Tom Dwan Durrrr Challenge News

My Favorite Promotion Is BACK! The Fishmarket Free $11 Token Offer

2012-01-17T10:30:00.004Z

Being full time in the business I get to see a lot of promotions come and go... some (think Stars) are so huge you wonder how you will ever compete with those 100,000 others all getting a piece of the action... some are just too complex, or specialized or just 'meh'.

And then there is the Fishmarket at the OnGame Network's Red Kings Poker.

This is a simple, yet effective idea. You give all new players a free $11 token to enter a tournament with a $10,000 guaranteed prize pool. Since all the new players are in, the game becomes very soft compared to similar games - attracting many other players... which results in a huge game which regularly trashes the guarantee, paying big prizes for the final table. The next game is on Feb 16th - make sure you do not miss out!

You can claim your $11 token, take your pick from 6 BIG sign-up bonuses and enjoy the benefits which come with sharing a network with some huge betting brands (hint: easy games!) now - just click this link and check out the awesome Red Kings Poker for yourself.

US Readers... Cake Poker Have Gone Gold Card Crazy!

I did not want US readers of this blog to feel left out in this post - so a quick reminder about the generous addition to the already generous 'Gold Card' loyalty scheme at Cake Poker during January 2012.

Cake are giving you the opportunity to win some instant cash prizes (up to $2500) by getting dealt a Gold Card with an ace this month. Gold cards are awarded randomly as you play, with more getting distributed at the higher levels. If you catch an ace in jan then here are the payouts depending on the suit.

- Spades - $2500
- Hearts - $1500
- Diamonds - $500
- Clubs - $250

Not bad for just playing your usual games. Cake poker bonus code PBCLUB gets you the top 110% welcome bonus while you check out the games - click here to check out Cake Poker for yourself!

By the way, since I only have the time to post here at the DurrrrChallenge blog occasionally, I have a suggested bookmark over at another of my sites - Killer Holdem - you will find a dedicated page there for the Latest Poker Promotions (great for your bookmarks / favorites).

Random Poker Musings January 2012

2012-01-11T11:06:00.001Z

As 2012 turns from the intensity of the holiday season to the long drudge through the winter’s coldest months – I thought it was time for some more cheery poker news. This is a mixed bag post containing some of the nuggets going around at the moment which might at least give your bankroll a boost, even if it is unlikely to thaw those frostbitten toes.

US-Friendly Carbon’s Huge Bad Beat Jackpot

First up, the bad-beat jackpot over at the leading US-friendly poker site Carbon Poker has hit a huge $900,000, and is still growing! If you get beaten with quad 8-s or better at any of the designated bad-beat tables then you could scoop some seriously life-changing money. The player who wins the hand gets a nice chunk too – and all the other players at the table a big consolation prize.

This jackpot grows by taking an extra fee from each hand at the special tables. This is made up for by the proportionally larger number of recreational players you will find there… which ensures that the games are very profitable even without the jackpot.

If you have yet to discover the excellent Carbon Poker then I have a special bonus for readers of this blog. A 200% matched welcome bonus + free $11 SNG token – just use Carbon Poker Coupon code PBKLUB when you sign-up! Click here to check out the excellent Carbon Poker now!

Pokerstars Reload – A Free $22 TCOOP token

Here is a poker promotion to warm the cockles of your heart! With the TCOOP (Turbo Championship Of Online Poker) starting on the 19th January, Pokerstars are offering you the chance of a free $22 entry token to some of their turbo-charged tournaments. You need to reload your account with $60 or more using the bonus code TCOOP – and the entry will be automatically credited. If you love Pokerstars anyway then this is essentially free… grab yours before the 19th.

If you do not yet have an account at the world’s leading poker site – then why on Earth not??!

This site has more games, better software, a fantastic VIP program and bigger, badder promotions than any other site. You can claim up to 3 welcome bonuses at Pokerstars totaling $600 – use Pokerstars Marketing Code PSP3108 when you check them out for yourself today!

Just as an aside, any Hungarian readers can find the best 2012 Pokerstars Marketing Kod Info Here!

No Full Tilt News Yet

Just to finish this post, I have not heard any new news about Full Tilt to share with you since the new year. It did look like things were building momentum before the holidays, so I am hopeful that we will be hearing something soon… these contractual / legal wranglings always seem to take a long time – nothing to do with lawyers being paid based on their time, I’m sure!

GL at the tables!

2012 Poker Preview - Will The Challenge Return?

2011-12-26T14:17:00.001Z

Well, 2012 should be the year we see Full Tilt back. Whether the Durrrr Challenge resumes is another matter completely, it was not exactly getting itself momentum before our favourite poker site imploded.

Anyway, this post looks forward a little to 2012. Some Reviews, bonus code pages and a generally upbeat look at what might lay ahead.

First up, if you want the latest bonus codes, coupon codes and marketing codes for the new year then this is the article to head for over at Killer Holdem. The key codes are there along with some great special offers which can get you off to a flying start at some of the biggest and best online poker rooms. There is a $11 SNG token which is also good for US readers and a $20 extra cash boost for non-US readers… both of these are at well known leading poker sites – no not some dodgy half baked incentive to have you sign up at an unknown new poker room or anything!

What About The Sites In 2012?

I have been getting a little concerned lately that Pokerstars are getting too big for the overall good of online poker. At the same time I love this site and have had an account there since 2005… so it is not just a negative feeling. With one site so much bigger than all of the others it seems a little unhealthy for poker as a whole… sure, Party and Titan (iPoker) do a decent enough job of catching up, however they just can not match the financial power of the promotions offered by Pokerstars. Anyway, I have articulated my thoughts on this a little more clearly in an article at SNG Planet which looks at some Great Alternatives To Pokerstars.

In other news, the merger of the affiliate programs of Bwin and Party is causing some people to speculate that their poker rooms will soon also merge together. This will certainly make the new room bigger than the current number 2 (Titan / iPoker). I am expecting the Party Poker brand to stay, after all this is the brand which is really well known among those people who have not yet played online poker… where as bwin is better known as a sports-betting brand.

Facebook also announced they might be getting involved in online poker, starting in the UK. It is not known what form this might take (maybe just to allow people to play at the existing rooms via their facebook accounts). We will have to see on this one… though it does seem interesting times are ahead.

Finally some news from the US. Where the DoJ (Department of Justice) ruled that the Wire Act of 1961 only applies to sports betting and not to poker, lottery etc. This is interesting news in that in taking away a barrier for the individual states to pool together their players, we might see a federal bill rushed through to ‘beat the states’ to it… anyway this is just my interpretation / idea – we will have to keep those eyes open and see what happens as they year gets going.

Cheers!

Alternatives To Full Tilt Poker – OnGame’s Red Kings Poker

2011-12-06T20:41:00.001Z

All quiet on the news-front on Full Tilt as of December 2011… Our best guess is that the discussions are continuing and that we can hope for an announcement in the new year. In the meantime, I thought I’d use the holiday season to highlight one of my favourite sites as a great alternative to Full Tilt Poker for players outside of the US. For players inside the US, I’ll do a follow-up shortly and post it right here. In the meantime you can check out this page on SNG Planet for the latest news on US-friendly poker sites.

Alternative To Full Tilt Poker – Red Kings

So, what is so great about Red Kings? Well – a lot of things actually! This site is on the excellent OnGame network. I rate this network highly for several reasons…. The main one being the very soft poker games you will find there. The reason is simple, this network is shared by several big brands who are actually bigger in the sports-betting world than poker – they use the shared network software to create ‘Poker Arms’ of their main brands. This ensures a ton of traffic coming from the betting sites, people who have money to gamble with… though not too much in the way of poker experience!

You got it… this keeps the OnGame tables soft and friendly!

Red Kings are a premier member of this network. They are the only site I know of who actually offer a choice of 6 different sign-up bonuses to new players, and they have some of the best promotions on the network too. Best of all is their special promo which gives you an extra $300 bonus the first time you are dealt the two red kings in a cash game… this goes up to $500 if you lose with them!!

Check out Red Kings Poker for yourself via this link now!

Their software comes in several formats and is available for Mobile, Mac and Linux users – as well as the standard PC download. With a cool game selection and some big money tournaments you will find a game to profit from fast.

If I have one BIG recommendation this holiday season, it is to get off of your butts, away from all the other experienced players at Pokerstars and find yourself a more profitable home in time for 2012. Red Kings are the best candidate for that new home – and one look at the games will be enough to convince you that I am right!!

Click this link to check out Red Kings Poker for yourself now!

5 Things I Miss About Full Tilt Poker

2011-11-17T12:59:00.002Z

Reviewing all sorts of sites for my Omaha Poker site over the last week or so... and at the same time removing most of the references to how great Full Tilt Poker was. This gave me the idea for a quick nostalgic post here, looking back to how great the spring of 2011 was – until the US DoJ put a big enough spanner in the works to reveal the corruption and mismanagement behind certain poker sites!

So, keeping things light-hearted (and hoping that we do see Full Tilt return in the earlyish part of 2012) here are the top 5 things I miss about Full Tilt Poker.

1 Rush Poker

In particular Pot Limit Omaha Rush Poker, make that multi-tabling that game... in fact I miss this so much it could be 1 to 6 on my top 10 using the same title. Somehow the intensity of the game made it relaxing... you could dip in and out for 15 minutes at a time, play 150 hands and then carry right on – feeling like your mind had had a refreshing break from whatever slow and monotonous task you were doing at the time. Please poker gods, bring me back my medicine soon.

2 Nosebleeds

Sure, there are some big games on Stars, not the same though. There was something therapeutic about watching pots of $100k+ change direction on the turn of a river card... it kind of made that bad beat you just suffered in a $11 SNG seem less of a big deal after all.

3 FTOPS / Mini-FTOPS

These championship events seemed to roll around at an ever increasing rate, with huge (and soft) fields and massive numbers of satellites. With UBOC also gone and ECOOP now seemingly defunct on the iPoker Network too, the need for FTOPS to come back is bigger than ever... oh and do not forget the mini-version, the 10% buy-in thing was inspired, well, for those who enjoyed tournaments with 10,000+ entrants that is...

4 90 Player Knockout SNGS

Another personal relaxation game. After finishing writing for the day these 2ish+ hour games were great to unwind and being on the front page of the tournament lobby, they kept attracting a great number of recreational players compared to regulars too.... the 180s on Stars are a nice alternative, just somehow not quite the same.

5 The Full Tilt Software

Not everyone will agree with this one, though I loved the Full Tilt Poker software... not only the engine behind it which kept the games running smoothly, I'm talking about the colorful avatars, the different look for the final tables and the nice easy controls. Even if this site never comes back in the original form, I hope one poker network or another buys the software... that and Rush, and I'll be back online!

