World Series of Poker – Dwyte Pilgrim
At the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Regional Circuit Championship at Harrah’s Rincon, a revitalized Team PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu fresh off winning the rematch of Viktor “Isildur1” Blom’s Superstar Showdown was running good, though not as good as the Rodney Dangerfield of poker pros, Dwyte Pilgrim.
The Brooklyn born native is one of the least known pros on the circuit despite earning three WSOP Circuit gold rings, a World Poker Tour (WPT) title at the 2010 Borgata Poker Open and racking up some $1.7 million in career earnings. Not only that, but he gets no respect from the poker forums where threads run long questioning if Dwyte the Pilgrim is for real and debating at length his level of poker playing skills.
Despite having only been on the radar since the beginning of 2008, he made a small cash at the Borgata and four more in WSOP Circuit events that year with the highest buy-in being the $5,000 No Limit Holdem Championship Event, where he placed seventh for prize money of $34,684.
In 2009, he did a lot better, cashing in fourteen events and first winning the $500 No Limit Holdem WSOP Circuit tournament at Caesars Palace in Atlantic City, banking $ 83,955, and then taking down the $5,000 No Limit Holdem WSOP Circuit Championship Event at Harrahs Rincon in San Diego pocketing $125,775, with both wins taking place in the month of March.
At the time, Pilgrim had this to say to his detractors, “Somebody is always trying to tear you down and take away from your accomplishments. But if you look at what I’ve done in my first 18 months [playing professionally], there’s not that many people that can match it.”
In 2010, Pilgrim was right on it again. By April, he had made the final tables in 9 events, and chalked up 4 tournament victories, the most prestigious of which were winning the titles in two events at the Southern Poker Championship, owning the Mega Stack Challenge at Foxwoods, and in March once again taking down the WSOP Circuit event at Harrah’s Rincon.
In September, he earned a WPT title at the Borgata Poker Open, Atlantic City, banking another $733,802.
He got a little attention then, but it was more of the doubting kind, as if the competition in the events he played was inferior somehow. Yet, he remained unbowed, saying, “I always feel like Ive got something to prove . . . Thats why I’m playing these WPTs, to prove to all the doubters about my game. Im just going to keep working hard on my game, keep playing these WPTs and I may even start playing a few EPTs just to show them my game over there. To prove to everyone I can hang with the big boys.”
Pilgrim ended up finishing 7th at the WSOPC Rincon, though if he had won the event and earned another gold ring, he would have tied Mark “Pegasus” Smith and Men “the Master” Nguyen who each have four.
Pilgrim has yet to be sponsored by an online poker site and plays online using the username “dwyte718pilgrim”. No news yet on if Dwyte Pilgrim will be attending the next World Series of Poker.
