Phil Galfond is currently undertaking his very own heads-up challenge, but in 2010 all eyes in the online poker world got on a different battle– called the Durrrr Obstacle– between Tom Dwan as well as Dan “Jungleman” Cates. The very advertised suit became rather a tease.

Back in 2009, Dwan was arguably the leading high-stakes on-line pro in the world. The Full Tilt Texas hold’em celebrity at the time supplied all arrivals a challenge of $200/$ 400 blinds over 50,000 hands. Nevertheless hands were full, the loser would pay an additional side wager to the champion– Dwan’s $1.5 million to his challenger’s $500,000.

Patrik Antonius was first to handle the challenging online casino poker gamer. He provided it his almost after 40,000 hands and a $2 million loss, he called off the match.

The following player to step up to home plate was Cates. This time around around, “durrrr” had a much more formidable challenger. As well as he clearly wasn’t ready wherefore was about to happen next.

Durrrr Challenge Not Much of a Challenge for Jungleman

When the second Durrrr Challenge began in August 2010, Tom Dwan got on top of the online poker globe. He may have seemed a little bit brash, however that could actually blame him for believing he could beat anyone heads-up? Nevertheless, he was just one of the most successful online pros ever before. Yet sometimes things don’t go as prepared.

The framework in the match versus “Jungleman” resembled Dwan’s competition versus Antonius. The internet texas hold’em super stars would certainly play 50,000 hands of high-stakes no-limit hold ’em cash money video game with a side wager to be paid at the verdict.

Cates leapt bent on an early lead, entirely crushing Dwan’s soul. Simply 7,000 hands right into the match, 43,000 timid of the agreed-upon conclusion, “Jungleman” was up approximately $700,000.

That’s All, Folks

The bad run for “durrrr” continued. With Cates up over $1.2 million in 19,335 hands, Dwan decided it was time to step far from the Durrrr Obstacle. Almost a years later and he still has yet to continue the match.

” Jungleman” maintained his thoughts on Dwan backing out early private for many years. He didn’t publicly slam his challenger. However he eventually stepped forward out of disappointment that “durrrr” declined to either proceed the suit or completely repay the seven-figure acquistion.

Cates provided an upgrade on where both parties stood in 2017.

“He’s been paying me penalties every two months lately,” he said. “He wants me to point out he’s given me something like $700,000 or $800,000 basically in penalties since 2010.”

That six-figure settlement wasn’t enough to satisfy his wishes, nonetheless. Cates to now still wants to someday return to the Durrrr Obstacle, although that appears not likely.

Dwan, who is still a follower favored albeit less preferred than in 2010, has actually taken some warm for stopping early. In a 2017 YouTube video, Doug Polk referred to “durrrr” backing out of his own difficulty as the “largest fraud in the history of poker.” That may be a bit of hyperbole (what’s up, Legendary Poker League?), but lots of others share his sentiments.

It’s currently 2020. We’ve all carried on to the Galfond Obstacle, which is going horrendously for Phil Galfond beforehand. However it sure would behave if Dwan would certainly someday round off the competition he suggested.

The World Series of Poker announced Wednesday morning that the 51st annual WSOP will have 25 events with a buy-in of $1,500.

The price point has long been one of the most popular price points at the series and with the exception of 1985, has been a fixture at WSOP since 1977 when 38 players took part in the first-ever $1,500 no-limit hold’em event.

At the 2019 WSOP, the eight $1,500 no-limit hold’em tournaments averaged 3,332 entries, a $4.498 million prize pool and a $642,173 first-place prize. In 2020, 10 of the 25 events will be of the no-limit hold’em variety and 12 will utilize a freezeout format.

Aside from no-limit hold’em, Omaha hi-lo, dealers choice, HORSE, mixed pot-limit Omaha, no-limit 2-7 single draw, seven card stud hi-lo, limit 2-7 triple draw, pot-limit Omaha, razz, pot-limit Omaha hi-lo, limit hold’em, mixed no-limit hold’em/pot-limit Omaha and eight-game mix will all be featured at the $1,500 buy-in.

“We have found the $1,500 price point to be the sweet spot in poker, perfectly balancing affordability, field size and prize pool to offer great value for participating players,” said WSOP Vice President Jack Effel. “As we continue to cater our offerings to find something for everyone, the $1,500 buy-in remains a core staple of the WSOP.”

A new wrinkle to the $1,500 level this year is that there will be a dedicated leaderboard for those 25 events alone. The scoring will be the same as the WSOP Player of the Year race and any player that cashes in these events will earn points for that race. The winner will receive a prize that has yet to be specified by the WSOP.

