Durrrr | Poker From The Rail

2011 World Series of Poker: Week 5 Preview

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

Matt Jarvis’ chip stack on Day 2 of the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em 6-Handed Event

This is the time of the summer when the entire area can feel the end of the WSOP approaching. The doldrums begin to fade when you look at the schedule to see we are not far from the Main Event. Opportunities to win a bracelet are beginning to fade for those looking for the big time payout, a few of the broke degens have a wild look in their eyes as they continue to chase the dragon, floor staff are just a little less edgy.

All this means is that the end is near.

Besides the Main Event, there are only two more big buy-in tournaments for the railbirds to stare down their favorites. Today is the interesting $10,000 Omaha/Stud Hi-Low Mix, this event was taken off the schedule but returned this year and Phil Ivey is the most recent player to pick up a bracelet in this format. Just prior to the Main Event will be the The Poker Player’s Championship, a $50,000 8-game mix tournament intended to find the best “all-around” player. Last year’s winner Michael Mizrachi will return to defend his title against what should be the toughest field of the year.

The smaller bankrolled players are also running out of events. Only two more $1,500 No Limit Hold’em events remain on the schedule along with a two starting day $1,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament before the Main Event. There still remain some of the non-NLHE tournaments for those who grow bored with two card bingo including Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw, Mixed Hold’em (Limit/No Limit rotation), Pot Limit Omaha/8, and the $1,000 Ladies Championship.

Some big names picked up bracelets over the weekend and some close calls. Tom “durrrr” Dwan electrified the Amazon Room for the second straight summer by making the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship final table. While it did not have quite the pop of the 2010 WSOP version, it still had some big time grinders holding their breath.

Phil Hellmuth once again came close this year to collecting that illusive 12th bracelet when he final tabled the $10,000 Stud/8 Championship, another second place finish is not how the “Poker Brat” wants to close these tournaments out.

Popular French pro Fabrice Soulier finally broke through to win his first WSOP bracelet along with Matt Jarvis and Ben “benba” Lamb. Jason Mercier had perhaps the loudest rail of the week as he captured his second WSOP bracelet in the $5,000 Pot Limit Hold’em 6-Handed tournament. This week’s winner listed below as well as the upcoming schedule.

Event #32 – $1,500 No Limit Hold’em – Kirk Caldwell (Canada) – $668,276
Event #33 – $10,000 7-Card Stud Hi-Low Championship – Eric Rodawig (U.S.) – $442,183
Event #34 – $1,000 No Limit Hold’em – Mark Schmid (U.S.) – $488,283
Event #35 – $5,000 Pot Limit Hold’em 6-Handed – Jason Mercier (U.S.) – $619,575
Event #36 – $2,500 No Limit Hold’em – Mikhail Lakhitov (Russia) – $749,610
Event #37 – $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship – Fabrice Soulier (France) – $609,130
Event #38 – $1,500 No Limit Hold’em – Arkadiy Tsinis (U.S.) – $540,136
Event #39 – $2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha – $310,225
Event #40 – $5,000 No Limit Hold’em 6-Handed – Matt Jarvis (Canada) – $808,538
Event #41 – $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout – Justin Pechie (U.S.) – $167,060
Event #42 – $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship – Ben “benba” Lamb (U.S) – $814,436

Day 28, June 27th at 12:00 – $10,000 No Limit Hold’em 6-Handed Championship
Day 28, June 27th at 17:00 – $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low
Day 29, June 28th at 12:00 – $1,500 No Limit Hold’em
Day 29, June 28th at 17:00 – $2,500 Deuce-to-Seven Trip Draw (Limit)
Day 30, June 29th at 12:00 – $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Triple Chance
Day 31, June 30th at 12:00 – $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha/8
Day 31, June 30th at 17:00 – $2,500 Mixed Hold’em (Limit/No Limit)
Day 32, July 1st at 12:00 – $1,000 Ladies No Limit Hold’em Championship
Day 33, July 2nd at 12:00 – $1,000 No Limit Hold’em (2 starting days)
Day 33, July 2nd at 17:00 – $50,000 The Poker Player’s Championship
Day 36, July 5th at 12:00 – $1,500 No Limit Hold’em
Day 36, July 5th at 17:00 – $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha/8
Day 38, July 7th at 12:00 – $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Championship (Main Event)

With just a handful of tournaments remaining, I’m still feeling pretty well about my picks in the “Players to Watch” post although this was the first week where none picked up a bracelet. Phil Hellmuth had second runner up finish of the summer. Tom “durrrr” Dwan sent excitement through the Amazon Room with his first final table of the summer. Three of my players managed a decent cash in the $5,000 NLHE 6-handed.

