Poker From The Rail
a Poker Blog brought to you by Full Tilt Poker
Posted by Dave McCarthy | Filed under Bloggers Corner
It’s been a busy year so far. Here’s a quick review of the top stories of the year (through the first six weeks of it).
If you think a story is missing, please email me at DaveFromTheRail@gmail.com to voice your concern. I’d be happy to run a “Corrections/Retractions” feature to highlight my mistakes.
#5: A Texas pawn shop sold the 2005 WSOP $5,000 no-limit holdem championship bracelet, formerly belonging to TJ Cloutier, on eBay for just over $4,000. Cloutier admitted to pawning it when short on cash. Cake Poker bought the bracelet and said: “We can’t, in good conscience, keep it from the man who rightfully won it; which is why we’ve decided to return it to TJ Cloutier… just as soon as we’re done having some fun with it.”
The top 4 stories can be found after the jump…
Tags: durrrr Challenge, Full Tilt Poker Academy, Isildur1, Phil Gordon, Phil Ivey, Rush Poker, Tom Dwan
Posted by Dave McCarthy | Filed under Bloggers Corner, The Week at FTP
In case you’re unfamiliar with Tom “durrrr” Dwan, the youngest member of Team Full Tilt started with a $50 bankroll in 2004 and is now considered one of the best high stakes players in the world. He recently issued the “durrrr Challenge.” Durrrr and an opponent (the first is Patrik Antonius) play four tables of heads up NLHE or PLO until they’ve reached 50,000 hands. At that point, if the opponent is up by as little as a dollar, Durrrr will give him $1.5 million. If Durrrr is ahead, the opponent gives him $500,000. The winner keeps the money won during the challenge, too.
The most recent session of The Challenge, which ended early Tuesday morning, saw Durrrr extend his lead over Antonius to $1.4 million after 32,795 hands.
The Full Tilt Poker Academy just released part 1 of Phil Gordon’s interview with Durrrr in which the latter discusses:
- What possessed him to offer 3-1 odds against, well, the world
- If his lead in The Challenge will affect his strategy
- Learning poker and improving his game
Part 2 will feature a look at some of the big hands from the durrrr Challenege.
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Also, sources at the home office tell me that over 10,000 people have already read Durrrr’s latest blog post, “A Year in Recap and Isildur Part 1.” Durrrr, incidentally, was an English major at Boston University before pursuing poker full time.
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Lastly, Full Tilt has created a website where you can check the status of The Challenge, watch replays of the biggest hands, and more.
Tags: durrrr Challenge, Full Tilt Poker Academy, Phil Gordon, Tom Dwan
Posted by Dave McCarthy | Filed under Bloggers Corner
Hello Railers,
This is my first post, and I’m honored to be joining AlCantHang as a blogger here at Poker from the Rail.
I plan to post regularly about general poker news, as well as happenings within the Full Tilt community. The rest – news commentary, poker humor, strategy essays – I’d like to leave to all you readers. I’ve created an email address, DaveFromTheRail@gmail.com, for you to submit anything you would like to see up here. Ideally, this blog will contain a great deal of reader generated content.
If you have any comments, criticisms, or just need to get a bad beat story off your chest, please feel free to email me.
Here’s a quick roundup of general and Full Tilt news, which should serve as an example of the kinds of posts I’ll be producing:
General Poker News:
On Monday, a New Jersey State Senate committee, citing potential revenue gains, approved a bill to amend the state constitution to allow sports betting in Atlantic City casinos and New Jersey racetracks. The measure would pave the way for possible legalization of intrastate online gambling. The point is moot, however, unless the federal government eliminates its ban on sports betting. (Federal law bans sports betting in all but Nevada, Delaware, Montana, and Oregon; only limited parlay wagering is allowed in the last three. Barney Frank (D-MA) is leading the charge in Washington to legalize and regulate online gambling.)
If the bill is approved by the state legislature, it would be sent via referendum to the people of New Jersey.
The Pros This Week:
Tom “durrrr” Dwan published his first blog post of 2010 at durrrr.com. The post is titled “a long year in recap, and isildur part 1″ and in it the Full Tilt Red Pro discusses swings, Isildur1, and some of the impetus behind his offering the fan favorite durrrr Challenge. Dwan also promises to post more often this year, announcing that he will donate $10,000 to charity any month he doesn’t write at least three posts.