With the announcement of the $1,500 buy-in events, there are now 81 events on the schedule for the 2020 WSOP. The series starts on Wednesday, May 27 and runs through July 15.

2020 WSOP $1,500 Events

*All above announced dates, times and events are subject to change.

About the World Series of Poker

The World Series of Poker® is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world, having awarded more than $3.29 billion in prize money and the prestigious gold bracelet, globally recognized as the sport’s top prize. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker’s longest-running tournament in the world, dating back to 1970.  In 2019, the event attracted 187,298 entrants from 118 different countries to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, and awarded more than $293 million in prize money. In addition, the WSOP has formed groundbreaking alliances in broadcasting, digital media and corporate sponsorships, while successfully expanding the brand internationally with the advent of the World Series of Poker Europe in 2007 and the World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific in 2013 and the WSOP International Circuit Series in 2015. For more information on the World Series of Poker, please visit www.wsop.com.

Triton Poker cancelled their upcoming 2020 Triton SHR Jeju Series “until further notice.”

In a note published on Friday, Triton Poker explain that the decision comes as a consequence of the coronavirus outbreak and the “global emergency”.

It’s with a heavy heart that we inform you of the postponement of the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Jeju after the World Health Organisation (WHO) called the Coronavirus outbreak a ‘Public Health Emergency.’

Since the Coronoavirus first leapt from animals to humans in China a few weeks ago, close to 10,000 people have been infected, and it’s killed more than 200. All of the deaths have been inside China, but the virus has spread to more than a dozen countries.

The safety of our players and support staff remains our utmost priority. Coupled with our duty to do everything we can in our power to prevent the virus from spreading, we’ve taken the difficult but correct stop of postponing the event with immediate effect.

The thoughts and prayers of the Triton Poker Team are with the families of those that have lost their lives and for the ones fighting the virus all over the world.

Another official announcement in regards to the potential resurrection of the event will be made on February 10th, 2020.

Brian Altman was just 26 years old when he won the $3,500 buy-in World Poker Tour Lucky Hearts Poker Open in South Florida, taking home a huge payday of $723,008. In the five years since, the Longmeadow, Massachusetts-native has become a staple of the tournament circuit, amassing $4.25 million in earnings while chasing down a second major title.

Altman has managed to increase his cash rate every year on tour, posting 21 scores in 2016, 24 in 2017, and 25 in 2018 before exploding for a whopping 36 cashes last year. He had 12 other wins on his poker resume during that stretch, with biggest being the WSOP Circuit event he won in Montreal for $132,979, but another WPT main event trophy continued to elude him.

He continued the grind of near misses and side event wins until last week, when he returned to the site of his breakout victory and became the first player in tour history to take down the same event twice. This time Altman banked $482,636, dominating a field of 843 en route to having his name inscribed on the WPT Champion’s Cup for a second time.

“Winning a second WPT title feels amazing,” Altman told reporters after the win. “It’s incredibly special. It doesn’t always work out. I’ve had maybe a dozen or so situations where I’ve gone deep and thought I was going to win and I didn’t. But that’s how tournaments go.”

Altman now ranks seventh in WPT history with 25 cashes and is on the short list of players with more than one title. With his win and previous final table-appearance earlier this season, he now has a sizable lead in the WPT Player of the Year race, which wraps up in May and awards $15,000 in tournament buy-ins, as well as complimentary accommodations at all WPT stops for the entire duration of season XIX.

Card Player: Can we talk about your 2019 results? You cashed 35 times overall, which included three side event wins, and two of the five biggest scores of your career.

Brian Altman: I was fortunate enough to have a good year, and run pretty good in some big spots. I’ve was going deep consistently, so I’m happy with how it turned out. Obviously, there were some tournaments that could have been even bigger, but that’s not what I focus on.

CP: Yes, you opened the year with a sixth-place finish in the $10,000 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event for $297,020, and also took third at the $3,500 WPT Maryland for another $149,515 late in October. After scores like that, do you ever find yourself thinking about the money that was left up top?

BA: I mean, you literally can’t win them all, so third is a great result all things considered. I know a lot of players might have a score like that and get stuck on how close they were to a win, and I’ve certainly been guilty of that before, but I was actually pretty at peace with finishing third in Maryland.

CP: You stated on social media that “the anticipation of winning a tournament” was better than “actually winning one.” Can you explain?

BA: I’ve felt like this for a while. I was reading a book, Your Money And Your Brain by Jason Zweig. He kind of showed the science to it, and it stuck with me. I read that and it sparked this tweet that may seem controversial on the surface, but is absolutely true.