Through 40 events they have pulled over $2,125,000 in prize money, 3 bracelets, 8 final tables, and 28 total cashes. A respectable summer no matter I picked mostly chalk. The total WSOP prizepool to this point is just around $90,000,000 (depending on what point in time I hit the publish button).

Andy Frankenberger – $599,153 (1 final table, 1 bracelet)
Phil Hellmuth – $517,410 (2 final tables)
John Juanda – $410,067 (1 final table, 1 bracelet)
Tom Dwan – $225,435 (1 final table)
Eugene Katchalov – $179,642 – (2 final tables, 1 bracelet)
Tim “Tmay420″ West – $60,087
Erik Seidel – $52,293
Jonathan Duhamel – $40,873
Josh Brikis – $38,421 (1 final table)
Daniel Negreanu – $29,940
Vanessa Selbst – $23,519
Allen Cunningham – $8,191

Remember to keep an eye out on our @FullTiltPoker twitter and Facebook page for updates during the day. The Fantasy WSOP contest is also up and running for non-US players, get in the game and challenge your favorite pros.

Soi Nguyen and Gerasimos Deres play in the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em 6-Handed Event

Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, durrrr, Jason Mercier, Matt Jarvis, Phil Hellmuth, Tom Dwan

2011 World Series of Poker Day 27: Matt Jarvis Heads Up for Bracelet

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

Matt Jarvis heads up at the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em 6-Handed Final table
(Photo credit: WSOP.com)

Today is sure to be filled with insanity and a few opportunities for great things. Hours before the only tournament of the day, there have been reports of 2,000 players already registered for the $1,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament. Players will completely fill the Amazon and Pavilion Rooms as well as additional table set up near the casino. Play has already been pushed back for the restarts and who knows what will happen to the daily deepstacks.

Either way the hallways and rooms will be packed, action will be furious, and the field will come close to busting 5 players per minute (robot Kevmath took the over).

Three interesting developments in the restarts today. Full Tilt’s 2010 November Niner Matt Jarvis will return for a bonus Day 4 when play was halted at the hard stop of his No Limit Hold’em 6-handed final table while heads up. Jarvis will return with a significant chip lead looking to pick up his first WSOP bracelet.

The other two tournaments I will be watching involve Sam Stein and Eugene Katchalov. Both are deep in their tournaments, including Katchalov’s Shootout final table, looking to be the first to capture two bracelets this summer. There has been a repeat winner every year at the WSOP since 2000 and it’s getting late in the game to find one this year.

In contrast to the speedy elimination of players in the low limit NLHE tournaments, the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha returns for Day 3 without having yet made the money. 38 players remain while only 36 will be paid and they are scheduled to play down to the winner. It’s not a long shot to say this one will hit the 10-level hard stop.

All told, between the massive $1,000 NLHE field and the final tables, it should be a great day at the Rio.

Event #40: $5,000 No Limit Hold’em 6-Handed

1 – Matt Jarvis – 8,645,000
2 – Justin Filtz – 2,345,000

Event #41: $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout Final Table

1 – Ari Engel – 270,000
2 – Adam Tyburski – 270,000
3 – Dom Denotaristefani – 270,000
4 – Mathieu Jacqmin – 270,000
5 – Eugene Katchalov – 270,000
6 – Jordan Rich – 270,000
7 – Stephen Bass – 270,000
8 – Christoph Kwon – 270,000
9 – Justin Pechie – 270,000
10 – Dale Eberle – 270,000

Event #42: $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha

1 – Ben “benba” Lamb – 809,000
2 – Florian Langmann – 734,000
3 – Sami Kelopuro – 728,000
4 – Jared Bleznick – 715,000
5 – Sam Stein – 646,000
6 – Aaron Schaff – 561,000
7 – Willl “The Thrill” Failla – 528,000
8 – Tristan Clemencon – 433,000
9 – Benjamin Kaupp – 417,000
10 – Matt Glantz – 400,000

Other Notables: Mike “Timex” McDonald (397,000), Felipe “Mojave” Ramos (253,000), Max Pescatori (201,000), Joao Barbosa (175,500), Abe Mosseri (170,000), Alex Kravchenko (152,000)

Tom “durrrr” Dwan staring down Mike “Timex” McDonald in the $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em Championship

Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, durrrr, Matt Jarvis, Mike "Timex" McDonald, Tom Dwan, WSOP

2011 World Series of Poker Day 25: Tom Dwan’s Close Call

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

Tom “durrrr” Dwan at the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. final table
Photo credit: WhoJedi

One of last year’s most electrifying final tables happened to be a small $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament because it featured Tom “durrrr” Dwan going for a bracelet after laying several bets which would have likely broke a few big names. He was unable to pull off the the feat last year but once again found himself in the middle of a circus, this time sitting in the ESPN Mothership.

