In a surprising news, Full Tilt Poker sponsored player Tom “durrrr” Dwan is departing ways with the site after sponsoring the site since 2009. He was one of “The Professionals” – a group of high stakes regulars, who could be regularly seen playing at the nosebleed Pot Limit Omaha and No Limit Holdem tables at Full Tilt.
Dwan and Hansen were the only two Full Tilt Poker sponsored players that played and were sponsored pros as part of the original Team Full Tilt, alongside names like Lederer and Ferguson. But then after Black Friday and the fiasco that followed, the Rational Group (parent company of PokerStars) struck up a deal with the US Department of Justice to acquire the assets of Full Tilt.
After rumors began circulating it became immediately clear that Dwan’s FTP sponsorship had all but dried up after Dwan’s picture was removed from the login screen of Full Tilt’s poker client, which now only shows Viktor ”Islidur1” Blom and Gus Hansen.
The exact reason for Full Tilt Poker not renewing Dwan’s contract is unknown, but considering PokerStars now owns Full Tilt, it no longer views it as a direct competitor, so there isn’t any real reason to continue paying what was likely a huge chunk of change to keep him as a sponsored player to promote the site, even though he would still be viewed as one of the best high stakes poker players in the game, which is what the site is well known for.
Since moving to Macau to be close to the ultra high stakes live games he has been playing there since 2012, it has also meant he has gotten in considerably less volume on Full Tilt. In the past year, he also didn’t do much in the way of promoting the site on the tournament circuit, as he played in few live events, preferring to play in the Macau games instead. This was also the reason for the delay with The Durrrr Challenge against Daniel Cates, which is still yet to be finalized, and questions have been raised as to whether it will be now, due to Dwan no longer sponsoring the site.
As a result, the $10K “Bust a Pro” promotion, which is currently running on the site, will not feature Tom Dwan. In this promotion, players who qualify will get to play in head-up matches against Gus Hansen or Isildur1.
Dwan’s poker story is similar to most people. He deposited a small amount of money and built up a bankroll primarily playing in sit and gos at first. But the similarities end there, as he experienced an incredible amount of success in a very short period of time, amassing a multi-million dollar bankroll all from online poker, migrating from tournaments to cash games which became his bread and butter.
A big part of Full Tilt Poker’s early success can be attributed to high stakes cash game players like Dwan. Since 2007, he has entertained his loyal railbird fanbase. Everytime he sat down at an online table, lots of railbirds would open up his tables to sweat his every move and watch the action in amazement.
Although Full Tilt terminating Dwan’s contract came as a surprise, choosing him as an ambassador for the site was an obvious choice that resulted in lots of new players joining the site so they could rail him. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for him as a professional online and live player. You would have to think Full Tilt Poker will be looking to replace Dwan, otherwise “The Professionals” on Full Tilt will only consist of two players.