The infamous durrrr challenge looks set to truly get underway once again. Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Patrik Antonius have been battling it out on the online felt for over a year now, but very sporadically and never for a sustained period of time. Jungleman12 recently announced he was going to take on durrrr, and the two look like they’re going to start squaring off in the next few days, hopefully breathing new life into the challenge.
The durrrr challenge was laid down by Tom “durrrr” Dwan to any and all players except for Phil Galfond, and offers any acceptors a shot at millions. 50,000 hands of online heads-up No Limit Hold’Em or Pot Limit Omaha must be played on four tables simultaneously, at stakes of $200/$400 or higher. If, at the end of the 50,000 hands, Dwan is up by so little as a dollar, he receives an additional $500,000. However, if the challenger holds the lead then Dwan must ship him a staggering $1.5 Million on top of his winnings. Thus far despite a number of interested parties the only person to play against Dwan is Patrik Antonius, and after 40,000 hands the Finnish pro is down over $2 Million.
This latest challenge will likely be a much closer match, as both are avid online players and so are used to the intensity of multi-tabling high stakes. Not much is known about Cardrunners coach Daniel “jungleman12” Cates, except that he’s a force to be reckoned with. By all accounts he dominates any kind of poker he puts his hand to, and so this should be a great 50,000 hands for the spectators. Many believe that this challenge will go a lot faster than Dwan’s epic saga against Antonius, as both players are seasoned online pros well accustomed to putting in long hours in front of a computer screen.
Poker tracking sites suggest that Cates is up over three quarters of a million dollars against Dwan, but if Dwan’s concerned he’s certainly not showing it. Once Cates transferred the $500,000 to the challenge’s escrow, poker superstar Phil Ivey, Dwan felt it time to voice his confidence in the Full Tilt Poke chat box. “I can start talking shit since we’re booked and say that it’s cute u think u’ll ever have an edge. :)”
While no official dates have been set for the challenge to kick off, it certainly can’t be too far away, with Dwan also mentioning to Cates in the Full Tilt chat box that he should “[let me know] if u wanna play, if not we’ll start in a few days.” This is truly going to be a clash of the titans, so stay tuned for more updates.