Tom Dwan Vs. Patrik Antonius Poker Challenge Begins
February 20, 2009
When Tom “Durrr” Dwan told Card Player magazine that he would pay $1.5 million (versus his opponent’s $500,000 side bet) to any player who can beat him in 50,000 hands at four simultaneous heads-up tables online, Patrik Antonis was one of the first ones to take the challenge. Antonius agreed to the terms including minimum stakes of $200-$400 in Pot-Limit Omaha or No-Limit Texas Hold’em.
Now that months have passed, the moment everyone has been waiting for has officially begun. Dwan has announced that the challenge has started and that he has played a total of 1,541 hands with Antonius. A very long way to go considering we’re talking about 50,000 hands. That’s merely 3%! If the trend continues, Dwan may very well be looking at a massive payday as he is now up $134,911.50.
Other top poker players such as Phil Ivey and David Benyamine has expressed their interest in taking Dwan’s challenge. Antonius, however, wanted to go first. Ivey and Benyamine need not worry about not getting their shot though. Dwan has said he would almost definitely play two and will probably play against all three.
We’re talking about a lot of hands so don’t expect to hear about final results soon. Antonius estimates that the challenge would take around four to six months to complete. The great thing about the challenge is that both players can continue playing even if they are hundreds of miles away. Currently, Antonius is in Thailand and he is scheduled to spend a month in Monaco. Both players, however, has promised to play as often as you can.
Right now, Dwan may be ahead but the tides can very well turn. Although the rules state that either player can call off the challenge prematurely and merely pay the side bet, it is highly doubtful that we won’t see this challenge until its end. Antonius has been very vocal that he was not the type who quits.
Unfortunately for railbirds, the challenge doesn’t have a set schedule since both players are just far too busy. If you want to catch the action online, you can check out Full Tilt Poker and look for the “Durrr Challenge” tables in the “Omaha Hi” cash game tab.
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