23 players returned yesterday for the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship and Dwan was not among the leaders. In fact he wasn’t a real threat until the field closed in on it’s final table when he surged ahead and found himself with the chip lead at another WSOP final table. There were no soft spots as the spectacular seats began to fill. Max Pescatori, Michael Binger, Shawn Buchanan, Daniel Ospina, and Fabrice Soulier all stood in the way of prop betting history.

In the end he ran into a problem all levels of bankrolls can appreciate, Razz hands. After a series of unfortunate hands, it was Razz which would be his quick fall from grace to the rail in 5th place for over $134,000. There were sighs of relief from big gamblers around the Rio.

For a great look at the atmosphere surrounding the two final tables last night, check out our friend Dr. Pauly’s writeup of Day 24.

As it’s become all too common this summer with the “hard stop” rule, the one which states in no squishy wording that play will stop after 10 levels of play no matter, quite a few tournaments have halted final table action without declaring a champion. Last night it happened twice. And it’s quickly becoming unpopular with players, media, friends, and family.

The most ridiculous would be the stoppage of the H.O.R.S.E. Championship where Fabrice Soulier is heads up versus Shawn Buchanan. Soulier is sporting a massive chip lead with Buchanan returning to a stack containing just 3 big bets. Perhaps it will give the loud French fans time to rebuild their voices for the continuation.

1 – Fabrice Soulier – 6,290,000
2 – Shawn Buchanan – 910,000

The other final table pause involved the $2,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament lead by Brit Tom Middleton but a close battle with the remaining four. Pro player Eddy Sabat is still in contention when they return and I suspect this rowdy rail will have sport a proper hangover.

1 – Tom Middleton – 4,030,000
2 – Mikhail Lakhitov – 2,705,000
3 – Hassan Babajane – 2,365,000
4 – Eddy Sabat – 2,030,000
5 – Thomas Miller- 1,885,999

With all the being said, in theory we should be crowning four new champions today as the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em and $2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha tournament are also supposed to play to a winner but both return with over 20 players in the field. Full Tilt pros Scott Clements and Melanie Weisner are both deep in their respective events and look to capture the title.

Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, durrrr, Melanie Weisner, Scott Clements, Tom Dwan, WSOP

Aid For Japan – Opportunities to Help

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

It doesn’t take much to remind us that our game of poker is just a tiny niche in the big world. On March 11th we received another wake up call when an 8.9 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami struck the east coast of Japan. While it will take years to determine the long term effects on the country, many forms of fund raising began almost immediately. Full Tilt Poker joined the effort shortly after the disaster and has been running many “Aid For Japan” tournaments throughout the week.

Tom Dwan is throwing his weight behind the efforts by hosting a $10+$10 Multi-entry tournament this Sunday along with a Pro Chat starting at 16:00ET which could potentionally raise $200,000 in one shot. $10 from every entry will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross and each dollar will be matched by Full Tilt.

In addition to the tournament, Dwan will be playing the final heads-up matches in the Challenge durrrr promotion and Full Tilt is donating $10,000 for each of his victories.

All tournament information can be found on the “Aid For Japan” page as well as other ways to donate.

Tags: Aid For Japan, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, durrrr, Tom Dwan

durrrr Challenge 2: The New Year Session

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

Fans of the big online poker games were once again drawn to the tables for the durrrr Challenge 2 when Daniel “jungleman12″ Cates sent out a short twitter message saying they were starting up a new session. Before the players could even kick things off the rail was deep with fanboys, media, and the requisite beggars. After six hours of play and nearly 3,000 hands, Cates would put add a huge amount of money to his lead. Dwan’s deficit was hovering around the $100,000 mark for most of the session but lost some critical hands late to put himself another $319,000 in the hole.

