rofl what please tell me how some internet story about poker radio djs who hated each other is amazing
rofl what please tell me how some internet story about poker radio djs who hated each other is amazing
I played regularly 30-60 and 50-100 limit Holdem on stars, occasionally playing the 100-200 when I thought the game was good. Back then it was common for 3 if not more 6 max 100-200's going with maybe even a full ring one going as well.
2005 (my last real job) I ran Rehab at the Hard Rock. Well, the casino part of it with swim up blackjack games, a craps table, roulette etc.
Neverwin came to Rehab with his fiancé after I had invited them and put them on a guest list. Back then unless you were juiced, a celebrity or a ridiculously hot girl, the wait to get to the pool could be as long as 5 hours.
Dustin and I kept in touch after that and we started hanging out when he would come to Vegas or I would come to LA. In one of our first meetings (2005) he told me to check out a website he owned. He didn't talk about shooting off or any other part of the site except the HOF forum. He told me I would insanely get some laughs out if it.
That was the first part of the forum I ever lurked. I had never been a member of any other forum before. I ended up regging in early 2006.
Dustin was at my house one day and told me about this girl named Brandi. I knew nothing at all about forum drama and gossip. My poker career considered of playing online, playing live at the Bellagio and trips to commence every 2 months or so.
I was at the Bellagio one evening right after Dustin had told me about this Brandi girl. I was playing 80-160 and had taken a break. I walked out to the bar by the poker room and she literally bumped into me as she was texting someone and not paying attention. The first words I said to her were something along the lines of "crazy meeting you, we have a mutual friend Dustin"
Dustin taught me a lot about limit Holdem (especially short handed) and in my opinion for a certain time he was probably the best online short handed limit poker player in the world.
He invited me to stay with him in February of 2006. Actually, he invited both Brandi and I. He had an older, but gorgeous house in Santa Monica that now would have been worth a million and change easily if he still owned it.
I had been playing mostly at commerce the 100-200 and 200-400 mostly since the LAPC was underway and the games were good.
I came back to his house one night rather late. Dustin was in a frenzy because he had busted both poker stars and his full tilt account, although I don't remember how much. He was tilted because he couldn't get a hold of anyone to loan/transfer him money.
He found eventually $11 he had on UB. He started playing I kid you not Roshambo on there until he grinded up $50 or so. Then played no limit Holdem on UB until he had $300. He then jumped in some 8-16 game or 10-20 lhe on UB as well and ran that up to 1k and change.
Finally he found some one awake that transferred him money on full tilt for his UB. He played HU 30-60, then 50-100 until he beat the guy out of all his money. I only remember this because Dustin knew the guy and the guy asked Dustin to transfer/loan him money back to try to beat Dustin for the money he just lost lol (Dustin said no)
Dustin eventually got money on poker stars for his full tilt cash. He had 5k or so on stars now and began playing Kobeyard heads up. I remember when he crossed the 10k threshold I thought it was the sickest thing I had ever seen and told him to quit and go to bed.
He didn't.
I passed out on a couch behind his desk and when I woke up he was playing 500-1k with around 120k in front of him. I'll be honest, after seeing him do that, I was shocked, impressed, in awe and maybe even a little jealous.
It was the type of story that if I hadn't witnessed most of it, I wouldn't of believed it.
He ended up quitting and going to bed up over 120k. He cashed out a bit, paid off a little debt and lost it all back the next day by playing 1-2k on stars.
Funny side note, I think this was maybe 2008 or 2009 but I am at neverwins Vegas house. I by that time had started playing mix games more than lhe. I'm playing 20-40 8 game and he is playing 100-200 or 200-400 on stars and ended up crushing someone.
Afterwards he see's Durr on AIM. Dustin messages Durr that he is going to send him 25k towards the 100k he owes Durr. Durr tells Dustin he has no idea what he is talking about. Dustin ends the messaging right there.
I'm like WTF Dustin? Dustin shows me a transfer history on stars that shown Durr had sent him sure as shit a 100k 6 months or so prior.
Amazing.
Oh, I met Micon from Dustin and then Druff from Micon.
I first met Micon at the Mirage playing a cash game. The next time I saw him was when he just had moved to Vegas and was staying with VeeRob amongst other men such as GamleAB. All the rooms were full so Micon had put up a sheet with clothes pins that seperated half the living room, making half of it his semi private bedroom.
