Tom Dwan wins his first two live tourneys within days of each other

Tom Dwan has had quite a week in Madrid, winning two tournaments at the Triton high roller series at the Casino Gran Via. These are the first two live tournament titles in his long and otherwise pretty illustrious career.

Given that he has been one of the top poker players in the world for almost two decades, it might surprise you to hear that Dwan had never won a live tournament before. However, Dwan's sparse success on the live tourney circuit probably had more to do with a lack of participation than anything else.

Dwan is primarily a cash player and until Black Friday, would rarely play live at all (his iconic turns on High Stakes Poker notwithstanding.

Some detractors might point out that the skill set required to beat 200-1,000 big blind deep cash games is substantially different to that of the tournament specialist. But it is hard to imagine that if Dwan had shown more of an interest in live tourneys he'd have gone this long without a win.

He has come close to a title before. His Hendon Mob page lists $5.9 million in live tournament cashes, seven second-place finishes, and another 26 finishes in the top ten.

This was one of the best places for him to break that pattern of also-running since Triton — the event organizer — is his sponsor.

The Omaha coast

Dwan's first title was last Sunday in the €25k PLO event.

Twenty-five players entered and by the time the rebuy period closed, there nine rebuys on the table. This made for a €850,000 prize pool.

Dwan came into the final table with more than a third of the chips in play. A combination of smooth play and a hot deck saw him practically coast to first place. Even the formidable presence of Patrik Antonius and Jeremy Ausmus — who Dwan beat heads up to take the title — couldn't slow him down. Dwan's play was a clinic in tournament Omaha.

Dwan took home €290,000 for first place.

Triton Madrid Event #11: €25,000 Pot Limit Omaha complete results

Turbo boosted

Dwan's second win came yesterday (Wednesday, May 25, 2022. Mark the date). The event was the €30k buy-in short deck turbo event.

The high-speed, one-day donkament garnered 33 entries (9 of which were rebuys) and a prize pool of €990,000. Of this, €336,000 went to Dwan for his first-place finish.

Dwan beat Elton Tsang heads-up at the same that Jason Koon was winning the €150k on the other side of the room. Dwan called across the casino floor to Koon, saying: “I wanted that one. You wanna swap?”

Koon replied: "A win’s a win. You went from no Triton wins to two!”

Triton Madrid Event #14: €30,000 Short Deck Ante Only Turbo complete results

Featured image source: Triton Poker