We've written about the Tom Dwan challenge before, but it was starting to look like it wasn't going to happen. Then Full Tilt built some tables and it looks like the thing is back on.

The first "durrrr" challenge (slated to be Patrik Antonius vs Tom Dwan) is supposed to get underway at any moment.

Full Tilt Poker has accommodated Dwan and Antonius by opening up four "durrrr" Challenge $200/$400 Pot Limit Omaha tables. They are all heads-up tables, as this will be a heads-up challenge.

Antonius is first, then I believe it's David Benyamine and if Dwan has any money left, Phil Ivey. Should be interesting, to say the least.

Posted under Full Tilt

I'm getting the feeling that this is going to be a crazy year at Full Tilt Poker. Patrik Antonius is up over $2.8 million and January isn't even over yet. Meanwhile, Phil Ivey just won the biggest pot of the year just over $400k.

After some preflop action which made the pot reach over $40,000, players see , and LarsLuzak goes all-in with after Ivey bet $44,000. Ivey quickly calls LarsLuzak's $128,000 all-in with pocket aces and the turn brings an useful card for the Finn - we're talking about . However, the river showed a , which was useful for Ivey this time, as his aces held up. Thanks to them, he won the biggest pot in January and 2009 - $406,814.

As always you can watch these games live with a Full Tilt Poker account.

Posted under Full Tilt

High Stakes Poker has just announced it's players for season 5. For the 5th season they are raising the minimum buy-in to $200,000 so it should be pretty exciting. Whenever there is a game with that kind of money, you know Phil Ivey isn't far behind.

High Stakes Poker has just announced its lineup of stars and professionals for its fifth season, and it’s sure to generate excitement as the list includes some of the most well-known poker players in the world, as well as the top two finishers of the 2008 main event.

Phil Ivey will be joined by such pros as Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Laak, Howard Lederer, Barry Greenstein and 2008 WSOP champion Peter Eastgate. It should be pretty exciting as towards the end of last season players were buying in for as much as $500,000. Sounds right up Phil's alley.

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Posted under Cash games

Seems like I write a post every month that starts off "Phil Ivey dominates ______". Early in the month Patrik Antonius was the top money winner online, but Phil Ivey has crept up behind him and regained the top spot for the month thus far.

Phil Ivey didn't make his way to the top spot through mega-sized pots and multimillion-dollar sessions at Full Tilt Poker. Instead, he's been grinding his way to more than $1.5 million in earnings for the month in some smaller sessions.

One of those sessions took place Sunday against Matt Hawrilenko in a Limit Hold'em game on Full Tilt Poker. After a two-and-a-half-hour session of heads-up $2,000/$4,000, Ivey came out ahead with an extra $300,000 in cash.

That's just the tip of the iceberg, as Ivey had accumulated more than $1 million through 1,609 hands through the previous few days against Hawrilenko.

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Posted under Full Tilt

It's all about Patrik Antonius today as yesterday on Full Tilt when he left the table with $834k DOLLARS! The final hand of the session came down to Antonius, Phil Ivey and David Benyamine.

Ivey has the button, Antonius is in the small blind and Benyamine is in the big blind.

Ivey raises to $3,000. Antonius raises to $10,000 and Benyamine calls. Ivey folds.

The flop comes Jd Ts 8c. Antonius bets $16,000, Benyamine raises to $49,000, Antonius re-raises to $170,000, Benyamine pushes all-in and Antonius calls.

Benyamine shows the 9-10 of clubs for middle pair and an open-ended straight draw, while Antonius shows the Q-K of clubs for a better straight draw.

The turn is the two of clubs, giving Antonius some more outs. Now he can win with another club, a nine, a King or an ace.

The river is the Ace of diamonds. Antonius makes the nut straight and takes down the monster $439k pot. Benyamine insta-quits the table, and the game is over.

Benyamine ended up being the big loser. At one point he had a stack of over $500k and left the table broke. It was just Patrik's night.

Posted under Full Tilt