Tom Dwan grew up in New Jersey as part of a sizable but close-knit family. After high school, he went to Boston University to major in Engineering. But it was during that time that he found online poker. Though he first deposited money into an online poker account during his senior year in high school, it took some time to run that first $50 into a workable bankroll. The loose college schedule allowed him to play poker online quite often, and the urge to play poker soon took over that of attending class. As he amassed what turned into a six-figure bankroll, he dropped out of college, bought a house in Texas with friends, and spent most of his time tweaking his poker game.

Dwan was coming up quickly in the online poker world. Known as “Durrrr,” people were soon tracking his wins and discovering that he was a force to be reckoned with. He moved up in limits slowly, having started with $6 sit-n-go’s and $.25-$.50 cash games, and learned quickly how to manage his ever-growing bankroll. By the time he left college, he was playing much higher stakes and aching to play live tournaments. Before he turned 21, he traveled to Canada and other places where the age requirement was younger than the U.S. He cashed in an EPT main event in London in 2005, but he felt that the experience he was gaining in live play would bode well for play in the U.S. eventually.

He was right. Dwan began hitting the WPT tournaments when he turned 21, and only a few months after doing so, he was plowing through the field of 575 players at the WPT World Poker Finals in Foxwoods. He ended up at the final table with two former champions of that event, but the unreadable play of the amateurs at the table combined with a bad run of cards led him to finish in fourth place. Though he didn’t win, he grabbed $324,244 for his efforts, and he continues to follow the WPT circuit. As he goes for his first major live tournament win, his strengths still lie in the online poker world. Reportedly, his winnings have surpassed the million dollar mark.