There were a few fireworks early as the “small” stacks of $40,000 each were run up to the point where each was fairly deep on all four tables and they settled into the grind. Cates was up early and would extend upwards to a $250,000 lead but Dwan would punch back a few times to pull almost even at one point. Dwan made several obvious adjustments to his game but it seemed to prevent the inevitable. More than 1/3 of the challenge is complete (17,108 of 50,000 hands) and Cates lead has been extended his lead to $820,000 making a tough hill to climb for Dwan.

Table 13 was the hotspot throughout the session. 14 hands topped the $100,000 mark and half of those occurred on Table 13 including the biggest pot of the night. Table 11 was the biggest winner for Cates with him having in excess of $300,000 for the latter parts of the session and alone accounted for $227,000 of his profit on the evening. The session started at 21:30ET and six hours later the damage was done.

Table 10: 514 hands, Cates $79,606
Table 11: 740 hands, Cates $227,000
Table 12: 693 hands, Dwan $58,412
Table 13: 699 hands, Cates $147,236
Table 14: 265 hands, Dwan $77,799

You can find all the relevant facts, replays, and stats on the durrrr Challenge 2 stats page. Here are few of the major hands during the latest session (click the images to enlarge).

5. The fifth biggest pot of the session will be tough to decipher since we don’t know exactly what durrrr was holding but we can always speculate. Cates opened the action with a min-raise on the button and was repopped by Dwan. Cates flat called the 3-bet preflop to see the board run out 4d 3s 2h prompting a $3,200 bet by Dwan into the $4,800 pot. Cates raised to $8,800 was called and Dwan then checked the Ks on the turn. With the pot sitting at $22,400, Cates bet out $17,200 and got another call from Dwan leaving Cates with just $37,294 behind. Those chips went into the middle when Dwan checked the Ace of diamonds on the river.

We won’t know what Dwan was holding but he called the $37,294 (into $94,094) to see Cates show 44 for the flop set and $131,000.

4. The fourth biggest hand stuck to the script preflop. Cates min-raised on the button and saw a flop after Dwan called. 7c 2s 4s flop brought out a few fireworks as Dwan check raised to $4,400 only to see Cates fire another bullet up to $9,200 which was just called. The 6d on the turn made for an interesting looking board that Dwan just check/called Cates $16,800 bet, again leaving a player with less than the pot in front. The 5h prompted Dwan to shove them in with a call from Cates.

Dwan’s TPCK (top pair, crap kicker) added a gutterball on the turn which got there on the river. We have no idea if he was good the entire way but he was able to drag a healthy pot over $144,000.

3. That will be the last huge hand posted where we must theorize on the losing hand, the third biggest hand involves the favored “run it twice” option. Next verse is same as the first as Cates min-raises his button to have Dwan repop from his big blind. This time Cates opts to put in another raise and they created a $11,200 pot preflop, the perfect recipe monster potten. The K 9 2 all heart flop only brought out a mellow $5,400 check/call between the two but the Tc on the turn lit the fuse. A puny $22,000 pot ballooned when Dwan check-raised his entire $67,000 stack.

Cates easily called with his flopped flush leaving Dwan drawing awfully thin to just 4 outs. Even running it twice couldn’t produce the boat suckout for Dwan (rigged!) and Cates added another $156,000 to his total.

2. In order to produce these huge heads up pots the players need to have a metric ton in front and both be relatively close (try explaining that concept to a forum monkey). The second biggest hand started with Cates sitting on just over $100,000 and Dwan on $90,000. My words sound repetitive when I write that Cates began the hand with a min-raise on the button, a raise buy Dwan in the big blind, but just a flat call this time by the “jungleman12″. It was a pretty interesting 8h Qc 7c flop which saw Dwan lead out $3,200. That brought a $8,800 raise from Cates, slightly larger than the pot, and was just called by Dwan. The Kh on the turn made for a straight and flush happy board, Dwan check-called an $18,400 bet from Cates to see the river bring the 3h.

With Dwan holding just a few dollars more than the pot, he opted to check the river and Cates fired his last bullet. It turned out to be a self-inflicted wound as Dwan went running hearts (with a turned gutshot) to beat the Cates flopped 8′s up. “durrrr” pulled back over $180,000 to narrow the numbers on the session.

5. Dwan seemed to spend the entire session grinding his way back into the match only to get popped for another big hand. At one point he had scratched himself within a few thousand of even but never held on. Below is the biggest hand of the session and occurred near the end of the session. Only another 100 hands would be played after this and it accounted for the large majority of Cates final numbers.

