The high-stakes cash game tables were in full swing on Full Tilt during the opening three months of 2010 with Tom “durrrr” Dwan sitting on top of the world. Actually, he was sitting on a big pile of cash while sitting on top of the world. Durrrr logged more than 2,000 individual cash game sessions for a $2 million profit in fewer than 90 days. He won more than $1 million at the HORSE tables at the end of January, but donated all of it back. Dwan’s no-limit game faltered a bit, but it’s the lucrative pot-limit Omaha tables where he generated the bulk of his net worth. Even the lethargic “durrrr” Challenge momentarily resumed with Dwan beating up Patrik Antonius in a couple of sessions. Dwan’s 2010 winnings peaked at $3 million in early February; however, at the end of March, Dwan got his butt kicked by Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahmaies. Even though he dropped more than a million, Dwan still began the first quarter of 2010 with an impressive start. Cole South ended 2009 as one of the top players to watch in 2010. He lived up to the high expectations with a $3.5 million score in just 800 sessions during January. South has since come back down to reality, but it was not pretty. Crash landings never are. February was particularly cruel to South because in just 28 days, he lost over $2 million at the pot-limit Omaha tables. I can’t think of another player who experienced bigger swings than South during a volatile first quarter. Speaking of huge swings ... Isildur1 began 2010 in hiding after going busto at the end of 2009. The Swedish pro made a triumphant return and quickly ran his roll up over $2 million. But we all knew what was going to happen. Gravity seems to have a horrendous affect on Isildur1’s bankroll. Within days of posting a high water mark with his winnings, Isildur1 tilted off most of his cash at the pot-limit Omaha tables and went busto. Again. Patrik Antonius was bogged down in a dismal losing streak for all of 2010. He’s currently down $3.5 million. It didn’t matter where he played because he couldn’t string together consecutive winning sessions. Antonius suffered over a million in losses at the HORSE tables and almost $3 million playing pot-limit Omaha. I don’t think too many people are worried about Antonius. He’s one of those phenomenal players who can easily wipe out his loses in a single weekend. Just like the other regulars at the nosebleed tables, he’s waiting for another shot at Isildur1. With the exception of Antonius, no one is having a more dreadful start to 2010 than Brian Townsend. The Southern California pro is stuck almost $2 million. He’s been running just as bad at pot-limit Omaha as he has been at the HORSE tables. Gus Hansen dominated the high-stakes HORSE games in early February with a $2.6 million score. Alas, the Great Dane couldn’t bank all of those winnings after he incurred losses at the tumultuous pot-limit Omaha tables. Hansen is still up $1 million over 2,800 sessions. With Isildur1 fizzling in and out of the picture and Antonius running bad, Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahmaies garnered a significant amount of attention during a $3 million winning streak. From late February to the end of March, Sahmaies went on a tear with a couple of epic slug outs with Cole South and Tom Dwan. Sahmaies’ bouts overshadowed Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn. The young Russian quietly accumulated over $2.2 million in profits equally divided among HORSE and pot-limit Omaha. With the exception of Dwan and Sahmaies, no one has had a better start to 2010 than Kostritsyn. Running hot: durrrr, Ziigmund, PostflopAction, NEKOTYAN, Uridanger. Running cold: Patrik Antonius, Brian Townsend, Matatuk, Richard Ashby, howisitfeellike. Paul ‘Dr. Pauly’ McGuire is the author of the upcoming book ‘Lost Vegas’. You can read his poker blog, Tao of Poker, over at www.taopoker.com.