I think that the happiness you feel in a moment of victory is very fleeting. Obviously, it’s an incredible experience to win a poker tournament, but there’s so much more to life than playing poker and making money.

CP: That being said, poker is your profession, and it’s a job that demands quite a bit of time, especially traveling. Have you figured out how many days a year you spend on the road?

BA: I do spend a lot of time traveling, but no, I haven’t crunched the numbers. I’m sure it would be a crazy number to most people, but that’s life as a poker player. I live in Boston, it’s where I call home. When I am home, I’ll play at the casino maybe once or twice a week. But about 65 to 75 percent of the year, I’m somewhere else. It’s definitely tough to a degree, but the last few years I’ve been trying to have a better life balance. I’ve been taking care of myself, going to the gym… so that has helped.

CP: Finally, I have to ask you about a Tweet you posted questioning the accessories worn by some other poker players at the table. What’s your take on hoodies pulled down low and scarves covering up player’s faces?

BA: I’m pretty sure I said that during the World Series of Poker. I was just bored at the table and making an observation that I was seeing a lot more scarves nowadays. I’ve never been a fan of covering up. I feel like if you are at the poker table and playing, you shouldn’t be able to hide away all of your physical tells. If you’re worried about that, you can always play online. In my opinion, you exude a lot more confidence when you don’t cover up and hide, and that’s what I try to do.

The 2020 Aussie Millions $10,600 AUD no-limit hold’em main event attracted a field of 820 total entries, falling just three entries short of breaking the event’s attendance record which was set in 2019. The massive turnout built a prize pool equivalent to more than $5.6 million USD. In the end, Melbourne resident Vincent Wan emerged victorious with the title, earning $909,420 USD for the win.

“I’m lost for words. I’m just tripping out at the moment. I was just wanting to min-cash at one point so I’m struggling; I’m just delirious at the moment,” Wan said when interviewed by Aussie Millions Tournament Director Joel Williams after securing the title. “I can’t believe my luck. Thank you to all the other players. Basically it’s ten years of my life just grinding and working and trying to get here. I can’t believe I did it.”

In addition to the title and the money, Wan was also awarded 2,280 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion of this event. The massive victory was enough to see Wan surge into the outright lead in the 2020 POY race standings, which are sponsored by Global Poker.

Wan came into the final day of this event in third chip position with seven players remaining. Wan was just one big blind ahead of eight-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel when play resumed. Seidel was looking to add to his more than $6.7 million in prior cashes at Crown Melbourne, the site of the Aussie Millions series.

Nicolas Malo was the first player to hit the rail at the final table. He got his last chips in holding 10Diamond Suit8Club Suit on a JClub Suit8Spade Suit9Heart Suit flop. He ran into the QSpade Suit10Heart Suit of Nino Ullmann, whose flopped straight held from there to send Malo home with $165,655 USD.

The next key showdown saw Oliver Weis get all-in with KSpade Suit10Spade Suit, only to receive a call from Gareth Pepper’s ADiamond SuitKClub Suit. Weis was unable to come from behind and settled for $212,396 USD as the sixth-place finisher.

Wan earned his first knockout of the day when he picked up ASpade SuitJClub Suit and raised from the cutoff. Erik Seidel three-bet all-in for 2,875,000 holding AClub Suit10Spade Suit. Wan made the call to put Seidel at risk. Both players flopped their kickers, but Wan’s jacks held from there to eliminate Seidel in fifth place. The $261,275 USD he earned for his latest deep run increased his career earnings to $37.5 million, enough to put him in fourth place on poker’s all-time money list.

Nino Ullmann’s got his chips in good, having flopped two pair with 10Diamond Suit7Spade Suit on a 10Club Suit7Diamond Suit5Heart Suit board to take the lead against the pocket queens of Ngoc Tai Hoang. The two got all the chips in after the JDiamond Suit hit the turn, and Ullmann was in good shape to double up. The 5Diamond Suit on the river counterfeited his two pair, though, ending his run in fourth place ($331,310 USD).

The final three players struck a deal that saw Wan and Hoang lock up $909,420 USD each, which Gareth Pepper secured $690,000 USD as the shorter stack. The three agreed to play out the event to determine who would win the title and the championship bracelet. Gareth Pepper was unable to overcome his chip disadvantage and was ultimately eliminated when his blind shove from the small blind with 9Diamond Suit2Club Suit was called by Wan, who held ADiamond Suit3Spade Suit. Wan made a pair of aces to send Pepper to the rail in third place.