Flipping the script, Dwan began with the button and opted for his standard pot size open only to get 3-bet by Cates to $4,800. After Dwan called his raise, they saw a flop which looked a bit like the one above. Qc 8h 6h caused Cates to fire out a bet just a little over half the pot before their friend the King of Hearts appeared on the turn. Dwan once again just flat called a less-than-pot sized bet from Cates and only $54,000 up for grabs. Cates bet $43,600 when the 3d hit the river leaving the same amount behind. Dwan came over the top and we suddenly had ourselves a $216,000 pot.

Dwan may have thought his hand was good on the turn but was instead drawing to one tiny straight flush out on the river. Cates would go on to add nearly $100,000 onto this stack after this hand and pretty much ended any chance of Dwan making up ground this session.

Some other miscellaneous crazy hands:

Unimproved aces hold up at showdown?

Cates shows how to hit your full house outs, twice

Coin flipping for $115,000 and winning different ways

Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, durrrr, durrrr Challenge, jungleman12, Tom Dwan

durrrr Challenge 2: Late Night, Early Morning

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

Big time poker games are unpredictable and rarely run on a schedule as witnessed over the short, volatile history of the durrrr Challenge 2 between Tom Dwan and Dan “jungleman12″ Cates. I missed the session played last week while cruising the friendly skies at 35,000 feet and would have missed this one in Nevernever Land had I not checked twitter before calling it a night. Dwan threw out a casual tweet about another session starting and sent the forum monkey world all a-twitter. Before long they were both loaded up across four tables of $200/$400 Heads Up NLHE tables firing away.

Action began fast with an all-in on the very first hand and there was plenty of action for the railbirds to enjoy. 1,400 hands later Dwan was able to book another small win against Cates to the tune of ~$25,000 but the graph is still firmly planted on the side of “jungleman12″. If the tide hasn’t shifted towards Dwan, he has at least stopped the hemorrhaging that was seen early on. Still over 37,000 left to play in the challenge so plenty of room for both sides to make strides. You can check out the durrrr 2 Challenge Stat page for the current numbers and some hand replays.

Session hands: 1,399
Session winnings: Tom Dwan $24,436
Table 9: 56 hands, Dwan $16,996
Table 10: 311 hands, Dwan $17,974
Table 11: 298 hands, Cates $42,120
Table 12: 266 hands, Dwan $125,366
Table 13: 288 hands, Cates $74,264
Table 14: 58 hands, Cates $11,206
Table 15: 61 hands, Cates $2,004
Table 16: 61 hands, Cates $6,306

Below are some of the big hands which occurred over the session.

Neither wasted any time getting all the chips in the middle, on the very first hand they shipped ‘em in with a good old fashion coin flip. Big Slick off for Cates and two red Queens for Dwan with it run twice. Cates won the first but also lost an out for the second run with the unnecessary rivered trip Kings. The second board ran clean and our first hand was big but anti-climatic.

The action didn’t slow down as they build big pots early for the massive pots later. The very next hand on Table 10 created another $80,000 pot but this time it was not chopped. Cates opened with the standard min-raise on the button which Dwan called to see a 7c 2s 5d flop. A series of raises had both players once again putting everything in the middle but “jungleman12″ was drawing thin even with the run it twice option holding top pair versus the top two of Dwan. Dwan drew first blood.

Table 10 produced one more big hand during the session and a nice cooler in Cates favor. Cates once again min-raised his button then re-raised Dwan’s 3-bet to produce a pot over $12,000. The 7-high flop brought a series of bets getting all the money in with Dwan’s 99 way behind the JJ of Cates. Running it twice did not allow Dwan to hit a two outer and Cates picked up over $114,000.

Table 11 started off fairly innocent but finally produced a huge pot. Dwan started things off with a pot sized raise on the button which Cates called. The flop was Ts 2h 9d and Cates check-raised Dwan’s bet only to see him come back over the top with a 3-bet which Cates just called. The pot was over $37,000 with Dwan having only $29,000 behind, Cates insta-shoved the 8d turn having Dwan covered by nearly $100,000. Dwan called with a decent chance of being ahead holding tens up and the flush draw but was up against Cates bigger two pair. Running the river twice did not help Dwan hit his 3/1 dog and another big hand shipped towards “jungleman12″.

The biggest pot on Table 11 was pushed Dwan’s way but could have been a little bigger. Dwan’s standard pot-sized button raise was called again by Cates ahead of a Jack-high two club flop. Cates check-raised Dwan’s bet according to the script but the turn Ace slowed Dwan down with flat calls on the last two streets. When the cards were tabled we saw Cates missed his club flush draw versus the Kings of Dwan.

