The Run of a Lifetime

Just a few days ago, many people were hailing Isildur1 as one of the biggest gainers for this year. His rise went up to a whole 6 million ever since he came out on the high stakes tables. He got most of this amount from Tom “durrrr” Dwan, taking almost 2 million from the said player. However, he also lost a similar amount to Patrik Antonius in a series of battles, even losing the biggest online pot ever recorded to the said player. Antonius further shaved a costly amount from Isildur1’s bank account in the following days. Indeed, Antonius seemed to be the kryptonite to Isildur1’s superman. And it seems that adding Phil Ivey to the mix was enough to cripple the dark horse. Not being the type to back out of a game, Isildur1 was known to be one of the hardy players. After losing $3.3 million in a series of $500/$1000 PLO in six different tables with Ivey and Antonius, however, Isildur1 was keen to call it quits.

A Rapid Decline

The game started out quite normally. They were, in fact, just playing to pass the time as they played in a separate tournament. Nobody would have guessed that it was in that session that the largest online pot ever recorded – a whopping $1.35 million – would be born. Incidentally, it was again Antonius who took the honor of swooping up this monster pot and it was Isildur1 who offered it up. All in all, Antonius took $2.1 million from Isildur1. Phil Ivey’s earnings were not too shabby either, as he raked in $1.2 million from the said player. Isildur1 managed to win 2 of the 5 largest pots, but even these could hardly cushion his fall. In the end, Isildur1 had to concede defeat and say that he was done for a while. His six million had dwindled down to only 6-figures, a huge blow to the mystery player. Now, everyone is saying that the moment has finally come, the moment where Isildur1 goes bust. But whether that’s true or not is yet to be determined.

Related posts:

1. Isildur1 Wins $2.6 Million from Durrrr
2. Patrik Antonius Wins $2.9 Million Dollars from Isildur1
3. The “Durrrr” Challenge: Halfway Through

The Controversial November Run

Isildur1, as I mentioned before, appeared out of nowhere. Unlike some of the other players who built their poker bankrolls from scratch and did so in full view of everyone, Isildur1 appeared abruptly in the highstakes rooms and started wreaking havoc from there. He bravely played against the likes of Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius, Brian Townsend, Cole South, and David Benyamine – and what’s more, he was able to hold his own. This is probably one of the main reasons why he has gained so much publicity in such a short amount of time. That, and the fact that he has remained so enigmatically anonymous all this time. All we really know about him is that he’s from Sweden and that he’s rich! In a little more than a month, Isildur1 climbed to the very top of the charts, reaching a total profit of $6 million.

This rocket-like ascent to the top was due in part to his very aggressive style which, due to his sudden appearance, few players have yet to study. Many have fallen to him, but Antonius has proven himself to be the most effective damper in Isildur1’s success. After beating the dark horse in the quest for the largest pot in online poker history, Antonius went on to take an astounding $2.9 million from the said player, effectively canceling out Isildur1’s winnings from Tom Dwan.

The Epic Session

Isildur1 and Antonius began the session with four tables, all of them $500/1,000 pot-limit Omaha. This, as many have noticed, is Isildur1’s weak spot. And in fact, Antonius quickly beat him at this game, earning almost a million with just one pot alone, the massive pot of $878,958, among other things. Having had the wind knocked out of him with such a massive loss, Isildur1 quickly asked for a switch to No Limit Hold’em. After lots of negotiation, the two sat down and played two $500/1000 heads-up no-limit hold’em tables and two $500/1000 heads up pot-limit Omaha tables.

This was a fairer ground for the battle, but it was still Antonius who took the field, earning $400,000 after just a few minutes of playing. By the end of their session, Antonius had won a massive $2.9 million from Isildur1, effectively delivering a huge sizing down to the mystery player, Isildur1.

