Our Verdict:
There’s a 21-year-old college dropout living in Texas who in less than 2 years has become one of the biggest cash game players the world has ever seen.
Tom Dwan, screen name “durrrr”, is said to have made over $2,000,000 playing the highest stakes poker the internet has to offer. He thinks nothing of sitting down for a ‘sesh’ of $200/$400 NLH with the likes of Phil Ivey, David Benyamine, Patrick Antonius and Brian “sbrugby” Townsend. He is talked about in awed tones on internet forums and chatrooms, and seen as “the man” or “ultimate balla” by those 20-somethings who seek to emulate his success. He is the poster boy for a generation of US college kids whose aggressive playing styles are often derided by older players, especially when they invoke their rallying cry of “Ship it, Holla”.
The high stakes online action has caught the attention of the poker media, notably Bluff magazine, which ran a kind of ‘At home with…’ piece on Dwan and his housemate David Benefield (aka “Raptor”) last year.
The article, headlined ‘Lifestyles of the Sick and Famous’ provides an interesting insight into the lives of the two young internet poker pros or “ballas”.
The journalist who wrote it, Chris Vaughn, describes watching Dwan in action: “Tom asked me to watch him play a quick “sesh”. Naturally, a quick sesh for Tom involved opening six tables at which the smallest limit being played was 100/200 NL Hold’em. Over the next 45 minutes, I watched him win nearly $200,000. I have never seen, and don’t expect to ever see again, anyone win that kind of money in such a short amount of time.”
Later the young internet players take Chris out for a spot of tenpin bowling and throw $100 bills around like they are confetti.
The article in turn led to TV interest with discussions now afoot about a reality TV show. Another so-called balla, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, is also involved and wrote about it in his blog recently: “I don’t know if the show will actually ever happen. They still have to pitch it to networks and everything, but I really hope it does. It would be an amazing opportunity. After the interview, Tom Dwan (Durrrr) and David Benefield (Raptor) showed up, and we shot some group pictures by the guys collection of Ferraris. I think Tom and Dave are basically seen as the guys with the lifestyle they really want to depict, and are basically the inspiration for the show in the first place.”
Dwan, who grew up in New Jersey, has come a long way since he started playing online in March 2004. Playing $5 1 SNGs he soon found out that the game could be profitable.
At first, he says, he struggled, although he made enough to keep going up through the levels. He went from $1/$2 NLH to $2.50/$5 on Paradise Poker before transferring to PokerStars. He started playing $2/$4 there before moving up to $2/$6, graduating to the staggeringly high limits he plays today.
Now, he is even being compared to a young Doyle Brunson with some of his fans even suggesting on