The Rise of durrrr: Tom Dwan's Early Poker Career

Tom Dwan, known by his online poker handle durrrr, began his online poker career in 2004. He opened an account on Paradise Poker with a $50 deposit made by his father and registered under the nickname durrrr to tilt his opponents. Tom Dwan started playing SnG tournaments for $5 and quickly dropped to $2 tournaments after losing $35. He managed to build his bankroll to $300 from the remaining $15 and switched to cash games NLHE $0.25/0.50.

Tom Dwan quickly outgrew the maximum limits on Paradise Poker and registered accounts on PokerStars and PartyPoker. By the end of 2004, he was already playing at $10/20 and $25/50 stakes. Taylor "Green Plastic" Caby recalled durrrr's unique playing style on Ultimate Bet, noting his aggressive 3-betting and tight play out of position. Mike "Timex" McDonald mentioned a tournament in June 2006 where he played against durrrr, who was known for playing almost every hand.

Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo shared a story from the PCA in January 2005, where durrrr made a poor call against a strong player and was eliminated. Justin "Boosted J" Smith recalled intense heads-up matches with durrrr on Ultimate Bet in mid-2006, involving constant re-raises and check-raises. pokerprochris noted that mehbahmeh (durrrr's alias on PartyPoker) was one of the top regulars at the $10/20 limit. Inyaface mentioned that mehbahmeh was one of the most minus players in his database of 70k hands. Moonshine recalled mehbahmeh playing aggressively on full tables at PartyPoker in 2005-2006. teddyFBI initially marked mehbahmeh as a fish but had to remove the label when he realized durrrr was winning consistently.