In this week's P.O. Box:

Tom Dwan went from poker’s golden boy to a pariah very quickly.

The reveal of his character has been unfolding slowly over the years with players like Jungleman and Haralabob going public about his outstanding debts, but the campaign against one of the most aggro poker players of all time really kicked into overdrive after this recent tweet from Dwan’s former friend:

Since Jetten’s post, both Haralabob ($350K) and Jungle ($1.3 mil) have resurfaced their complaints over the money they are owed by Dwan and Doug Polk is apparently in the lab making a video about the recent news.

I’m not owed any money by Dwan, but I did once launch a search to find him…

Well, it was Pete Manzinelli to be exact—an old acquaintance of mine.

After the Manz poker vlog went viral in poker circles in 2017, a site called PokerTube reached out to me to make some videos for them.

It sounded fun and the compensation was solid, so I said yes.

They told me the meta on poker Youtube at the time was Tom Dwan. “Put Dwan in the title and you’ll get views, it’s as simple as that,” they said.

They weren’t wrong.

At the time, Dwan wasn’t actually in the poker limelight. It was the mystery surrounding him that generated clicks.

He rarely did public appearances and wasn’t showing up at marquee events or tournaments anymore. He appeared to mostly spend his time in Macau, playing high stakes poker against Asian businessman. Wild rumors swirled that he might have been kidnapped by gangs like the Triads or Yakuza.

Around the same time, I had devoured a very good podcast miniseries called Missing Richard Simmons and figured it’d be the perfect fodder for spoofing the mystery surrounding Dwan’s whereabouts:

So Manz started making regular videos where he aimlessly hunted for answers about Dwan. The bit finally led to some actual news, though.

While hosting interviews for Poker Night In America at their King of The Hill heads up series, Manz learned from poker/DFS pro, Brandon Adams, that Dwan had recently gotten engaged. Manz naturally made a meal of it:

A year later, Manz participated in the Gambling Olympics with a “who’s who of indsutry personalities,” one of which included Adams.

Sidebar: our squad won the competition and Manz got third. It was extremely fun.

One of the days we were in Vegas, Adams messaged me that he was wrapping up lunch with Dwan if I wanted to swing by and meet him. Um, of course. I was giddy. I could finally get some closure to the bit and a fun photo for Twitter.

I immediately called an Uber and headed to the Mandarin where they were eating. I was about halfway there when Adams sent a follow-up text, “Dwan bounced. He’s flighty like that, sorry.”

You’re telling me.

Five years later, I did finally get to meet Dwan.

I was in Los Angeles with Underdog for the Super Bowl (the one where Cooper Kupp won MVP) and Jeremy hosted a party on the Saturday afternoon that made me feel extremely fake young.

At some point, I see Dwan roll in. I was giddy, once again. I remember trying to quickly explain to Nick Ercolano everything you’ve just read so he could understand my excitement.

I forget who Dwan was with or why he was there (there was an ice sculpture and a taco bar, so that probably explains it), but I decided that I would introduce myself if I got the chance.

Bad idea.

Later in the evening he happened to walk by me, so I stepped in front of him and introduced myself. I figured I’d slow play the whole Manz thing and just mention that we have some mutual acquaintances and go from there.

When I say he wasn’t interested in talking to me—and I’m legit laughing as I remember this—I mean, he was reallllly not interested in talking to me. After mumbling only a few words, he swam past me like a defensive lineman discarding a 185lb offensive lineman on his way to the QB.

I don’t blame him whatsoever, either, I’m sure a large chunk of his life has been spent fending off poker fanboys—but his immediate and extreme level of disinterest was hilarious.

Never meet your parody character’s fake heroes, or however the saying goes.

For more strolling down memory lane, including some other old Manz stories, be sure to check out the interview I did with Neil Orfield on his new show this week:

The Dwan stuff, in the end, is actually kind of sad. It seems like he has a legitimate gambling addiction. There are some striking parallels between the Bill Walters/Phil Mickelson dynamic and Dwan bearding for Haralabob.

Literally as of yesterday, Dwan appears to have partnered with one of the more sketchy poker sites out there—ACR—presumably to scrounge up more funds for gambling, debts, and the like.

