'durrrr Challenge' Update: Antonius Nets $112,000 in Lengthy Session
Tom "durrrr" Dwan and Patrik Antonius at last logged some serious hours in their $200/400 pot-limit omaha challenge match, playing from 2:40 a.m EDT until mid-morning on Wednesday. The two played 2,043 hands over nearly seven and a half hours of play, Antonius finishing the session $112,807 to the good to take the overall lead in the challenge by $80,707. This marathon session was by far the lengthiest they have played thus far, running longer than their last four meetings put together. It's unclear what inspired this all-night bout—are they finally on more compatible schedules? Are they serious about wrapping this thing up before the start of the World Series of Poker? Or did Dwan hear the interview Antonius gave to Full Tilt Poker, grumbling about the molasses-like pace of the Challenge thus far? Antonius may have a point there — in the seven weeks since the challenge kicked off, they have completed 9,290 hands, less than 20% of the required 50,000.
Antonius won this session's largest pot, a $154,989 hand that unfolded about halfway into the session. Antonius opened for the standard $1,200, Dwan raised to $3,600 from the big blind, Antonius re-potted to $10,800 and Dwan called. Dwan checked the J♠7♣5♦ flop, allowing Antonius to bet $21,600 before coming in for an all in raise to $71,695. Antonius called, turning over K♣K♠10♣10♠ for the overpair while Dwan showed A♣J♣8♠7♠ for top two pair. The turn was the 4♦, and the river paired the board with the 4♣, making Antonius kings up to snatch the pot away from Dwan.
Less than fifteen minutes later Dwan got some of that cash back. After a pre-flop raising war where the pot swelled to $64,800, Dwan and Antonius got their stacks all in on a J♦7♦5♦ flop. Though Dwan was the pre-flop favorite with A♣A♠7♣3♥ against Antonius' K♠K♦Q♠9♦, the Finn flopped a king-high flush to take an overwhelming lead. However… the turn and river prompted a chorus of "OMG sooooo siiiick" from the rail, coming down the 5♠, and the 5♣, making Dwan fives full of aces to win the $143,328 pot.
Antonius would pick up aces himself in the session's last hour, reraising Dwan's $1,200 opening bet to $3,600. Dwan didn't stop there, four-betting to $10,800, and Antonius re-potted to $32,400, leaving himself $11,591 behind at that particular table. Dwan flatted and Antonius put the rest of his stack in the middle on the A♥J♥10♥ flop. Dwan was compelled to call, turning up K♦Q♦J♣2♣ for the flopped straight to Antonius' A♦A♣J♠6♣ for top set. The turn was the Q♥, no help for Antonius, but the 10♣ on the river paired the board, earning him the $87,981 pot.
Dwan quit Antonius just before 10:15 a.m. EDT, the comfort of his own bed calling to him after a long night of poker.
durrrr: too tired, been up 30hrs straight, gg need sleep
With many of the high-stakes regulars playing in the live games at Bellagio surrounding the WPT Championships, perhaps Dwan and Antonius will continue this stepped-up pace while there's a dearth of $500/1,000 games to distract them. Keep checking back with PokerNews for all the details on the "durrrr Challenge" as this match continues to progress.
Editor's Note: Nicole Gordon's continuing reports on the "durrrr Challenge" highlight PokerNews.com's coverage of the latest in online poker. To railbird the "durrrr Challenge" yourself, open up an account at Full Tilt Poker today.
