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.

It begins with Guy Laliberte limping in with the ace five of hearts. Jamie Gold then calls with the jack of diamonds and seven of spades. Doyle Brunson follows by raising to $11,200 with ace ten of diamonds. Sam Farha calls with king of clubs and jack of hearts and David Benyamine follows by calling with the king five of spades. Laliberte and Gold call.

   Guy Laliberte               Jamie Gold              Doyle Brunson

           Sam Farha          David Benyamine

 The pot is $57,100 going to the flop, which is the ace of clubs, jack of spades and four of diamonds.

Doyle, playing the hand fast, bets $40,000. Farha and Benyamine fold, Guy calls and Gold folds. The pot is now $137,100.

The turn is a deuce of diamonds.

Doyle, with aces and the nut flush draw, bets $110,000 to make the pot $247,100. Guy, who also has aces, but with a lousy kicker and an inside straight draw, doesn’t fold, but raises $200,000 more to $310,000.

This is a great play and against most players holding ace queen or worse, would more than likely move them off of their hand. But Doyle makes an even greater play by calling Guy’s $200,000 raise and reraising all in for another $30,500. Guy calls and the pot is now $818,100, one of the biggest ever on High Stakes Poker.

They agree to run it twice and when a queen of spades hits the river on the first run and a ten of hearts hits on the second, Doyle wins the entire pot,  proving once again why he is one of the best to ever play the game.

Playing card clipart courtesy of Dave Schloss

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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.

Patience
The game of poker requires patience. It’s important to wait for good hands to play. One of the mistakes that many new players make is playing too many hands. Playing is fun, so it can be difficult to just sit and wait, mucking hand after hand after hand while you wait for a good hand to show up. There will be times of course, when you will have a spot to make a move with a less than stellar hand, but generally, you’ll want to play good solid starting hands and play them aggressively.

Another place lack of patience shows up is when a player tries to get all their money back playing a hand or hands they shouldn’t, because they lost a big pot due to a bad read or maybe because of taking a bad beat. Going on tilt as it’s called can happen to anyone, because winning and losing can be an emotional experience and winning and losing money can be a very emotional experience. The best players learn to control their emotions. This is because they understand that winning poker is all about making good decisions and you can’t make good decisions if your emotions are in control.

Perseverance
Your attitude at the table plays a very big role in how you will do. Do you expect to win when you sit down to play? Do you still expect to win when you get short on chips? If you’re playing a tournament and start thinking to yourself, “Well, I’m getting short on chips, let me just go in with anything and get this over with,” you don’t possess the attitude to win.

A good player is looking to double up when they get short and they expect to hit that hand that will get them back in the game. There’s an old saying in poker, “All you need to win is a chip and a chair.” Remember, if you have chips, you still have a chance to win. Never give up. Opponents like it when other players are just looking for the door but you earn their respect when you always play tough and play to win.

Psychology
Poker is a people game played with cards, not a card game played with people. Always be focused when you play. It’s no secret that you should focus when you’re in a hand, but you should also maintain that level of focus even when you’re not in a hand.

By focus I mean, watch the players, not the cards. The cards don’t change after they’re dealt, but you may only get one chance at picking up a tell. Watch how someone reacts to his or her cards. Do they sit up a little straighter? Do they glance at their chips? This is valuable information. Of course, this is a little more difficult to see if you are playing online.  Online tells are more about betting and betting patterns. However, always pay attention to the way people bet, whether it’s online or in person. Do they always bet a small amount with bottom or middle pair and a bigger amount with top pair? When you’re playing in a live game, watch to see how other players place their chips in the pot. Do they use the same hand all the time or one hand when they have something and another when they’re bluffing? Do they splash the pot when they have nothing and place the chips in carefully when they have the nuts?

Always be thinking about the other players. What hands do you put them on? In other words, what do you think they have? You should always be trying to put people on hands when you’re in the hand and even when you’re not. If you find yourself bored sitting at the table, you’re either very, very good or you’re wasting opportunities.

Position
It’s important to always be aware of your position at the table in relation to the dealer button. This is another area where beginners make a lot of mistakes. Hands that are very playable in late position are often not playable at all in an early position.

The reason is, if you’re in early position with many players to act after you, you have less information than you would in late position where many of the players have already acted. So choosing which hands to play and how to play them is as much about the cards as it is the position you have in that particular hand.

Practice
If you want to improve, you must play. You can read all the poker books and watch all the videos and television broadcasts, but they can only take you so far. There is no substitute for experience.

If you’re brand new to the game, start out on the play chip tables. I think a one-table sit and go is a good place to start. The reason is, if someone goes crazy and loses all their chips, they’re out, and you don’t have to worry about them reloading and coming back to do it again, like you might see at the play chip “cash” tables.

Once you feel like you know what you’re doing, you can start playing for money. Many online sites will let you play for very low amounts. You can play a sit and go for pennies per tournament. Move up only when you’re winning regularly at your current level.

Another part of practicing is reviewing your books and videos after you have been playing a while. You’ll invariably understand things that maybe weren’t clear the first time you went through those materials after getting some playing experience.

Poker is all about making the right decisions, based on your cards, where you’re sitting and the table and who you’re playing against. Hopefully, the five P’s of poker can help you become a better player and that, will bring you years of enjoyment from one of the greatest games in the world.