Related posts:

1. Isildur1 Wins $2.6 Million from Durrrr
2. Patrik Antonius on the Durrrr Challenge
3. Isildur1 Goes Bust?

A Series of Unfortunate Events for Durrrr

It is no secret that Tom Dwan has been down in the dumps for these past few weeks. He has been losing millions over millions, shaving off a considerable amount of money from his net worth. The last few days have arguably been the worst for Dwan, as he lost over $2.6 million to the mystery player, Isildur1. Dwan played over 19,000 hands with Isildur1 in just two days – an irony, considering that it took him and Antonius months to reach that number. It seems, however, that Dwan will be helping the poker world reveal the identity of Isildur1, as he has issued a challenge to the said dark horse, inviting him to join the upcoming Full Tilt Poker “durrrr” Million Dollar Challenge – the live version of the durrrr challenge which will be held in London. Of course, it’s not yet certain whether or not Isildur1 will accept. But if he does, we finally get to know who he is.

A Lucky Pot of Gold for Isildur1

When Isildur1 first appeared, he was seesawing between winning and losing, even getting tossed around by some of the pros. He was down 1 million, and many were ambivalent about his actual talents. Still, the fact that he was lounging around in the high-stakes tables made him one to watch. Then, his luck turned around. In a very exciting heads-up match, five/six table no-limit hold’em and pot limit Omaha specifically, between Durrrr and Isildur1 that occurred during the wee hours of the morning, Durrrr lost about $1.22 Million. Not one to take defeat lying down, Durrrr once again played with Isildur1 in a 12,000 hand marathon session (now, if only him and Antonius would sit down and do something similar, eh?). But again, Isildur1 sent him packing, earning another $616,000 from the Full-Tilt Pro. Persistent as ever, Dwan came back for another session, and this time, he lost the third largest pot in the history of online poker – a whopping $694,953. If poker were a battle, Dwan would be bloody and battered, so it was such a surprise that he got up and challenged Isildur1 again. But alas, he was not to recover his winnings, and he quickly lost $705,000 to the dark horse. It was a tragic loss for Durrrr, but a very wonderful run for Isildur1.

Related posts:

1. Patrik Antonius Wins $2.9 Million Dollars from Isildur1
2. Isildur1 Goes Bust?
3. Dwan takes Lead, Durrrr Challenge at Halfway Mark

A Stellar Reputation

You will be surprised to learn that Tom Dwan, one of the biggest names in poker today, has yet to acquire a WSOP bracelet. So what has he done, you ask, to deserve a position in Team Full Tilt? Simple. There’s no other player quite like him. Tom Dwan’s career is marked more by the pursuit of money rather than a pursuit of laurels. He’s one of the best and most formidable players both offline and online. This is because he has a unique playing style; he is aggressive and unpredictable, often making moves that don’t seem to make sense to anyone else but himself, and yet he can be docile and passive when needed.

Dwan is primarily an online player and is often seen playing Pot Limit Omaha in Full Tilt, but he still dabbles successfully in the world of live poker. Having already gathered a respectable reputation among pros, he appears regularly in shows like Poker After Dark and is also a mainstay in the most exclusive high-stakes rooms in Vegas.

Howard Lederer, a member of Team Full Tilt, has accepted Tom Dwan warmly into their elite posse, saying that “Team Full Tilt doesn’t take adding a team member lightly. But Tom Dwan has proven, through skill and dynamic play, that he will be a force to be reckoned with for many years to come. We are proud to count Tom as one of our own.

A Perfect Fit

Dwan’s addition to Team Full Tilt is something that, in much the same way that 1 plus 1 is equal to 2, makes perfect sense. Dwan has been playing in Full Tilt for the longest time, and has even used the said site to host his famous “Durrrr Challenge”. However, up until now, Dwan has chosen not to accept any contracts. So it really came as a surprise that when they announced the news. Of course, there is no information as to how much was paid to get him to jump into the bandwagon. But one thing’s for sure, it must have been a pretty huge sum. Now, Dwan has joined the ranks of the other members of the team, namely Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Jennifer Harman, Erick Lindgren, Andy Bloch, Allen Cunningham, Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, Chris Ferguson, John Juanda, Phil Gordon, Erik Seidel, and Mike Matusow. From here on out, Tom Dwan would proudly don the Full Tilt logo whenever he plays in a tournament. He’ll be playing on the Full Tilt Tables and will be dabbling in the Full Tilt Poker Academy. And to put the icing on the cake, he’ll even write his own personal blog on FullTiltPoker.com. Indeed, with this new addition to the team, Team Full Tilt has truly become a Titan in the felt.

