiple heads-up tables. By the time they were finished, Dwan’s bankroll was around $5 million poorer. I think that I would quit poker for Craps online if I lost that much money in a week, but Dwan obviously has enough mental toughness to fight through the variance.
In January 2009, Dwan announced his $1 million challenge. He is willing to play any player (except Phil Galfond) heads-up for 50k hands while playing 4 tables. Dwan will put up $1.5 million for his opponent’s $500k – the winner of the 50k series will receive the extra money. If you would like to take this challenge, simply use a Full Tilt referral code and make a screen name.
To date Dwan has cashed for around $1.5 million in live tournament poker. He has done a lot of travelling, and as such he has made money in Europe and Australia aside from the U.S. His best WSOP finish was last year in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event where he finished 2nd for $381,885. Many players breathed a sigh of relief when Dwan did not win a because apparently a lot of people were betting on whether or not he would win one last year. I would rather earn a Roulette bonus than make crazy WSOP props like these!
Dwan always had respect from the online pros, but playing several live events and appearing on TV shows such as Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker has earned him respect from the live pros, as well. He’s only 23 years old and look at all the fame he’s achieved already! We can only expect more great things in the years to come, too. Are you inspired now? Drop your Blackjack download and play some poker instead.
