Tom Dwan Returns to US to Appear in New Poker After Dark

Tom Dwan Returns to US to Appear in New Poker After Dark
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PokerListings Team Editorial Team
Fact Checked: PokerListings
  • Updated: September 28, 2026
  • Read time: 2 min

Legendary cash game player Tom “durrrr” Dwan is heading back to America to star in the new season of Poker After Dark.

Dwan has been MIA stateside the last few years as he’s invested most of his time playing in some of the biggest games in Macau and Manila.

The Edison, NJ, native will participate in all three days of the revamped PAD cash game, which debuts next Monday, Aug. 14 at 8:00 p.m. ET and runs through Aug. 16. The show will be available to all PokerGo subscribers.

Dwan will face against a stacked table that includes Jean-Robert Bellande, Antonio Esfandiari, Daniel Negreanu, Lauren Roberts and Bill Klein.

Return of the King?

Tom Dwan will take part in the cash game portion of PAD as the first three days will be a $100,000 minimum buy-in cash game with $200/$400 blinds and a $400 button ante.

tom dwan5
Tom “durrrr” Dwan

Dwan will also stick around Tuesday night and Wednesday night where he’ll compete against the likes of Doyle Brunson and Andrew Robl.

Interestingly Dwan dominated PAD when he first appeared on the program, back in the late 2000s.

It helped that the cards seemed to go his way but Dwan notable won massive pots off Bob Safai, Patrick Antonius and Phil Ivey.

High Stakes Poker is where Dwan truly broke out as a TV poker star but he continued to build his legend with a few outrageous bluffs on PAD.

Dwan told Poker Central that he still gets asked about his appearances on PAD and HSP, even in Asia, and that helped motivate him to get involved with the new season.

It’s been years since Dwan showed up at the WSOP so this will be the first time poker fans will get to see him play in a considerable amount of time.

Full Lineup of PAD Games

Cash games aren’t the only thing on the agenda for the revamped PAD as the following week, Aug. 22-24 will revert back to the familiar Sit & Go format of the original show.

Doyle Brunson
Even Doyle Brunson is going to play PAD!

The Sit & Go’s will feature two $25k buy-in events and a bigger $50k buy-in event.

PAD will continue hosting events well into September with a variety of episodes including another $50k Sit & Go and a $200k minimum buy-in cash game.

The PAD schedule will be briefly interrupted by the recently announced Poker Masters, which runs Sept. 13-20 at Aria Resort & Casino.

The high roller-focused Poker Masters features a week of $50,000 buy-in tournaments culminating with a three-day $100,000.

Live streams of feature tables and final tables will be available on PokerGO.

The player who earns the most over the five events will receive an exclusive purple jacket, similar to famous green jacket of the Masters.