WATCH: Tom Dwan Interview at Triton Jeju
Formerly a staple on televised high-stakes cash games, Tom Dwan has a bit of a fabled status in the poker world, amplified all the more by his scarce presence at popular poker stops and in the media.
At the Triton Super High Roller series currently under way in Jeju, South Korea, Triton's Peter Latham sat down with the high-stakes poker pro to get his thoughts on the evolution of the game over the past decade, and how he's changed over the years.
An older and wiser "Durrrr" than fans may remember from those classic days of "High Stakes Poker," he's still also much the same, putting in long hours at the poker tables when games are good. The locations and actual form of poker he's been playing may be the most significant changes from those treasured Vegas and online days of old.
Ahead of the Short Deck Curve
London, Montenegro and Asia are among the many locations he frequents and most enjoys playing at, in part because of the availability of his game of choice, short deck. In this increasingly popular format, Dwan was ahead of the curve and thinks it has a bright future
"I was learning short deck like three years before everyone else, so I had that one handled for a while," Dwan laughed. "No, my problem is other people are starting to learn it now. Actually a lot of the people are getting quite good.
"I was learning short deck like three years before everyone else."
"I think it's more action. I think it's more fun overall and it's a less predatory environment."
Still Grinding
The Triton High Roller series are some of the only poker festivals Dwan still attends, though he admits he seems to have success mostly in the cash games rather than the tournaments on offer. When it comes down to it, Dwan is still the calm and collected professional poker player that fans grew to admire when he was a regular on their television screens.
"Someday I'd like to have poker not be my main focus."
Though Dwan wouldn't characterize himself as ever "being in love with the game," retirement is not likely in the cards for the 32-year-old any time soon.
"Someday I'd like to have poker not be my main focus, but I think I'll still be playing some of the time, at least for the foreseeable future. But yeah, pulling a bunch of 30-hour sessions in a row... Yeah I'd like to have that be a much less common thing at some point in the future... Working on it."
You can watch the full Triton interview with Dwan in the video above.
