In a new twist on the Durrrr Challenge, the city of London, England will become the site of high-stakes heads-up matches between Tom “durrrr” Dwan and four live opponents. Each will square off against the youngster in 500 hands of live play in either No Limit Hold’em or Pot Limit Omaha.
The buy-in for each heads-up match is a rich $500,000 and blinds will be $500-$1,000. In one of the most unique promotions ever held, players cannot leave the table until one is broke or 500 hands have been completed. In an article posted on MatchroomSport.com, which organized the live version of the Million Dollar Challenge, Dwan commented, “I am looking forward to sitting down and playing some of the world’s best players live in London. There looks to be lots of interest in people wanting to play me, but they never seem to appear online. It will be interesting to see the response and just who is willing to get it on.”
The four heads-up matches will play out in November in the historic European city. Who Dwan will face off against, where, when, and in what order have yet to be determined. On September 19th, the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe festivities will kick off at the Casino at the Empire in London. The tournament series runs through October 2nd, when a winner will be crowned in the £10,250 buy-in Main Event.
In the meantime, play has come to a crawl in the online version of the Durrrr Challenge. Right now, Dwan holds a $726,000 lead over rival Patrik Antonius after just over 20,000 hands; the contest requires 50,000 to determine a winner. There have been a total of 25 days of play between the two poker giants. However, Dwan and Antonius have not battled against each other on the virtual felts since mid-June. Dwan noting that his opponents “never seem to appear online” may be a jab at Antonius, who has suffered from back problems throughout the Challenge.
Rest assured that when opponents are announced for the live Million Dollar Challenge, we’ll bring them to you.
