(Featured image: courtesy of WPT)
You’ve probably heard “rags to riches” stories in the past and think that they’re too mainstream. But the thing is, it really happens to some people, and that’s exactly what Tom Dwan went through.
Thomas Dwan Jr. is a popular pro poker player who has rocked both online and live tournaments. He is a hardcore high-stakes roller and he isn’t afraid of losing millions in one sitting. This fearless man got some really great poker skills to back up his moves.
He appeared in several seasons of Poker After Dark, which is a very popular show featuring the best players in the industry. And, back then he is known to have played mostly on FullTilt.
He also got impressive achievements in live tournaments. In 2019 alone, his live tourney winnings reached to $3+ million. That was 2 to 3 years ago. So you can only imagine how much in total he has now.
| Full Name: Thomas Dwan Jr. | |
| DOB: July 30, 1986 | |
| Birthplace: Edison, New Jersey | |
| Profession: Professional poker player | |
| Wife/Fiance: Bianca Rossi | |
| WSOP Cashes: 10 | |
| Net Worth & Career Earnings: $13+ million |
Table of Contents
Thomas Dwan Jr. Bio
Tom goes by the name “Durrrr” in the online poker community. He is born in Edison, New Jersey and until now, he is still living in the same city. Information about his parents and siblings haven’t been mentioned publicly, and I guess that’s kinda Dwan’s thing. Even his personal life is kept private.
He went to Boston University to get an engineering degree. However, the academic world didn’t really enthrall him too much so he decided to drop out after the first year and then went on to get a full-time career as a pro poker player. For some, it might be a huge leap of faith, but for most serious poker players, it’s worth the shot.
It was revealed that before deciding to go full time on the felt, he worked at McDonalds. Now, look at where he is – successful and popular.
Poker Career
He was one of the players who started with almost nothing. In fact, he only had a $50 bankroll to begin with. Can you imagine just how long you could last on actual poker tables with just that?
Well, to Dwan, it didn’t seem to matter because he wanted to pursue the career. It kinda looked like he knew he was gonna roll that over a thousand times more.
That $50 was a gift from his father when he turned 17. Since he wasn’t legally allowed to play in live tournaments or actual poker rooms, he mostly played sit-and-go at online poker tables. It was not a smooth journey though. There was a time when he almost had nothing left. But, he didn’t give up.
He decided to change course and play heads-up and other cash games instead. Within less than 6 months, he was able to turn that $50 bankroll into a $15,000 fund.
Since it wasn’t legal to participate in live tournaments in the US if you’re under 21, Tom decided to join foreign events instead. In fact, he was the 12th placer in the European Poker Tour €3,000 No-limit Hold’em Texas main event. He was 19 then and he took home $12,000 as a cash prize.
During his lifetime, he’s played with poker stars of all ages, like Daniel Negreanu, Patrik Antonius, Fedor Holz, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, Vanessa Selbst, and many others.
He also appeared in a bunch of TV shows and live streams including PokerGo and Hustler Casino Live. Recently, he’s played with other G.O.A.T.S like Patrik Antonius, Phil Ivey, Richard Salomon, Doyle Brunson, and Garrett Adelstein in those shows.
If you haven’t heard it yet, Tom Dwan currently holds the title for winning the largest pot ever recorded on live television at Hustler Casino just this May of 2023. The pot blew up to $3.1M+ as he went up against Wesley. He won $1.6M from that episode alone.
Here’s a clip of his epic win:
Aside from that huge win, he had several other smaller wins at HC throughout the year, approximately $1.1M+ in total.
Tom also participated in several Triton Poker tournaments and won roughly around $400,000 this year. This now brings his total net worth to $13M+.
$1 Million Dollar Challenge
In 2009, Tom started the million-dollar challenge. It involves playing with anyone online except Phil Galfond.
The goal was to beat other players in heads up game of 50,000 hands with stakes of $200/$400. The condition stated that when his rival is ahead of him after 50,000 hands, he’s gonna pay him an additional $1.5 million. And if he takes the lead, he will get $500,000 more.
It was Daniel ‘Jungleman’ Cates and Patrik Antonius who took the challenge. Many fans were looking forward to whoever won the bet, but that didn’t happen.
Eventually, one player (The Jungleman) accused Dwan of bailing out of the challenge saying he stopped playing. Dan Cates was ahead of him by more than a million dollars in 2013. He revealed that Tom gave him about $800,000 as a penalty for failing to play the game and continue the challenge.
Personal Life
Thomas has had several girls linked to him and admitted that they were dating for some time. But in 2017, he finally announced that he was marrying Bianca Rossi.
Allegedly, they were expecting a child by then but this was never confirmed. However, we can all see that Bianca has set her IG username as “durrrrswife” so it was an indirect confirmation of their relationship.
Tom Dwan Net Worth
Right now, Tom’s net worth is estimated to be around $13+ million.
According to The Hendon Mob, his total live earnings up to date is $5,018,036. But, that’s not his only income. Remember he mostly plays online and cash games so the estimate is fair enough.
Anyway, here are Durrrr’s best cashes at the WSOP so far:
- 8th place 2019 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series London ($250,000 No-limit Holdem) – $793,775
- 5th place 2019 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series London ($100,000 No-limit Holdem) – $624,514
- 6th place 2014 APPT 8 Aussie Millions – $446,700
- 2nd place 2010 41st Annual WSOP – $381,885
- 4th place 2007 WPT Finals – $324,244
So, do you have anything to add about Thomas “Durrrr” Dwan Jr.? Don’t hesitate to share them in the comments section below!