It’s honestly incredible that his celebrity status as a fun action player has buoyed his reputation this long, but the walls appear to finally be closing in on him.

I sincerely hope he pays his debts and finds a way out of this hole.

☕ Big Board Drafts Post-Combine. Hopped in two Big Board drafts to navigate the new landscape, see which WRs are screaming up draft boards, and alienate the chat:

📈 How To Handle Rookie Risers On Underdog. Highlighted the four biggest risers after the Combine and explained why I’m still buying in this piece for Fantasy Life:

☣ Pat Mayo’s Underdog Deal & Wild DFS ideas. Pat returns to LOLz to discuss his decision to leave behind DraftKings and partner with Underdog, the Tom Dwan debt news, and big ideas that would generate hype in DFS.

🏆 Fantasy Life roundup. Wrote about the WRs who torched the Combine and how Marvin Mims is making his way back into my life.

🍾 & ⏰ Moooooore Big Board Drafts. Man, it became Drafting & Streaming Szn so quickly. Ripped one on The Club with Clay & Andy, then another with the Badge Bros (a specifically WR-crazed one).

🚢 Combine Takes, Free Agency Rumors & TE Targets. Gretch identifies a screaming TE target in drafts and shares his thoughts on all of the UW prospects in the draft. Pete convinces Pat to move a rookie up his ranks. And we dream up the best possible landing spots for the FA RBs.

Book #4 for March (55%): The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson

Over halfway done with this book and still loving it.

Some thoughts from Historical Anomalies in the Discord:

While I have an appreciation for architecture, and have gone on a couple Chicago architecture tours, I have no aptitude for architecture /construction / engineering. It amazes me that they could have built such a huge mini-city in such a short period of time without the help of modern day equipment/technology. It is like traveling in Europe/Asia/to a greater extent the pyramids in Egypt. Hard to imagine how they were able to construct such buildings with the equipment available at the time.

I feel the same way. I’ve also felt tons of panic and anxiety on their behalf as they deal with frigid temperatures, deaths, worker strikes, personal health issues, and power struggles amid the ultimate time crunch.

What a small world it is. The six degrees of Kevin Bacon, where so many famous people knew each other, or at least knew of each other with the limited communication/travel of the time was amazing.

That has been a super fun element to the book. Thomas Edison! Walt Disney! Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley!

The sheer number of inventions created in the short time period. Necessity breeds invention, and maybe the big dream of the World's Fair necessitated the invention of so many things we still use today, but it was very impressive the number of inventions that can be tied back to the fair, in such short time period.

The Ferris Wheel gets all the pub from the book, but let’s not forget Bloom bringing the “belly dance” to America.

The extents these Chicagoans would go to stick it to the French and the coastal elites is inspiring. The response to the critic in New York slamming their lack of sophistication was very funny:

“One Chicago newspaper called McAllister “A Mouse Colored Ass.”

Book #5 for March (Haven’t Started): Recursion by Blake Crouch

Going to start mixing this in shortly.

Book #1 (COMPLETE): Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results by Shane Parris

Book #2 for February (COMPLETE): Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Book #3 for February (COMPLETE): Gambler Secrets from a Life at Risk by Billy Walters

Still working our way through the Oscar noms and watched Oppenheimer and Past Lives over the weekend. No one needs me to sell them on the former, but the latter blew me away.

A decade-spanning love story might not sound up your alley, but it’s a stunningly beautiful movie from the playwright Celine Song. It’s less than two hours, but never feels rushed or forced, either.

Also, if you want some Oscars betting alpha…I bet Past Lives for Best Original Screenplay at +1200 (7.7% implied odds). Ben Zaumer’s model gives it a 23% chance to win over Anatomy of a Fall, so some nice value and a sweat for a great flick.

We got one show on tap this weekend for Youtube Members:

Excited to talk to Tej Seth from Sumer Sports about the NFL, data analytics, best ball, and the like. Become a YT member to watch live (top 2 tiers).

Need more newslettering? Check out the Fantasy Life newsletter I write regularly: