When he issued the challenge to the best in the poker world at the beginning of 2009, Tom “durrrr” Dwan probably didn’t expect to be on the short end of the game so early.
After 13,246 hands out of the 50,000 to be played – or 26.5% of the game – “durrrr” finds himself down to one of the top players in the online or live world in Finland’s Patrik Antonius. Multitabling on the $200/$400 Pot Limit Omaha battlegrounds on Full Tilt Poker, the deficit currently sits at $488,133 at this moment. Although there is still three quarters of the fight to go, it is a monumental task that “durrrr” faces if he hopes to vanquish Antonius.
To catch up on the actual rules of the “durrrr Challenge”, Dwan has put up $1.5 million of his own money against a single player’s $500,000. The duo will battle at four $200/$400 Pot Limit Omaha tables simultaneously over a minimum of 50,000 hands. Whoever is in the lead after the designated number of hands has been played collects the loser’s stake. In addition, the player who wins keeps whatever amount, however large or small, he wins on the table. Other players who will step up to take on the “durrrr Challenge” are rumored to be Phil Ivey and David Benyamine after the completion of the first battle against Antonius.
The latest edition of the battle between Antonius and Dwan was a short one. On Sunday, the twosome hooked up at 11:15PM (Eastern Time) and played 290 hands over the next hour. “durrrr” was plagued by a bad Internet hookup throughout the hour long session, losing his connection shortly after play began and then losing it again towards the end of the hour. During that time, Dwan dropped his largest stake so far in the battle against Antonius worth $328,000. “durrrr” ended the evening’s battle with a simple, “cant play on this intnet apparently” at which point Antonius agreed and the two suspended the duel.
In that hour, Dwan seemingly could not make a hand against the European powerhouse. On only the second hand of the day “durrrr,” sitting with $76,400, made a standard raise from the button to $1200 only to have Antonius repop him to $3600. Dwan four-bet the action to $10,800 and Antonius made the call. On a [4h] [Qs] [9h] board, Patrik opened with a pot bet of $21,600 and Dwan made the call. On the [6d] turn, the twosome got the rest of their chips to the center and saw the [Ah] on the river. Antonius turned up his hand to reveal [Ac] [Qc] [Js] [9d] for a flopped two pair which improved to a better two pair on the river. Dwan could only muster [Ad] [Jd] [Th] [4c] for a flopped bottom pair and busted open ended straight draw that moved up to a lower two pair on the river. With that defeat, “durrrr” had to reach into his pocket to reload.
Fifteen minutes later, Antonius was able to make another $150K when he turned two pair (eights and fives) against the Queens of Dwan. All was not lost for “durrrr,” however, as he was able to get back some of his losses in an exciting hand that demonstrated the thrills of Pot Limit Omaha.
Antonius held the button and made a standard raise to $1200, which “durrrr” attacked with a reraise to $3600. In all, the duo five bet the pre-flop action, building a pot of $36,000 after the dust settled. On a [6c] [Qc] [6d] flop, Dwan mysteriously bet only $14,200 – less than half the pot – and was called by Antonius. The [Ts] on the turn brought the all in move from “durrrr” for $54,898 and a call from the Finn. An innocent [4h] on the river helped no one as Dwan turned up a double paired [As] [Ac] [5h] [5c] for two pair and a missed nut flush draw. Antonius didn’t hit one of his seven winning outs with his lower two pair and busted straight draw of [Ks] [Kc] [Qs] [Jh] and lost a massive pot to “durrrr” worth $174196.50.
With less than a month until the start of the World Series, both “durrrr” and Antonius probably want to get their Challenge finished and have any debts settled up. As such, action should be very intense over the next three to four weeks. To catch up on the play that has happened previously, follow the future action and full reports and thoughts from both Patrik Antonius and Tom “durrrr” Dwan, visit the “durrrr Challenge” as it rolls along.
