Tom Dwan is the poster boy of high stakes cash games. He plays with an aggressive style so bold that if he had never played poker before and described his intended style for the high stakes games to you your response would probably be that this would not work for him. Yet he is arguably the most recognisable and feared players at the cash game tables respected by all players including the hard to please pros like Ivey and Antonius. Poker after Dark, High Stakes Poker and even his own Million Dollar Challenge on TV has raised Dwans profile immensely. But what makes him so interesting for poker fans?

He is known as “Durrrr” due to his online name and that has become almost a brand and identity in itself. Dwan said that he came up with the name as he knew even at the start of playing that having a name that indicated weakness to his opponents was a good idea. That should give you some idea how well suited this young man is to beating online poker games right across the Internet.

Starting with a very small buy-in Dwan built his bankroll from scratch. Players remembered Durrrr at the tables during his formative years learning the game remember an aggressive but weaker player. What separates Dwan from most Internet poker players is the immense belief that he is better than his opponents and his stomach for the large downswings that he has endured. He never gave up and did what he had to do to become the best. He has been quoted in interviews saying that he is a young man so risking $400,000 of an $800,000 bankroll was not such a problem for him. Many other players (this author included) likes the idea of this statement in theory but knows that in practise your attitude would be much different.

Tom “Durrrr” Dwan continued learning to beat each level of cash games until he was battling it out everyday with top cash game players like Patrik Antonius, Phil Ivey and David Benyamine. Plenty of players have appeared at the high stakes online poker tables and started well and then busted spectacularly (think Isildur1 and Martonas in late 2009). Dwan managed to hold his own and post large profits over time. In 2008, under a variety of usernames, Cirque De Soleil owner Guy Laliberte was alleged to have lost around $28 million dollars. Much of this went to players like Dwan and Ivey who prowled the high stakes tables looking to relieve Guy of his money. Since losing all of that money Guy has not been seen at the high stakes tables, much to the dismay of Dwan and co. These large wins gave Durrrr the bankroll that he has today allowing him to push the boundaries even further in nosebleed high stakes games.

Dwan is quite aloof during interviews saying that he does not have a secret to winning high stakes poker or “all his friends would be pros”. He does not welcome the media intrusion into his life although recently has been more visible on TV. Everything from his sexuality to his opinions on fellow professionals are probed and he remains uneasy with the attention. He was signed up recently as a member of Team Full Tilt and looked very ill at ease during the press conference announcing their mutual business relationship.

The public love Dwan because he has done what we all dream we could do. He is rumoured to have around $10 million in liquid online poker winnings and along with that stash of cash he has an excellent monthly income from Full Tilt. He has made it from online poker grinder to probably the most well-known cash game professional of the poker boom era. For many years he will be the poster boy of cash game poker. He remains willing to challenge anyone at any game and is as fearless as he is skilful. Remember his name, because Durrrr is going to be around for some time yet at the pinnacle of cash game poker.

By Malcolm Clarke

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