Is The Merge Network Any Good?

2011-10-13T14:44:00.001+01:00

Lots of articles today all over the web proclaiming the joy that is the re-opening of the Merge Poker Network to US players… one thing these stories have in common is that they are all very keep to tell you how great this network is, and *by the way* if you would not mind clicking my link and using my bonus code so my *cough* independent recommendation can get me a nice fat check… haha.

I’m sure you get the picture!

What I wanted to do here is to have an objective look at this US-friendly Poker site and ask the question of whether it is worth joining… I will look at a few aspects of this network and take it from there. This will be based on the biggest site on the Merge Network – Carbon Poker.

First Impressions / Software

While there are a few annoyances, such as navigating around tournament lobbies when you have more than one multi-table tournament running at the same time – in general the software is very good. The lobby navigation is clear and easy, with color coding for different games making them easy to search. Tables / game play are nice too.

The special extra that Carbon / Merge offer is the animations at the tables. These range from short animations of smileys (clapping, wiping sweat off of the brow drinking and so on) through to more interesting short animations including a shark, donkey and headbanging panda. Some people love these and some people hate them. One thing that they definitely do for this site is to keep the recreational players happy, and any experienced poker player will tell you that a happy fish is a very profitable opponent indeed!!

Personally, I find the animations damn annoying!

Game Selection

Well, this is not the pokerstars of old, you will find a nice choice of lower 50c / $1 blinds cash games, and a diminishing selection above this level ($5 / $10 runs regularly). The PLO games are getting more popular, though again are lower buy-in.

Tournaments are the best that US players will find, with a lot of smaller guarantees in the $5 to $20 buy-in range. The ‘Sunday Major’ is a $109 buy-in $100k guaranteed on Sunday afternoons… though there are not many guarantees that come anywhere near this in the normal schedule. SNGs are good up to the $11 level.

My view on the games, well, it’s the biggest US selection available… though not quite the Stars / Tilt of old!

I’m sure you get the picture!

What I wanted to do here is to have an objective look at this US-friendly Poker site and ask the question of whether it is worth joining… I will look at a few aspects of this network and take it from there. This will be based on the biggest site on the Merge Network – Carbon Poker.

First Impressions / Software

While there are a few annoyances, such as navigating around tournament lobbies when you have more than one multi-table tournament running at the same time – in general the software is very good. The lobby navigation is clear and easy, with color coding for different games making them easy to search. Tables / game play are nice too.

The special extra that Carbon / Merge offer is the animations at the tables. These range from short animations of smileys (clapping, wiping sweat off of the brow drinking and so on) through to more interesting short animations including a shark, donkey and headbanging panda. Some people love these and some people hate them. One thing that they definitely do for this site is to keep the recreational players happy, and any experienced poker player will tell you that a happy fish is a very profitable opponent indeed!!

Personally, I find the animations damn annoying!

Game Selection

Well, this is not the Pokerstars of old, you will find a nice choice of lower 50c / $1 blinds cash games, and a diminishing selection above this level ($5 / $10 runs regularly). The PLO games are getting more popular, though again are lower buy-in.

Tournaments are the best that US players will find, with a lot of smaller guarantees in the $5 to $20 buy-in range. The ‘Sunday Major’ is a $109 buy-in $100k guaranteed on Sunday afternoons… though there are not many guarantees that come anywhere near this in the normal schedule. SNGs are good up to the $11 level.

My view on the games, well, it’s the biggest US selection available… though not quite the Stars / Tilt of old!

Promos / Bonuses

You can get a nice 200% welcome bonus + free $11 SNG token with my bonus / coupon code PBKLUB – the question I’d like to cover here is how well you will be looked after once this is cleared and you are on your own.

Well, the VIP club has filled the gap which appeared when rakeback disappeared from this site – my view is that this is generous, though a little complicated with a mix of levels, escalating points multipliers, cash bonuses and daily cash rewards and so on… very good indeed if you can make it to the higher levels though.

Reloads are plentiful – as are one-off promotions and offers, which are often based on sporting or seasonal events and involve races and challenges. You will also find a bad-beat jackpot and tournament / SNG leaderboards.

You’ll be well looked after at Carbon alright… it might take you a little while to discover all the different aspects of this though.

Summary

Well, its hard to disagree with the masses that this is a great option for US players and those worldwide. The biggest and best choice of games is what does it for me!

Check out Carbon Poker for yourself now – and don’t forget coupon code PBKLUB for your 200% match + $11 SNG token.

William Hill Online Poker Championship

2011-10-05T14:59:00.002+01:00

Well, it might not be as big a challenge as those initiated by Tom Dwan, but for non-US players the first ever William Hill Poker Championship looks like a great event to join.

Instead of a huge tournament with several hundred dollar buy-in, this big-brand iPoker site have chosen to make their first championship tournament a $35+$3.50c event. This has several advantages that I can see. Firstly it makes the game accessible to the thousands of recreational players who enjoy the iPoker games. Next this is the kind of price range which could well attract a lot of sports-betting types from this (huge) part of the William Hill brand… Finally (though not least) the smaller buy-in keeps the satellite qualifiers cheap – these start at just $1.10c (or 8,000 player points).

The date for your diaries is the 29^th of October, and the $50k guaranteed prize pool is likely to be smashed. You can check out William Hill Via This Link!

If you have not played on the iPoker Network before then there are many good reasons to make this site your home. I will summarize some of the main features below – for those interested in a more detailed / balanced view then I recommend the detailed William Hill Poker Review over at SNG Planet.

A Few Reasons To Choose William Hill Poker:

- Huge choice, by pooling players into the 3^rd largest online poker site – the iPoker Network – William Hill can offer a massive choice of cash games and tournaments which sites which ‘go it alone’ simply can not match!

- Fishy Opponents – You will find more recreational players on the iPoker Network than just about any other site. So many real money players are there to have fun that it almost seems impolite to take their money away (though we grim and bear it of course!!).

- Generous Bonuses And Promotions: New players start with one of the biggest matched bonuses of any online poker site. With 100% matched up to $2000 your bankroll should get off to a flying start. After this come a long line of extras including more bonuses, a great loyalty scheme and some of the best promos and give-aways of any online poker site.

All this with the protection and safety you might expect from a big name brand like William Hill. Click This Link To Check Them Out For Yourself Now!

Speed Poker – A Great Alternative To Rush

2011-09-07T19:40:00.000+01:00

Todays post is for players outside of the US, and concerns a new site with a brand new poker concept… one that looks a lot like the sadly missed Rush Poker.This is called Speed Poker, and works by pooling players together instead of seating them at their own tables.

When you fold a hand *boom* you recombine randomly with other players from the pool and get to start another hand straight away, You can fold before it is your turn to act too – meaning less dead time and a realistic chance of more than 300 hands per hour.

Speed Poker is available at a site called Terminal Poker, you can read my review over at SNG Planet here.

Being a new concept the player pools are quite small – they are growing and this could represent a huge advantage to players smart enough to learn the game before this site hits the headlines and gets popular… imagine a stream of new players not used to the concept or the 5-handed play filling your bankroll every day!

No Limit Holdem and Pot-Limit Omaha are the games available, and the smaller buy-in levels are where you will currently see the action. There are tournaments running, these are in the form of freerolls at the moment – with some (such as the EUR 400 special) requiring certain numbers of raked hands in order to qualify. I really liked the Rush Poker tournaments and hope to see Speed Poker tournaments up and running as soon as a critical volume of players is reached.

Click This Link To Check Out Terminal Poker For Yourself!
Use Referral Code SNGPLANET to claim your 200% matched welcome bonus.

Compared to other sites the software at Terminal Poker looks very clean and simple. They have made this game available in multiple formats, so you can play it on your iPhone or Android smartphone, iPad, online via a browser version (should be good for Mac / Linux users) or via the usual download version too.

Some great Avatars can be chosen to add a bit of color to the games (I chose a rather confused looking giant slug, though there are plenty of tougher looking choices!).Speed Poker could well be about to break – and it definitely fills the gap left by Rush (which I still hope to see come back at some point soon!).

It also seems like Terminal Poker have a marketing budget to help them grow – so if you get in there early you could take advantage of this as well as the very soft opponents compared to what we were used to at Full Tilt. Claim your 200% matched welcome bonus with referral code = SNGPLANET. Click To Check Out The Awesome New Terminal Poker For Yourself Now!

Jackpot SNGs Summer Special

2011-08-09T13:27:00.002+01:00

A post for non-US readers today, covering the Jackpot Sit N Go tournaments over at Titan Poker.

For those who have not come across these games before, the idea is very simple. You win 4 or 6 in a row (depending on the version you play) and win a jackpot of between $2,000 and $50,000 (again, depends on which variation!).

In order to build the jackpots, Titan take a extra rake (fee) from each player for the game, this is approx 10% of the buy-in. While this makes Jackpot Sit N Go tournaments a little more expensive than regular sit n goes, the fact that these games attract a lot of the more ‘fun’ type poker players keeps the games soft – making them profitable to play for anyone who has some poker strategy knowledge.

Click Here To Check Out The Soft Jackpot SNG Games At Titan Poker!
Bonus Code = PBKLUB for your 200% matched welcome bonus!

There are currently 5 different types of jackpot sit n go offered, this includes the ‘Craze Summer Jackpot SNGs’ which are temporary 3-table games for the summer. These cost $12 to enter and pay out $50k to anyone winning 4 in a row – that is a huge payout for some very soft poker games!

The permanent games offered are as follows:

- Dirty Dozen, $2.40 entry 2-tables of 6-max each game, win 4 in a row to claim a $2,000 prize.
- Maui, $6 entry, 1-table (10 handed) win 5 in a row to claim $15,000.
- Rio, $23.50c entry, 1-table (6-handed) win 6 in a row to claim $25,000
- Fort Knox, $59 entry, 1-table (6-handed) win 6 in a row to claim $50,000

There are also runner-up prizes for 6 1st and 2nd place finishes combined.

A word of warning – I have heard many instances of people who have got their friends involved in these games in order to cheat (by chip dumping / soft playing etc). The Titan / iPoker security department check every winner and do not give the benefit of the doubt if something looks fishy… my recommendation is not to try this.

Titan Poker – Jackpots, And What Else??

There is a lot more to Titan Poker than these sit and goes, in fact it might be the right place to host the next Durrrr Challenge (joking, joking!).

One thing I always mention first about this site is that far more recreational players can be found in the games here than at many other poker sites – making them profitable for experienced players and a great choice of somewhere to learn the game for newer players.