Join Full Tilt Poker today and receive a 100% sign up bonus up to $600 on your first deposit! Use bonus code CPRPOKER to get your bonus during sign up!

Related posts:

1. Tom “Durrrr” Dwan Down in the Dumps
2. Dwan takes Lead, Durrrr Challenge at Halfway Mark
3. The “Durrrr” Challenge: Halfway Through

A Full Circle

It almost seems as if Tom “Durrrr” Dwan’s luck is coming full circle now that the year is about to end. If anyone can recall, Tom experienced a major fall of 4 million during the beginning of the year. His money has zigzagged throughout the year, looping through various highs and lows. Then, finally, as the last two months of the year roll along, he seems to be on a downhill ride once again, losing almost 2 million dollars to his opponents. First, he lost $1.1 million in the PLO sessions. Then, later on, he lost $850,000 more. It was simply disastrous. Ivey and Sahamies together managed to mulch that $850k off of Dwan, earning themselves a sizable weekend haul. Antonius, on the other hand, managed to win about half a million dollars, forty percent of which came from none other than Dwan himself. No doubt, this loss will sting for Tom Dwan. It was a very bad weekend for him and this really will put a big dent on his wallet. But there’s almost no doubt that Dwan will bounce back. He’s been through worse and Dwan has proven time and again that he’s not afraid of getting back to basics and rebuilding his wealth through hard grinding. Before you know it, he’ll be chancing upon another legendary pot and rolling in dough.

Lucky in Love

Also, though Dwan may not be so lucky in his expenses, some sources say that he’s currently rather lucky in love. Dwan was said to have been spotted in the WSOPE with a very beautiful Tara Reid look-alike. A photo of the pretty girl is circulating among the most active poker forums, getting exclusive access to the juiciest of gossip columns. Then again, nothing is verified – not even the girl’s identity – and some say that it might just have been a random girl who happened to be standing behind the poker pro and having the misfortune of being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Related posts:

1. Dwan takes Lead, Durrrr Challenge at Halfway Mark
2. Isildur1 Wins $2.6 Million from Durrrr
3. Tom “Durrrr” Dwan Joins Team Full Tilt

The Million-dollar Challenge

Let’s take a trip down memory lane and analyze how this challenge has played out so far. It was in February that Tom Dwan issued the million dollar challenge. Anybody who joined would have to play with Dwan for 50,000 hands in $200/400 or higher in four tables simultaneously. At the end of the challenge, whoever is ahead wins – even if it’s just by a dollar. If the challenger wins, then Dwan will have to fork over $1.5 million. But if Dwan wins, then the challenger will give only $500,000.

Both parties, however, get to keep their individual challenge winnings. It was a sick challenge, put out to feed one man’s ego, just to prove to the world that he’s the best. It was also a tempting challenge, and it drew in two of the biggest names in the industry, namely Patrik Antonius and Phil Ivey. Antonius was up first, and the first Dwan vs. Antonius session happened on February 18, 2009. The challenge was slow at first, with smaller pots. But eventually, both players got the handle of the game and the pots became bigger, and the tug-of-war for the lead became more intense. At one point, Antonius even held a $400,000 lead for two months. But at another, Dwan held a $1.2 million lead. But the action was slow, and sessions were rare, with both players busy with their own lives. The halfway mark loomed, but wasn’t touched until 231 days after the first ever session.

231 Days Later

It was in a four-table $200/400 pot-limit Omaha match that it happened: the 25,000th hand. The challenge was slowly but surely approaching that half-way mark, at a snail’s pace, in fact. Antonius and Dwan, after all, don’t seem to be too keen on finishing this challenge quickly. But we can’t blame them, the life of a poker pro – raking in millions in minutes with the possibility of losing them just as fast – must certainly be busy, with the tournaments and what not’s. Still, there was no suppressing the fans’ sigh of relief when these two finally sat down for a session after almost a month of inactivity.

