First Opponent in Durrr’s Live Poker Challenge Revealed

Tom “durrr” Dwan has undoubtedly done an excellent job developing into a top-flight poker player, and along the way showed he’s no slouch when it comes to self-promotion. Dwan made poker headlines last winter with his million-dollar ‘durrrr challenge’ (the first installment of which is still playing out on Full Tilt Poker), and then transitioned the concept of a high stakes heads up showdown into the world of live, televised poker with the ‘Durrrr Million Dollar Challenge’.

His first opponent: Sammy “any two” George. George is largely unknown to many US fans of the game, but will be familiar to European fans from televised poker shows such as The Big Game and Poker Million. George apparently isn’t letting his lack of a poker pedigree diminish his confidence heading into the match with Dwan: “My message to Tom is – paper cannot wrap up a fire,” said George in an interview with event sponsor Matchroom Poker. “With Phil Ivey and Patrick Antonius, you are talking about guys I rate quite highly. Guys like Durrrr to me are normal, you know, they’re nothing special.”

The live version of the challenge is a much different animal than the online. While the online durrrr challenge saw Dwan laying his opponents pretty sick odds that they wouldn’t show a profit over 50,000 hands, the live version has no such component. Instead, it’s a four-part match, 500 hands a part, that will see Dwan square off against four different opponents. Players can choose to play PLO or NL, and can’t exit the match until they bust or until 500 hands have been played.

The buy in: 500k. The blinds: 500/1000.

Eddie Hearn, Managing Director of Matchroom Sport, seemed eager to cast George as an underdog to Dwan: “Sammy is one of the few players in the game who is willing to walk the walk rather than just talk the talk and although many will see him as underdog in this match, he has plenty of heart and should not be underestimated.”

While the live poker challenge will play out in a casino, you can catch the online durrrr challenge at Full Tilt Poker. If you don’t have an account at FTP, read this before you sign up.