The latest session finished March 29, 2011 with almost 1,100 hands being played. Jungleman 12 came out slightly ahead by about $40,000.  So far, 19,335 hands have been played out of the 50,000 to be played (with almost $130,000,000 having been bet to this point) and Daniel is winning the overall poker challenge by a little over $1,251,000.

For those unfamiliar with the Tom Dwan Full Tilt online poker challenge challenge, Tom puts up prize money at 3 to 1. If he wins, he gets the amount won at the tables and $500,000 from his opponent. If he loses,  his opponent gets the amount won at the tables and $1,500,000 from Dwan.

The first match (which hasn’t continued since August, 2010 ) has Tom Dwan playing Omaha Hi against Patrik Antonius. So far, 39,436 hands have been played out of the 50,000 hands to be played with Tom up a little over $2,000,000. Amazingly, over $342,000,000 has been wagered over those 39,000+ hands.

The totals so far in the 11 sessions played are: 11,569 total hands played out of the 50,000 hands to be played, with Daniel up a little over $580,000.  $580,000 doesn’t represent a very big hole for Dwan to dig out of when you consider that over $70,000,000 has been wagered so far.

For those unfamiliar with the Dwan poker challenge,”durrrr” is putting up prize money at 3 to 1. If he wins, he gets the amount won at the tables and $500,000 from his opponent. If the opponent wins, they get the amount won at the tables and $1,500,000 from Dwan.

The first match (which has been going on for some time) has Tom Dwan playing Omaha Hi against Patrik Antonius. So far, 39,436 hands have been played out of the 50,000 hands to be played with Tom up a little over $2,000,000. Amazingly, over $342,000,000 has been wagered over those 39,000+ hands.

If you’re not familiar with the challenge, check out the “durrrr” online Poker Challenge that I posted previously that explains many of the rules and details of the challenge.

As of today, there have now been 27,185 hands played of the 50,000 hands to be played as part of the challenge. At this point Tom is ahead by  $779,248.00, even though Patrik won $167,620.50 in their last session where 470 hands were played.

Of course, Tom’s lead is not much when you consider that the total bet so far is over $217,037,000.

The total time played up to this point over the 42 sessions is 3 days 14 hours 50 mins.

If you’re not familiar with the challenge, check out the “durrrr” online Poker Challenge that I posted previously that explains many of the rules and details of the challenge.

As of today, there have now been 12,956 hands played of the 50,000 hands to be played as part of the challenge and even though Tom has won more hands than Patrik (6,835 to 6,078) he is down $162,558.00.  Of course, this is not much when you consider that the total bet so far is over $78,644,000.

The total time played up to this point over the 22 sessions is 1 day, 17hours and 14 minutes.

Whichever player is ahead at the conclusion of the 50,000th hand played, even if it’s by by just one dollar, wins the challenge. So, if Dwan wins, he keeps any money he won during the contest and the challenger’s $500,000. If his opponent wins, they keep their winnings and the $1.5 million that Tom has put up.

Here are the rules for the players who accept the “durrrr” Challenge:

• The game type must be No-Limit Hold ‘em or Pot-Limit Omaha
• The stakes must be a minimum of $200/$400
• Once the stakes have been decided upon, they must stay the same for the entire challenge
• Players must reload if their stack falls below 75 big blinds at any time

Patrik Antonius accepts the “durrrr” Challenge
With Dwan giving three-to-one odds to the entire poker world for the “durrrr” Challenge, it’s not surprising that some of the world’s best poker players have already taken him up on his offer. High-stakes player Patrik Antonius was the first to accept Dwan’s challenge with other high stakes players such as Phil Ivey and David Benyamine already in line to accept the challenge too.

Dwan and Antonius will play this challenge out on the digital felt and you can watch on Full Tilt Poker. Full Tilt has set up four special “durrrr” Challenge tables in the Omaha Hi game lobby. Action on these tables is expected to be explosive.

As of today, there have been 20 sessions played which has accounted for 12,114 of the 50,000 hands to be played with total bets of over $71,332,000.

Each Sunday there’s more than $1 million in combined guarantees up for grabs at Full Tilt Poker!

It starts with The Sunday Brawl, a knockout bounty poker tournament where $40 of your $240 + $16 buy-in goes to the “bounty pool.” This means you get $40 added to your account for every person you knockout of the tournament.

This tournament is followed by The $750,000 Guarantee. Play for the winner’s share of a prize pool guaranteed to be worth at least $750,000. Registration costs just $216 with satellites starting for as little as $2 + $.25. You can also win your way in using just 300 Full Tilt Poker points.

All of this is followed by The Sunday Mulligan poker tournament. If you happen to miss The $750,000 Guarantee tournament, or got knocked out early from it, you take a do-over and play in the Sunday Mulligan. Check out Full Tilt Poker for all the details.

Referral and sign up programs
Full Tilt Poker offers a 100% initial sign up bonus up to $600. If you refer a friend they can get a $25 bonus added to their initial deposit along with their sign up bonus, while you can earn up to $100 depending on the amount they deposited when they signed up.

Full Tilt Poker is a very entertaining online poker site. Not only do you have a choice of numerous avatars, but you can also make them laugh, smile, frown or show anger. That may not sound like much fun, but if you have to wait as long as I do for a playable hand, they can be very entertaining. This site also has a huge list of big names pros that you can watch and chat with, even at the play tables.

Full Tilt Poker Quick Review

• Full screen: Yes
• Changeable avatars: Yes
• Hand history in graphic form or text: Graphic
• Easy to read stats: Yes
• Can change the color of the deck: Yes
• Can change the layout: Yes
• Can move to sit anywhere at table: Yes
• Freeroll for real money: No
• Pro Players: Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Jennifer Harman, Erick Lindgren, Clonie Gowan, Mike Matusow, Allen Cunningham, Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Phil Gordon, Erik Siedel, Andy Bloch and Gus Hansen
• Rabbit cam: No
• At this moment: 52,000+ players, 1500 tournaments
• Toll free number for contact support No, email only

Check out the Chris “Jesus” Ferguson challenge where he attempts to turn zero into $10,000 with nothing but a Full Tilt Poker account! He started by playing freerolls until he had enough to begin entering real money buy-in poker tournaments and cash games.

From there, Chris built up his bankroll by adhering to this strict set of guidelines: He never buys into a cash game or a Sit & Go with more than 5 percent of his total bankroll (there is an exception for the lowest limits: he is allowed to buy into any game with a buy-in of $2.50 or less). He doesn’t buy into a multi-table tournament for more than 2 percent of his total bankroll, but he’s allowed to buy into any multi-table tournament that costs $1.

If at any time during a No-Limit or Pot-Limit cash-game session the money on the table represents more than 10 percent of his total bankroll, he must leave the game when the blinds reach him.

Chris says, “This experiment isn’t about the money. It’s about showing how, with proper bankroll management, you can start from nothing and move up to the point where you’re playing in some pretty big games.”  He goes on to add, “I think a lot of players would do well to apply these rules. One great benefit from this approach to bankroll management is that it ensures you’ll be playing in games you can afford.”

Click here to see how he is doing. Chris Ferguson challenge 

Chris has pledged to donate his winnings to the Save the Children Foundation.