October 1, Patrik and Tom both logged in for a session of 400 hands. Antonius was in the lead with just over $30,000, but Tom quickly overtook him and gained a lead of more than $230,000. They were just a little more than a thousand hands short of reaching the halfway mark. And it was only last October 7, Wednesday, that that this was achieved, with 1,063 hands played in just three hours and fifteen minutes. Patrik and Tom had gone over the 25,000 mark, playing 25,145 hands in all. It was also in the last session when Dwan bagged more than $400,000 in winnings. Dwan won 3 of the session’s 5 pots, including one that was worth almost $200,000, putting him firmly in the lead with almost $700,000.

Related posts:

1. Dwan takes Lead, Durrrr Challenge at Halfway Mark
2. Patrik Antonius on the Durrrr Challenge
3. Isildur1 Wins $2.6 Million from Durrrr

The Race

Picking up where they left off, Dwan and Antonius logged in for a session of 400 hands, putting them closer to the challenge’s halfway mark. All in all, they’ve played 23,597 hands out of the 50,000 required. It was in the wee hours of the morning that they played, and yet, Tom Dwan seemed to be in his element. The session started off with Antonius in the lead with a meager $34,000. But as it progressed, Dwan steadily chipped off at Antonius’ fortune, earning himself a $235,453 lead.

What we’re wondering about is whether Dwan will be able to keep his lead and be able to hold on to it until the end of the challenge which is, might I add, far from over. If he does, Antonius will have to hand him over $500,000. But if Antonius is in the lead by the end of the challenge, then Dwan will owe Antonius a staggering $1.5 million, not to mention the fact that he’ll have to bear the shame of losing in his own challenge. But with the conclusion of the last Durrrr Challenge session, Dwan can safely say that he’s in a comfortable place.

A Snail’s Pace

The challenge might be nearing the halfway mark, but at the rate it’s going, we might just see judgment day before we get to see who the winner of the Durrrr Challenge is. And really, at the snail’s pace that it’s going now, it might just fade into obscurity. Eight months since they began and they haven’t even gone past the halfway mark – well, that’s simply pathetic. The two should put in more time in the challenge or people will simply forget about it. We’ve gone almost a month without seeing any action.

But at the rate things are going for our two poker stars, it seems that we’ll not be seeing much more except for sporadic sessions such as this one. Antonius has been very busy in this year’s WSOPE and Tom Dwan is still scheduled to partake in the PKR Heads-Up Grand Slam and PartyPoker World Open later this month. Hopefully, by November, we’ll see them putting in more time in the tables and maybe, finally, we’ll see the conclusion to the painfully dragging but still riveting Durrrr Challenge.

Related posts:

1. The “Durrrr” Challenge: Halfway Through
2. Patrik Antonius on the Durrrr Challenge
3. Isildur1 Wins $2.6 Million from Durrrr

Where’s the Catch?

Of course, Durrrr won’t play at such a big 1:3 disadvantage if there isn’t a catch. The Durrr Challenge is actually firmly set in his comfort zone – that is, playing at several tables simultaneously. Also, the games must all be No-limit Hold ‘em Poker or Pot-Limit Omaha. Anything else would not be allowed. The stakes would also have to be a minimum $200/$400.

But that’s not to say that there’s no chance of him losing either. Durrrr issued the challenge to anyone and everyone, and some of the biggest names in online poker have accepted the challenge, among them are Phil Ivey, David Benyamine, and of course, Patrik Antonius. The Durrrr vs. Antonius face off is currently on-going, with the players’ stats too close to decide any real lead.

Millions are at stake, and it’s certainly an exciting match, especially since Antonius has been dragged back into the limelight when he accepted the challenge.

What Antonius has to Say about the Challenge

Antonius, ever the good sport, has admitted that Durrrr is the best poker player when it comes to multitable poker. He himself has difficulties playing more than 3 tables but Durrrr, he’s unique. Durrrr can play up to 6 tables at the same time, sometimes fighting with multiple pros. But – and this is a very big “but” – Durrrr stuck to smaller bets in the first phases of the game, allowing Antonius to get the feel of multitable poker without having to suffer big losses. This might cost him later on in the game, but it’s still really too early to say. Especially since neither Durrrr nor Antonius can really invest enough time in the challenge to finish it within the next few months.

Related posts:

1. Dwan takes Lead, Durrrr Challenge at Halfway Mark
2. The “Durrrr” Challenge: Halfway Through
3. Patrik Antonius Wins $2.9 Million Dollars from Isildur1