Finally, yet another cooler laid at the feet of “jungleman12″ early in play on Table 13. It started off like many other hands with Cates min-raising his button and Dwan hitting the pot button. They took their time getting everything in the middle since both were holding heads up monsters. Cates was looking for a miracle during one of the two runs but couldn’t find anything to help his Queens crack Kings.

Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, durrrr, durrrr Challenge, jungleman12, Tom Dwan

Read more | Comments (1) | December 15th, 2010 Play Online Poker at Full Tilt Poker

durrrr Challenge 2: The Black Friday Session

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

After what seemed like endless delays, the durrrr Challenge 2 picked back up this past Friday between Tom Dwan and Dan “jungleman12″ Cates. Challenge 2 stormed out of the gates at the beginning but hit a string of logistical snags over the last few months including a few small tournaments in Europe (2010 World Series of Poker Europe) as well as some promotional obligations for Dwan. Out of the blue on Friday twitter exploded with exclamations they were at it again. I fired up the old poker engine to rail along with the rest of the world and here is what I witnessed.

The two players faced off across four tables of No Limit Hold’em heads up at $200/$400 blinds. Just over 2,000 hands were played in two different sessions with a short break in between. There were a handful of 6 digit pots but most of them were chopped up courtesy of the “run it twice” option meant to reduce variance but instead providing a ton of “oh well” hands so far. jungleman12 came out ahead in the first, durrrr stormed back in the second to put a tiny dent in the huge lead from late in the summer. Still less than 20% of the 50,000 hands have been played with jungleman12 ahead by nearly $650,000. Below are some of the big hands we saw throughout the day.

You can stay up to date with the results at the durrrr 2 Challenge stats page.

One of the biggest hands left everyone shaking their heads with both players trying to get tricky. jungleman12 was the small blind on the button and fired out a min-raise to 800 only to watch durrrr 3-bet the pot. All pretty standard action until jungleman12 4-bet up to $5,200 generating a flat call from durrrr and building a +$10,000 pot preflop. Things slowed down on the 3h 6s 6d flop with Dwan check calling Cates less than 50% pot bet. The 9s on the turn saw another check-call from Dwan leaving Cates with under $40,000 and the pot just under $50,000. The 3 of clubs hit the river and Dwan once again check-called the less than pot shove from Cates.

When the cards were tabled, all anyone could say was “that was a good flop for your hand“.

The joys of the “run it twice” option were evident in the biggest hand of the session which saw $170,000 sitting in the middle with two cards to come. The action started in a similar fashion to the hand above, Cates min-raising out of the small blind and Dwan popping it up. This time around Cates just called and they saw a Js 5d 8s flop. After a series of raises all the chips ended up in the middle creating a pot just under $170,000. Cates was holding 75s for bottom pair with the flush draw and Dwan was holding two black Kings. It was a virtual coin flip and running it twice produced a split pot. Cates rivered a spade in the first run and airballed the second.

The numbers:

Cards – %win
7s5s – 52.53
KcKd – 47.47

The only hand of the session which was all-in preflop, perhaps the players will have a weird aversion to pocket Kings when playing heads up. They built a $118,000 pot before the board was dealt with Cates all-in with 99 against Dwan’s KK. Running it twice gave the extra shot of binking his two outs which is exactly what happened. I am already prepared for the wingnut conspiracy folks with their doom-switch talk in the comments.

The second biggest pot of the session was once again chopped up between the two players but plenty of action to get us there. The money finally made it’s way to the center on the turn with the board reading Td 5h 9d 3h. Cates having Dwan covered and the pot was just south of $168,000. Cates was ahead with the almighty T8o versus the KQh of Dwan for a flush draw, gut shot straight draw, and two overs. They ran it twice with Dwan rivering the flush on the first run and whiffing the second for another huge, but chopped, pot.

By the end of the two sessions of the day, Dwan managed to pull back just ~$13,000 and is still facing a huge deficient with more than 80% of the challenge remaining. Everyone is waiting for the next big session between these two monsters and things look to be heating back up. The durrrr Challenge 2 stats page has all the information you need and will let you know when they are back running.

Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, durrrr, durrrr Challenge, jungleman12, Tom Dwan

Read more | Comments (0) | December 2nd, 2010 Play Online Poker at Full Tilt Poker

Friday News for September 3rd

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

This week’s list is not necessarily a “Top 5″ list as I will barely mention the durrrr Challenge 2 which everyone seems to be following (for good reason) but more a little Hall of Fame action followed by a few videos. The entire list could be composed solely of poker related videos but decided the 2010 Hall of Fame nominees and Jen Harman news worthy of a mention.

Dwan is down nearly $700,000 to Dan “jungleman12″ Cates, most of the top players in the world have taken up their place in Europe, and Blair Hinkle won the WSOP Circuit Event in some place called “Council Bluffs” (appropriate name). Just a few of the things that did not make the list this week.

1. The 2010 Poker Hall of Fame nominees were released and include 4 members of Team Full Tilt.

2. Jennifer Harman will be inducted to the Women in Poker Hall of Fame along with Kathy Liebert and Billie Brown.

3. Tom “durrrr” Dwan joins This Week in Poker to discuss the durrrr Challenge 2 and his WSOP bracelet prop bets.

4. ABC’s Nightline aired a story about online poker that wasn’t 6 minutes of taking pot shots.

5. Phil Ivey spends 3 solid minutes in front of the camera for a proper interview.

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Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Chris Ferguson, durrrr, durrrr Challenge, Erik Seidel, Jennifer Harman, Phil Ivey

Read more | Comments (3) | September 3rd, 2010 Play Online Poker at Full Tilt Poker

Guest Post: Dr. Pauly on “durrrr vs jungleman12″

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

Last week I had a conversation with Tom Dwan about the next durrrr Challenge against Dan “jungleman12″ Cates, 24 hours later the poker world exploded as “durrrr versus jungleman12” was officially underway causing a long jam of railbirds and internet fanboys to mob their favorite forums. TwoPlusTwo ran a live thread which is currently over 166 pages (at last count) full of the standard fare but proving the mass interest among the poker fans. We decided to ask one of the poker world’s top writers to give us his take on the latest “durrrr Challenge” between Dwan and Dan “jungleman12″ Cates. ‘Dr. Pauly’ McGuire did not disappoint.

If you get any of your poker information via the internet, you certainly will know Dr. Pauly and his Tao of Poker blog. One of the most widely read poker-related websites throughout the year but especially during the long stretch of the WSOP. He takes his readers behind the scenes to witness things most white-washed “media outlets” are unwilling, or unable, to describe. Dr. Pauly released his novel Lost Vegas this summer during the World Series of Poker and we look forward to bringing you a review in the very near future.

Enjoy Dr. Pauly’s thoughts on “durrrr versus jungleman12″:

Freaky Styley: Durrrr and Jungleman12
By Paul ‘Dr. Pauly’ McGuire

What the hell is a “durrrr” anyway?

My gut told me the word was made up, but a part of me thought that maybe durrrr had origins in dead languages like Latin or Mayan, or perhaps it was the scientific name for a breed of howler monkey. After a thorough internet search, I discovered… nothing. Indeed, durrrr is a word wholly concocted by Tom Dwan. In an interview, he once mentioned that he made up the “durrrr” moniker in an attempt to annoy the hell out of his opponents. He was spot on, because nothing can tilt you more than knowing that you’re losing a few buy-ins to a guy named durrrr, a word that when said aloud resembles the sounds that an incontinent person makes before they defecate themselves.

Dwan had no idea that would be his nickname for life as he rocketed into the spotlight as the most renowned pro since the inception of online poker. I’m sure if Dan “jungleman12” Cates knew that he was going to become the hottest thing in the industry since the introduction of Rush Poker, then he might have selected a different name. From this day forward, we won’t know Cates as anything other than “jungleman12.”

The only origin of “jungleman” that I can think of in popular culture terms is a song from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In 1985, the Red Hot Chili Peppers released Freaky Styley, their second studio album and the only pure funk-themed album in their storied career. George Clinton, legendary front man of Parliament Funkadelic, produced Freaky Styley, which included a single titled “Jungle Man.” It barely got any radio play and has become a forgotten song in the band’s live repertoire. I’m starting to think that the Red Hot Chili Peppers /Cates connection is a dead end, because Cates was not even born when the song was released 25 years ago. So, the origin of Cates’ “jungleman12” moniker continues to be a mystery.

When Dan Cates dies, his obituary will contain a sentence about how he used to be a professional poker player who once lost over a half a million dollars in a single session to a phantom Scandi named “Isildur1.” Maybe his obit will also note that Cates became the first player to complete the “durrrr Challenge.”