I swear to this day I can remember him telling me inside the curtain how much he was looking forward to the upcoming weekend. He had some comped nights at the Venetian and a pretty red head from Georgia was flying to see him.
Thank you all for health concerns. Still very precarious. If this ends up killing me, I want nothing more than my family, friends and cohorts to find my name in a thread here with the obligatory "later fag"
Godspeed
zOd
Substance abuse is prevalent in the legal field. I was more of a drinker back in my day, and even went to rehab. You can find attorneys doing all kinds of drugs, but it eventually catches up to them. Back in the 80s more attorneys did coke, but so did pretty much everyone.Originally Posted by varys
Youre a lawyer right?
It seems like most lawyers love blow, whereas almost all bail bondsmen are on meth. How far off am i?
I have escorted lol wow out of the thread
Since we are reminiscing and my head isn't pounding, I'll go on a bit. I forget a lot of posters and lurkers of the fraud site don't know all of the history behind my involvement.
I first met Druff (although he probably won't remember) during my 2006 Commerce trip. Brandi was standing behind me sweating my game and Druff walked over from his even bigger game to get a close look at Brandi. I don't say that in a mean way or anything. Only after I met her did I start reading the stuff that was online and I realize how she became a curiosity/trainwreck for others to watch. I introduced myself to Druff as Dustins friend but he at that point didn't know who I was nor paid me much mind.
2007 was the year it seemed that the rest of the mid/high stakes limit community closed the gap with Dustin. He was still winning but not as frequent and he was no where near dominating as he had been. He had purchased two expensive home (Santa Monica and Vegas) based on his earnings in the prior years online and a very decent 2006 wsop (I think some where near 500k in cashes). His house in Vegas was in a very upscale part of Vegas on a golf course. His monthly nut for both houses (mortgages, electric, etc) approached 10k a month and Dustin lived a pretty stereotypical young poker player with money baller lifestyle.
The stress to keep up the income stream he had made in the prior years started to take there toll on him. He spent 2007 mostly in LA at times with MadCady and a unknown BoostedJ (Justin Smith) staying with him.
This was also the year that Dustin and Newhouse (playing on one account) played Joe Cassidy (and I forget his tag teammate) 500-1k limit Holdem on stars heads up for over 48 hours straight. I'm not disclosing any secrets here. It was right before the wsop and Dustin (and I think Newhouse) did an interview at the WSOP talking about that epic match. Dustin and Newhouse were up 6 figures plus at many points during the match but eventually ended going bust.
I think this is what lead to poker stars shutting down the majority of High stakes limit Holdem players accounts. Anyone who had transferred with Dudtin, had played at Dustins house, had shared an ip Dustin had used had there accounts suspended.
The head of security called me. I remember his name was Israel. He told me I had a sign a form stating I would only play under my account, not let anyone use my account, and not play on any secondary accounts.
I will fully admit back in the day I had two accounts on stars. I never colluded but I let others play on my secondary account and I played on it when I wanted anonymity. Not making excuses but most high limit players in that era had more than one account or shared accounts with others.
Many might not know or remember that Nevermin got banned for 6 months for violating the terms I had mentioned above after being warned. Newhouse too. In fact Newhouse eventually received a life time ban from stars. I'm sure Druff probably remembers this better than this.
Also, even though in 2007 we weren't friends yet I avoided as best I can playing with Druff. He was a good player and I knew of his involvement with both Micon and Dustin. However in 2007 Druff and I started playing hu 100-200 on stars. I ran very good and won a good amount in the session. We played 200-400 hu a short time later and I continued to run really good. I remember I was up 20k or so and sat out. I don't remember what Druff said, but he some hie egged me on (probably something like "you can only win against me by hitting and running me). I should have put aside my ego and quit, but I sat in again and Druff won a great deal of the 20k I had won from him back. I didn't lose but I remember being pissed up only a couple k instead of 20k. Plus, Druff played a lot more hu and short handed than me. I preferred 6 Max and full ring.
Most every night on stars you could find a 9 handed 30-60 or 50-100 game. If you just posted solid and non spewy you could almost certainly book a win. I liked the decreased variance in 6 max+ versus hu or short handed.
