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It’s been a while (more than three years) since the Durrrr Challenge II has been updated, but alas, the time has come. Dan “jungleman12” Cates vs. Tom “durrrr” Dwan picked up again on October 1st on Full Tilt Poker.

Dwan and Cates went heads up for 3+ hours at the NLH $200/$400 when Cates improved his lead on Dwan by almost $200K in just under 1,500 hands. Thus far, more than 20,000 of the 50,000 required hands have been played with Cates ahead by more than $1.2 million.

On September 24, Dwan Tweeted, “In taiwan for the 1st time ever… Not leaving the airport tho. Maybe next trip. Had my biggest loss ever yesterday,” referring to a pot he lost against Cates.

The two had agreed back in July to play at least 4,000 hands per month, but that didn’t happen in August or September. Cates wrote on 2+2 in July that if the 4,000 hands were not played, penalties would be applied for not complying with the timetable.

Perhaps the challenge is back on now, and hopefully it won’t be another three years before we see another session out of the Durrrr Challenge II. The requirements of the challenge require 50,000 hands to be played. If at the end of these hands Dwan is down by even one dollar, he must pay his opponent an additional $1.5 million. On the other hand, if Dwan wins, he will receive $500K from his opponent.

When play picked back up last Tuesday, Cates was already showing a six-figure profit in just the first 200 hands. Dwan eventually managed to gain a lead and was up $130K and maintained the lead for most of the session until about the last hour when Cates made his comeback. Now that Cates is in the lead, he will be insistent that the challenge continue in a more regular fashion.



Durrrr Challenge II Back on After Three-Year Hiatus

PokerStars, the largest online poker site, announced today that, for the first time, the United Kingdom Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) would be making a stop at its corporate home on the Isle of Man. From October 30 through November 4, PokerStars will be hosting a poker festival that is capped off by a £1,100 buyin Main Event with a £500,000 guarantee.

In addition to a host of poker tournaments held at the Villa Marina, participants at the UKIPT Isle of Man stop will have the chance to go behind-the-scenes of the operations of the online giant. PokerStars is planning an Open House, providing guided tours of the PokerStars facilities in Onchan as well as tours of the PokerStars massive server facility where every online hand is dealt.

The poker festival, in addition to the Main Event, will have a variety of events including a charity poker tournament to raise money for local charities in need and a £2,200 High Roller event. Unique to this stop on the UKIPT is the ability for PokerStars employees to join in as they will be permitted to play any and all events on this stop, including the Main Event.

“PokerStars is very proud to bring a large-scale poker festival to our corporate hometown to allow poker players to learn about PokerStars and our home,” commented Kirsty Thompson, President of the UKIPT in the press release. “Being able to play, chat and compete with PokerStars employees at the tables will be an extra benefit as they visit the home of PokerStars.”

Finally, in addition to all the poker, PokerStars will also be hosting a job fair, showcasing all the opportunities for employment on the Isle of Man as well as other positions in the Rational Group's offices in Dublin and London.



PokerStars Announces UKIPT Isle of Man Stop | Pokerfuse Online Poker News

On the heels of last week’s announcements of additions to the Party Poker Premiere League VII roster, today the poker pro packed tournament confirmed that Vanessa Selbst will be playing when Premier League VII gets underway.

Selbst, who recently took down the UKIPT £2000 High Roller Event, is set to join Tony G, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak and Jeff Gross at the Playground Poker Club in Montreal on November 20.

”I had so much fun playing the Premier League in 2011 – it’s such a fun, innovative, and mentally-challenging structure. I’m excited it has come to North America and thrilled to be able to play it again, especially in a new short-handed format.” Selbst is quoted as saying on the Party Poker blog.

The 12 player televised tournament features a $125k buyin and typically features some of the biggest names in the game. Selbst—a 2-time WSOP bracelet winner—is joining the broadcast in the midst of a heater as, in addition to her UKIPT victory, she took 2nd last month at the World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open extending her lead as the #1 earner on the Women’s All Time Money list, having just eclipsed the $8m mark.





Vanessa Selbst Confirmed for Premier League VII | Pokerfuse Online Poker News

Today marks the start of the 7th Annual World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) from the Casino Barrière d’Enghien-les-Bains just outside of Paris, France.

An additional eight WSOP Bracelets will be awarded over the next 13 days including the first ever WSOPE Ladies Event, the first ever WSOPE €25,600 High Roller Event and of course, the €10,450 WSOPE Main Event.

The action starts on Oct 11 with the WSOPE Ladies Bracelet event. While the WSOPE has held ladies events in the past, this year it has been elevated to bracelet status.

