Todd Witteles
| Todd Witteles | |
|---|---|
 Todd Witteles in the 2005 World Series of Poker | |
| Nickname(s) | Dan Druff |
| Residence | Las Vegas, Nevada |
| World Series of Poker | |
| Bracelet(s) | 1 |
| Money finish(es) | 10 |
| Highest ITM Main Event finish | None |
Todd Witteles 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 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]
Witteles owns a portion of the popular neverwinpoker.com poker forum, where he regularly participates and offers free poker strategy advice. He also hosts two internet radio programs that broadcast from the site.
In March, 2008, Todd was selected among eight other top online poker players to participate in ESPN's "Online Poker Think Tank."[3]
Todd was a victim of the Absolute Poker/Ultimatebet "Superuser" cheating scandal. He and several other online players took part in uncovering and proving the cheating. This attracted enough media attention to where it became the subject of a story on the TV news program "60 Minutes", where Witteles was featured. The episode aired on November 30, 2008.[4] Witteles appeared on the front page of The Washington Post about the same matter.[5]
As of June 2009, his total live tournament winnings exceed $720,000.[6] His 10 cashes at the WSOP account for $571,867 of those winnings.[7]
Notes
- ^ World Series of Poker 2005 Event #36 Tournament Report
- ^ Card Player Magazine's 2005 World Series of Poker Recap
- ^ ESPN Online Poker Think Tank, Week 1
- ^ 60 Minutes Preview for November 30th
- ^ Washington Post Story about Online Poker Cheating Scandal
- ^ Hendon Mob Poker Database: Todd Witteles
- ^ World Series of Poker Earnings, worldseriesofpoker.com