January 2008 is when the disaster occurred with Brandi. I remember the first time I went out publicly after that happened was to a 7pm nightly tourney the Sahara had. Micon had invited me and wanted me to get out of the house. That's also the first time I ever met Druff and we spoke. Do you remember this Druff?
I will say this: For those that know about the fall out between Micon and I, everything i ever said regarding that was true. Our friendship shouldn't have ended over the ridiculous circumstances that it did. We probably would have grown apart anyhow (drones, anti-American propaganda) but Micon was an absolutely amazing friend to me after what had happened.
That night after the Sahara, we are all getting ready to head to our cars and go our seperate ways. Micon pulls me over to the side. I truly remember it like it was yesterday.
He puts his arm on my shoulder and says "I don't have much money but whatever you need you can have. I just want you to be ok".
I politely declined but I always remembered the gesture. That made it even more sad for our friendship to eventually end over money.
Micon and I became very very close in early 2008. We talked every day on the phone. By the end of the 2008 wsop barely a day went by without us going to the same casino to play together at night or grab a meal during the day.
This is when he also involved me more with NWP, especially radio. In 2008 I was given the title as "producer" of the radio show. I would come up with a few segments and also sit in on radio as a third host.
Druff can vouch for this. For over a year I did radio with them and spoke maybe 5% of the show. I knew my place. The people weren't listening for me. It took me a couple of years to hone my skills and build up a following.
I will however let it be known that I came up with the idea for the premise of the massage parlor $50 back call as well as getting Coolio on radio talking Gangsta Paradise to us. Those are 2 of my favorite podcasts among many.
To be continued.
Last edited by Drexel; 07-20-2016 at 08:26 PM. Reason: 500-1k marathon session not 1k-2k
Brandon, I remember some of what you posted.
I have no memory of coming over to check out Brandi. In fact, I'm pretty sure I wasn't coming over to check out Brandi, as my first memory of seeing her in person was at the Borgata. I think I probably came over to the table for some other reason, and maybe didn't even notice Brandi there (or quickly glanced at her and just thought it was some random girlfriend of a player.)
I don't remember the first time we met, though. I had always thought it was at one of those parties by Mariealena/Silence, but I don't have a clear memory of it.
Speaking of meeting Brandi at Borgata, I remember she was wearing a shirt which was accidentally see-through (that is, it was more see-through than she realized), and she was self-conscious about it and kept trying to cover up her chest. There is some picture out there (maybe you have it) of Miri, Brandi, and some other girl, taken that night. I took that picture.
I remember Brandi telling me that she was stuck in AC because the guy she came with wanted her to have sex with him, and he didn't make that clear when he invited her. I told her that any guy in poker doing her favors was probably going to be angling for sex in some way. She said she understood, but wasn't sure if this was true of everyone. She then went on to tell me that a guy invited her to the January 2008 PCA, and offered to pay all of her expenses. She insisted that he never made any moves toward her, and was "a nice guy who just wanted to help". I told her to test him by saying that she couldn't make it, but that Dan Druff heard about this and wanted to take him up on the offer instead. She laughed, and admitted that he probably was inviting her expecting something.
I never found out how she got home. This was in September 2007. Maybe you helped her out.
I don't think 2006 was a very good year for Dustin. 2005 was his big year at the WSOP, where he finished 32nd. Here is some NWP trivia for you. Each of the original NWP faces-at-the-top (Dustin, me, and Micon) had exactly one big run at the WSOP.
Dustin finished 32nd in 2005.
Micon finished 63rd in 2006.
I finished 88th in 2010.
The only other cash at the Main between the three of us was Micon's in the summer of 2011, but it was a min cash, and I believe he was staked for it and was in makeup, so I think he had to give it to get crunk or someone like that.
Regarding Brandon being "producer" of NWP Radio, his account is true. Brandon was more of the "behind the scenes" guy who came up with a lot of hilarious ideas for segments and calls, and then Micon and I would execute them. Brandon was mostly a background 3rd person on the show, not too different from how we sometimes have a background 3rd host on PFA Radio these days, where the vast majority of talking comes from me and Brandon.
At some point Brandon transitioned into becoming a full-fledged 3rd host, equivalent to both Micon and myself. I don't think he was officially promoted, but just started getting more involved in the conversation and things flowed well.
