Durrrr Challenge Rolls On

The Durrrr Challenge might be two-thirds completed, but at this point a lot of players are beginning to think that Patrik Antonius is fully cooked. According to our good friends at DurrrrChallenge.com, there have been 33,303 hands played out of the 50,000 total with Tom “durrrr” Dwan up over $1.9 million. Over the course of 55 sessions and over a year of play we’re finally closing the first chapter of the challenge with Dwan the favorite to win big over Antonius. But is this leg of the challenge really a formality? The history of the Dwan vs. Antonius challenge actually tells us otherwise.

Back in January of 2009, Dwan issued a challenge to the entire poker world at three to one odds putting up $1.5 million against $500,000. The challenge was relatively simple: play Dwan over 50,000 hands at Full Tilt Poker at either No Limit Hold’em or Pot Limit Omaha with stakes a minimum of $200-$400 blinds. Both players have to reload their stack if it falls below 75 big blinds at any time. If you beat Dwan over those 50,000 hands, even by one dollar, you win whatever you won at the tables plus the $1.5 million Dwan put up for the challenge. Lose and durrrr keeps all the profits plus $500,000 on top of the action from the tables. The first to accept the challenge was Finland’s finest poker player, Patrik Antonius.

Thanks to the slick Durrrr Challenge page over at Full Tilt Poker, plus the regular updates at DurrrrChallenge.com we’ve been able to follow the action pretty closely. The start of the challenge saw what seemed huge swings at the time, in results with hundreds of thousands of dollars going back and forth between sessions. What we now know is that we were seeing what amounted to a 12,000 hand break-even stretch for both players. During that time Dwan did take a quarter-million dollar lead, but Antonius would fight back eventually and even things up.

It was around the 13,000 hand mark that Antonius went on a decent run and actually took a lead of over a half-million dollars which he held for about 2,000 hands. At the time many felt that Dwan was in serious trouble because nobody had seen a lead that big during the challenge’s history. However, as we gained more data we now realize that half-million dollar swings were going to be something to get used to with these two playing four tables of $200-$400 Pot Limit Omaha, a game where variance can introduce serious swings for either player.

Around the 15,000 hand mark it was durrrr’s time to shine during the challenge. He went from being down a half-million to making things even within the course of about a thousand hands. He wasn’t done there as he continued to crush Antonius during the next 2,000 hands of play and get his lead over the $1.25 million mark.

Once again those following the history of this challenge said they could now predict the outcome of the challenge because of such a huge lead. Surprisingly, we were all proved wrong once again as Antonius caught fire and completely erased Dwan’s lead in the matter of about 3,000 hands.

It’s at that point, around the 23,000 hand mark of the challenge, where things began to change. Instead of seeing million dollar swings, we actually saw a sustained winning streak for over 10,000 hands. This time, it was Dwan who enjoyed the pendulum of fate and used his masterful poker skills to take the lead. From that 23,000th hand in the competition, Dwan ran his lead up to around $1.25 million once again, only to falter down to about a half-million after 5,000 hands. From there he’s been on a sick run, bringing his lead over Antonius to an all-time high for the Durrrr Challenge at $1.9 million.

The top ten hands during the 33,303 hands of play so far average to $329,022 with the largest being $477,555 (won by Antonius). Although a $1.9 million lead by Dwan might seem absolutely insurmountable with less than 17,000 hands remaining, we’ve seen Antonius go on an approximate $1.5 million tear before within a span of fewer than 4,000 hands. We can conclude then that this challenge is far from over, but the next 8,000 hands will be key for Antonius to have any chance of taking the lead for the conclusion of the challenge.

Related Online Poker News:

Wild Cherry 200% Bonus worth up to $1200 with No Max Cashout!

Fast play, fast payouts and unrivalled customer support.

Poker talk:

IN - Still eligible to win the pot. "I'm in" is often spoken as one adds chips to the pot, calling.
CHECK RAISE - To check initially, then raise a bet made later on in the same betting round. Frequently a sign of strength, but may be a bluff.
WORLD SERIES OF POKER - A series of several different poker games with relatively large buy-ins, culminating in a $10,000 buy-in no-limit Hold'em tournament, the winner of which is crowned the World Poker Champion. Sponsored by Binion's Horseshoe Club in Las Vegas.
SPLIT [OPENERS] - In draw poker, to discard one or more openers, usually to draw to a straight or flush. Normally requires the opener to declare the act and retain the discards so that the act of opening can later be validated.
ROYAL FLUSH - An ace-high straight flush, the best possible hand in regular poker.
BUTTON CHARGE - A periodic fee paid by whoever is the button, perhaps every 20 minutes or 30 minutes. Constitutes part or all of the HOUSE CUT.

♥ Bookmark Us! ♠

Poker Information