Durrrr ends live challenge with crushing win over Sammy George - 20/11/2009

Tom "Durrrr" Dwan finished the first live Full Tilt Poker Durrrr Million Dollar Challenge on a high, taking $750,000 off Sammy "any two" George in the final match of the three game series in London.

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Sammy was the first player to sign up to the challenge and faced Durrrr on the last day of three with Dwan $40,000 up after close fought contests with Marcello "luckexpress" Marigliano and Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies at the Les Ambassadeurs club in Mayfair. The Londoner started off well against Dwan but was forced to re-buy for the first time when the American's aces held against George's AK.

But the hand that will have everyone talking saw Durrrr move all-in with seven-deuce for 400k when George was holding two-pair in what would've have been a million dollar pot if Sammy had found the call. The collective gasp from the rail confirmed that Durrrr was on fire as he showed the bluff and George ending up r-buying again before Durrrr finally crushed him for good just before the allotted 500 hands were reached.

Durrrr appeared to play faultless poker throughout but the American was conciliatory in his victory over his good friend Sammy. "I don't think I played too well today, I just think I happened to get a bunch of hands, like I don't think Sammy played badly he just happened to be on the wrong side of some tough spots," said Durrrr. "It's easy to look like a genius when you have the best hand every time, and easy to not look like one when you get beat every hand.

"I caught a lot of hands tonight, he made a bunch of folds to me and all but one of them was right. He made a few pretty tough folds like when he had a pair of kings and I hit the flush on the river, I thought he played really well that I saw at least. He happened to make one big fold that was wrong but it was a pretty impossible call there - I am bluffing with any hand I get to the river with that isn't a pair or better, but it's so rare that I get to the river without a pair so his fold is pretty reasonable and I would make the same fold just about every time.

The pair decided to play the seven-deuce game with $10,000 going to the player who won a pot and showed 7-2. Sammy won a couple of pots in this fashion, but Durrrr's bluff with the hand was a devastating blow to George. On a Jh-Ah-6h-3c board, Tom held 7s-2h to Sammy's Ad-6c - Durrrr bet and Sammy called. 3d came on the river and Tom moved all-in - Sammy tanked for over five minutes before Durrrr showed the seven-deuce bluff.

"I made a pretty questionable flop call which I kind of regret, it was probably bad even with the $10,000 bonus in the 7-2 game," said Tom. "Once Sammy checked the turn I had to bet in my mind as I thought I was going to win a lot of the time. On the river I might have given up but on the board-pairing river I think it was an easy shove as it's so believable that I have a full-house there and Sammy has a tough call with any hand. He rarely has a full house and it's likely he just has aces or something like that, so I really like my shove on the river and fortunately Sammy didn't make the hero call. It would have been an absurd call and luckily for me he didn't make it - I was pretty worried for a while that he was going to make it but thankfully it worked out."

"We're playing the 7-2 game and the board has come very strong - he either had the nuts or nothing and I was so close to calling," said Sammy of the 7-2 hand. "But you can't in that situation - if I'd called and he has the nut-flush I'm an idiot, if I call and he has air I'm a hero. But I enjoyed my game and the way I played, I guess there are a few things I could tweak but not totally change. I'm a bit disheartened by the loss and I know a lot of people thought I would lose but when it airs people will see a different side to the result."

Durrrr dominated the game from that point onwards and as the clock ticked towards 12 hours of playing time, Sammy was down to 90k against Durrrr's 900k and shoved all-in with 94 on a 7-6-4 flop, Tom called with A7 and his hand held to see him end the match with $1million in chips in front of him.

"Basically the story of the night is Sammy catching cards early when I had nothing and me catching cards late when he had second-best hands and in just about every case there was nothing he could do." said Durrrr. "Right at the end he was justifiably a pretty tilted and you can't blame him as he still had some outs."

"I don't feel that I could have played those hands any better," said George. "The last hand of the night I was a bit tilty, but Tom even told me he was hitting the river and I'm sure when it's watched back people will see that. The turning point was the bluff with the 7-2 when I had the two-pair but I cannot call there for three times the pot. The game was in his favour, he was hitting cards and rivering cards but I respect Tom a lot and always will and we'll play many more times. He's one of the best in the world and I think he's up there with Phil Ivey and Patrick Antonius. I took on the challenge and I think when people see the show they will have a different opinion of me from what they had before."

Each player bought into the challenge for $500,000 and the blinds were set at $500/$1000 with each opponent being offered the preference of Pot-limit Omaha or No-Limit Hold'em. Durrrr and Marigliano played a mix of both with the Italian ending their challenge £22,000 up, while Ziigmund stuck to Pot-Limit Omaha in his match with Dwan finishing $68,000 in front of the Finn.

"The last three days has been a rollercoaster of swings and emotions at the Full Tilt Poker Durrrr Million Dollar Challenge," said Eddie Hearn, managing director of tournament organisers Matchroom Sport. "Every match brought something different to the table and the Sammy George encounter was a real battle. To be fair to Sammy he played some great poker and he played some great poker but Tom was faultless and that's why he is the best player in the world. All-in-all, the event was a huge success and we are already in talks to take the challenge to the States early next year."