The first open Bracelet tournament is slated to start on October 12 with the €1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry event with two starting days. With the lowest buyin of the eight Bracelet events, the turnout is expected to be high for this event as well as events across the entire series.

“We expect a terrific turnout for the entire WSOPE given the population base in Paris, travel options from major European cities and adjacent tournament scheduling. We are planning for this to be the biggest WSOPE to date.” said WSOP Executive Director, Ty Stewart.

This year, both the Main Event as well at the High Roller event will be filmed for television, designed to air on ESPN. Live streaming from the WSOPE will also be available with veteran poker announcer David Tuchman calling the action and being joined by a rotating cast of some of the most well-known poker personalities on the planet. Seven of the WSOPE events will be available for live streaming on WSOP-com.

For players who are making their way to Paris to participate in the WSOPE, officials at the WSOP have created a Player’s Guide with hotel and scheduling information available. For a complete list of events and pre-registration infomation,




pokerfuse-com/news/live-and-online/world-series-of-poker-europe-starts-today-11-10/

888poker sponsored pro Henrik Johansson has won the 2013 WSOP Europe Event #2: €1,100 No-Limit Hold’em Re-entry, after besting a field of 659 players on his way to capturing his first gold bracelet, as well as the €129,700 first place prize.

Impressively, another 888-com sponsored player, Jackie Glazier, took down Event #1: €1,100 Ladies Event a few days ago, and now after Swedish pro Johansson’s stunning victory, the 888 Senior Vice President Itai Pazner, commented:

“It’s always exciting to see one of our loyal customers do so well, this year’s WSOPE is starting out with a bang and with such a talented and large team on the ground I think we could see a few more bracelets in this year’s series. Enjoy Henrik, I hope our Team helps you celebrate!!”

The €1,100 re-entry tournament attracted a good-sized field to create a prize pool worth €632,640. Amongst the notable names then cashing in at the competition was Chris Klodnicki in 62nd (€1,930), Jonathan Karamalikis in 54th (€2,113), Jeff Madsen in 41st (€2,341), Barry Greenstein in 35th (€2,619), and David Rheem in 22nd (€4,599).

At the final table of nine, Henrik Johansson (J-J) would then eliminate Andrei Konopelko (7-7) in 9th (€12,134), before doing likewise to Jose Obadia in 7th (€19,498), Daniel Weinman in 4th (€43,772), and Yaniv Botbol in 3rd (€58,860), to go heads-up against France’s Adriano Torre-Grossa.

As the heads-up battle commenced, Johansson had a roughly 1.6-to-1 chip advantage over his opponent and just 22 hands later the defining hand was played with Torre-Grossa (7-6) check-raising all-in on a 9-10-7 flop, only to be called by Johansson with 10-9. The turn and river subsequently produced two aces to consign Torre-Grossa to a runner-up finish worth €80,250, while Henrik Johansson picked-up the prestigious gold winners bracelet.

Final Table Payouts:

1 Henrik Johansson €129,700
2 Adriano Torre-Grossa €80,250
3 Yaniv Botbol €58,860
4 Daniel Weinman €43,772
5 Serge Ekert €32,992
6 Daniel Laidlaw €25,190
7 Jose Obadia €19,498
8 Jean-Philippe Tuffery €15,285
9 Andrei Konopelko €12,134




888 Pro Henrik Johansson Wins 2013 WSOP Europe Event #2

Officials from the PartyPoker Premiere League VII have announced yet another poker superstar to join the televised high-roller event. 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion, Jonathan Duhamel, plans to take his seat at the $125k buyin tournament.

“I’m particularly pleased to participate in this new edition of Premier League Poker. I had a blast last year and I’m motivated to face all these great players again. The fact that the league is held in Montreal this year makes the experience all the more exciting to me. I’m sure it will be a memorable edition!” Duhamel commented to PartyPoker.

Duhamel joins the previously announced lineup consisting of Premiere League mainstay Tony G, Ultimate Poker ambassador Antonio Esfandiari, former World Record holder for longest poker session Phil Laak, the newly tattooed Jeff Gross and the number one female poker player on the planet, Vanessa Selbst.

With the addition of Duhamel, half of the available slots for Premiere League 7 have been filled. Premiere League VII is set to take place from November 20-26, 2013 at the Playground Poker Club in Montreal.



Jonathan Duhamel Joins Premiere League 7 | Pokerfuse Online Poker News

The first televised European event of Season XII of the World Poker Tour (WPT) gets started this week with the bwin.fr WPT Grand Prix de Paris Main Event. The €7,500 buy-in WPT event takes place at the Aviation Club de France in Paris from October 25-30 as a part of the WPT’s two week poker festival.

