Bodog Beat

Lebanese poker pro Freddy Deeb is the chip leader heading into Day 5 of the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals. (Bodog Beat Image)

It looks like we could be headed for a battle of the ages at the 2007 WPT World Poker Finals at Foxwoods. With 19 players remaining, consumate poker pro Freddy Deeb and online poker phenom Tom "durrrr" Dwan are two of the hottest players in the tournament right now and could be headed for a classic "old school tournament pro" versus "new hotshot online cash game player" showdown when play resumes today. Of the two, Deeb ended the day running a little hotter than Dwan, who took a couple of beats at the very end of play to drop him from a dominating lead down to fourth in chips. Deeb currently holds the chip lead. Regardless of end of day position, the two have both been playing quality poker and a battle between the two would produce some good fireworks.

Deeb is a two-time WSOP bracelet winner who started playing poker back in 1975 (a full decade before Dwan was even born) and most recently took down the 2007 WSOP $50,000 HORSE event, which is steadily becoming the tournament that is recognized as the measure of a poker player. Deeb has countless WSOP and WPT cashes over his long career all adding up to almost $5.5 million in tournament winnings.

Dwan is – as with most online players – recognized most often by his online name "durrrr." Under that nom-de-poker, Dwan can be seen playing in the highest stake cash games that the Internet has to offer, mainly because the return on investment for online poker tournaments is not high enough for him. However, like most online players, he still wants recognition and respect in the live poker scene and has made appearances in big European events (before he turned 21) and is now focusing on the US tournament circuit. Of course, for a kid who is already well beyond financially solvent and backs so many players in events that he was rumored to be carrying upwards of $200k in his backpack during the 2007 WSOP for their buy-ins, live tournament earnings are a drop in the bucket.

Other notable players still remaining going into today include Nenad Medic, Young Phan and TJ Cloutier, who is sitting in second place and is another old school player still crushing live poker tournaments. Play resumes right about now and they will play down to the WPT final table of six. Live updates are available from PokerListings.com and CardPlayer.com.