The Durrr Challenge: Poker’s Greatest Battle… and Biggest What-If

13 Aug 2025

Beginner

This material is for beginner players

Back in 2009, Tom Dwan threw down a challenge that shook the high-stakes poker world. He wasn’t just looking for action — he was ready to take on anyone, anywhere, for eye-watering sums of money. What followed was part epic heads-up battle, part soap opera, and part slow-motion train wreck that the poker community couldn’t look away from.

The “Durrr Challenge” started with promise: big pots, huge swings, and bragging rights worth millions. But as the years rolled on, it turned into something else entirely — a story of stalled matches, unanswered call-outs, and a reputation that took a hit with every passing month. Here’s how it all happened.

In 2009, Tom Dwan did something no poker professional had ever dared before. He put both his bankroll and reputation on the line in a challenge so bold, it shook the entire high-stakes poker scene. One challenge would cement his legacy — but another would later become one of the game’s biggest scandals. Even today, 15 years later, this duel still intrigues and divides the poker community.

Tom Dwan joined Full Tilt Poker in 2007, and by 2009 he had already built a reputation as one of the best online players in the world. His dominance in No-Limit Hold’em earned him the nickname “King of No-Limit”. Dwan was so feared at the highest stakes that finding opponents became a problem — few were willing to sit across from him.

A Challenge to the Poker World

To stir up action, Dwan made an unprecedented move: an open invitation to the entire poker community, later known as the Durrr Challenge. The rules were simple but brutal. Any player — except Phil Galfond, whom Dwan considered too good a friend to compete against — could face him in a four-table heads-up match. The games would be No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha, played over 50,000 hands at minimum stakes of $200/$400.

Both players were required to maintain a stack of at least 75 big blinds. If effective stacks exceeded 250 big blinds, they could switch tables. At the end of the 50,000 hands, whoever was ahead in profit would also win a side bet.

The Side Bet

Dwan offered an aggressive 3-to-1 proposition: he would put up $1.5 million against his opponent’s $500,000. If the challenger was ahead by even a single dollar after the match, they would keep that profit plus the side bet.

This wasn’t just about the money — it was a high-stakes call to battle, where reputations were on the line. As Dwan himself explained:

“50,000 hands of $200/$400 or higher No-Limit or PLO. I put up $1.5 million on the side to anyone’s $500,000, and if you’re up a dollar you keep that, and if you’re up a million you keep a million plus the side bet. I’m doing it just to create some action, because I don’t get people willing to play more than two tables heads-up, and even then not for long. So hopefully this will get some games going”.

The First Challenger

On January 5, 2009, CardPlayer reported that Patrik Antonius was the first to accept the Durrr Challenge. Soon after, Phil Ivey confirmed his participation, and David Benyamine expressed strong interest in joining the action.

On February 18, 2009, the Durrr Challenge officially kicked off. Full Tilt Poker even set aside eight exclusive tables for the matches. In their opening session, Dwan and Antonius played 1,541 hands, with Dwan finishing ahead by $134,000.

A few days later, on February 22, Dwan made a statement that would later explain the painfully slow pace of the challenge: if a bigger or more lucrative game became available — online or live — he would always prioritize it over the match with Antonius.

After around 10,000 hands with minimal drama, the first major swing arrived. At one point, Dwan found himself down $400,000, but in just two hours he wiped out nearly the entire deficit, reducing it to only $30,000.

Monster Pots and Marathon Sessions

June 9, 2009, marked one of the most memorable days of the challenge in terms of pot size. Four of the five largest pots so far were played in a single session. The biggest was a $480,000 monster won by Antonius when his flopped queens full of sixes crushed Dwan’s sixes full of nines.
But Dwan dominated the rest of the massive hands that day, finishing the 15-hour grind with a staggering $750,000 profit.

On November 8, 2009, Dwan’s exploits — both in the challenge and in other high-stakes games, including televised High Stakes Poker — had made him one of the most marketable names in the game. Recognizing his drawing power, Full Tilt Poker officially signed him as a sponsored pro, cementing his status as one of poker’s biggest stars.