The multi-event festival keeps the eyes of the poker world fixated on Paris with a €5,000 Open Faced Chinese Poker event on October 23, a €15,000 High Roller event on October 24 and the €5,000 Omaha Cup on October 30 in addition to satelittes and the Main Event itself.

The Main Event is a televised event, with Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten once again providing commentary, for the FOX Sport Network. The final table is also scheduled to be live streamed on October 30 with host, veteran poker broadcaster Jesse May.

Players in the Main Event are also invited to the “VIP Players Disco Party” at Queen, one of “Paris’ hottest night clubs” where they can mingle with the WPT cast and enjoy both disco and drinks, Parisian style.



WPT Grand Prix de Paris Starts This Week | Pokerfuse Online Poker News

Online registration as well as event structures are now available for all 20 events of the 2014 Aussie Millions Poker Championship.

Held at Australia’s Crown Melbourne Casino the Aussie Millions is set to take place from January 23 – February 10 and is expected to draw some of the highest profile players in the world.

Every tournament on the schedule, including the $10,600 Main Event, the $25k Challenge, the $100k Challenge and the $250 Super High Roller Challenge, are all available for players to register for in advance with online payment via credit card. The credit card used will need to match the name of the entrant in order to be accepted and identification will be required before the player can take their seat making it so backers cannot directly use this method of buyin for their players.

Additionally, the Crown Casino is currently running satellites to the Aussie Millions Main Event where players can play their way into the tournament starting at as little as $65.

For the complete schedule of 2014 Aussie Million events as well as accomodation information, visit AussieMillions-com




Online Registration Available for 2014 Aussie Millions | Pokerfuse Online Poker News

Mexico’s Guillermo Olvera has won the 2013 Punta Cana Poker Classic, after besting a field of 490 players on his way to capturing the coveted title, and collecting the $171,100 first place prize.

The $1,650 buy-in tournament was held at the Hard Rock Hotel in the Dominican Republic and attracted an impressive sized field to create a prize pool worth $712,950, with the top fifty players then receiving a cash payout. The event was also well attended by sponsored pros representing online poker sites Team Bovada, Americas Cardroom, and BetCRIS-com, and impressively six members of Team Bovada ended up cashing in the money.

By the time the final table of nine had been reached, Leo Otazo was the chip leader on a 2.47m stack, with Guillermo Olvera in 4th spot (940k), and Jonathan Iavouelli in 8th on a 495k stack. Other players also competing for a shot at the title included Chanracy Khun, Derrick Scott, Gabriel Diaz, Patrick Serda, Anthony Zinno, and Stuart Marshak.

Eventually three-handed play would be reached with Mexico’s Guillermo Olvera facing-off against Chile’s Leo Otazo and USA’s Jonathan Iavouelli. Unfortunately for Iavouelli, though, he exited in 3rd ($62,740) after his pocket sixes faltered against the pocket kings of Otazo, thus ushering in the heads-up phase of the competition between Olvera and Otazo.

As the heads-up battle commenced, both players were fairly even in chips and it would then take two hours before the defining hand was played after Leo Otezo moved all-in holding Qd-2d on a 10d-3-4d flop. Unfortunately for him, Olvera (Kd-7d) had the better flush draw and with the turn and river producing a harmless 6c and As, Leo Otazo had to be satisfied with a runner-up finish worth $101,952, while Guillermo Olvera was crowned the 2013 Punta Cana Poker Classic champion.

Final Table Payouts:

1 Guillermo Olvera $171,100
2 Leo Otazo $101,952
3 Jonathan Iavouelli $62,740
4 Anthony Zinno $38,500
5 Chanracy Khun $30,657
6 Gabriel Diaz $23,527
7 Patrick Serda $20,676
8 Derrick Scott $17,824
9 Stuart Marshak $14,972

Russell Crane has won the $1 Million Guaranteed Borgata Fall Poker Open, after defeating a field of 625 players over three days on his way to capturing the title, and collecting the $361,747 first place prize.

With his latest victory in Atlantic City, Crane now boasts $1,420,054 in live tournament, to go with the $2,413,910 he has earned online playing under the screen name Rcrane082985.

The $2,700 buy-in Championship Event attracted a good-sized field of amateurs and pros alike to create a prize pool worth more than $1.56 million. Amongst the notable players cashing in at the event was Jake Schwartz in 24th ($8,286), Keith Crowder in 21st ($8,286), Amnon Filippi in 17th ($10,546), Michael Marder in 16th ($10,546), Mike Dentale in 15th ($14,313), Alex Rocha in 12th ($19,586), and Mike Linster in 11th ($19,586).