With one of the best sign-up bonuses around, and a long list of promotions and special offers, Titan also have one of the most widely respected loyalty schemes online – this rewards lower and higher volume players with cash bonuses and tournament entries, and can make a huge difference to your poker bankroll at the mid to higher levels.

I recommend Titan very highly for SNG and tournament fans especially. Use bonus code PBKLUB to claim your 200% matched bonus + an extra $20 free cash (for deposits over $30) when you check out Titan Poker for yourself now!

Click Here To Check Out The Soft Jackpot SNG Games At Titan Poker!
Bonus Code = PBKLUB for your 200% matched welcome bonus!

3 Great Alternatives To Ful Tilt

2011-07-03T14:36:00.003+01:00

Well, unless you have been living under a rock, the news that Full Tilt Poker had their license suspended by Alderney, were taken down, and are now in negotiation with a bunch of un-named 'European Investors' can not have escaped your attention!

Even if you are reading this post after they come back online, you can not really be blamed for a little, shall we say, 'reluctance' to keep your money on this site. I believe it will take a good few months for confidence to be restored... though still stick to the idea that the brand is too big and too profitable to completely disappear.

Anyway, the idea of this post is to point you in the direction of some of the bigger sites out there which are regulated and even owned by companies which are listed on stock exchanges (and so are required to follow the rules, financially speaking!). I'll also give you links to places on my network of sites where you can find more information on each site.

#1 - Red Kings Poker

It might surprise some readers that I have put an OnGame Network site (the premier Red Kings Poker) before bigger sites such as Pokerstars... There are several reasons for this. Firstly full Tilt players might not want to enter tournaments with 5000 others and play for 12 hours!! Or fight hordes of 16-tabling regulars at the lower levels up. And of course, Red Kings is actually an excellent site.

OnGame is a mid to large network, they are big enough to have a good selection of games and tournaments, yet small enough to have a real community feel - you will notice the games are friendly compared to the bigger networks. Software is a plus as are bonuses (a choice of 6 different sign-up bonuses + lots of ongoing promos too!). One I like to single out is the extra $300 bonus the first time you lose holding 2 red kings in a cash game, a nice boost!

This is fast becoming one of my favorite sites - I recommend you check out SNG Planet for my Red Kings Poker Review for more information.

#2 - iPoker Network William Hill Poker

How about this for a combination alternative, the fish and easy profits which the iPoker Network are famous for... then add the safety of a well known brand which is listed on the London Stock Exchange. When you add these factors together you end up with William Hill!

Jackpot SNGs, Games in Pounds, Euros and dollars, fishy tables and tons of extras and promotions. I just wrote about this site in depth at my network news blog - click this link for more on the excellent William Hill On The iPoker Network

#3 - Party Poker

Party are up to the #2 spot in the rankings these days, and with the understandable 'flight to safety' going on at the moment their player base is growing still. With the recent merger with Bwin, Party are set for a further boost in player numbers... in fact, when the US market is finally regulated they have a good shot at becoming the #1 again (who would have thought that a few years ago!!).

I have detailed reviews over at SNG Planet, I'll point you to the 'rooms' section, where you can find information on the Best Site For Tournaments as well as the more general cash game (and of course my unique SNG specific) reviews.

Thats all for the moment - the Durrrr Challenge is obviously going nowhere right now, If it ever returns I'll let you know right here!

For US readers, my recommendation is to play live to keep your skills up to date - you can see the advert for my well-received course 'Live Poker Gold' in the right hand side bar of this blog... check it out now!

Durrrr Blog – Durrrr Challenge Promo At Full Tilt!

2011-03-01T10:50:00.003Z

Good news for Durrrr Challenge fans, regular players are now being offered the chance to play against Tom Dwan in a special FullTilt promo which will also pay a lot of money to those who participate.

While this blog stopped following the challenge itself, it seemed daft not to include a write up of this excellent promotion. Potentially life-changing money is at stake, if the player who qualifies beats Durrrr in 4 heads-up SNGs, they will receive a cool $1.5 million.

It is not just about the lucky winner though – many players will benefit as explained below. You can sign-up by clicking the big ‘my promotions’ button in the cashier over at Full Tilt Poker, if you have not played before there then referral code = TD600 for your 100% matched sign-up bonus!

Durrrr Challenge Promotion At Full Tilt Poker: The Rounds

This promotion is split over 4 rounds, with the final round being the final. What Full Tilt have done is to split this into different poker formats, which will ensure that the eventual winner is a great all-round poker player. You can benefit from each round differently.

First up is the cash game (ring game) round, which is set up as three distinct leaderboards for higher, middle and lower level buy-ins. The top 1000 from the lower, 750 from the middle and 500 from the upper level will move forward to round 2, which are tournaments. Participants will also get a multiplier on their Full Tilt points between 2x and 4x as an additional incentive.

The tournaments for the leaderboard winners have prize pools of $15k, $30k and $45k for the low / mid / high. This is big money for a game with no entry fee and will lead to some really lucrative final tables! From this round the top 3 finishers in each tournament meet up for a matrix SNG.

Round 3 is a special form of SNG tournament called a ‘Matrix SNG’ this involves playing the same opponents over 4 tables at once, points are awarded for finishing positions and the winner is the player who does the best over the 4 games. This has a prize pool of a cool $25k! what is more – the winner of this game gets to challenge Tom Dwan heads-up!

Durrrr Challenge – The Winner’s Personal Tom Dwan Match

Winning the challenge should already leave someone with a boosted bankroll, after winning a $25k matrix and coming in the top 3 in one of the tournaments. The final challenge is 4 simultaneous heads-up matches against Dwan himself. Prizes are not to be taken lightly:

- Win one heads-up match and win $10k
- Win 2 for $25k
- Win 3 for $100k
- Win 4 for a huge $1.5 Million

Well, this is the best promotion of its kind I have seen, not only potentially life-changing money for the winner, many players will benefit from this. Remember referral code = TD600 for your 100% matched bonus (max. $600) when you check out the Durrrr Challenge Promo at Full Tilt Poker now!!

Quick Note For International Readers:
You can find out more about Full Tilt Poker including reviews, bonus clearing information and the correct referral codes in Russian, Hungarian and Romanian at the following sites which are part of my wider network.

- http://www.pokerbonusclub.ru/poker-bonusi/fulltilt-poker-bonus-kod.html

- http://www.pokerbonuszklub.hu/pokerbonuszok/fulltilt_poker_bonuszkod.html

- http://www.pokerbonusclub.ro/bonusuri-de-poker/full-tilt-poker-cod-de-bonus.html

Welcome To The Tom Dwan Durrrr Challenge Blog

2011-02-26T08:01:00.000Z

Welcome to the Durrrr Challenge Blog - your number #1 source of news, views, links and information on the Tom Dwan Full Tilt Poker Durrrr Challenge.

We have divided this blog into 4 main areas for ease of navigation:

1) Latest Standings In The Durrrr Challenge: In blog format (below this sticky) post we will update the freshest news, hands and video replays from Tom Dwan's epic challenge. The very top post will give you the latest challenge score in quick-view format.

2) Durrrr Challenge Information: Player Bios, the history of the challenge and news (and rumors!) on future challengers can he found here.

3) Durrrr Challenge Links: We are happy to bring you links to the very best resources and information on the web these are listed on the right and also with details here.

4) Full Tilt Poker Tom Dwan Information: Watch the challenge as it happens at the home of the pros, Full Tilt Poker - referral code TD600 will get you a cool 100% bonus on your first deposit (up to $600 max). Click now to see the Durrrr Challenge tables for yourself at Full Tilt Poker

New Articles Update In 3 Languages!

2010-12-29T11:30:00.002Z

Well, I'll make no bones about it... the Durrrr Challenge looks like following the same old routine... Dwan obviously has multiple things to do with his time and the challenge does not appear to be the top of the list (or even half way).

So, this blog post will be to tell you about some new stuff going on across my international network. In particular, as we get into 2011 there are always bonus and promo offers on the boil, and we actually did 3 separate articles in 3 languages which outline the latest codes for the sign-up bonuses across the major sites.

First up Killer Holdem, this is a beginner level strategy site which has slowly grown quite large... tons of reviews, tips and tools info too. I put up an article on Poker Bonus Codes 2011 and will keep this one up to date with the latest poker codes and promotions throughout the year.

Next, our Hungarian site is a more promo focussed deal - we recently worked hard on this to give it a new look and feel... seems to have done the trick as visitors are increasing. The post is basically the same one, only rewritten (note: not translated!) into Hungarian. This site will always be close to my heart - as it was the first 'bonus club' in what went on to grow into a huge network! So here it is Póker Bónuszkódok 2011

Finally, one that I can not actually read... the Cyrillic alphabet is beyond me! The Russian version of the bonus club network is the one that stayed on the old design... since one lady from the office enjoyed the 'old school charm'. Again we have the articles rewritten instead of translated... translations always end up looking like just that - transations. I'll use the Roman alphabet in the link... not sure how blogger copes with Russian - so pokernye bonus kody 2011

Thats all for the moment! I'll be back next month with some more updates from the network (no, not the Durrrr Challenge... we honestly gave up caring about that a long time ago!!).

Mark

Planet Corp Update

2010-10-22T08:56:00.002+01:00

Time for another quick update as to what I have been up to while not watching the Durrrr Challenge! My blogging is now over at the SNG Planet blog (I'll link at the end of this post). This post will let those readers who still stop by here what we have been up to in terms of working on new and existing sites.

A few months ago now I put new projects on hold, with the intention of going through the entire network of existing sites and brushing up the looks, adding great new content and generally improving them. Well, we are still at it! SNG Planet itself is now looking great, the last language to have the new look is underway (French) and we have been tidying up one language at a time.

The biggest changes recently is a brand new look (well, completely new site really) for the Poker Bonus Network. This site is a mix of news and reviews, and will focus on the various poker networks which share software / player pools. I am really pleased with the results, this was an ugly duckling before - and while not exactly a swan, is at least a very smart looking website now! You can see it here http://thepokerbonusnetwork.com

Next is a site which we 70% finished, and then got forgotten in the ever-competitive priority list. This site focuses on online scratch cards... which are actually becoming increasingly popular. It is a .co.uk site (to be honest we just can not find a decent provider of these for the US) and has reviews of individual cards as well as the main providers. You can see the result here http://scratchcardplanet.co.uk/

ok - I'll pop back here every month to update on the latest changes - over at my main blog I'm updating 3 times a week (though no longer talking about the Durrrr challenges!) its here: http://www.sitandgoplanet.com/blog/

Gl at the tables, Mark

Few Quick Network Updates

2010-09-10T10:30:00.002+01:00

Well, in case you had not noticed, I got fed up with covering the Durrr Challenge! Since people still find their way here I am posting the occasional update of good-stuff going on at my already large (and still growing) poker network... so, what has been up?

