A recent heads-up poker challenge set by young professional player Tom ‘Durrrr’ Dwan has been accepted by fellow pros Phil Ivey, David Benyamine and Patrik Antonius.
Thirty-two-year-old Ivey is sponsored by Alderney-licensed online poker room FullTiltPoker.com and confirmed on Tuesday while speaking on PokerRoad Radio with Barry Greenstein that he had accepted the challenge that could see him walk away with $1.5 million.
“I’m making this heads-up challenge to the world,” Dwan said in an interview with Bluff Magazine last week.
“Anyone can accept. Four tables, minimum of $200/$400 and I’ll put up $1.5 million to their $500,000. We play 50,000 hands minimum and if they end up a dollar after rake they keep the side money or whatever. So basically, if you and I played and you won a dollar, you would get my $1.5 million and if I won a dollar I would win your $500,000.”
Dwan’s challenge is open to any player having the required stake with the exception of Phil ‘OMGClayAiken‘ Galfond, the winner of the $5,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha With Rebuys event at the 2008 World Series of Poker.
Numerous industry observers feel that Dwan may have an edge over Ivey due to the four-table stipulation in the challenge. Ivey usually only plays two tables heads-up at any one time but sometimes may stretch to three.
‘You know what, the funny thing is he probably does have an edge,’ said Ivey.
“There’s just something tempting about that $1.5 million to that $500,000. I don’t know how this is going to work. I’m pretty sure what’s going to happen in this match is that, until I get used to it, he’s going to be such a huge favourite that I’m going to have a lot of catching up to do.”
