Tom Dwan Takes $780,000 Lead in Durrrr Challenge

In more than 2,000 hands played in the Tom “Durrrr” Dwan Million Dollar Challenge on October 27th and October 28th, Dwan earned $82,000, pushing his lead to nearly $780,000 overall after 27,185 hands.

Dwan raked in his earnings after besting rival Patrik Antonius’ 2s-As-Ah-9h with 10d-7h-Ad-Ac. Antonius was double-suited in the hand, giving him a slight edge pre-flop despite both players holding aces. Accordingly, Antonius raised to $1,200, Dwan made it $3,600, Antonius pushed the price of poker to $10,800, Dwan made it $32,400, Antonius bumped it to $97,200, and Dwan called all-in for his $94,000 stack. The board ran out 9s-5c-9c-6c-8h, giving Dwan the win in the hand with a ten-high straight. Normally, this hand would be chopped about 50% of the time. Nevertheless, Dwan scooped the $189,000 pot, setting him up for success during the session.

Antonius would fire back, holding Ad-8d-Kc-7c double-suited against Dwan’s 10h-7h-6d-10d, also double-suited. Antonius raised to $1,200 pre-flop and Dwan made it $3,600. Antonius then pushed the action to $6,000 and Dwan called. The flop came 4d-Ah-6h and the two got it all-in, with Dwan risking his entire $90,000 stack. The board ran out Ks-2s, giving Dwan a lowly pair of tens and Antonius aces-up. The pot was worth $180,000 and Antonius repossessed some of his lost earnings.

In a separate hand, Dwan flopped three sevens holding 7d-8d-7s-6s after the first three community cards came 7c-2s-4h. Antonius had Jh-Ac-7h-10s, giving him a pair, and he called Dwan’s $83,000 all-in after the turn fell a jack, improving him to two pair. The river was a queen, shipping the $192,000 pot to Dwan with trip sevens. Antonius later redeemed himself after turning a set of nines with hole cards of 9h-Jh-9d-Qs. The board came 10c-7h-Js-9s-3s and Dwan could only muster 10h-Kd-Ad-Ks for a pair of kings.

The final session consisted of 470 hands and concluded around 1:00am ET on October 28th. Dwan earned $167,000 during the mini-session and $82,000 over the previous eight hours overall. He owns a lead of $779,000 in the high-stakes Million Dollar Challenge, which began earlier this year. Scheduling conflicts and a rigorous live tournament schedule have prolonged the conclusion of the event for quite some time. After Antonius, high-stakes pros David Benyamine and 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey are waiting in the wings for Dwan.

A total of 27,185 hands have been played out of the 50,000 required for completion of the challenge. If Dwan is up by at least $1 at its end, Antonius will owe him $500,000. Contrastingly, if Antonius is up by at least $1 at the end of the 50,000 hands, Dwan will turn over $1.5 million. In either case, the winner keeps the spoils of their play. The duo has been four-tabling $200/$400 Pot Limit Omaha on Full Tilt Poker, where Antonius is a sponsored pro.

October 27th featured the fifth largest pot over the course of the Durrrr Challenge at $293,000. Dwan scooped the behemoth and has laid claim to six of the seven largest pots during the 27,000 hand encounter. The largest pot in history occurred on June 19th and weighed in at $477,000. That day’s session, which occurred during the 2009 WSOP, featured the four largest Durrrr Challenge pots worth a combined $1.6 million; Dwan won all but one.

A live version of the Durrrr Challenge was scheduled to take place in London featuring Dwan battling against four players during the WSOP Europe festivities. Now, organizer Eddie Hearn told DurrrrChallenge.com that the stage may be moved to Las Vegas in early December. Rumors flew that Luke “Full_Flush” Schwartz would take on Dwan in the live event, but Sammy George has been the only competitor to sign on officially.

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Poker dictionary:

• ANTE - A small bet all players are required to make before a hand is dealt. Not all games have an ante. Related terms: BLIND, FORCED BET.
• FISH - A player who loses money. An old saying is "If you can't spot the fish at the table, *you* are the fish.".
• POSITION - One's location in the betting sequence, relative to the players still in the hand. First position is first to act.
• EXPECTATION - The long-run [dis-]advantage of a given situation, specifically without reference to any particular outcome. I.e., what you figure to win [lose] on average after a large number of repetitions of the same situation.
• STAND OFF - To call a raise. "Opener raises, I stand off".
• OVER - A term used in describing two pair or a full house. "Kings over tens" means two pair, kings and tens. "Jacks over", also "Jacks up" describes a hand that is two pair: Jacks with an unspecified lower pair. Also used to describe a full house, distinguishing the three of a kind from the pair. The hand J-J-J-A-A could be described as "Full house, Jacks over Aces".