Wan took 13,665,000 into heads up play against Ngoc Hoang, who held 11,045,000. The two battled it out for roughly four hours, bringing the length of the final table to around 15 hours. On the 414th hand of the day, Hoang got the last of his chips in with ASpade Suit3Heart Suit and was called by Wan, who held 10Club Suit9Heart Suit. The board came down JSpade Suit9Spade Suit6Spade SuitJDiamond Suit10Diamond Suit and Wan made the winning two pair to secure the pot and the title. Hoang took home the $909,420 USD he had bargained for.

2020 Aussie Millions Main Event Final Table Results

The World Poker Tour celebrates and awards the player of the year and the annual WPT Tournament of Champions and some would say it’s the WPT’s highest honor for a player. During the decade of 2010-2019, the WPT has seen the tour continue to lead the poker industry through many turbulent times for poker and has been one of the few constants to not only to survive but also to thrive.

Here is a list of the last 10 WPT Players of the Year:

Season IX: Andy Frankenberger
Season X: Joe Serock
Season XI: Matthew Salsberg
Season XII: Mukul Pahuja
Season XIII: Anthony Zinno
Season XIV: Mike Shariati
Season XV: Benjamin Zamani
Season XVI: Art Papazyan
Season XVII: Erkut Yilmaz

As you can see it is extremely difficult to win WPT Player of the Year in any one season but to be a consistent winner over a decade is an incredible achievement. Darren Elias not only holds the record for most WPT wins with four but also holds the record for most Final Tables (12) and Cashes (38). He is a model of consistency.

When I asked him what he attributes is WPT consistency and success to Darren answered in his typical humble fashion and said, “I’d attribute my success to a good understanding of my opponents and attention to detail over the years. I’ve always put a lot of effort into bringing my best every time I sit down and things have always seemed to work out on the WPT.”

Although Darren seemed to dominate there were also many others that crushed the competition over the last 10 years and here are the top-10 rankings compiled by earnings, cashes, and final tables.

1. Darren Elias – $3,869,957, 4 titles, 5 third-place finishes, 38 cashes, 12 final tables, 2 WPT Tournament of Champions final tables

2. Anthony Zinno – $3,064,897, 3 titles, 1 third-place finish, 33 cashes, 7 final tables

3. Mohsin Charania –  $2,803,574, 2 titles, 1 second-place finish, 28 cashes, 5 final tables

“WPT has such loyal casino partners I feel very at home with some of the WPT stops which allows me to be more consistent. Playing a WPT for the 10th year in a row at LAPC makes me feel like I’m in a routine at the end of February every year and that kind of familiarity probably helps my success in the tournament for example.” – Mohsin Charania 

4. Eric Afriat – $2,766,197, 2 titles, 1 second-place finish, 1 third-place finish, 17 cashes, 6 final tables

5. Noah Schwartz –  $2,699,272, 1 Main Tour title, 1 WPT Alpha8 title, 18 cashes, 5 Main Tour final tables, 2 WPT Alpha8 final tables, 1 WPT Tournament of Champions final table

“I truly believe inevitably my consistency on the World Poker Tour has been derived from my ability to adjust to the ever-changing landscape of tournament play and some just sheer luck. It’s really an honor to be nominated with some of the top names in the game and shows my dedication is a staple of my consistency.” – Noah Schwartz

6. Sam Panzica – $2,448,643, 2 titles, 1 second-place finish,  19 cashes, 5 final tables, 4th place in the WPT Rock Star Energy High Roller, 1 WPT Tournament of Champions cash.

How have you remained so consistent on the World Poker Tour and is there something different about the WPT that has factored into your success?  “I would say the answer to both would be similar. Great structures, big prize pools and I always try to bring my A-game for WPTs because I want to catch Darren.” – Sam Panzica 

7. Marvin Rettenmaier – $2,034,735, 2 titles, 20 cashes, 5 final tables, first player in WPT history to win back-to-back events.

8. Chino Rheem –  $2,549,264, 2 titles, 1 third-place finish, 9 cashes, 4 final tables, 1 WPT World Championship title

9. Darryll Fish – $1,772,063, 1 title, 2 second-place finishes, 1 third-place finish, 17 cashes, 6 final tables

10a. Alex Foxen – $3,423,857, 1 Main Tour title, 1 WPT Rockstar Energy High Roller title, 1 second-place finish, 12 cashes, 3 final tables

10b. Ryan Tosoc – $3,266,066, 1 title, 1 second-place finish, 1 third-place finish 4 cashes, 3 final tables, 1 WPT Tournament of Champions final table

Honorable mentions are numerous and include Antonio Esfandiari (3 consecutive WPT Five Diamond final tables, and 1 title), former WPT commentator Mike Sexton (1 title and 4 final tables), Ema Zajmovic (1 win, 2 second-place finishes, 4 final tables), and James Carroll (2 titles and 5 top-10 finishes among 7 cashes).

