Dan Druff

From NeverwinPoker WIKI

Todd "Dan Druff" Witteles (born 1972) is an American professional poker player. A former computer scientist, Witteles made poker his full-time pursuit in 2003.

Primarily a cash-game player, Witteles entered his first tournament at the 2005 World Series of Poker, where he played the $1500 Limit Texas Hold 'em event. He finished in third place out of a field of 1,049 entrants, with the final table being shown on ESPN. He took home nearly $116,000 after getting knocked out of the tournament by 21-year-old Eric Froehlich. As a gimmick, Witteles used a small Head & Shoulders bottle to protect his cards while playing, in reference to his online moniker, "Dan Druff."

Nearly a month later, Witteles entered his second tournament, again at the World Series of Poker. This time he played the $3,000 Limit Hold 'em event, and bested his result in his previous tournament by finishing first, earning a World Series of Poker gold bracelet and $347,385. Witteles set a World Series of Poker record, as no other player in history has finished better in their first two events.[1] He was also named CardPlayer Magazine's 2005 World Series of Poker Player of the Year.[2]

After finishing 2nd and 6th in smaller Los Angeles-area tournaments, Witteles picked up his next major cash by finishing 4th at the Caribbean Poker Classic on the island of St. Kitts. He won $87,000 for that effort, and it was his first appearance at the final table of a major No Limit Hold 'em event. Although sparingly reported, there was talk in the poker community of an incident that occurred during this tournament in which Witteles was involved. According to an unnamed source, Witteles became enraged after losing a pot and verbally attacked the dealer, eventually challenging him to engage in "fisticuffs." Although the validity of this story has been questioned by some, Witteles himself has never publicly addressed the allegations.

At the 2006 World Series of Poker, Witteles finished in 12th place at the $1500 Limit Hold 'em Shootout, and earned $34,589 for his 4th-place finish in a $1500 No Limit event. He ended up cashing three times in the 2006 Series. At the 2007 World Series of Poker, he finished 10th in a $1000 No Limit Hold 'em with rebuys event.

In November 2006, Witteles made the final table in the first-ever live tournament of the new game "Hold 'em Blackjack," a game that is actually similar to a hybrid between Seven-Card Stud and Blackjack. He finished in 5th place in the event.

As of 2007, his total live tournament winnings exceed $650,000.