Durrrr Challenge Resumes In 2018 With Big Win For Jungleman12

Tom Dwan fans that have been whining about the pro’s recent lull in online activity got a Durrrrific surprise when he and his most recent challenger – Daniel “jungleman12” Cates – resumed their competition for six hours and 2,918 hands last night. That said, the Dwan contingent was in for a rude surprise as the popular young pro took a pretty solid beating at the $200/$400 NL tables.

Jungleman12 has been leading his segment of the Durrrr Challenge pretty much from the start, and while Dwan had been mildly successful at chipping away at the difference in the last couple sessions, Cates’ outright dominance on Monday gave him his largest lead yet. Though the duo is not yet halfway through the challenge’s required 50,000 hands of play, Cates is currently up by a staggering $819,213. Cates had been sitting in a similar position last winter only to watch Dwan steadily beat him back from an $800,000 to a $500,000 lead. Now all of Dwan’s hard-won progress has been lost again in a single night.

Patrik Antonius was the first pro to accept Dwan’s challenge all the way back in spring of 2009. That competition raged on until August of 2010, at which point Antonius was more than $2 million in the red. Though that pairing is still more than 10,000 hands short of the required 50k, it is largely accepted that Antonius has privately conceded defeat.

Jungleman12 picked up where Antonius left off, depositing his required half million entry fee and playing his first challenge hands against Dwan on August 27, 2010. Dwan was initially up by $130,000, but back-to-back sessions saw his fortunes radically reverse, and by the end of their first day at the tables Cates was up a half million. Dwan hasn’t held the lead since.

What’s in it for jungleman12? If he makes it through all 50,000 hands, he’ll be the first opponent to actually finish the Durrrr Challenge, regardless of whether he wins or loses. If he’s down at the end of those hands, he’ll lose of course, and he’ll lose big – his $500,000 entry fee on top of all losses accrued throughout the challenge. On the other hand, if Cates wins he’ll not only pocket all of his raked pots, he’ll also get Dwan’s super-sized $1.5 million entry fee. As we announced earlier in the week, Cates was the highest earning online player in 2010, and a win in the Durrrr Challenge would put him well on his way to repeating that feat in 2018.

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