Taking the Challenge Live

From November 17–19, 2009, Dwan brought his million-dollar challenge to the live arena, facing three formidable opponents: Ilari Sahamies, Marcello Marigliano, and Sammy George. The format was brutal — 500 hands at $500/$1,000 stakes, with no option to leave until either all hands were played or a player lost $500,000.

In the live portion of the challenge, Dwan suffered only a small $22,000 loss to Marcello Marigliano, scored a solid $70,000 win against Ilari “Zigmund” Sahamies, and completely dismantled Sammy George, walking away with an incredible $750,000 profit.

On January 28, 2010, the Durrr Challenge resumed for its first session of the year. After 1,280 hands, Antonius booked a modest $58,000 win. But his overall night was far from positive — earlier that session, he had dropped $800,000 to Cole South and Ilari Sahamies.

The renewed boom of high-stakes action on Full Tilt Poker became a major obstacle for the challenge’s progress. With nosebleed games running regularly and featuring names like Viktor Blom, Zygmunt, and Cole South, both Dwan and Antonius often prioritized those massive cash games over their heads-up battle.

On March 14, 2010, another short session was played — but with more than a month since the previous match, speculation on the 2+2 forums began swirling over whether Antonius was considering conceding. By then, Dwan’s lead was approaching the $2 million mark.

From April 27–29, the two faced off on consecutive days, including an intense 2,700-hand marathon on April 28, which temporarily silenced the rumors. But what looked like a revival turned out to be a false dawn. This session would be their last for nearly four months, as Dwan’s massive WSOP side bets and other distractions pulled him away from the tables.

The Arrival of Jungleman

On July 19, 2010, Dwan played a Full Tilt session against Daniel “Jungleman” Cates. Afterwards, he invited Cates to take on the Durrr Challenge, also mentioning that Brian Townsend was already in line. Dwan claimed he could wrap up the challenge with Cates in just two weeks — a bold prediction, given that his match with Antonius had already dragged on for nearly a year and a half.

Despite Antonius’ best efforts, he couldn’t keep up with Dwan’s relentless aggression and the brutal swings of Pot-Limit Omaha. With almost 40,000 hands played and facing a staggering $2 million deficit, Antonius decided to cut his losses and concede. The exact terms of his early exit remain unknown, but it’s safe to say that Dwan’s already massive winnings were sweetened by a lucrative side bonus.

In a later interview, Patrik Antonius admitted that he made a critical error in the Durrr Challenge. He had agreed to play four tables simultaneously, despite having never done so before and without any prior practice. That decision, he acknowledged, put him at a disadvantage from the very start.

With the challenge against Antonius complete, Tom Dwan cemented his reputation as the ultimate “end boss” on Full Tilt Poker. But 2009 wasn’t entirely smooth sailing. Rumors swirled that Dwan had suffered heavy losses in No-Limit Hold’em, particularly against Luke Schwartz and, more significantly, the mysterious “Isildur1”.

For a time, his status as one of the world’s best NLHE players was questioned. But Dwan bounced back in spectacular fashion, winning over $9 million between December 2009 and April 2010. Most of these profits came from high-variance PLO matches against the likes of Ilari Sahamies and Gus Hansen.

With confidence at an all-time high, Dwan accepted Daniel “Jungleman” Cates’ challenge in 2010 — the second installment of the Durrr Challenge. This time, however, the tables turned. Cates chose No-Limit Hold’em, and it quickly became clear he had a substantial edge over Dwan.

Dwan appeared to be stalling, and many suspected his reluctance was tied to his eventual split from Full Tilt Poker in 2012. Rumor had it that his sponsorship deal covered a significant portion of the $1.5 million side bet if he lost — giving him extra motivation to avoid finishing the match. Despite his reputation for being straightforward, Dwan never officially declared the challenge over, leaving the poker world in limbo.

A Saga Without an Ending

By 2013, only 1,500 additional hands had been played, with Cates winning another $200,000. The unfinished challenge became one of poker’s longest-running sagas, sparking years of debate and speculation.

