Dwan Challenge Finally Underway at Full Tilt Poker; “Durrrr” VS Patrik Antonius

Last Friday, the long anticipated heads-up battle between Tom “durrrr” Dwan and his first challenger, Patrik Antonius, finally got underway at FullTilt.com.

As many of you will remember, Dwan offered to stake 3-to-1 ($1.5m to $500k) against any taker who would compete in 50,000 hands of $200/$400 Omaha or Texas Hold’em. When the 50,000 hand session finishes, the player with at least $1 more than his original stake is awarded the full $2m from both bankrolls (minus any online poker rake).

Multi-tabling at four virtual felts, Antonius and Dwan busted out 2,925 in the first 9-1/2 hours. Though Dwan has won more pot than Antonius, - 1,637 to 1,276 – The Full Tilt Pro held a $56,177.50 lead at last count. The biggest lead throughout the competition has been Dwan, up $200k after 1,600 hands, but the see-saw effect of two well-match, highly skilled opponents is leaving nothing up to Lady Luck.

Interestingly enough, Saturday’s action was put on hold for a bit as FullTiltPoker.net Pro Gus Hansen and fellow poker pro Theo Jorgensen took to the boxing ring in Denmark, Copenhagen. The match took place just after Jens Kyllönen defeated Peter Hedlund I heads-up to win the title at the EPT Scandinavian Open for $1.1 million. A publicity stunt to advertise the Great Dane’s new video blog, GusHansenTV.com, Dwan, Antonius and a multitude of other online viewers tuned in to watch the boxing match take place – the first installment ever to air on Hansen’s new video blog.

Dwan is still expected to take on David Benyamine in his unprecedented online poker challenge, but no date has been scheduled. Originally, Phil Ivey announced that he himself, along with Antonius and Benyamine, would all be taking Tom “durrrr” Dwan up on the challenge, but it seems Ivey may have dropped out of candidacy at this point.

The Dwan Challenge has been on hold since Saturday’s action, but is expected to continue at break-neck pace as the new weekend approaches.

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