Tom Dwan is back on top.
On Monday, Dwan regained the lead that he lost on Saturday, finishing the latest session with a $150,000 overall advantage in the challenge.
Patrik Antonius couldn’t hold onto the modest $56,000 lead he had accumulated after the weekends’ play.
Still, the challenge is young. The two competitors have played just about 4,000 hands out of the 50,000 hands that are required for the completion of the challenge.
Dwan seized a $135,000 lead on day 1 of the Challenge on Wednesday and even increased his lead up to just over $171,000 early on Saturday before Antonius stormed back and finished the day with his first notable lead of the challenge.
Dwan first proposed his challenge in a CardPlayer magazine article. He would play anyone — with the exception of his good friend Phil Galfond — 50,000 hands heads up in either no-limit Texas hold’em or pot-limit Omaha at four simultaneous online tables. If he beat his opponent, he would receive an extra $500,000, but if he lost, he would shell out $1.5 million on top of his losses.
Dwan said he was making the challenge to incite action at the high-stakes tables.
"I don’t get enough people to play me heads up. Even though there is more money to be made in other games, rather than playing heads up at one or two tables, it’s so interesting and you learn a lot," said Dwan. "I think I might have an edge here, but it’s more to have fun and gamble a bit. That’s why I’m making this challenge."
Phil Ivey quickly accepted the challenge, as did Antonius. Dwan has said that he will "almost definitely" play a second opponent.
Check back with CardPlayer.com for regular updates on the challenge.