Firstly Carbon Poker just put their awsome v5 software into beta - you can see the highlights and find a very special offer for new account beta testers here:
http://www.sitandgoplanet.com/blog/carbon-poker-new-software-final-beta-testers-required

Next, we got the latest version of the SNG Planet template up in German, this was a great effort from all of the Planet HQ team! Online Poker Turnier Strategie Online Poker Turnier Strategie

Omaha Planet is actually next but one in the queue for a major overhall, in the meantime I tidied up the eBook 'Tune In, Bet Pot, Cash Out' which is designed for beginner Omaha players to help them transition from Holdem... this had a lot of 'fluff' really and is now a leaner, meaner eBook!! Anyway, you can check it out at http://www.omahaplanet.com

Thats all for this quick update, I am working on some 'Ultimate Guides' at the moment, which hopefully will raise the bar of content for the rest of thee year and beyond!

Gl at the tables, Mark

Just Released My New (Free) SNG Course - The $16 Per Hour SNG Blueprint

2010-07-25T17:48:00.002+01:00

Some more Planet corp news today... I just released my new 100% Free SNG course called the "$16 per hour SNG Blueprint". This course is aimed at beginners to intermediate players and is actually in 4 parts, one comes each week:

Part #1 = The Blueprint

This is an overview and strategy primer for SNGs. It is a learning framework and will change your perspective on where those profits come from... contains a ton of tips and a stage-by-stage strategy run through.

Part #2 = Bubble Ninja!

Here we get into the really profitable part of SNG tournaments, becoming a master of the bubble. This includes a bunch of examples of how to use prize pool equity models (ICM) to improve your game.

Part #3 - Turn Up The Volume

Once we know how to make a nice return for each game, mastering the skills to play more than 1 table at a time is the next part of the course... here we not only cover the practicalities of multi-tabling, we also fine-tune your strategy too.

Part #4 - Profit Booster.

The last part of the Blueprint is definitley not the last, with some killer advice, strategy and moves which build on the parts so far... In fact I am confident that this part will push smarter readers way over the $16 per hour mark.

I personally invite you to join us - there is no cost, you can read the detailed preview and see the sign-up forms here: The $16 Per Hour SNG Blueprint: The $16 Per Hour SNG Blueprint

Latest Updates From The Planet Corp

2010-05-10T14:05:00.002+01:00

Well, the Durrrr Challenge may have become the single most boring poker phenominon out there... however this has not stopped the Planet Corp increasing both the number and variety of sites out there - all with the same philosphy of 'quality content first' that you would expect from us.

Here is a quick rundown of some of the highlights:

- Cool Casinos Club: This is our first site focusing on casinos and already has some 70 pages of reviews and comparisons. What makes this site unique is the 'Random Games Review Widget'. The idea is you click a button to see a review of a random casino game containing information on how to play + an overview of the casino which you can find the game at. If you like it you can click and play, if not then you simply click the widget again and move on to the next game. Check out the Best Casino Games now!

- The Poker Bonus Network: This one is for news, reviews and comparisons of the major poker networks. There are always moves between these and of couse competition between them for your custom. PBN (as we know it!) will fill the gaps for you and bring you the most competitive bonus and promotional offers too. Check out the Poker Bonus Network now!

- Pot Limit Omaha: This one is in Russian, we noticed a complete absence of any decent beginners Omaha strategy in Russian and decided to fill the gap... click Pot Limit Omaha for more.

Plenty more projects in the pipeline... will post right here a couple of times each month from now on to bring you the latest and greatest updates!!

GL at the tables, Mark

Durrrr Challenge 10 Months On...

2009-10-14T15:04:00.004+01:00

2009 started off with a big buzz over the Durrrr Challenge, it had potential to become the story of the year with an impressive line-up of challengers including Ivey all waiting for their chance.

10 Months have now passed and we are half way through the 1st challenge, the swings have been small, the participants quiet on the subject and quite frankly the poker-world has moved on to other things.... as much as I enjoyed bringing you this blog and updating the latest views as well as news on the subject it is time to move on... the challenge is no longer worthy of a blog!

Instead readers can keep up to date on the dedicated Full Tilt Poker Durrrr Challenge Page - (click the 'News & Promos' link then scroll to the bottom section for the Durrrr Challenge page) which gives you the latest scores and a nice graph of the results too.

If things suddenly hot up I'll come back and post - until then GL at the tables!!

Mark

Small Session And Some Small Change For Dwan!

2009-09-07T10:10:00.002+01:00

A small session of 458 hands on the 4th, and while the $26,431 won by Tom Dwan is a nice wad of money for most of us - in the context of both the challenge and the millionaire lifestyles of both players this really is chump change.

In fact let us look back over the 23,197 hands played so far, noting that there have been decent swings (most notably during the WSOP) - yet the players are as close to even as you could imagine. Taking this thought one step further here, what if this was a true reflection of the balance of skill between Dwan and Antonius? Seems a reasonable assumption when you consider that these players are at the top of their games...

... well, if the edge is not there we have to start questioning why Dwan offered 3/1 on the challenge! Oh yeah, action, publicity and a chance to write a small chapter in the tomes of poker history - if you can afford it then why not!

So, here is the latest session details + the current status of the match:

Session 4th Sept

Hands Played: 458
Tom Dwan + $26,431

Total Hands Played 23,197

Tom Dwan - ($39,287.00)
Patrik Antonius +$34,143.00

Stay tuned for all the latest news, views and information on the Durrr Challenge!

Antonius Retakes The Lead

2009-08-26T09:06:00.003+01:00

Another installment of the Durrrr Challenge yesterday saw Patrik Antonius retake a small lead for the first time since his devastating run back at the end of June. After 1.241 hands Patrik was $415,311.50 better off taking him into the black to the tune of $76,104.00 - not bad at all for a few hours work

Delays, and the general slow pace of getting through the challenge have caused many commentators on blogs and forums to ask whether the challenge has lived up to expectations or has turned into a bit of a let down.

Of course, the very act of keeping a blog on the subject means I am biased... however I am tending to agree that the pace really needs to pick up if the challenge has any hope of surviving. If each challenge takes 9 or 10 months then we will see peaks of interest at the start and end of each new opponent's 50k hands... and a slow dwindling of interest in between. If the pace could pick up to 5k to 7k hands a week then maybe things will be different - we will just have to see.

ok, here are the current numbers:

Tom 'Durrrr' Dwan: -($81,112.50)
Patrik Antonius: $76,104.00

Session Length: 1241 Hands
Total Hands Played: 22,683

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Antonius Fights Back In 24th August Durrrr Challenge Session

2009-08-25T10:00:00.003+01:00

A long awaited resumption in the Durrrr Challenge took place August 24th, with Antonius the victor to the tune of some $392,000 - significantly reducing his defecit in the match to a 'mere' $338,933.00.

The session was a lasted just under 800 hands and actually saw a biggest pot of $223,591.50 (won by Dwan). This brings the total hands played to 21,442 (thats the first leg of the challenge 42.8% complete with the year almost 65% complete!!).

Here are the total win / loss statistics as they stand on the Morning of August the 25th:

- Tom Dwan + 334,199.00
- Patrik Antonius - ($338,933.00)

Total Hands Played = 21,442

Stay tuned for (hopefully!) more action in the coming days!

Challenge On!

2009-08-24T21:23:00.002+01:00

After 2 approximately 2 months of waiting the durrrr challenge is running again!

As I write it is Antonius in the lead for this session, though as regular readers know one hand can swing things dramatically one way or the other.

Will bring an update of the session as soon as it is over. In the meantime you can watch it live - simply follow our instructions on how to find the tables below.

Where Are The Durrrr Challenge Tables At Full Tilt Poker?

After downloading the software and logging in you should click on the 'Ring Games' 'filter at the top of the screen next the 'Omaha Hi' option ( 2nd one down). This brings up a list of the available Omaha Hi tables sorted by stakes, with the highest ($500 / $1000) stakes first.

You only need to scroll down a little - to the $200 / $400 blinds to see 8 special Durrrr Challenge tables... when the challenge is underway they will show 2 players - simply click on a table and you get to watch for yourself!Check out now Full Tilt Poker for yourself now and watch the Tom Dwan Durrrr challenge live as it happens- remember referral / bonus code TD600 for your 100% bonus up to $600.

Back soon!

No Action - But We'll Keep You Updated

2009-08-06T12:42:00.003+01:00

No action for a long time in the Durrrr Challenge... making a quick post here for two reasons. Firstly, to let readers know that the action is not there - rather than us forgetting to update about it.

Secondly to let anyone who is considering leading the 'challenge main gain - PLO - a shot. We just updated our 'Omaha Planet' site with a new look, new articles and even an e-book which focuses on the transition from Holdem to Omaha... we believe this is now the single biggest quality Omaha resource anywhere - you can check it out at Pot-Limit Omaha Planet.

We'll update you on the challenge just as soon as there is some new action!

Mammoth Session Nets Durrrr More Than 3/4ths Of A Million!

2009-06-19T15:21:00.003+01:00

This is better, just how we imagined that the challenge would be when it started in the cold winter months! 4527 hands saw some massive swings, pots bigger than the entire variance in the challenge to date... and ultimately resulted in Tom Dwan wiping out his small defecit and turning this into a positive balance of $726,546.50.... Antonius losing $731,108.00 with the difference being the rake for greedy f-ers Full Tilt Poker.

A couple of observations from watching the challenge today. First was the appearance that Dwan has figured Antonius on paired boards... anecdotal only without a big database of hands to unpick, but Durrrr acted fast and aggressively on almost every paired board that appeared, taking down what appeared to be more than his fair share.

Secondly, while the cards will of course even out over time, there were some monster pots decided by rivers for both players - for example one of the biggest pots of the session saw Dwan rivering trip kings (to repeat, works for both players). Strange how 1 hand could have such an effect in the short run.

So, here are the scores as of 19th June:

Hands Played 20, 647

Tom Dwan: + $726,546.50
Patrik Antonius - $731,108.00

Hopefully the momentum of the challenge will remain - in the meantime why not check out Rakeback-Planet for the best available Full Tilt Rakeback + The VIP service you would expect from the Planet brand.

