Tom Dwan loses Million Dollar Challenge...

People have made a big deal about Tom Dwan in recent weeks due to him being signed by Full Tilt Poker, and his latest Million Dollar Challenge.  Already know for his online challenges, Dwan has taken his act to London for a set of live challenges that will add up to a million dollars when everything is said and done.  The first part of the London challenge had Dwan taking on Marcello Marigliano.

Both players bought into the contest for $250,000, and the rules were that nobody left until either 500 hands had been played or one of the players was broke.  But we didn’t have to worry about the going broke part since this was largely a back and forth matchup.  On paper, Tom Dwan was the more aggressive player since he raised on the button 84% of the time and won 55% of the hands.

However, it was Marigliano who won the heads-up contest after ending up with $272,500 compared to Dwan’s $227.500.   In the aftermath of his big win, Marigliano summed up his feelings by saying, “In the end, I won a small amount, but I’m happy though as I won with bluffs.  He raised a lot pre-flop and you have to play tight, but I made some good moves, and I’m happy I proved I can play with Tom.”

The victory for Marcello is surprising since he isn’t nearly as well known as Dwan is.  However, he definitely did prove that he is capable of playing with Dwan - and even beating him!  With the Marigliano matchup now behind him, Dwan is now on to play llari Sahamies.  After he plays Sahamies, Dwan will face Sammy “Any Two” George in the final part of the challenge.

Doyle Brunson does It All: Inducted into...

Doyle Brunson’s legend in poker will be enshrined for centuries to come.  He has not only won numerous tournaments, WSOP bracelets, and other accolades, but he has also become legendary for games played in dusty Texas saloons well before he ever hit the bright lights of Las Vegas.  By the time everything is said and done, there may never be a poker player that’s done as much throughout his life as Doyle Brunson has in the game.

But what’s amazing about Doyle Brunson is that he has been so much more than just a felt jockey during his 76 years.  This was recently proved when Brunson was elected into the Hardin-Simmons University Hall of Fame.  For those who’ve never known Doyle to be more than a poker player, he was also a standout basketball and track star during his days at HSU.  Of course, the induction into the Hardin-Simmons Hall has been a llong overdue as Brunson will tell you.

Doyle told the media, ““I know a lot of people went to bat for me, and they were more anxious for this to happen than I was at this point.  I felt a little snubbed, but on the other hand I did understand the reasons.”  The reasons Brunson is talking about include the fact that he became a famous poker player out of a Baptist University.  With this being the case, HSU looked down upon his induction into the HOF for many years.

Fortunately, the right thing has finally been done and Brunson is in.  He’s definitely deserving of the honor too since he even drew NBA attention during his time at the college.  A broken leg ended that dream, but also openned up possibilities that he never could have imagined outside of basketball.

Bobby’s Room is Bigger than Ever...

For those of you who follow poker closely, Bobby’s Room in the Bellagio is a familiar name.  It’s where the best and richest live poker players go to work every day in an attempt to add to their already huge bankrolls.  The blinds are normally $4,000/$8,000 and the people there play everything from 2-7 Triple Draw to Pot-Limit Omaha. 

But I recently saw a video on the Internet of Jean Robert-Bellande talking about how the blinds have gone up to insane amounts.  $8,000/$16,000 to be exact which is the biggest regular poker game I’ve ever heard of (not counting the little challenge Andy Beal issued to Phil Ivey and all the Full Tilt fund babies of course).

Bellande went on to say that all of the regulars are in Bobby’s room like Phil Ivey and David Benyamine along with Tom Dwan who I didn’t know played there.  However, he brought up something even more interesting when he said this French business guy by the name of Surriol (???) was the one doing all the winning.  According to Jean, Surriol had all of the chips and all of the other players were sitting on short stacks.

He also mentioned that the pots they were playing for were $200,000 - $300,000 every time at least.  To be perfectly honest, playing for that much money would make me absolutely sick even if I was rich.  I don’t know how these guys are able to do it and they must have nerves of steel to put that amount of cash on the line. 

Even Robert-Bellande, who’s a well noted player, can’t handle that kind of limit as he plays at the $200/$400 limits.  I don’t think he’s alone though since almost every other player can only dream of playing for that kind of cash.

Moneymaker’s Return Busted...

Ever since his win in the 2003 WSOP Main Event, it’s safe to say that Chris Moneymaker’s poker career has been on a major downslide.  In fact, that is a bit of an understatement because out of all the major tourneys that Moneymaker has played in since his big win, the 2004 WPT Shooting Star event is the only one he’s actually had much success in (he placed 2nd there). 

But I thought that was all about to change in the World Poker Open Championship as he held a massive chip lead going into the final table.  Out of the 2.5 million chips that were in play, Moneymaker held over 1 million of them with his closest competitor - Chad Brown - holding 433,000.  This seemed like the perfect opportunity for Moneymaker to re-establish himself as a legitimate pro and grab his first notable win since the 2003 Main Event.

Unfortunately for Moneymaker, this was not to be as he blew the huge chip lead he had amassed and was struggling just to stay in the tournament with 3 people left.  Eventually, Jeremy Gaubert would knock Moneymaker out in third place en route to winning the World Poker Open Championship.  Being knocked out of the tournament not only meant that Moneymaker would be making a lot less money ($60,000 instead of $182,000), but it also meant that he had missed his chance to prove he isn’t a total lost cause.

And the only people who are going to know about Moneymaker’s 3rd place finish are those who really pay attention to poker.  The rest of the casual poker followers will probably never hear a word about Chris Moneymaker taking 3rd place in a mid-high profile tournament.  And they will keep on believing that he is a huge joke in the poker world.

Tom Dwan’s Bid for the Poker Hall ...

Out of the 10 players who were selected as nominees for the Poker Hall of Fame, Tom Dwan is by far the youngest.  Just 23 years old, Dwan is not only the youngest nominee this year by 12 years (Daniel Negreanu is second at age 35), but he would be the youngest person ever inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame by 17 years; the late Chip Reese is the youngest now at age 40.

But I seriously have to wonder if Dwan has any chance at all of getting in this year.  When looking at Tom “durrrr” Dwan’s accomplishments, he doesn’t really have anything that jumps off the paper right now.  He has never won a major land-based tournament, earned a WSOP gold bracelet, or done anything outstanding in the contributor department such as Mike Sexton. 

Perhaps durrrr’s biggest accomplishment is the fact that he best personifies the new era of poker where younger people are shedding the shackles of the traditional workforce in order to pursue a career in poker.  Dwan is the poster boy for this movement, and he is also one of the richest online poker players out there since he consistently plays $500/$1000 limits at Full Tilt Poker.  But is this enough to earn him a Hall of Fame induction?

In the end, I don’t think that Dwan has any real shot at making the Poker Hall of Fame.  He is definitely one of the better players in the world and will eventually wind up in the Hall as long as he keeps up what he’s doing.  However, I think that his nomination was more of a sign that, with the fan vote, people will be nominating the most popular players instead of the most deserving.