According to a conversation initiated by DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Dani “ansky” Stern that found its way to TwoPlusTwo, we may see a hiatus in the second incarnation of the Durrrr Challenge featuring Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Dan “JungleMan12” Cates. There has been no action in the ongoing challenge since December 16th.
The chat was posted on December 24th on TwoPlusTwo and featured Stern asking Cates, “Are you and Tom playing any time soon?” In response, Cates took three messages to write, “idk… Seems like there will be a big hiatus… Tom is hard to work with.” With Christmas on Saturday and New Years Day next weekend, it’s possible that we might not see more play in the Durrrr Challenge until the calendar turns to 2011.
Posters on TwoPlusTwo did not take well to the possibility of the Durrrr Challenge taking a break. One poster wrote about the potential wrath of Full Tilt Poker front man Howard Lederer: “[Dwan] should approach it in a more professional way. Or else Howard’s gonna call and say, ‘Dude that’s twice now that you made us announce that challenge big time and then you let us down by not playing it. PokerStars snatched Isildur1 and he’s playing. You’re making Full Tilt look like the site that that doesn’t deliver; that disappoints the players. We’re cutting your allowance by 50% until you finish them both.’”
Not everyone on TwoPlusTwo was critical of “durrrr,” however. One poster came to Dwan’s aid: “He obviously has a ton of commitments, combined with a social life and girlfriend. When you have as much money as he does, playing a challenge like this isn’t a number one priority.”
Other members of the online poker community offered up suggestions for future cycles of the Durrrr Challenge: “If this format wants to have any future, there has to be a clause that it has to be finished in 3-6 months or something like that. And if it isn’t finished by then, they have to play the rest of the hands in one session. If someone gives up during that session, he automatically loses.”
The first installment of the Durrrr Challenge featured Dwan squaring off against fellow Full Tilt Poker pro Patrik Antonius. The last play in that match-up occurred in August. Through nearly 40,000 hands out of the 50,000 required for completion, Dwan has profited $2.1 million off Antonius. The lack of action and a steep deficit have led many in the industry to believe that Antonius has accepted a buyout, although Full Tilt has not given any official word that a deal has occurred.
In his match against Cates, Dwan is down by $500,000 after 14,190 hands. Cates and Dwan are battling in No Limit Hold’em, whereas Antonius and Dwan are dueling in Pot Limit Omaha. The latter match is nearing the two-year mark.
Dwan spent Christmas Day in New Jersey watching a family member utilize Full Tilt’s Rush Poker Mobile application. He Tweeted, “At Christmas w/ my family and just saw Rush Poker on my cousin’s phone, pretty crazy.” Meanwhile, Cates revealed that he was by himself this Christmas: “Roommates went home, going to be by myself for couple days. It’s better and worse in a couple ways.”
If Dwan is up by $1 or more at the end of the 50,000 hands, then Cates will owe $500,000. If Cates is up by at least $1 at the end of the Challenge, then Dwan will owe $1.5 million after giving any taker 3:1 on his money. In either case, the winner keeps the spoils of the 50,000-hand marathon. Visit our sister site, DurrrrChallenge.com, for more details.