Patrik Antonius Interview With Poker News

2009-06-17T15:03:00.002+01:00

In the absense of any challenge action we bring you an interview video from Poker News with Patrik Antonius... not the best interview ever, but hey, we all have our ups and downs in life - maybe this explains the seemingly strange plays in the last challenge session??

By the way, Rakeback-Planet just got a huge revamp - looks great and offers the industry leading rakeback deals from the top sites (including Full Tilt of course), and *cough* 'special loyalty deals' from iPoker and B*dog too.... all personally backed by the Planet brand - check it out now at: Best Poker Rakeback Deals

Big Comeback Challenge Session Sees Dwan Close The Gap!

2009-06-11T12:55:00.002+01:00

Action again last night, as our challengers find themselves 'between tournaments' at this years World Series. Big news for fans of Tom Dwan too... after 786 aggressive heads-up hands on PLO his challenge deficit is now down to a (comparitively) tiny $38,124.00 with Antonius up just $34,594.50 (the difference is the greedy Full Tilt rake!).

What was interesting about yesterday's session is that many commentators seemed to think that Antonius was 'not quite right' in some of the plays he made. This included flat calling river bets when he had just a few $1000 left in his stack (one would expect a push for those last few $ in a massive pot) and also the abrupt way in which the challenge ended.

Every player is entitled to an off-day - we will see in the next session how Antonius reacts to losing his comfortable $411k lead. Meanwhile, fans of Durrrr are vocal once again, the match is wide open and with just 16, 124 of the 50,000 hands played it really is open.

Here are the current scores:

Hands Played: 16,124

Tom Dwan: (38,124)
Patrik Antonius: + $34,594.50

Difference in the latest session - Dwan + $376,237 (minus rake)

Remember to check back soon for all the latest Durrrr Challenge info in easy to scan format.

Short Session Sees Dwan Claw Back $36.5k

2009-06-10T10:11:00.003+01:00

A very short session last night, of just 215 hands, saw Dwan claw back almost $36.5k to reduce his challenge defecit to $414,535.00... while many fans of the challenge are openingly venting their boredom of frustration on forums and blogs, I'd like to just quickly remind everyone that we were expecting zero action during the world series - and so should be happy that we end up with a small piece of action!

Here is the round-up of the latest numbers (as of the morning of June 10th).

- Tom Dwan: ($414,535.00)
- Patrik Antonius : + $411,191.50

Total hands played = 15,338 (thats 30.676% of the challenge complete)

Hopefully a bigger update from more action next time!

Almost 1000 More Hands - Small Variance Again

2009-05-31T13:04:00.005+01:00

Good news - we have seen some Challenge hands played during the world series of poker after all.... after Antonius suggested that this would not be happening in one of his earlier interviews

The bad news (for Tom Dwan at least) is that this low-variance session saw him slip another $23k to bring the total deficit to $451k. While this is small change compared to some of the pots played on Poker After Dark it is becoming increasingly questionable where Dwan's edge is actually supposed to come from... and let us face it, if you are going to offer the world 3/1 as a challenge then you'd better be sure you have an edge of some sort.

Before we list the numbers, a quick comment on the ongoing poll (in the blog sidebar on the right). The more votes we get the proportion of Antoinus fans increases. What is really noticable about this poll is that it was 'Ivey vs None Of Them' at the start... as the challenge gets further it appears that the 'None of Them' has stalled. Our take on it is that it is still early days, Dwan is fearless and a couple of good sessions could see the whole thing back in the balance

Here are the latest numbers

After 15,123 hands
Tom Dwan - ($450,980.50)
Patrik Antonius + $447,684.00
Raked By The Full Tilt Fat-Cats = - $3,296.50c

Here is the raw data for the 6-tables played in the latest session:

Table 1) Dwan +$6,152.50 Antonius -$6,196.50 215 hands
Table 2) Dwan -$104,605.00 Antonius +$104,571.50 164 hands
Table 3) Dwan +$21,824.00 Antonius -$21,852.50 145 hands
Table 4) Dwan -$41,885.00 Antonius +$41,839.00 225 hands
Table 5) Dwan +$15,293.50 Antonius -$15,308.50 67 hands
Table 6) Dwan +$79,986.50 Antonius -$80,000.00 5 hands

874 hands
Dwan -$23,233.50 Antonius +$23,053.00

If the action stops for the WSOP we will bring you news on how Dwan / Antoius get on in those bracelet events - so bookmark the Durrrr Challenge Blog now!

693 Hand Durrrr Challenge Session With Surprisingly Low Variance

2009-05-20T11:10:00.003+01:00

Almost 700 hands last night as the Durrrr Challenge limps forward once again. As is becoming a habit for our blog posts we are reporting a victory for Patrik Antonius over the session - all be it a small one with the Finnish Poker pro ending up just short of $33k (or to put it into context if this were a 50c / $1 blinds game an $82 gain - less than 1 buy-in).

So, the totals as of May 21st

Durrrr - Total Amount Lost ($427,747.00)
Antonius - Total Won +$424,631.00
Total Hands Played: 14,249

While we remain in the early stages of the game and much can happen, it really is starting to feel like the momentum of this challenge is swinging to Antonius - as is the support of many of the fans. Too early to predict the outcome at the moment, but as we sail slowly towards 20k hands it will soon be time to get those calculators working and see how many BB / 100 Dwan really needed to be ahead to make the 3/1 bet a +ev proposition for him.

Here is the breakdown from the latest session:

Table 1) Dwan -$42,704.50 PA +$42,668.50 176 hands
Table 2) Dwan -$8,057.00 PA +$8,019.00 166 hands
Table 3) Dwan -$2,579.50 PA +$2,544.00 156 hands
Table 4) Dwan +$24,465.50 PA -$24,503.00 175 hands
Table 5) Dwan -$4,201.00 PA +$4,198.50 20 hands

120 minutes 693 hands

Dwan -$33,076.50 PA +$32,927.00

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Durrrr Challenge Inches Forward + Drawn Hand!

2009-05-13T11:43:00.005+01:00

Another short session sees the Durrrr Challenge creep forward by another few hands - taking the total hands played to 13,556... fans of the challenge can not help feeling disappointed after waiting a week for 216 hands really... with the World Series not far away it looks like the first leg of the challenge will take more than 6 months to complete, I'm going to have to ask a question - will Ivey / Benyamine and any other potential challengers still be interested??

Anyway, this session saw Tom Dwan pull back slightly - bringing his total loss from $491k to a reduced $394k in a $97,000 uptick.

One entertaining hand ended in a big split pot - click the picture below for a sharper image. Nice aggression from Antonius pre-flop in this hand, which obviously played itself after both players flopped full.

Antonius Extends Lead As 13k Hands Mark Passed

2009-05-05T10:24:00.003+01:00

Chatter on forums worldwide is increasingly on the possibility that Dwan could go broke - even though we have only just passed a quarter of the hands in the first part of the Durrrr Challenge... more on this below, first a recap on the latest stats.

Table 1) Dwan -$49,102.00 Antonius +$49,083.50 64 hands
Table 2) Dwan -$108,552.00 Antonius +$108,535.50 68 hands
Table 3) Dwan -$117,106.00 Antonius +$117,092.50 78 hands
Table 4) Dwan -$53,710.50 Antonius +$53,694.50 80 hands

Session Totals: Dwan-$328,470.50 PA +$328,406.00

Overall Totals: Dwan -$491,028.50 PA +$488,133.00 13,240 hands

So, with Antonius now up more than 10 buy-ins it would seem that the tide of sentiment is beginning to turn against Tom Dwan. Poker fans worldwide are now raising the discussion that Tom's Ego may actually have been bigger than his ability when it comes to playing the very best.

While we think that Dwan's behavior (particularly in cutting short sessions when he is losing) is generally not 'gentlemanly' when compared to the high-class of Antonius - writing him off does appear to be a little premature. Back at the start of the challenge Dwan himself said that he would learn and exploit the weaknesses of his opponent as the challenge progressed, indicating we should see a stronger second half performance.

Secondly, while half a million dollars is eye-watering money to us mere mortals, the fact remains that his is only just over 10 buy-ins... as Omaha players will testify, this kind of bankroll swing is actually pretty normal.

Third, the media profile gained through this challenge has to be worth something... while not all organizations would like to sponsor a loser (if this is the case!), we are sure that his profile is big enough to bring in plenty of cash should the worst happen.

Tomorrow news on an unprecidented media attack on Dwan... remember to bookmark us today.

Durrrr Challenge Resumes - Antonius Extends Lead

2009-04-28T09:24:00.003+01:00

Well, it has seemed like an eternity - but yesterday saw the resumption of the Durrrr Challange, and with some extra tables included to ensure that that hand count kept moving. While the snails pace of the challenge has somewhat dampened the initial enthusiasm for this little piece of poker history - the pace of the action, and fearless play of both Dwan and Antonius has - if anything - beaten expectations.

At the end of the 22th session (using Full Tilt's count) the scores looked like this:

Table 1) Dwan +$189,541.00 Antonius -$189,590.00 172 hands
Table 2) Dwan +$51,994.50 Antonius -$52,051.00 217 hands
Table 3) Dwan -$88,113.50 Antonius +$88,084.50 100 hands
Table 4) Dwan -$60,201.00 Antonius +$60,176.00 100 hands
Table 7) Dwan-$12,326.50 Antonius +$12,297.00 109 hands
Table 8) Dwan -$77,600.50 Antonius +$77,573.00 118 hands
Table 6) Dwan -$78,702.00 Antonius +$78,693.50 26 hands

842 hands

Totals for the session: Dwan -$75,408.00 Antonius +$75,183.00

Total to date:

Dwan -$162,557.50 Antonius +$159,727.50

12,950 hands

These numbers always look big - but once again we can put them into context by showing you the same scores with the equivalent of a 50c / $1 match - here we see Antoius would be up $399.

Hopefully this week will see us pushing towards the $20k hand barrier and gaining the momentum which this challenge needs.

Challenge Crawls On... Another Mini-Session Sees Antonius Once More Ahead + Early Poll Analysis

2009-04-15T11:31:00.003+01:00

The Durrrr Challenge crawls on... at the pace of your average garden snail! With an extra 165 hands added in a session lasting less than 30 minutes the totals again change - again low variance is key and again Antonius creeps ahead - taking his lead to $84k and change.

Here are the table results and overall scores for the session on the night of April 14th

Table #1 Dwan -$24,802.50 Antonius +$24,794.00 47 hands
Table #2 Dwan +$44,993.50 Antonius -$45,000.50 38 hands
Table #3 Dwan +$30,047.00 Antonius -$30,055.50 40 hands
Table #4 Dwan -$73,401.50 Antonius +$73,393.50 40 hands

Session Stats: Dwan-$23,163.50 PA +$23,131.50

To Date Stats: Dwan-$87,149.00 Antonius +$84,544.00 After 12,108 hands

Many readers will have already voted in our mini-poll (in the right hand side bar)... wanted to note a little initial analysis on the changes so far - only 85 votes so this is anecdotal rather than statistically valid.