By the time the final table of 10 had been reached, Russell Crane was the chip leader. The poker pro then proceeded to eliminate Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy in 9th ($28,626), John Holley in 8th ($41,432), and Scott Blackman in 7th ($54,992). Eventually, Crane (A-A) would also dispose of Tyng Low (K-3) in 3rd ($128,063) to take a more than 2-to-1 chip advantage over Gary Wong into heads-up play.

Following a brief battle, the defining hand of the final battle was played after Crane was dealt Ah-5h to Wong’s 10-6, with both players subsequently all-in on a 10h-8h-7s flop. With the turn and river producing a 9h and 2c, Gary Wong had to be satisfied with a runner-up finish worth$203,394, while Russell Crane was crowned the 2013 Borgata Fall Poker Open champion.

Final Table Payouts:

1 Russell Crane $361,747
2 Gary Wong $203,394
3 Tyng Low $128,063
4 Ken Silberstein $103,957
5 Tony Abi-Yaghi $82,864
6 Kyle Bowker $68,551
7 Scott Blackman $54,992
8 John Holley $41,432
9 Cliff Josephy $28,626
10 Alex Shteyman $19,586

Thousands of poker players have descended on Prague this month for two large poker festivals running concurrently in the Czech capital.

EPT Prague got underway Sunday with its first event, the Main Event of PokerStars’ Eastern European poker tour Eureka!. The €1100-buyin NL tournament saw 366 players register on Day 1A Sunday, and an unprecedented 880 are expected to turn up today.

With late registration still open, organizers expect it to be the biggest ever live tournament hosted in Prague: More than 80 tables are in action to accommodate the numbers right now, and tables are being added “as fast as possible” to accommodate the influx.

The Eureka main is just the start of ten days of poker action at the Hilton Prague Hotel. Other key events include the EPT10 – PLO Championship with a €5300 buyin, the €2200 Eureka Highroller, and the €5300 EPT Main Event.

For those with more modest bankrolls, there are midstakes tournaments kicking off every day and, for the first time at EPT Prague, there are cash games running 24/7 throughout the festival (assuming the tables haven’t been recommissioned to cope with the flood of tournament players).

And if that wasn’t enough poker action for poker tourists, the EPT is not the only poker festival going on in the city. The Prague Poker Festival, hosted in the Card Casino on the other side of the city, is already in full swing. It got underway late last week and the series runs through to December 20. Events are hosted by the likes of Everest Poker, 888 and bwin’s WPT Prague, along with daily tournaments put on by Living it Loving It, Grand Live and World SNG Masters. The key event to look out for is the 5-day bwin WPT Prague Main Event, a €3300-buyin tournament that commences on Sunday.

From January 9th to 12th, the Montesino Casino of Vienna hosted a step of the circuit RedBet Poker Open (RPO). This event gathered several hundreds players of Eastern Europe, in the Austrian capital, for its various poker tournaments. All in all, the RPO proposed seven tournaments, including the Main Event with a buy-in of €165: NLH 6 max, PLO Turbo, Triple Chance, NHL Turbo, Deepstack Turbo and Nations Cup of Poker. During last weekend, 518 players registered for the Main Event, for a stack of 20,000chips, on blinds increasing all 30 minutes for the Day 1, 45 minutes for the Day 2 and 60 minutes for the final table. This field generated a prizepool of €77,000, among which €16,640 for the winner.

After 4 days of competition, the poker tournament was won by Andreas Reichel. This victory has given him €11,270, after a deal with Mariusz Mikoda and Pawet Mikszto, who have respectively pocketed €9,520 and €12,660 for their 2nd and 3rd place. In the 4th place, we find the Polish Agnieszka Kyoszewska (€4,750), followed by Jozo Lukanovic (€3,420), Aleks Grbic (€2,680), Zoltan Nagy (€2,310), Ivan Caspar (€1,950), Artur Okon (€1,580) and Helmut Tauber (€1,430), to conclude the 10 first places of the event. The next appointment of the RPO will take place in Rozvadov, in the Czech Republic, within the Kings Casino, which will be held from April 29th to May 4th 2014.

The Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa Poker Room in Atlantic City announced dates for their upcoming 2014 Borgata Spring Poker Open series on Tuesday. Set to take place from April 8 thru April 26, the tournament schedule has yet to be finalized, but the event will be separate from the World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship, which will be taking place at the Borgata at the same time.

The World Poker Tour brings it’s $15,000 + $400 Championship event to the Borgata for the first time in the tour’s history. Being played from April 21-26, the WPT tournament offers a guaranteed prize pool of $5,000,000 and is expected to draw some of the biggest names in the game to the tournament floor.

New Jersey residents can win their way into the World Poker Tour man event online through BorgataPoker-com which is currently offering a “step program” for its players. The full slate of tournaments for the Borgata Spring Open is expected to be announced shortly.

Very good idea