Some even labeled it one of the biggest scams in poker history. According to one account, both Dwan and Cates were supposed to escrow funds to Phil Ivey for a planned third challenge. Jungleman followed through — but Dwan allegedly never sent the money, despite claiming he had.

Accusations of the Biggest Scam in Poker

In the years following the stalled match with Daniel Cates, excuses piled up. According to some in the poker community, Dwan repeatedly claimed Full Tilt had made mistakes or that outside circumstances prevented play. The challenge was indefinitely postponed, and many felt it was safe to say it would never resume.

One prominent voice called the situation “the biggest scam ever perpetrated by an individual in poker”, pointing to the money owed to Jungleman that was never paid.

Public Call-Outs

Surprisingly, Daniel Cates remained patient and even supportive of Dwan throughout the ordeal. He repeatedly told the poker community that the challenge would eventually be completed, despite years of delays. Cates explained that Dwan had financial issues to resolve and had already paid as much as $800,000 as a penalty for not being able to play.

In August 2018, a 2+2 forum post surfaced showing a screenshot of an alleged online chat in which Cates told Ilari Sahamies that Dwan would forfeit the challenge by the end of the month. That deadline passed without resolution, yet Cates continued to express optimism.

Dwan never responded publicly to Cates’ repeated call-outs — even when he was named a Triton Poker ambassador in 2018. In 2021, Cates again called him out on Twitter, later posting that the two had reached some form of agreement.

Shifting Relations

Neither Cates nor Dwan are active on social media, making official updates rare. However, based on the credibility of the 2+2 forum and the reported chat logs, there is little reason to doubt that Dwan has quietly forfeited. That means fans will probably never see this legendary grudge match reach a true conclusion.

Interestingly, during a recent controversy involving Peter Jetten, Cates publicly defended Dwan, saying he believed Tom intended to pay back his debts and had been working toward that goal. Cates acknowledged Dwan’s mistakes but also noted that some unfortunate events had worked against him, stressing the importance of finding a mutually beneficial resolution.

The exact reason for the improved relations between the two remains unclear. Speculation suggests Dwan may have begun compensating Jungleman, softening the tension. In the end, what could have been one of the most iconic marketing events in poker history — and a defining battle between two elite players — instead became an unfinished chapter that tarnished the reputation of one of poker’s most famous names.

Even years after the unfinished Durrr Challenge saga, the story continues to evolve — though not always in predictable ways. On the felt, Dwan hasn’t slowed down. In May 2023, he won the largest-ever televised pot in poker history — a jaw-dropping $3.1 million at Hustler Casino Live. He also cashed deep in the 2024 WSOP Main Event (his first cash there since 2011), and has continued to be a force in Triton and live high-stakes short-deck tournaments. 

Despite the thaw with Cates, Dwan’s reputation remains mired in financial controversy. As of early 2024:

• Accusations cropped up from players like Peter Jetten and Haralabos Voulgaris, claiming Dwan owes them substantial sums;
• Yet, in March 2024, Americas Cardroom (ACRPoker) signed Dwan as a Team Pro, showing the poker world still values his marketability despite the debt rumors.

Reddit chatter suggests Dwan has paid back roughly $1.3 million of the $1.5 million owed to Cates — meaning final details might still be pending. In June 2025, poker media caught a remarkable moment — Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Daniel “Jungleman” Cates sat down for a chat on GTO Wizard that seemed to finally thaw a year-long chill. Cates admitted he’d let go of his frustration, and both appeared cordial, respectful, and on the path toward closure.

So where do things stand today? The Durrr Challenge may finally be at peace on a personal level — Dwan and Cates appear to have squashed their feud — but for many observers, the questions around Dwan’s debts and unfinished business remain part of his legacy. He continues to stun in high-stakes games and keep fans on the edge of their seats, but there's no denying that the shimmer of his iconoclastic rise now comes with a shadow of controversy. By the way, recently GTOWizard made the interview with both players — you may check it out via this link. Hope this will set the record straight, so enjoy watching ya’ll!