Anyway, when the poll first went up at the start of the challenge the votes favored Ivey and 'None of them' (meaning Dwan!) very heavily... as the challenge moves forward we are seeing an increasing number of votes for Ivey and, surprisingly, for Antonius - and far less for 'None of them'. So, the consensus out there is that Durrrr is far from invincible. We will have to wait and see, recall from the start of the challenge that Dwan claimed he would adapt to his opponent's weaknesses as the 50k hands moved forward.

Bookmark the Durrrr Challenge Blog today for the latest news, views and links on the Full Tilt Tom Dwan Durrrr Challenge.

Holiday Weekend Sees Antonius Keep Lead

2009-04-13T12:42:00.004+01:00

Well we are up to 11,943 hands now and again we see Antonius in the lead - though only by a small $60k (well, small relative to the blinds and pots being played!). Results of the latest session, together with overall scores, below... will be back with the usual analysis, links and views after the Holiday weekend break - so bookmark the Durrrr Challenge Blog today!

Session of April 11th.

Table 1) Dwan -$162,257.00 Antonius +$162,200.50 238 hands
Table 2) Dwan +$4,623.00 Antonius -$4,675.00 242 hands
Table 3) Dwan +$27,926.50 Antonius -$27,980.00 253 hands
Table 4) Dwan -$12,341.00 Antonius +$12,289.00 233

Session Totals - Dwan -$142,048.50 Antonius +$141,834.50

Totals to date:

Dwan -$63,986.00 Antonius +$61,413.00

11,943 hands

Challenge Session 9th April - 890 Hands But Little Movement

2009-04-10T09:37:00.003+01:00

More progress in the Tom Dwan Durrrr Challenge - we we see the milestone of 10K hands passed... far from a celebration that 20% of the hands are over, the poker world is looking slightly puzzled and saying 'what took so long' at the moment. Still, we live in hope that things can get going a little faster now that some momentum has built.

Here are the scores after 10180 hands played:

- Tom Dwan minus ($81,452.50)
- Patrik Antonius plus $79,277.00

Low variance is one thing... but this is very low compared to the size of the pots being bet on, and indeed the aggressive style of the match . If you think about it this way it is like a $2 / $4 game in which no single player is more than $1000 up or down... or a 50c / $1 game in which the maxiumum swing was around $250... now that is steady!

Bookmark the Durrrr Challange blog today for all the latest news, views and links on the $1.5 Million Tom Dwan Durrrr Challange.

Finally A Decent Sized Durrrr Challenge Session!

2009-04-08T18:02:00.003+01:00

We have been patiently waiting for a session of 2000 hands - and that is what we got.... with Antonius taking an 80k lead over Tom Dwan when the dust settled. The pivotal hand of the seesion was a $140k pot which saw Durrrr go from 60 / 40 favorite pre flop to massive underdog on the flop, yet still manage to win.

Here are the scores as of the 8th of April - again we notice the low variance which is characterising the challenge to date...

Hands Played: 9290
Dwan, minus $82,696.00
Antonius, plus $80,707.50
(which clearly shows Full Tilt enjoying almost $2k in rake.... come on guys - wake up before this amount gets embarrasing!)

And the swing in the latest session... $112K in favor of Patrik Antonius.

Here is a great hand from the last session - key here are position and the fact that so much money went into the pot pre-flop that neither player could really fold.

Hands:

Dwan As-Ac-7c-3h (BB)
Antonius: Ks-Kd-9d-Qs (button)

- Pre-flop matchup Dwan 60% : 40% Antonius

Betting: Antonius raises to $1200, Durrrr raises to $3600, Antonius raises to $10800, Durrrr raises to $32400, Antonius calls $21600... putting $65k into the pot with effective stacks now $40k each

Flop Jd-5d-7d

Matchup Dwan 4% : 96% Antonius

Dwan made the last raise pre-flop and is 1st to act, he can not give Antonius auto credit for the flush so pushes, easy call by Patrik of course with the 2nd nut flush + pair.

The turn 5... the river... another 5 and Dwan wins with a full house... scooping a $143k pot. Might have been interesting the other way around - as holding here would have put Antonius over $200k to the good at this stage.

Of course, with the large pot pre-flop the hand played itself, two quesions...in terms of equity was Antonius unlucky - half in as a 40 / 60 dog and the other half as a 96% favorite seems to make him +ev over time here??? And secondly could Dwan have found a fold had Antonius been first to act on the same flop?

Short Sunday Session Sees Dwan Retake Small Lead

2009-04-06T11:14:00.003+01:00

A very short session on Sunday sees Tom Dwan again in the lead with a $54k swing to go to +$30,557.50c against Antonuis' negative $32.099.50 (the rest being the Full Tilt Poker rake).

With less than 150 hands played we are not sure if this should be called a session at all... and fans all over the message boards are genuinely starting to worry that the excitement of the Durrrr Challenge could be so spread out that it actually turns into a non-event.

Here at the Durrrr Challenge blog we are more optimistic, after all it only takes a couple of all-night sessions to clock up an additional 5000 or 7000 hands and get us moving again.

News on Patrik Antonius from the upcoming FTOPS 12, where the Finnish poker pro has been nominated as the 'pro host' for the 2-day event starting on May 16th.

Stay tuned to the Durrrr Challenge blog - we will let you have the latest news, gossip and links as soon as they appear!

Patrik Antonius Interview On Durrrr Challenge 25th March

2009-03-29T15:39:00.003+01:00

Another audio interview up at Full Tilt Poker where Patrik Antonius talks frankly and openly about the state of his challenge against Tom 'Durrrr' Dwan (choose 'news and promos', 'durrrr challenge' and follow the links to listen)

While Patrik tries to be as polite as possible there is defintely an air of frustration creeping in when it comes to both the number of hands played and the 'unsportsmanlike' behavior of Tom Dwan.

What this boils down to is that Dwan is ending sessions for spurious reasons (especially after losing big pots) such as 'being a little tired' or 'not feeling like playing' while Antonius is actually playing tired specially to ensure that the challenge moves forward... in fact there are now apparently a large number of times when Dwan has declined starting a session for equally weak reasons... hmmm, watch this space folks - this could get tense!

In an interesting and wide ranging interview Antonuis restated that Dwan's advantage from 4 tabling was now gone... that although it took some getting used to, Antonius was now confortable with this setup. He also recommened that people play less tables when learning the game to enable themselves to get better and move up faster - adding more games later when making money is the primary objective.

Two more small snippets from the interview are worth commenting on:

- No challenge play during the world series, though Patrik doubts (because of Dwan's weak excuses) that the challenge will be over by then.

- The pivotal point in this challenge match will be when one player gets ahead by a million, with small variance so far it will be interesting to watch the strategic reaction once this happens.

Remember to bookmark the Durrrr Challenge blog today for the latest news, views and useful links about Tom Dwan's historic challenge.

Latest Durrrr Challenge Update - Antonius Retakes Lead

2009-03-27T09:34:00.003Z

News of the 12th session in the Durrrr challenge first of all... then an observation that the pattern / flow of the games appears to have been set (maybe this means we can pencil in a date for the much anticipated Ivey / Dwan contest!!).

S0, an 80k swing back into Antonius' favor in the latest session bringing the totals to:

- Tom Dwan -($24,956.50)
- Patrik Antonius +23,467
- Hands Played: 7093

Dwan actually ended this session by suggesting he was trying to avoid tilting... this actually ties in a little with the internet connection comments earlier in the week. Those 'parting shots' are all different ways of suggesting that Dwan believes his play is +ev and Antonius 'lucky'... something Antonius contradicted here: Patrik Antonius March 6th Interview On Durrrr Challenge

Of course, the hands are recorded for all to see, and if there are significant gripes at the end of this part of the challenge then we can look at the ev of situations when the big money went in.

So, if we take 2500 hands a week... with 7,000ish played so far (and assuming a bit of a rush at the end when the finishing post appears) we are looking at July for the Ivey match... sigh... come on guys - you can do better than that!!

Dwan Back In Front - And Rake Rumblngs Getting Louder

2009-03-25T11:49:00.003Z

In a session marked by the overall shallowness of swings Tom Dwan has once again pulled ahead of Patrik Antonius. The scores as of March 25th are:

Durrrr + $67,126.50c
Antonius -(68,554.50c)
Full Tilt + $1428 in rake!!

With the challenge starting to resemble a cagey sparring match, rather than a clash of heavyweights looking for the knock-out blow there is one winner already guaranteed... the rake!

Rumblings on forums about the rake are definitely getting louder, with predictions that Full Tilt could be some $20k better off in this challenge alone. If anybody who knows somebody is reading please get this fixed now... FT are already benefiting from the publicity, donating the rake to the PPA or some worthy cause would be the right thing to do, and would more than pay for itself in goodwill too!

Durrrr Challenge Latest Update - Dwan Fights Back + Low Variance

2009-03-23T13:09:00.003Z

Another short session of less than 500 total hands on March 22nd sees Tom Dwan move into positive territory once again as the total hands played reaches a somewhat slow 5928, Tom Dwan came up on the day to reach +$15,238 with Antonius being down $16.495.50 (as a side note the amount of rake Full Tilt are taking is becoming glaringly obvious here... they might want to have a think about this since it will be $12k ish after the 50,000 hands which could be embarassingly negative publicity!).

Message boards around the world which we are monitoring the challenge are also starting to point out that the swings have been relatively small so far - that true variance has yet to rear its head. When you consider that pots of $50k are common and $100k+ pots not that rare then it is surprising that one competitor has not been 3 or 4 hundred grand up at this stage.

Another interesting factor is that Dwan's 'total hands won' is starting to creep ahead with 3208 to Patrik Antonius' 2699... this clearly demonstrates Dwans extra aggressive style - while the fact that the challenge itself is so finely balanced shows that Antonius' tighter aggressive style (only relatively speaking of course!) is just as successful.

Stay tuned for the latest news, views and links for the Durrrr Challenge right here - don't forget to bookmark us today!

Antonius Gets Ahead As Dodgy Internet Connection Stops Latest Durrrr Challenge Session

2009-03-21T15:04:00.005Z

Another 425 hands played last night as the latest standings in the Durrrr Challenge swung into Antonius' favor for the first time. When Tom Dwan's dodgy internet connection caused him to call a premature end to the challenge session... Patrik Antonius had changed a $50k defecit into a $107k surplus.

