Has Tom Dwan Ever Gone Broke?

8 years ago
Tom Dwan Has Been Off The Radar, But He Isn't Broke
15:32
03 Nov

Seven years ago, in one of his many national TV spazz-outs, the ‘Poker Brat’ Phil Hellmuth made a prediction that made many laugh back then. After a suckout elimination in a heads-up match against Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan, Hellmuth told Dwan:

We’ll see if you’re even around in five years."

If we look at the current state of the poker world, we are tempted to say: “Good Game Phil!” His prediction is more or less spot on. Dwan has been off the radar for quite some time now. Hellmuth based his assumption on Tom’s reckless aggression and probably thought that the wizkid who took online poker by storm would end up broke at some point in his young career. Many say he actually is broke since he hasn’t hit the headlines in a long time. Why wouldn’t he brag with his life if he had money to spend right? So he must be broke.

Not so fast though. Just because he doesn’t play online anymore where everybody can track his winnings, it doesn’t mean he isn’t playing poker. He still plays but his focus is now live where the games are much softer and the blinds are much higher than any online high stakes limit. So he isn’t broke? Not really! Has Dwan ever gone broke? Not that likely! Here are the facts:

Pre-Black Friday: ‘durrrr’ Conquers Online Poker

Everyone agrees pre-Black Friday, Dwan was a real phenomenon. He crushed the nosebleeds on Full Tilt by playing mostly No Limit Hold’Em - especially Heads-Up - and Pot Limit Omaha. 2008 was his best year online winning over $5.4 million, according to HighStakesDB. The second part of the year 2009 though was the worst losing over $4.3 million. Overall, from 2007 till Full Tilt shutdown in April 2011, he cashed in $2,402,040...only on FT. There are no real stats of his play on sites like Paradise Poker and so on.

Besides his online status, he had numerous appearances on national TV in shows like Million Dollar Cash Game and High Stakes Poker. During the fourth season of the Million Dollar Cash Game, Dwan won the largest pot in televised poker worth over $1.1 million (YES that’s cash as in real money).

Broke anyone?


Post-Black Friday: Dwan Conquers Macau

Following Black Friday and Full Tilt’s shutdown, ‘durrrr’ was stuck. His online poker bankroll vanished and now he had to find other ways to play and earn a living. Las Vegas of Asia - Macau was a good place to start. He wasn’t a major fan of tournament poker - although he did win over $2.6 million while playing live tournaments, according to TheHendonMob - so he focused on live cash games. Soon, rumors started spreading about mind-boggling numbers: $1,250/$2,500/$5,000 and higher plus $500,000 and $1,000,000 stacks. Of course, many assumed that Dwan was staked in some form or another but how could a broke man play that high? The blinds were high and the winnings were even higher. Card Player Latin America reported a session in which the American won around $25 million (these rumors were denied by ‘durrrr’ in a 2+2 post). Reports of losing millions - ranging from $4 million to $7 million in one session were also present but at those blinds and with action at the table, the numbers aren’t that unbelievable.

‘durrrr’ also returned online teaming up with Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom to form the Full Tilt Professionals for a short period of time from November 2012 to December 2013. During that span, Dwan played over 85,000 hands and lost $236,564 at the virtual tables. Not that big of a deal for a high-roller like Dwan who spent A$500,000 in the 2014 Aussie Millions in only one tournament.

Later in 2014, he even helped his friend Paul Phua and his son to get out of jail by paying a share of the $2.5 million bail. Doesn’t look that broke after all.


How About 2015? Is Tom Dwan Broke?

Again, the facts tell us otherwise. A photo of Dwan playing in an underground basement in Macau was posted on 2+2 in July. Later that month, Daniel ‘jungleman’ Cates posted that he and ‘durrrr’ agreed to resume the ‘Durrrr Challenge’ and finish it no later than the next nine months. In August, Macau’s and now Manila's Poker King Club President Winfred Yu mentioned Dwan in an interview telling the poker community that he played the biggest cash games ever played in Manila area ($2,500/$5,000/$10,000).

Just a week ago, Poker King Club posted this tweet with ‘durrrr’ in it:

Broke? No way! Would a broke Dwan ever speak with Cates to finish the ‘Durrrr Challenge’ - which most likely will cost him an extra $1.5 million? Would he play the biggest cash games in Macau and Manila? Even if he went broke, he would still have friends in high places - not to mention the skills - to bounce back. So rest assured because ‘durrrr’ is doing just fine and he will most likely continue to visit places like Macau and Manila. As for the online environment, let’s hope we will see the $1 million challenge completed. Beyond that, Dwan’s online adventure might be as good as over.


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Florian is a freelance journalist and avid poker player with a strong passion to create unique and appealing stories.He is an experienced researcher on various topics, from business and the financial markets to psychology and the gambling industry.He blogs at Florianghe.com.Read more

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