It is true that the trio of Brandon, me, and Micon had a great dynamic on radio when everything was going well. It did go downhill in the final year of my involvement of DD Radio, where Micon was getting increasingly bored with radio (and DD in general), and was constantly battling with us regarding the show length and his lack of attentiveness during the show.
BTW, I remember coming to meet up with Dustin and Madcaddy on a few occasions to trade them cash for Stars chips.
One of the the times was in Dustin's infamous Vegas house of horrors, when the "Asian Jen" domestic violence incident occurred. Dustin and Jen were both acting crazy, and it eventually got physical. I think Jen instigated the physical contact by shoving, but Dustin started giving it back. At some point Jen picked up a weapon (I think it was a knife, but I forget), at which point Madcaddy and I jumped in and restrained her, putting a stop to the whole thing. We told them they had to separate, and Jen went outside and called some friend to go pick her up. That was when I bailed. I saw her outside complaining on the phone to someone about Dustin.
Don't feel too sorry for Jen. She was a career scammer and a horrible person, and eventually got arrested in both Vegas (for identity theft) and Australia (for drug smuggling). She also stole a bunch of stuff from Dustin at one point and extorted money out of him to get it back (which he paid!)
Another time I met Dustin and Madcaddy at some condo in Long Beach, CA (I think it was Madcaddy's), and the two of them were clearly fucked up on something. Madcaddy handed me two pink $5k Commerce chips, and I then transferred $10k on Stars to them. Presumably they chunked it off. I think that was the last time I saw Madcaddy.
Good thread.
Need to keep more of those stories coming on the radio guys, to listeners it's pure gold.
Whatever happened to Dustin?
BALLIN'!!
Some epic stories ITT.
As for me, I was a high school classmate of Micon's (but we were never close), and dabbled in poker, when another classmate of ours mentioned to me than Micon was a poker pro and had a web site which was NWP at the time. That was 2007 or 2008 maybe.
druff's comment about where Sanlmar came from made me recall this thread i started and i thought for sure he would have given us the answer here. anyway, i reread the thread and it was solid gold. too bad pfa sucks more often than not now.
the Christopher Mitchell thread brought me here a few years ago, i hate that sumbitch and think he is the lowest of scum...
anyways i did some google searches about CM and google brought back a search result about this place.... i lurked for awhile and even lurked some other threads.... started participating in the CM thread and then other threads as well... i barely know shit about poker but just the basics.... but here we are....
Crushing hella grapes
When I first visited PFA, I then Googled Todd Witeles and Dan Druff, and initially thought Druff might be a scammer, because I was directed to good ol’ Six Toed Pete! It didn’t take me long to realize he was batshit crazy, and joined the forum. Lol cash gifting.
I don't think I ever realized that Brandon ran part of Rehab. Back in the day, that was a hell of a scene. Wife and I and friends used to book rooms at the Hard Rock just for the pool scene on Sunday.
Druff and Micon saved my life. So 100% blame them for me.. That's not a lie. I had a huge tragedy in my life b4 the Call.
Very interesting and this explains a LOT about Drexel who many don't understand and me included for years, didn't care
I found PFA here after Black Friday when Poker was getting dark, this Forum was not 2+2 which never liked so started posting here, and the rest is history...
I think I must have gotten to radio on the apple app. I listened to PokerRoad with Gavin and the one guy's kid ("send me what you know about Ultimate Bet cheating" when he worked for UB to find cheaters, supposably) and must have been suggested to go to DD radio.
I remember the curling episode, and the bad guy pimp episode, and Micon playing video poker at the Excalibur.
Never been big on the boards, though I have bought a piece of Druff in the WSOP a couple of times.
Drexel should call in more often. Vegas news is the tits.
I am sure I posted in this thread, although to lazy to read it. I can sum it up for just about everyone though. We all got into poker on the ESPN endless poker tables on 2000s TV, especially the Moneymaker run which in the poker world was like the Miracle on Ice.
Poker has changed and in some cases ruined many lives. Look at Dutch Boyd, genius and somehow punted his career away to play cards. Point is you see these you 20s somethings back in the day, now they are in their 40s/50s and have nothing other than grinding out stakes and living a nomadic life traversing casinos. Whatever.
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