There was one huge hand which we will analyze below - firstly here are the table-by-table results for the 20th March Tom Dwan vs Patrik Antonius heads-up PLO challenge session:

Table #1 Dwan -$18,360.00 Antonius +$18,338.50 Total of 101 hands
Table #2 Dwan -$111,600.50 Antonius +$111,577.50 Total of 118 hands
Table #3 Dwan -$22,203.00 Antonius +$22,190.50 Total of 60 hands
Table #4 Dwan +$4,539.50 Antonius -$4,565.00 Total if 100 hands
Table #5 Dwan -$13,554.00 Antonius +$13,544.50 Total of 46 hands

Session Total = Dwan -$161,178.00 Antonius +$161,086.00

Durrrr Challenge to date: Dwan -$108,610.50 Antonius +$107,445.50

So, the big hand was a PLO classic - where both players had big draws (at least big for a heads-up match) and the money bet and raised meant the whole stacks went in. Here is how it went down

Pre-flop: Antonius (button) raises to $1200 and is re-raised by Dwan to $3600 which he flat calls.

Flop: 5c Qs 6c - Dwan raises $4,800, Antonius re-raises $21,600, Dwan raised again to $72000 effectively putting him all in when Antonius caps the pot.

Here are the hands they show:

Dwan: 7c Js 9c 8s for the huge straight draw with small flush draw

Antonius: 8h 5h 6c Jc for 2 pairs, a jack high flush draw and small backdoor straight potential

Here were the players winning chances when the chips went in:

Dwan - 32.56%
Antonius - 65.49%
Tie - 1.95%

While it seems like Antonius was way ahead with his 2-pair + FD combo we have to remember the role of ranges and (importantly) fold equity here... Dwan had the aggressive lead throughout the hand, and when the pot grew big enough that last $50k went in with a positive expectation!

Remember to bookmark the Durrrr Challenge blog today - the latest news, views and links in a quick and easy to follow format.

Durrrr Challenge Latest - Antonius Fights Back In 6-Tabling Session

2009-03-17T09:36:00.003Z

We finally see a resumption in the Tom Dwan vs Patrik Antonius Challenge, with a total of 914 more hands being played across 6-tables. This time it was Antonius who came out the victor - with a profit of $87,611.50c, this leaves Dwan still holding the lead after a total of 5086 hands - with a net profit of +$52,567.50 to Antonius' loss of $53,640.50

Detailed stats for each fo the 6 tables in last nights session are below - you may notice that $1000ish has gone 'missing' from the totals, this is the rake generated by Full Tilt... with just a couple of dollars each pot they have profited from this challenge immensely - hopefully both Dwan and Antonius checked out the Best Full Tilt Poker Rakeback Deal over at our sister-site RB Planet!

So, here are the table-by-table statistics from the March 16th Session of the Durrrr Challenge.

Table #1 Dwan +$30,890.50 PA -$30,907.00 Total 62 hands
Table #2 Dwan -$95,314.00 PA +$95,259 Total 239 hands
Table #3 Dwan +103,264.50 PA -$103,312.00 Total 235 hands
Table #4 Dwan -$29,308.00 PA +$29,282.00 Total 124 hands
Table #5 Dwan -$88,958.50 PA +$88,937.50 89 Total hands174
Table 6) Dwan -$8,387.50 PA +$8,352.00 Total 165 hands
174 minutes 914 hands
TD -$87,813.00 PA +$87,611.50

Remember to bookmark us today for the latest news, stats, gossip and links on the Durrrrr Challenge.

Brunson "Patrik Antonius Will Be Playing 30 Years From Now"

2009-03-16T10:02:00.004Z

Timing, as they say, is everything... which is why we are laughing about launching the Durrrr Challenge blog just as the Dwan decided to take an extended break from challenging anyone at all!

Oh well, at least the words of poker legend Doyle Brunson are worthy of a post, these actually come from Doyles blog over at Cardplayer magazine: Here is the link Doyles Cardplayer Blog (good number of pro blogs over there are worth reading, in my humble opinion anyway!),

The gyst of this rather complex piece can be boiled down into a few bullets:

- Don't challenge me to a heads-up match, I play ring-games.

- I'm not scared of these internet wizz-kids and will play anyone for any stakes (as long as it is live and not heads-up)

- Most of the wizz-kids will be gone in a few years... Antonius and Negreanu are quite good though and will be around in 30 years time.

So, there you have it... not that the great man will be around for long enough to see his prediction through (though we do not rule out huge advances in medical science!)

We are keeping our eyes and ears peeled for any updates on the Durrrr Challenge itself - bookmark us today for all the latest news, stats, gossip and links in one place!

Mark

Patrik Antonius Interview On Durrrr Challenge - Dwan Is Delaying Things

2009-03-12T10:20:00.003Z

Full Tilt have produced a revealing audio interview with Patrik Antonius which tackled the subject of why the Durrrr Challenge has been delayed so much.

In this relaxed, yet frank conversation - Antonius put the blame squarely on Tom Dwan... saying that he has not 'felt like playing' after losing some serious cash at the high stakes online tables at Full Tilt. Hinting that this was questionable when it comes to sportsmanship, Patrik then suggested he should have a week off since he had lost some big money in the cash games too - before stating that he was actually more than happy to play.

Other interesting points from this Durrrr Challenge interview included:

- Patrik Antonius believing that he has go the chips in with the best of it in the big pots and is unlucky to be behind, going as far as to say he should have won 7 out of the 10 biggest pots and actually be ahead now!

- Antonius also stated that Tom Dwan's advantage from 4 tabling, while real, was not as large as he expected it to be when he took the challenge (!)

- Finally an apology to the railbirds for not chatting more, something to do with focusing on the game...

All in all a great (short) interview - you can listen to it yourself at the Full Tilt Poker Durrrr Challenge Page simply choose 'News and Promos' from the menu at the top then 'Durrrr Challenge' towards the bottom of the list... if you decide to play at this great poker site we would appreciate you remembering to use our 100% bonus code TD600 (max available 100% to $600!).

Oh, and don't forget to bookmark us today - the best source of quality Durrrr challenge links, news and updates!

When Will The Durrrr Challenge Resume? NBC Heads-Up Exit Clears Way...

2009-03-09T11:16:00.003Z

We hope to see action this week in the Dwan vs Antonius challenge - those wondering when the Durrrr challenge will resume will be happy to know that the NBC Heads-up world championship will no longer provide an obstacle to the continuation of the first challenge... as Dwan made his exit at the hands of Phil Helmuth yesterday.

Unfortuately for fans of Tom Dwan he was not able to replicate last years defeat of the (rather middle-aged looking!) poker brat Hellmuth and exited in round 3... the heads-up world champ of 2009 ended up being Huck Seed, who took home the title and a cool $500,000 for defeating Vanessa Rousso.

We have our eyes and ears open and will report here at the first sign of action from the Durrrr Challenge Tables - so don't forget to bookmark us today! For instructions on how to find the Durrrr Challenge Tables at Full Tilt check out our visual guide... Full Tilt Poker Durrrr Challenge Tables

Durrrr Ziigmund In Epic Heads-Up Battle

2009-03-05T09:18:00.003Z

Again no action on the challenge yesterday - but while he waits for those next hands against Patrik Antonius, Tom Dwan has been taking some huge pots of fellow high-roller Ilari Sahamies a Finnish native who plays at Full Tilt under the nickname Ziigmund.

Durrrr vs Ziigmund is already being called the 'heads-up match of the year' - which seems a little premature to us since we have a long way to go with the Durrrr Challenge yet!

Here are 2 videos of yesterdays action - in which Durrrr reportedly came away a million to the good... don't forget to bookmark the Durrrr Challenge blog today - your up-to-date source of information on the challenge and related Durrrr information.

Durrrr vs Ziigmund #1

Durrrr vs Ziigmund #2

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High Stakes Poker Durrrr vs Eastgate

2009-03-04T10:05:00.004Z

No action in the Durrrr Challenge yesterday so instead will bring you some action from the recently screened High Stakes Poker season 5 where Tom Dwan clashes with WSOP 08 Champion Peter Eastgate in a huge pot.... we think this video is worth watching just to see Dwan's face at the end!

Don't forget to bookmark the Durrrr Challenge blog today - all the action, news, views and gossip on Tom Dwan's Full Tilt Poker Durrrr Challenge as it happens.

Durrrr Challenge Tom Dwan Interview

2009-03-02T13:38:00.006Z

This is the interview by Card Player in which Dwan explains the challenge and his reasons behind issuing it... while he says that he wanted to 'generate a little action' only there is more to it than that - as Tom has said before he believes he has a significant edge against everybody when playing 4 tables simultaneously... well except Phil Galfond that is!

Anyway - enjoy the video -

This little piece of poker history is happening now - if you want to be part of it, and learn from the pros at the same time then you can rail Durrrr vs Antonius at Full Tilt Poker now - use referral code TD600 to claim your generous 100% deposit bonus (up to $600!).

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Durrrr Challenge Rules - The Original Challenge As Written By Tom Dwan

2009-02-26T13:06:00.004Z

There is some small confusion on the exact wording and rules of Tom Dwan's Durrrr Challenge. While there was one later ammendment (concerning an individual player) the challenge itself can be quickly broken down into the following bullets.

The Durrrr Challenge Rules:

Tom Dwan has layed odds of 3/1 ($1,500,000 to his opponents $500,000) that he will show more than $1 profit after 50,000 hands of heads-up poker, though the following Durrrr Challenge Rules are part of the deal:

- The Game played is to be No-Limit Holdem or Pot-Limit Omaha Only.

- 4 tables must be played simultaneously.

- Blinds are a minimum of $200 / $400 and are decided on in advance for the whole challenge.

- Players have to play deep-stacked, with reloading mandatory any time one player goes below 75 times the big blind.

And The Later Ammendment:

- This challenge is open to anyone except Phil "OMGClayAitken" Galfond

Special Tables Already Set Up At Full Tilt Poker:

With the challenge underway you will find the special tables already running at Full Tilt Poker, these can be found under 'Omaha Hi' tab and are marked durrrr Challenge 1 through to durrrr challenge 8 at the $200 / $400 blinds level.

Be part of online poker's event of the year now by following the action as it happens at Full Tilt Poker - remember that referral code TD600 will give a 100% bonus on your first deposit too (up to the max of $600) - check out Full Tilt Poker for yourself now and find out why this is the number one choice for pros and players alike!

