In Monday’s play in the Durrrr Challenge, the word of the day was “boat,” as both Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Patrik Antonius crafted arks. We sat down with PokerXFactor instructor Chris “Fox” Wallace to walk through two hands of the Million Dollar Challenge.
In the first hand, Dwan raised to $1,200 pre-flop, Antonius pushed the action to $3,600, and Dwan called. The flop came 2-4-8 with two spades and Antonius checked. Dwan bet $4,200, Antonius raised to $19,800, and Dwan called. A four of clubs hit the turn, Antonius bet, and Dwan called all-in. The river 10 of spades completed the flush possibility. Dwan turned over 2-6-8-4 for a full house, while Antonius showed 6-K-J-Q with two spades for a flush.
DurrrrChallenge.com: Dwan raised pre-flop with four low cards and only two of one suit. What happened?
Wallace: Durrrr raised with one of the worst hands in Omaha pre-flop. He raised with nothing and it makes sense for Antonius to re-raise. Antonius check-raises with the flush draw on the flop and I’m surprised that Durrrr didn’t get it in there. In fact, that’s the right play to make. The likelihood that someone has a set there is low because the board is all low cards. You’re unlikely to be facing a hand like 3-5-6 with two spades, which is the only kind of hand you’re behind against.
DC: Talk about Antonius’ shove on the turn.
Wallace: Because it’s a junk board, he shoves. I think it’s a bad play because he’s going to get called a lot. He’s going to get called by hands that are better than his. Dwan might not fold an eight, a two, or two spades. The only thing he’s folding is a complete bluff. If Dwan is calling the $15,000 on the flop, he’s certainly calling the $48,000 on the turn. If Antonius keeps playing this badly, it’s stunning that he’s not down more. Durrrr should have gotten the money in on the flop and Antonius shouldn’t have shoved into a paired board with a king-high flush draw.
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In the second hand, Antonius raised to $1,200 pre-flop, Dwan made it $3,600, and Antonius called. The flop came 8-J-7 with two clubs. Dwan bet, Antonius raised, and a series of raises ensued until both players were all-in (they started the hand with even stacks). The turn and river came a deuce and an eight, respectively. Dwan showed 8-9-10-Q for a jack-high straight, while Antonius revealed 9-J-J-5 for a boat.
DC: Does this hand play itself after Antonius flops a set and Dwan flops the nuts?
Wallace: They both flop the world. There’s no way around it when the flop comes. No one can get away from the monster draw plus the nuts. Given who you’re playing against, Antonius can treat his hand as the nuts and he could think that Durrrr has anything. With a boat draw, you’re not in that far behind.
DC: Given what you’ve seen with these two hands and others that have unfolded during the Million Dollar Challenge, how do you beat Dwan over the long-run?
Wallace: The way to beat Durrrr is to be willing to gamble at the right times and deal with variance. Durrrr gambles so much that, if you’re willing to gamble, you need a big bankroll to beat him. Durrrr has realized that others don’t have the bankroll to gamble with him.
The 50,000 hand requirement was a way to keep people out. He wanted it to make the challenge sound scary and have it take place over a significant sample size. Durrrr thinks he’s the best player in the world and he wanted to make it over enough hands that he’d come out on top.
