The 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is almost upon is. We don’t know how the world’s most prestigious poker series will affect the ongoing Durrrr Challenge between Tom Dwan and Patrik Antonius. What we do know, however, is that both players will be headed to Las Vegas to compete. Let’s take a look back at recent installments of the WSOP to see how our heroes have fared.
Dwan has exactly three cashes in his career at WSOP and WSOP Europe events. Despite the lack of volume, two of his in the money finishes are for final tables. In 2008, Dwan took seventh in the World Championship Mixed Event for $67,000 in a tournament won by Anthony Rivera. Others at the competitive final table included Corwin “mig.com” Mackey, Matt Glantz, Sammy Farha, and Eli Elezra. That’s half of the cast of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” all lumped into one table.
Ten tournaments later, Dwan final tabled a $5,000 No Limit 2-7 Triple Draw with Rebuys event for $45,000. This time, his ridiculously tough competition included eventual winner Mike Matusow, Jeffrey Lisandro, Barry Greenstein, Erick Lindgren, Tom Schneider, Tony G, and David Benyamine. The group comprised one of the toughest final tables in WSOP history, which isn’t surprising for a 2-7 Triple Draw event.
Last year, Dwan blanked out in Las Vegas, but took 14th in a £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha event during the WSOP Europe festivities for £12,000. If you’ve been paying attention, this means Dwan has recorded three cashes in three different varieties of poker during his WSOP career, none of which came in No Limit Hold’em.
In terms of the WSOP, Antonius has Dwan’s number. The Finnish player has 12 in the money finishes for a total take of nearly $750,000. However, he was part of an embarrassing Day 1D shutout of the WSOP Main Event last year and did not get to compete in the prestigious tournament.
In 2007, Antonius made the final table of the $10,000 World Championship of Pot Limit Omaha and banked $311,000. Among his competition down the stretch were Robert Mizrachi, Marco Traniello, Doyle Brunson, and Steve Sung. One year later, Antonius took seventh in the World Championship of Pot Limit Hold’em, which was shown on ESPN and marked the first bracelet win for Canadian poker stud Nenad Medic.
The WSOP affords players like Dwan and Antonius the opportunity to compete in some of the largest cash games on the face of the Earth. We’d also expect to see the Durrrr Challenge pair head to casinos like the Bellagio and Aria, the latter of which boasts a high-stakes room named after Phil Ivey.