Find Out The Latest News From The Tables Every Day With Our Durrrr Challenge Blog

Tom Dwan Challenge - Information Main Jump-Off Page

2009-02-20T12:37:00.008Z

This post will act as a jump-off for the player bios and background information on the challenge itself. This page will be updated with more information and bios as the challenge progresses - remember to bookmark us today.

1) Tom Dwan History / Bio - Bio And History Of Tom Dwan's Meteoric Rise To The Top

2) Patrik Antonious History And Bio - Bio For Tom Dwan's First Challenger Patrik Antonius.

3) List of Confirmed And Rumored Acceptances Of The Durrrr Challenge (coming real soon!)

4) Durrrr Challenge Rules- Rules And Conditions (as set out by Tom Dawn when the challenge was announced).

5) Tracking The Durrrr Challenge - How Is The Durrrr Challenge Being Tracked??

6) Phil Galfond Bio - And Why He Is Excluded From The Challenge! (coming real soon!)

7) How To Find The Durrrr Challenge Tables - Quick And Easy Instructions On How To Get To The Only Tables That Count.

8) Full Tilt Poker Tom Dwan Information - Review plus bonus information of the home of the pro's - Full Tilt - don't miss out on your 100% up to $600 bonus with referral code TD600, click to check out Full Tilt Poker for yourself now and rail the challenge as it happens!

Durrr Challenge Links

2009-02-19T12:52:00.001Z

This page will contain links to the best coverage of the Durrrr Challenge on the web along with short descriptions of what you will find at each site. This is designed to compliment the blogroll and other links which will be on the right hand side template:

Link 1: Will go here and include some great info.

Link 2: Will it be a blog, a site or something from outer space??

etc

Full Tilt Poker Durrrr Challenge Tables - How To Get To The Durrrr Challenge Tables!

2009-02-17T14:50:00.001Z

This post provides screen shots and quick instructions for anyone looking for the Durrrr Challenge tables at Full Tilt Poker to watch this little piece of poker history for themselves.

If you are going to watch the match you really should take advantage of the Full Tilt Poker 100% match bonus for new players with referral code TD600 at the same time - Click here to download Full Tilt Poker's software now - you'll be watching the challenge live in minutes!

Where Are The Durrrr Challenge Tables At Full Tilt Poker?

Click on either image if you need a larger version.

After downloading the software and logging in you should click on the 'Omaha Hi' tab ( 3rd one along). This brings up a list of the available Omaha Hi tables sorted by stakes, with the highest ($500 / $1000) stakes first.

You only need to scroll down a little - to the $200 / $400 blinds to see 8 special Durrrr Challenge tables... when the challenge is underway they will show 2 players - simply click on a table and you get to watch for yourself!

Check out now Full Tilt Poker for yourself now and watch the Tom Dwan Durrrr challenge live as it happens- remember referral / bonus code TD600 for your 100% bonus up to $600.

Tracking The Durrrr Challenge - How Is The Challenge Being Tracked

2009-02-17T13:29:00.001Z

Keeping track of who is up and who is down during the challenge will be helped by tracking from multiple sources as outlined below. We are sure than many poker fans will also do their own tracking using poker software... to be honest it is unlikely that, over a 50k hand sample, the results could be close enough to warrant counts from multiple sources.... but then again they said that about the elections!

Tracking Of The Durrrr Challenge:

1) Full Tilt Poker have their own tracking pages for each challenge with the win / loss amounts and the number of hands in simple graphic format. You can download the software while you are there and watch the challenge for yourself at the specially designated tables (claim your 100% up to $600 bonus with referral code PLOPLANET). Click now to check out Full Tilt Poker to become part of poker history!

2) The 2+2 Forums: Tom Dwan himself started a tracking thread over at 2+2, and has offered $50 to 10 people who can track the challenge using poker tracker (this is offer is long ago closed). You can see the thread as a sticky at the top of the 'News, Views and Gossip' forum at the world's biggest gambling publisher 2+2 Forums.

3) High-Stakes DB: This tracking service keep all the data you need on the biggest games around and have a dedicated page for the first challenge (see Durrrr vs Antonius ) which also includes a graph and some hand histories of the biggest hands played so far. We are assuming that they will continue with the next challenges... and will update accordingly.

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Full Tilt Poker Tom Dwan Information

2009-02-15T15:27:00.002Z

Full Tilt Poker is the hangout of some of poker's biggest names - in addition to Tom Dwan and Patrick Antonius, you'll regularly find Gus Hansen, Phil Ivey and Phil Galfond at the nosebleed stakes tables there... but this site is far from being an 'exclusive' hang-out. As the 2nd largest site online there are tables to suit all bankrolls and just about every poker game preference too - this information page covers the highlights.

Click Here To Visit Full Tilt Poker Now
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Profit is at the forefront of any poker player's mind - and Full Tilt Poker reward you in many ways. Firstly there is a 100% match bonus on your first deposit (make sure you claim yours by using referral code TD600). This is released in increments as you collect points from real money play.

Moving on from here is a long list of rewards including the famous 'Iron Man' freerolls, a points store, happy hours, satellite qualifiers to live events and of course one of the best known online events around - the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS).

Full Tilt Poker Tom Dwan Information - Poker Game Selection

Both cash game and tournament players are spoiled for choice at Full Tilt, whether you prefer NL Holdem, Omaha, Split Pot Games, Stud, Mixed Games, Heads-up or Full Ring there is something for you - at a stake you are comfortable with. A short review can never do real justice to the huge game selection available at Full Tilt Poker - make sure that you check them out for yourself to see exactly what you have been missing out on!!

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Full Tilt Poker Tom Dwan Information - Software And Deposits

Famous for it's cartoon-like table avatars and easy to use controls, great for multi-tabling high stakes sharks and those who like to relax with a single table too! Check out the 'televised final table' change when you hit the last table of an MTT!

Deposits range from pre-paid visa, to cash transfers to e-checks poker deposits... there are a dedicated team which keeps depositing and withdrawing easy compared to other poker sites.

Full Tilt Poker Tom Dwan Information - Summary

Great incentives, industry leading software and a game selection that satisfies everyone from the highest stakes pro through to those who play for liesure and profits.... no wonder this site was the natural choice for Tom Dwan's Durrrr Challenge!

Remember that referral code TD600 will get you a 100% up to $600 bonus on your first deposit when you check out Full Tilt Poker for yourself today to rail the challenge as it happens!

Durrrr Challenge Patrik Antonius Bio And History

2009-02-01T22:37:00.001Z

Dwan's first challenger - Patrik Antonius is no stranger to poker at the highest possible stakes, and with million dollar tournament cashes and multi-millions in cash game profits his record really does speak for itself.

Patrik Antonius History And Bio.

Antonios is one of those people who seem to have it all - a former Tennis Pro, Model and now a multi-millionaire poker player. Patrik is a Full Tilt Pro and can be found playing in the biggest games both online and live, including the 'big game' in Bobbies Room at the Bellagio.

Click For The Durrrr Challenge Blog Homepage For All The Latest Information

Patrik Antonius now resides in Monte Carlo, but is actually Finnish - born in the capital city Helsinki in 1980. During his early career he was fortunate enough to have been mentored by some of the biggest names in the business - including Marcel Luske and Jennifer Harman.

Patrik Antonius History - Major Tournament Cashes

- EPT Baden 2005, 1st for EUR288, 180
- WPT 5 Diamond Classic 2005, Las Vegas, 2nd for $1,046,470
- WSOP $50k Horse Event, 2006, 9th for $205,000
- WSOP PLO Championship Event 2007, 3rd for $311,394

Patrik Antonius History - Cash Game Successes

In addition to millions won on Full Tilt Poker as a specialist in heads-up games, Antonius has taken part in numerous televised high-rollers games including playing his biggest ever pot against Sammy Farha - a massive $998,800 when Antonius' top pair clashed with Farha's flush draw and 4 overcards.

Patrik Antonis - The Durrrr Challenge...

As Tom Dwan's first challenger Antonius has already become a part of this latest episode of poker history. We will ppst the results just here in due course... for now make sure you bookmark The Durrrr Challenge Blog now and check back regularly for the very latest information.

You can rail the Durrrr Challenge live at and claim a huge 100% to $600 bonus at the same time over at Full Tilt with referral code TD600 - Check out Full Tilt Poker now to become a part of this chapter in global poker history!

Tom Dwan Durrrr Challenge Player History

2009-02-01T21:16:00.001Z

At just 22 years of age Durrrr has made more money than most of us will make in a lifetime - yet at the same time Tom Dwan gives very little away. Dwan's friendly but cautious answers to frequent interview questions leave the poker press with relatively little information on the personality of the man behind those huge pots.

Fortunately, the challenge itself - together with the fact that Durrrr has youth very much on his on his side - mean that he is likely to be a name on the poker scene for many years to come.

Tom Dwan History - From Zero To Hero:

Dwan was born on the 30th June 1986 in the town of Edison, NJ. His first experiences with online poker were actually assisted by his father, who helped the young Tom Dwan get an initial $50 onto Paradise Poker.

Running this down to just 2 buy-ins for the $5 SNGs he was playing at the time, the whole story of Durrrr might never have happened. Fortunately he won one of those last games and went on to build a bankroll from there before switching to the No Limit Holdem cash games, eventually becoming a multi-table grinder in the lower middle-limits over at Poker Stars.

Unsurprisingly, Dwan dropped out of college as his online poker success snowballed - it is easy to imagine how difficult it must be to write your Engineering assignment homework at Boston University when you are crushing the $25 / $50 No-Limit Holdem tables online between classes.

The phenominal progress of Tom Dwan did not stop here, moving up to the $200 / $400 level and taking on the best in the world at Full Tilt Poker in both Pot-Limit Omaha and NLHE.

Tom Dwan History - Recent Tournament Success

Only Turning 21 in June 2007, Dwan has already shown that his considerable skills transfer from the cash game tables into the world of poker tournaments. Here is just a selection of big-event results:

- 2007 WPT Foxwoods, 4th for $324,244
- 2008 WPT Borgata Winter Open $5k Event, 2nd for $226,100
- 2008 WPT 5-Star World Poker Classic, 9th for $184,670

With the WSOP and many more WPT events ahead it is widely expected that Dwan's already impressive $1 million in lifetime tournament winnings will grow considerably during 2009.

Tom Dwan History - The Durrrr Challenge

Happening right now! If you would like to be part of Poker History then you can watch the challenge live on Full Tilt Poker as well as keeping up to date via the number #1 Durrrr Challenge blog - remember you can claim a 100% up to $600 bonus by using referral code TD600 when you check out the home of the pros - Full Tilt Poker - now to become a part of this chapter in global poker history.