February 8 must have been a busy day for Dwan. After blogging, he played 883 hands with Patrik Antonius and extended his lead in the Challenge by $314,828 to just under $1.4 million. You can watch the biggest hands replayed and check official Challenge stats at FullTiltPoker.com/durrrr-vs-antonius.
New At the Academy:
The Full Tilt Poker Academy, which offers teaching videos, interactive lessons, and more, recently added some new content, including an interview of Tom Dwan by Phil Gordon. In a smart and candid discussion, the Dean of the Poker Academy asks the young star about the durrrr Challenge, improving one’s game, and what it takes to be a world class player.
Full Tilt News:
The Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) XV kicks off Wednesday at 9pm ET with a $200 NLHE tournament hosted by Erik Seidel. Check FullTiltPoker.com for the full schedule of events, list of challenges, and all other things FTOPS.
Tags: Barney Frank, durrrr Challenge, Erik Seidel, FTOPS, Full Tilt Poker Academy, Phil Gordon
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Patrik Antonius continue their epic heads-up battle on Full Tilt Poker in the durrrr Challenge. As of today they have played over 7,200 hands of the required 50,000. That’s just short of 15% down before a winner is declared yet the numbers continue to switch between the two on a regular basis. They have wagered over $41 Million while 4-tabling 200/400 Pot Limit Omaha yet there is only $30,000 seperating those two and neither has led by more than $250,000.
I would say this is a very even battle.
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, durrrr Challenge, Patrik Antonius, Tom Dwan
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
You’ve had a tough week at the office, the kids are driving you nuts, or maybe none of that is true. You can use any excuse available to justify a little personal time hitting the tables at Full Tilt. There are plenty of chances to hit up the big games online this weekend or you can hit up the small ball games while railing your favorite pros.
Full Tilt Poker started a new promotion which is running at the moment. Take 2 is running now through April 10th where you have a chance to earn double points as well as cash bonuses. All for playing multiples cash game tables which you are probably doing already. Click on the link above to get the full details.
There are big guarantee tournaments running all weekend long starting this evening as well as some special blogger games. Some of the tournaments highlighted after the jump.
Tags: AlCantHang, Battle of the Blogger Tournaments, Big Money Sunday, Bloggers on the Rail, durrrr Challenge, Friday Night Fights, Full Tilt Poker Academy, Julius_Goat
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
It’s been a crazy week in exhile where internet access has been sketchy, travel situations bordering on unbelievable, and my final destination which might prove harmful to my mental health. But that doesn’t mean things have ground to a halt in the poker world.
Since my sudden disappearance fromn the online world we’ve seen Huck Seed win the NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship (continuing the domination of Full Tilt pros in the event), the Battle of the Bloggers 4 rolls along like a beast, Big Money Sunday continues to draw huge numbers for the guarantee events and the Full Tilt Poker Academy is really taking off.
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, durrrr Challenge, Huck Seed, Patrik Antonius, Tom Dwan
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
The durrrr Challenge continues to run on Full Tilt between Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Patrik Antonius. When they kick off their 4 tables of Pot Limit Omaha, word spreads quickly and the railbirds come out to watch. They are just shy of 4,000 hands in their Heads Up battle with Dwan holding close to a $150,000 lead. But there is a long way to go and the lead swings between the two.
Full Tilt has put together a page which can help you track the progress of the challenge. The durrrr vs Antonius stats tracker is the only resource that is pulling data directly from the game in real time. There is about a minute lag between the time a hand is complete and the page is updated. The data and graphing are as accurate as you can find on the internet and certainly quicker. No other website has this capability.
You can also use this page to check if they have resumed playing more of the required 50,000 hands. The box in the top right corner will tell you if they are sitting down at the “durrrr Challenge” tables set up specifically for these two players. If they are playing, simply click the link. It will fire up your FTP software and take you directly to the tables.
Feel free to join along the rail and watch two of the top players in the world battle against each other.
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, durrrr Challenge, Patrik Antonius, Tom Dwan
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The opinions expressed by this blog and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of Full Tilt Poker. Full Tilt Poker is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the author of this blog nor any content contained herein.
