Poker News

The weekend looked like it would be a calm one from poker players on Twitter… until Tom “durrrr” Dwan made his assault on Event #11, a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event, at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). With Dwan making the final table with the chip lead – and with anywhere from $5 to $15 million on the line in prop bets – even the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo tournament took a back seat as players sweated whether “durrrr” would cash in on a big payday.

Prior to the start of the WSOP, Dwan blogged that he would take 3-1 odds on him winning a bracelet during the 57-event schedule. It seems many players took him up on his offer, with PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu noting Sunday night, “The atmosphere in the room is electric. So many of us have bets against Durrr winning. 3 left and we are sweating hard!” Joe Reitman, who arrived to watch the final table play out, noted the same thing when he Tweeted, “This Durrrr thing is the craziest final table I have sweated… So much side action it is crazy!”

After Dwan fell short of his bracelet goal in finishing second to New Zealand’s Simon Watt, UB.com pro Annie Duke Tweeted, “Players in the Stud 8 or better championship breathe a sigh of relief as Tom Dwan finishes second. Never a bigger swing in a $1,500 than 2day.” Duke’s brother, Howard Lederer, echoed his sister’s sentiments when he simply Tweeted, “……..exhale,” to his followers. There were many Tweets along that line as the reality of millions of dollars potentially changing hands sunk in.

“Congrats to Tom Dwan! We were all rooting for you… To come second! Wow I escaped. What a sweat that was,” Negreanu Tweeted following the close call. Noted tournament reporter and WSOP photographer B.J. Nemeth passed along a thought from Mike Matusow” “Mike @TheMouthMatusow said there should be a shrine to Simon Watt in Bobby’s Room. He saved the players in the Big Game millions,” while Full Tilt Poker pro Erik Seidel made note of Dwan’s performance in Tweeting, “Durrr was a player away from winning the main event of the WSOP 5 months early.”

Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar, who was one of many who seemed to be cheering on “durrrr,” summed up the day’s events by Tweeting, “Very brutal for Tom to get so close, still so many events to go, won’t be the last time everyone has to hold their breath.” Negreanu got the final word on the Dwan run, Tweeting, “Just finished chatting with Durr. That kid is amazing. Rather than jump off a bridge, he is smiling and gearing up for the next one. Cool cat.”

Away from the tense action at the WSOP, Phil Laak continued on his drive at the Bellagio to eclipse the Guinness World Record for consecutive hours playing poker. He stormed by the previous record (78 hours) on Friday, but continued on, playing $10/$20 No Limit Hold’em in an attempt to put the record out of reach. It did seem as though the sleeplessness was beginning to catch up with “The Unabomber,” as he Tweeted Sunday morning, “100 in reach – pacing things – I am having stellar time – wish u were here – decided that no matter how it plays out this is it – no repeats.”

As the marathon session wore on, Laak’s number of Tweets dropped, but top female cash game player Thuy Doan picked up the slack as she sat in for a marathon session of her own. “Phil is about to hit 100 hours of playing. Me, 16 hours,” Doan Tweeted as Laak hit the triple-digit mark. “I’m up bout 12k, Phil is up 9k.” Doan would eventually end her run at 25 hours to head to the Rio to watch Dwan’s final table.

Just before ending his marathon, Laak picked up his messages to his fans on Twitter. “Seratonin levels r crushing!!! So happy – wow.. I manufactured my very own high.. 3 days to make it – don’t want to waste it!,” Laak tweeted at the 108-hour mark. His record attempt came to an end on Monday morning, with “The Unabomber” happily firing off a Twitpic of himself  sleeping with the conclusion: “115 hours later… Bedtime… Ahhhh!”

Basketball once again took center stage as the NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics entered Game Two on Sunday night. “At the Staples Center where I belong, rooting for the Lakers in game 2 of the NBA finals,” chirped Maria Ho from the battleground. “Celtics and @GregFBT, you’re going down!” Tiffany Michelle decided to take a break from the activities of the WSOP, Tweeting, “A 3.5hr drive from Vegas to LA ain’t no thang when there’s a Laker game at the end of it!”

Picking up the Celtics as his favorite team – at least for his betting action – was Reitman. “I have the Celtics for $20 at the half and $20 +4 for the game….let’s go green,” he Tweeted prior to the start of the game. “Watching this game, and watching the fans in LA, it’s so hard to not absolutely love the Celts and their spirit,” Haralabos Voulgaris Tweeted as the Celtics moved out to a good lead. Joe Sebok also noted the Celtic run when he Tweeted, “Man, all those Lakers fans that usually send me hate messages are really quiet for some reason. Hmmm.”

For Tweets of the Week, Seidel took center stage as he mixed his poker game with the situation in the Gulf of Mexico: “0 for 7 so far at the WSOP. I’m calling BP in the morning to see if they can cap my gushing pockets.” In another Tweet, Seidel recounted a conversation on his way to the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo tournament: “Rio guard stopped me to ask if I dumped the NBC HU to @realannieduke. Starting off the day on tilt.” Finally, Shannon Elizabeth demonstrated the demands of being a celebrity when she Tweeted, “I pushed with A/J & got called by A/5 & there was the 5 right on the flop-just like that my day is through. Such a bummer. Did I mention the guy that made the bad call had JUST asked me to sign his chest? I said no-was too weird.”

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