Several weeks ago, online sensation Tom “durrr” Dwan issued a million dollar challenge to the poker world: he said he would play anyone in the world (except Phil Galfond) four tables at a time of heads-up NLHE or PLO until 50,000 hands have been played between the two. At the conclusion of the 50k hands, if durrr is ahead of his opponent, he gets an additional $500,000. However, if durrr’s opponent can beat him over the course of these hands, Dwan will fork over a cool $1.5 million.
Needless to say, a proposition of this nature attracted some interest from high stakes professionals. First on the docket to take on Dwan is Finnish superstar Patrik Antonius. The former tennis player turned poker pro has been a fixture on the high stakes poker scene for a couple of years now. Understandably, he estimates that even if Dwan has an advantage over him (which he conceded will be the case, at least initially, while they are four-tabling since Antonius typically only plays 2 or 3 tables of heads-up) that the million dollar overlay in the final settlement would make it worth chasing.
Almost a month into the challenge, things are progressing slowly. The two have played several sessions, but have only booked a total of 6,633 of the 50,000 hands required so far according to Durrrr Challenge. Currently, the match is a virtual dead-heat. Dwan leads by a paltry $1,392! The odds of this match being as close as just four big blinds after over 6,000 hands have to be astronomical. Look for there to be much more variance in the remaining 43,000 hands. Phil Ivey (who is next in line to play Dwan, for the record) commented that he thought a challenge of this nature could leave one party broke before 50,000 hands are ever able to be played.
At different points throughout the challenge, both players have obtained leads of around $150,000 on the other person, but the pendulum, thus far, has inevitably swung back the other direction.
The durrr challenge is taking place at Full Tilt Poker at specifically designated $200/$400 tables.
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