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Doug Polk and Tom Dwan: A Budding Rivalry?

Written by Bob Rogers

If there is anything to like in show business, it is a good rivalry between two characters. Today, everything is based on public display: there have always been legendary matches fought between two sporting 'monsters' and remembered by everyone in every field. Just think of Borg-McEnroe in tennis, for example.

And this also extends to the world of professional Poker, where great friendships or heated rivalries can be forged. In this case, we are talking about one of the most recent, between two great players: Doug Polk and Tom Dwan.

Who is Tom Dwan?

Let's say it straight away. Doug Polk is not known for his charming personality. He has quarrelled with practically everyone, including a character universally known to be a role model both as a man and a player, such as Daniel Negreanu. And this time, the irascible Polk is taking it out on Tom Dwan. Who, like Polk, is exceptionally talented and comes from the same environment, namely online Poker.

Poker’s Big Stage

Online Poker is a great stage that has seen the most significant modern champions make their debut on platforms such as GGPoker UK: through portals like this, the world of Poker has seen the growth and consolidation of legends of players who have made history and have done so much for the world of Poker in general with the continuous organization of tournaments.

Tom Dwan comes from this very hothouse. He was born in Edison in 1986 and discovered internet poker very early on. He immediately showed exceptional talent, which led him in just one year to go from the tables of a few pennies to accumulate enough money to enroll in the university. But he left it almost immediately to devote himself to his vocation, professional Poker.

His online nickname is "durrrr" - a word invented by Dwan and his friends to describe someone who is doing something silly - and this alone gives an idea of his self-deprecating nature. Over time, Durrrr became an online scourge, specializing in Texas Hold'em No Limit or Pot Limit Omaha, taking on the likes of Patrick Antonius and Viktor Bloom. And winning genuinely astronomical amounts of money.

Dwan's aggressive and spectacular game is well suited to TV shows, and he quickly became a favourite on programmes such as Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker. And he has shown good performances in live tournaments, as well as online - he has a nice list of achievements such as 4 WSOP final tables, one of which is the 2nd place finish in the $1,500 NLH in 2010 - but for him, live playing is an ancillary activity.

Polk's Gauntlet for WSOP 2022

Doug Polk - who runs a YouTube channel - recently put Dwan in his crosshairs, calling him a people-pleaser but not one to compete with the greats of poker history (a role to which the humble Polk evidently believes he belongs) and challenging him to the next WSOP 2022.

Polk - who by his own admission is in "semi-retirement" has put up a million dollars on par against Dwan for a bracelet at the next WSOP 2022, adding that the rival could always put up half a million and borrow the rest from his "friends," alluding to Dwan's activities on Macau casino portals—but seeing zero chance of the rival accepting the challenge.

A simple trick to boost the ratings of his YouTube channel? There is possibly nothing like a good controversy to do it, as we have seen. Dwan has not responded to Polk's provocations, and we don't even know if he will or if he cares to do so. What is certain is that, in our opinion, a player as good as Polk should think more about his three bracelets before lashing out at others. Negreanu - whom Polk beat in a head-to-head clash, and congratulated on his prowess, has six. Perhaps class, in some cases, is proportional to the number of wins.

 

Top Image Credited to https://i.imgur.com/gxqroOb.png

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Read 3148 times Last modified on Saturday, 30 September 2023 14:10
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Bob Rogers

Bob Rogers

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