I might be jumping the gun with the “first player to complete” phrase, but through two sessions (one long and the other short) Dwan and Cates completed almost 13% of the 50,000-hand challenge. At that pace, they could finish the challenge in two weeks if they grind out at least six long sessions and a dozen shorter ones. It’s also possible that Dwan finishes his match with Cates and then begins a third challenge with Brian Townsend before his match with Patrik Antonius concludes.

The original challenge that pitted Dwan against Antonius was billed as the greatest heads-up battle since 1951 when Johnny Moss and Nick “The Greek” Dandolos played a marathon match in lobby of The Horseshoe. You had to fly out to Las Vegas and go downtown every day if you wanted to watch those legends play against each other. Only a handful of people were witnesses, which is why it’s been difficult for poker historians to separate fact from fiction in that particular story and determine how much Dandolos lost (estimates suggest $2 to $4 million).

The “durrrr Challenge” is the complete opposite when you toss in modern technology, the easy accessibility of online poker, and amazing advances in tracking software. Every single hand of the challenge is being logged by computer programs and immediately analyzed and scrutinized by stoners who have nothing but free time on their hands. The “durrrr Challenge” is available for anyone to watch by simply downloading Full Tilt Poker’s software. Unlike the Big Game in Las Vegas, you have access to the biggest games online. And the best thing about getting a ring side seat? You don’t have to wear pants or maintain any semblance of sobriety to sweat the action.

In early 2009, people could not stop talking about the “durrrr Challenge.” When it first began, I had friends and family members telling me that they had been up all night sweating the action. But then reality sunk in and everyone realized that the match was not going to end before the World Series of Poker and all indications suggested that this was going to be a long and arduous challenge. Dwan and Antonius lived on different continents and the time difference seemed to conspire against them. Also with the infusion of Isildur1’s action into the nosebleed games, the two sharks decided to feast on Isildur instead of gouging out each others’ eyeballs. Flash forward to 18 months later. The two have yet to pass the 40,000-hand mark and Dwan has a healthy $2 million lead.

The Dwan-Cates matchup had lower expectations already built in after the first “durrrr Challenge” was a dud. Dan “jungleman12” Cates is not a household name (he’s under 21 and has never appeared on a televised program, which makes him virtually non-existent to a large portion of the poker community who are only cognizant of pros that they see on TV). I can understand the perception that the 20-year-old Cates came out of nowhere when he agreed to play Dwan shortly after the WSOP summer session ended in mid-July. Tournament players often draw more coverage than cash game players, and in mainstream poker media terms, Cates was off the radar even though in less than two years, he achieved a rapid rise from small stakes to the biggest games online. Cates wasn’t afraid to take shots with what he called “aggressive bankroll management.” He easily handled the jump in stakes and continued to advance instead of dropping back down. Before he knew it, he put down $500,000 of his own cash in escrow for a chance to win 3-1 on his wager if he could best Dwan over 50,000 hands.

Cates has a Chris Moneymaker “aw shucks” quality about him, which means that the average person at home watching the challenge can relate more to Cates than Dwan’s former opponent – the perfectly chiseled Adonis in Patrik Antonius. The taciturn Finn rarely said anything incendiary at the tables and it’s hard to root for someone as perfect as Antonius. If Hollywood taught us anything, it’s that we’re suckers for an underdog or flawed protagonist. Not that Cates has any obvious flaws, but anyone compared to the godlike Antonius will fall short of the mark. Maybe it’s the fact that Cates is not Antonius and not an established live pro that makes him more appealing to masses.

Cates reminds me of an up and coming rookie on your favorite team that you can’t help but root to do well. I guess we’ll find out if he’s going to be a meteor that illuminates the sky for a short period of time only to disappear into the void, or be a static star burning nightly in horizon.

Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Dr. Pauly, durrrr, durrrr Challenge, Guest Posts, jungleman12

Read more | Comments (14) | September 1st, 2010 Play Online Poker at Full Tilt Poker

Saturday News for August 28th

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

It was another crazy week around the halls of Full Tilt this week as things kept coming at us one after another. Emails were coming in on a regular basis with news and updates faster than we could keep up. The two biggest stories this week were obviously the latest “durrrr Challenge” as well as the Open Letter to the Commerce Casino but there were other bits that didn’t make the cut. This weekend brings the latest edition of Sit n Go Madness, the Big Little Tournament ($2 buyin, $100,000 prizepool), and non-stop satellites running for MiniFTOPS XVII.