If you’ve been living under a rock lately, then it might be news to you that the second installment of the Tom Dwan Million Dollar Challenge kicked off on Thursday night on Full Tilt Poker. At the end of the first “session” of play, Dan “JungleMan12” Cates was up a staggering $518,000 over Dwan. A total of 5,862 hands were played, or about 10% of the 50,000 required for completion. Needless to say, Dwan has dug himself a hole early.
Stats posted on Full Tilt’s blog reveal domination by Cates, who sported a VPIP (Voluntarily Put Money into the Pot) of 69.2% over the first 5,862 hands. Dwan’s VPIP, while still high, totaled 65.0%, meaning that Cates was slightly more active before the flop. Amazingly, Cates won 62% of the hands played. Let that sink in for a second – 62%! By deduction, Dwan raked in just 38% of the hands played.
A comment posted on the Full Tilt Poker blog perhaps accurately summed up what you’re all thinking right now: “proper pwnage by jungleman imo.” No Durrrr Challenge play took place on Friday night, as according to Cates’ Twitter account, he was “Chilling in PA with master Gu.” Dwan had not updated his Twitter feed since he was up $130,000 after the first 1,651 hands of the second Durrrr Challenge.
Full Tilt Poker has not yet posted an official stats tracking page similar to the one that already appears for Dwan and Patrik Antonius. If Cates is up by $1 at the end of 50,000 hands of $200/$400 No Limit Hold’em, then Dwan will owe $1.5 million. If Dwan is up by $1 at the end of 50,000 hands, then Cates will fork over the $500,000 he’s already sent to Phil Ivey in escrow. In either case, players keep whatever they make at the tables. The two have also agreed to run it twice during the entire challenge.
The second incarnation of the Durrrr Challenge has captured the attention of major online poker forums and even generated a 100-page thread on TwoPlusTwo. Stay tuned to DurrrrChallenge.com for the latest.
