A marathon 2,918-hand session took place late Monday night in the Durrrr Challenge. The ongoing promotion on Full Tilt Poker between site pro Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Dan “JungleMan12” Cates is now one-third of the way through at 17,108 hands and Cates has built an $819,000 lead.
The largest hand in the second round of the Durrrr Challenge took place during yesterday’s session. In it, Dwan raised to $1,200 before the flop with 5-4 of hearts and Cates put in a 3bet to $4,800 with J-2 of hearts. Dwan called and the action flop came Q-8-6 with two hearts, giving both players flush draws and Dwan a gutshot straight flush draw to a seven. Cates bet $5,200, or about half of the pot, and Dwan called to bring the king of hearts on the turn.
With both players now holding flushes, Cates led out for $16,800 and Dwan called to see the three of diamonds hit the river. Cates fired out another shell with the superior flush, this time to the tune of $43,600, and Dwan pushed all-in over the top for $81,000. Cates called and scooped the massive $216,000 pot, the lone one of Monday night’s session to cross the $200,000 plateau.
In another hand, Cates raised to $800 before the flop with 8-7 and Dwan 3bet to $2,400 with A-10 of hearts. Cates called and the flop came Q-8-7, giving Cates bottom two pair and Dwan “squadoosh.” Despite holding only hopes and dreams, Dwan led out for $3,200 and Cates made it $8,800. Dwan called and picked up a flush draw on the turn when the king of hearts hit.
Dwan check-called a bet of $18,400 on the turn and the river brought the nut flush home. The youngster from New Jersey checked, Cates bet enough to put “durrrr” all-in, and Dwan obliged to scoop a $181,000 pot. Over on our sister site, DurrrrChallenge.com, author Sean Gibson summed up this hand well: “Although we might question the flop and turn play, it’s clear that Dwan executed a perfect river plan.”
On TwoPlusTwo, posters focused on Cates’ run-good during recent sessions. One member explained, “Coolers are also result of one’s playing style. When Dwan plays any hand in 3bet and 4bet pots, he may end up in weaker two pair versus higher or weaker flush versus higher situations more than the norm. After the fact, it just looks like a cooler and ‘nothing could be done,’ but it’s also due to the fact that Dwan plays more big pots with crappy hands than most think can be profitable.”
Cates has dominated in the number of pots won at 9,964, or 58%. Meanwhile, Dwan has raked in just 7,019 pots, or 42%. However, Dwan has a sizable edge in the amount earned at $2,300 per hand won compared to Cates’ $1,700. Amazingly, Dwan and Cates have wagered over $113 million combined.
Cates has won eight of the 10 largest pots during the second cycle of the Durrrr Challenge, including the four richest. Together, the octet adds up to a colossal $1.4 million, perhaps explaining part of Cates’ overall edge in the competition.
If Dwan is up by at least $1 at the end of the 50,000-hand challenge, then Cates will owe $500,000. If Cates is up by $1 or more when the smoke clears, then Dwan will owe $1.5 million after giving any taker 3:1 on their money. In either case, the winner keeps the spoils of the 50,000 hands.
Visit DurrrrChallenge.com for more details.
