The Tom Dwan Challenge
If you are a poker player and have not heard about Tom Dwan you may want to check your TV and radio to make sure they are still working. Tom Dwan is Full Tilts newest signing and most would consider it long overdue. Dwan has been burning up the online poker world for years now. He is particularly adept at multi-tabling Omaha and PLO. Whether you care for his style of playing several tables at once or not, you cannot deny his results at the poker tables. Dwan literally has been ripping the online poker tables at Full Tilt to shreds over the past 3 years. Dwan is constantly ranked among the top online poker players in profits just about every year. Yet, even with all of his success Dwan wanted to distinguish himself even more. Enter the "Durrr Challenge."
Taking the Challenge
The challenge itself is fairly straight forward. Dwan will pay his opponent $1,5 million dollars if they can beat him multi-tabling 4 tables of either PLO or No Limit Hold'em at stakes of at least $400/$200 for 50,000 hands. Don't everybody raise their hand at once. Seriously, though Dwan had absolutely no problem gathering a number of pros for this challenge. Why? Because if the challenger loses he only loses $500,000 but stands to make $1 million if he is only $1 dollar ahead at the end of fifty-thousand hands!
Who wouldn't step up to the plate if they had the bankroll to get into this deal?
So far the first person to step up is none other than fellow Full Tilt Pro Patrick Antonius. Patrick also has a reputation for ripping up the online poker world too and gained a great deal of notoriety by winning a WPT title and cashing in several live events along the way. It doesn't hurt that he has stunningly good looks to help promote his brand either. But looks aside Antonius is indeed a formidable opponent for anyone and that includes Dwan.
Delays
In early 2025 the tournament got off to a fairly good start with both players jumping online regularly to play. Antonius jumped out to an early lead around $200k during the first ten-thousand or so hands but things kind of fizzled once the World Series of Poker began and both players were struggling to get in sessions on a regular basis with interviews, tournaments and TV tapings. By the time they were semi-back to playing regularly things began to turn. Antonius began to run just as bad as he had been running good and eventually Dwan widdled away at his stack until they were just about even again. By the summer of 2025 Dwan had overtaken Antonius if only by a poultry thirty-thousand or so.
Frustration Sets In
By the time the summer is over Antonius found himself behind $2 million and Dwan has what appears to be an insurmountable lead. True, in cash games anything can happen but Antonius admits that Dwan has been playing well and is also getting a lot of breaks in the process. I don't care how well you play the game you still have to run good. That means avoiding bad beats and your good hands holding up. It may seem straight forward to most but if you play enough Texas Hold’em poker or Omaha you know that it certainly is not easy.
With the challenge coming to a close neither player anticipated taking over a year to complete it. Sure, it sounded good at first but finding the time when you are a professional poker player is not easy. In any event Durrr appears to still be hungry for the next challenger. No one knows for sure who will be next but it certainly will not be easy to knock Dwan off his mantle.
You've been warned!