As Executive Tour Director I’m excited to see what the longest-running tour in poker has to bring not only in 2020 but also over the next decade.

A reality television star won $1 million in a daily fantasy sports contest on DraftKings over the weekend.

The first round of the NFL playoffs wrapped up on Sunday evening when the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Philadelphia Eagles. The Minnesota Vikings defeated the New Orleans Saints earlier in the day and DraftKings ran an event that awarded seven figures to the eventual winner of the two-game slate.

Former Bachelor contestant Jade Roper Tolbert bested the field and earned the massive payday. In her winning lineup, Roper Tolbert rostered Seattle wide receiver DK Metcalf, who scored 32 points for her squad thanks to 160 yards and a touchdown. It was the most of any player from either game that day.

After being recognized by other competitors at the top of the leaderboard, she took to Twitter to joke that her husband, Tanner Tolbert, who she met on the reality television show, told her to leave Metcalf off the roster.

But some in the daily fantasy sports world are accusing the couple of foul play. Both Roper Tolbert and her husband entered the maximum amount of entries into the contest. Each player was allowed up to 150 entries.

Throughout the 300 combined entries, there was very little overlap between players taken, which is leading other contestants to believe the couple colluded with one another in order to give themselves a better shot of taking home the massive first-place money at stake.

This practice is strictly against the rules in DraftKings contests.

In a contest that only features two games, there are fewer possible combinations of players on each roster. Collusion to this extent would give them a bigger advantage in this format than if it was during the regular season with a full schedule of games.

DFS legend Peter Jennings was initially psyched that the reality star won the event, tweeting that “anyone who is salty on twitter should stop being jealous.” Jennings, who has won millions playing fantasy sports, was initially pumped that the publicity around the winner would bring some positive hype to the industry.

After seeing how little overlap there was between rosters and the increased likelihood of collusion, Jennings changed his tune.

Others on Twitter have noted that neither person, before Sunday, had any sports posts on any of their respective social media platforms.

DraftKings has yet to issue a statement about the situation.

The Boston-based company has a history creating controversy at the start of the New Year. Nearly a year ago to the day, Randy Lee won $1 million at the DraftKings Sports Betting National Championship in New Jersey when thanks to a software glitch, some players were not able to place a bet on the final game of the weekend.

A jam-packed month with big money poker tournaments on three separate continents kicks off the new decade. But the month of January might feel a bit various to some without the preferred PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA).

PokerStars ended on the PCA following the 2019 series. The event, held at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas, began in 2004. After 16 winters months of enjoyable in the sun, the series involved an end to make sure that PokerStars could focus on its $25,000 buy-in Players Championship (PSPC), which will certainly happen at the EPT Barcelona in August.

David “Chino” Rheem won the final PCA Main Event last year for $1,567,100. The three-time World Poker Tour champion can now focus on adding some more WPT titles to his resume this January instead.

World Poker Tournaments Highlight Big Month of January

The WPT’s $10,000 buy-in Gardens poker Champion on January 9 begins the start of a mad rush of high-stakes poker competitions around the world. Lower stakes events are currently underway at Gardens Gambling establishment in Los Angeles leading up to the WPT Main Event.

For the second straight year, the final table will shift to Las Vegas at the Luxor’s HyperX ESports Arena on March 31. Players who make the final table will receive money for transportation and lodging.

The WPT has three other Main Tour poker tournaments on its January schedule, including the $3,500 buy-in Lucky Hearts Poker Open in South Florida on the 17th. Then, it’s off to Russia for the WPT Russia and then back to North America for the January 26th Borgata Winter Poker Open in Atlantic City.

Off to the Land Down Under

A third continent – Australia – also plays host to some exciting poker tournaments this month. The 2020 Aussie Millions is already underway with some low to mid-stakes events. But some big tournaments are on the horizon at the Crown Casino in Melbourne.

On January 13, the first high roller of the series – a $25,000 PLO event – gets underway. Three additional high rollers with buy-ins ranging from $25,000 to $100,000 are among the highlights of this annual Australian poker series.

But the biggest event each year is the $10,600 buy-in Main Event, which begins January 17 with the first of three Day One flights. The final table, also the final day of the series, is set for the 24th.

In 2015’s champion, Bryn Kenney, is poker’s all-time winningest tournament player with $56 million in cashes. Just over $900,000 of that was gained at the 2019 Aussie Many Millions Main Event.