“durrrr Challenge” Update: Dwan Surges Ahead in 15-Hour Session
It started off innocently enough, with Tom “durrrr” Dwan typing the following into the chat box on a $500/1,000 table where Patrik Antonius had just sat down and bought in: “I have 20 mins u wanna play here or 2/4?”
It ended over 15 hours later, at just before 7 a.m. Las Vegas time. There was a million-dollar swing and over $5 million wagered. There were $600,000 stacks on $80,000 buy-in tables. Then $700,000. Then $850,000. Then nearly a million. There was a $408,000 pot. Then a $477,000 pot. It was the most epic session yet in the ongoing “durrrr Challenge” — the one fans have been waiting for since this battle started over four months ago. And as night turned into day, Tom Dwan emerged as the winner… by a landslide.
With this unexpected marathon session, Tom “durrrr” Dwan blew the doors open on this match, taking over $764,000 off Antonius to leap out to a $726,000 lead. From Thursday evening into Friday morning, Dwan and Antonius played 4,523 hands across four tables, bringing the match total thus far to 20,647 hands—just over 40% of the required 50,000. Though Dwan and Antonius initially bought in for $80,000 on each table, they allowed their stacks to grow well past the 250-big-blind cutoff point where, per the rules of the challenge, either player is allowed to close out that particular table and start anew with one buy-in on a different table. This resulted in nine of the ten largest pots ever played in the “durrrr Challenge” unfolding in this single session, with Dwan winning seven of them. In all, there were 43 pots over $100,000, 13 over $200,000, four over $300,000 and two over $400,000.
In the early hours of the session, Antonius jumped out to a $300,000 lead rather quickly. In one hand, the pot was six-bet (yes, six-bet!) before the flop, Antonius opening for $1,200, Dwan reraising to $3,600, Antonius making it $8,400, Dwan coming back over the top for $25,200, Antonius re-potting to $75,600, and Dwan at last, making the call. Got all that? The flop came down Q♥10♣6♠ and naturally the rest of their stacks went into the middle, Dwan shoving for $46,668 and Antonius calling all in for $21,798. Dwan showed A♥Q♠J♠2♥ for top pair, top kicker while Antonius revealed A♦A♠8♣7♠ for the overpair and a gutshot straight draw. The turn was the 4♥ and the river was the 9♣, Antonius rivering a ten-high straight to take down the $194,795 pot.
Though he ended up stuck over $600,000 early on, Dwan started turning things around in a major way. By the time they paused for a dinner break around 8 p.m. PDT, Dwan was back in the black and up $331,000 over Antonius. Dwan continued his upswing throughout the evening, culminating in a $377,000 pot that unfolded right around midnight. Dwan had over $245,000 in front of him on Table “durrrr Challenge 3”, while Antonius’ stack was just over $188,000. Antonius opened for a standard raise to $1,200, Dwan three-bet to $3,600 and Antonius called. Dwan led out for $4,800 on the K♥8♠5♦ flop and Antonius flat-called. The turn came the 6♦ and Dwan checked to Antonius, who bet $13,200. Dwan came right back at him with a check-raise to $56,400 and Antonius called. The river was the 7♦ and Dwan checked. Antonius moved all in for the $123,595 he had behind and Dwan made the call. Though Antonius had flopped a set of eights with 10♠8♥8♦2♠, Dwan hit runner-runner diamonds to make an ace-high flush with A♦A♠9♦7♣ and raked in the massive $376,791 pot.
If you thought that pot was huge, the one that unfolded only minutes later was even more of a monster, at over 1000 BB. Sitting on a $204,000 stack, Antonius opened for $1,200 from the button, Dwan, with over $310,000 behind, three-bet to $3,600, and Antonius called. Dwan led out for $4,800 on the 9♣8♦2♦ flop, Antonius raised to $21,600 and Dwan called. The turn fell the 5♠ and Dwan checked. After a bit of a think, Antonius settled on a bet of $50,400. Dwan came over the top, re-potting to $201,600 and Antonius called all in for $128,597. Dwan held 8♥7♥7♣6♠ for a nine-high straight while Antonius needed the board to pair on the river with A♦10♥9♠9♥ for a set of nines. The 10♣, however, fell on the river, Dwan improving to a ten-high straight and earning the $408,394 pot in the process.
By this point, Dwan had over $1.2 million spread across the four tables, not to mention the fact that he was also playing Gus Hansen heads-up on two tables of $500/1,000 PLO; Dwan also played a short match with Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn, picking up $100,000 from the young Russian. Within the space of 4,000 hands, Dwan went on a massive heater, going from stuck $600,000 to up over $800,000.
Though Dwan won most of the evening’s monsterpottens, it was in fact Antonius who took down the largest one of all. After the action was five-bet by Dwan, creating a $36,000 pot pre-flop, he check-raised Antonius’ $16,400 flop bet to $47,100 when that flop came down Q♠6♠6♦. Antonius called, and they went to the turn, which fell the 9♥. Dwan took the lead this time, betting $54,600 but was met with an all-in raise from Antonius to $173,678. Dwan called all in for $119,078 and showed 9♣8♦7♦6♣ for sixes full of nines, but Antonius had the nut boat with K♣Q♥Q♦9♦ for queens full. The river was the 4♥ and the night’s largest pot belonged to Antonius, $477,555 in all.
Though that pot spelled a bit of relief for Antonius, Dwan just kept on rolling, dragging two more $200,000-plus pots to expand his lead over Antonius to an all-time high of $1.2 million by 5:10 a.m. After losing $200,000 of that back in the space of ten minutes, Dwan asked for a short break. Once they returned to action, Antonius began to mount a comeback, winning three huge pots to cut Dwan’s lead to $764,000. In the largest of the three, the two got $194,000 in the pot before the flop after Antonius six-bet to $97,000. The rest went in on the Q♠J♠7♣ flop, Dwan betting the pot and Antonius calling all in for $41,781. Dwan flopped top two pair with A♣Q♣J♦10♦ while Antonius had aces and the nut flush draw with A♥A♠10♠6♠. Antonius got there on the turn when the 3♠ fell and there was no lucky queen or jack for Dwan on the river, which fell the 4♦ to give Antonius the $277,962 pot.
At just before 7 a.m. Pacific time, Dwan quit the match:
durrrr: i need to sleep sry
durrrr: been barely keeping my eyes awake the last 5hrs
durrrr: was planning on napping 14hrs ago lol
durrrr: anyway gg, ill be able to play some more rest of this week except 10k plo
Patrik Antonius: ok
Patrik Antonius: gg gn
Only… Dwan didn’t go to sleep. An hour and a half later, he was spotted playing four tables of $300/600 PLO and another $500/1,000 heads-up match with Gus Hansen.
If Dwan is to be believed, we’re in for some more action this week. Stay tuned to PokerNews for all the skinny on this epic heads-up battle.
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.
