Derrick Oliver Dewan is the founder of High Roller Radio and has interviewed a number of the world's top poker players and gamblers. A former radio and television broadcaster, Derrick was brand manager for Poker Pro Canada magazine and has written for a variety of publications, including the Toronto Star & Windsor Life.
Posted Articles
Gambling Heartbreak is No Joke, But Sometimes it’s Funny
This is a funny story about the pitfalls, or in some cases the horrors, of gambling. Let’s call it a dark comedy. We’ve all felt the sting of an agonizing casino loss. The kind that breaks the budget and causes regret, and it can be devastating to deal with. The…
What are the Odds the Toronto Raptors Repeat as NBA Champions?
Basketball fans are anxiously counting down the hours until tip off on tonight’s NBA restart. After the coronavirus wreaked havoc, shutting down the season, along with everything else, their favourite stars are set to return to action following a nearly five-month hiatus. They won’t be able to attend the games,…
Largest Pots in Poker History and More Exciting Moments
What’s the biggest poker pot you’ve ever won? A few hundred bucks? A few thousand? It’s all pocket change to Tom Dwan. Known for playing the highest stakes possible, nosebleed stakes, the American has no fear. He has become a central figure in the richest cash games around the world,…
5 of Poker’s Most Exciting Moments
It’s one of the most iconic, pre-packaged intros’ in television history. If you were a child of the of the sixties, seventies or eighties, you likely won’t remember the entire voice over, but surely two of its catch phrases have been forever lodged in your memory. The opening narration was…
How Poker Youtuber Ryan Depaulo won a WSOP Bracelet from His Car
Jack Strauss won the 1982 world championship after being down to a single chip earlier in the tournament, giving birth to the now legendary phrase, ‘a chip and a chair.’ Stu Ungar, deeply in debt and clearly affected by years of cocaine addiction, displayed his sheer class in dominating the…
Clearing the Air with Poker Pro Tom McEvoy
Fate. Destiny. Poker Gods. Tom McEvoy’s had a bit of everything in his poker career. It’s run the whole gamut of human emotion. And, in 1983, he reached the game’s pinnacle after beating Rodney Peate to win the World Series of Poker main event. He was 38-years old, a newly…
The Last Dance: Canadians Who Deserve Their Own Version
Chances are you’ve already seen it, but did you know The Last Dance wasn’t supposed to be aired until this month? The 10-part sports documentary, produced by ESPN Films and Netflix, was originally slated for a June release but, because of the coronavirus pandemic, executives chose to green light the mini-series…
How Canada and USA are Working to Re-open Casinos
Just like the political landscape has changed in the United States, so has the gambling scene. For years, the casino industries have provided people an escape. An entertaining night out. Not to mention all the action they could ask for. But over the past few months that luxury has been…
Going High & Low in Omaha
Laurence Peter, the late Canadian educator and “hierarchiologist,” once said, “the problem with temptation is that you may not get another chance.” Best known for his 1969 publication of The Peter Principle, he most certainly wasn’t talking about the game of Omaha Hi/Lo, where second chances sometimes come in handy.
Burgers & Bracelets: The Story of Calen ‘Big Wheel’ McNeil
Poker is a cutthroat business. Those at the top of the game make a living off of exploiting weaker opponents, using their chips as weapons, and bullying the smaller stacks. They will bluff and check raise an adversary into oblivion with no qualm. Calen ‘Big Wheel’ McNeil is one…
