Continued from Day One...
Working for Neil Channing has its benefits. He’s staked so many people that virtually everyone owes him a favour, and even those who haven’t been graced by his “lucky money” consider him the “nice guy of poker’. Of course, being popular reaps rewards, and as well as earning an analyst spot for this week’s Durrrr Million Dollar Challenge, he was able to shake those hips like a hypnotic belly dancer and lure out an extra invitation or two from Matchroom Sport’s Eddie Hearn. Thankfully, I was a lucky recipient.
Having resumed his epic battle overnight with Isildur, durrrr was naturally the talk of the town at Les Ambassadeurs, with early mumbles trying to confirm the monies lost as if in charge of his finances. When durrrr emerged next to me, I couldn’t help but feel awkward. Like the day before, everyone knew how much he’d lost to his newly acquired foe, he knew everybody knew how much he had lost, yet nobody dared mention it. It was akin to being at a funeral and not knowing what to say to the widow. “Hey, durrrrbles, how’s it going, been playing much?” probably would have ended in a black eye.
Durrrr looked understandably pasty, ghost-white with heavy bags under his eyes. It was clear he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep all week. Despite the craziness of his sleeping routine, I couldn’t help but admire his endurance and, you might say, degeneracy. To play for 12 hours against Marcello Marigliano, lose millions online, then come straight back in for another potential daylong session with Ziigmund was sickness taken to the extreme. But I guess it also reflects his mental fortitude, being able to grind out 500 hands without cracking and somehow remaining focused against an opponent who very rarely put many chips in the middle. According to Jesse May who was perched eagerly in the truck, durrrr played a great game, despite finishing $22,000 down. “Marcello’s a great guy, real friendly, but when they changed to Omaha, durrrr was winning most of the pots. Marcello pulled off a crazy bluff to keep himself in it, but apart from that, durrrr had the better of it.”
After a friendly pre-match chat (there’s no animosity here) in which I assume they discussed how many rebuys they’d allow themselves, Day Two kicked off at around 2.15pm with both players buying in for $250,000 each with the option to refill once stacks dipped below 50 percent. As before, I was invited to stand behind durrrr and watch the action first-hand. With a spring in my step, I skipped around the roving cameras and took up my position as chief railtard, secretly inching into view of the camera and constantly checking my flies to avoid embarrassment.
The early stages were a relatively cagey affair, with both players eager for a solid start. Banter wasn’t as rife as one might expect, but they weren’t silent, and it wasn’t long before the topic of Isildur reared its inevitable head. “He’s played more hands in two weeks than I have in the whole year,” commented Ziigmund. “It’s sick.” If Isildur is indeed Viktor Blom – which appears to be the common consensus between everyone here at Les Ambassadeurs – then I encountered him very briefly whilst reporting at the WSOPE in Leicester Square. I recall him looking like your average Scandi poker player: slim, longish blond hair, confident, lots of chips. I think I asked him about a hand at one point and he duly obliged. I recall asking his name and not knowing if it was Viktor or Victor. I returned to my laptop assuming I could easily Google the answer, but he was a cyber ghost with barely a murmur online. How quickly things can change.
It didn’t take long for durrrr find himself $50,000 down, and a couple of hours in, he was felted by the Finn. He then rebought for an additional $250,000, but his fortune didn’t change at first, his stack dropping to the lowly depths of $127,000. However, at around 5.30pm, he received a gift from the Poker Gods. All in on a 5s-9h-3s flop, durrrr was like a grape in a vice with Qs-Td-8s-5h versus As-Ah-6d-Js. But somehow, a 5d on the turn followed by a harmless 2d river saved his bacon and doubled him through. Despite the value of the chips sliding across the felt, neither player expressed any emotion. Durrrrr just shrugged his shoulders as if he’d just lost a fart in the wind and Ziigmund looked on stoically and waited for the next hand. Just how much would it take to get these guys pumped up?
As time grew on, fatigue finally began to catch up with durrrr as he yawned at the start of hands and his eyes grew puffy. At one stage, I think I even saw his eyes slide shut as he raised the button up preflop. Ziigmund, meanwhile, was as fresh-faced as he was at the start of the day. Dressed in trainers, jeans, hoody and shiny black jacket, he’d obviously decided the dress code was not for him, and opted to play in comfort instead. His biggest advantage, however, was going in fresh, with durrrr having endured a marathon the day before. Durrrr must have also been itching to get back online, and the urge to shove it all in on a marginal hand will have been more tempting than a dirty weekend away with Angelina Jolie. In fact, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see him pull up a table, boot up his laptop and open up a few online tables.
From this point onwards, durrrr picked up his game and slowly, but surely climbed his way back up to even in 50,000 chunks. Fatigue remained an obvious obstacle, but somehow he managed to remain focused on the task at hand as Ziigmund became increasingly frustrated as each hand passed. Eventually, the monotony of small ball PLO may have got to them both, as during the breaks they exchanged the opportunity of a rest for a hand or two of Chinese Poker. Even during the dinner break there was an extended absence as they played for $5,000 a point. Rest is for wimps!
Eventually, and particularly when they increased the blinds, something had to give, and having passed the lead around like a hot potato, durrrr finally sealed his first win of the week when he raised Ziigmund’s bet of 60,000 to 194,000 on the river of a 3h-Kd-Kh-8h-5d board. Ziigmund called with Ac-Ks-7c-3d, but it wasn’t good enough as durrrr tabled Kc-Jc-8c-7h for a full house. After a gruelling day, victory was durrrr’s.
Having suffered a minor loss - but a loss nonetheless - to luckexpress on Day One, there was pressure on durrrr to perform today. This is, after all, the Durrrr Challenge, and if he loses every match, it becomes less of a challenge and genuine struggle to market credibly. However, despite this, and his own unique form of preparation, durrrr somehow pulled it off and completed the 500 hands $68,000 to the good. He could easily have crumbled, but he dug his heels in and worked like a Trojan to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Upon departure, I couldn’t help but notice a rather attractive lady lurking in reception. In members only clubs, Nora Batty would look like a beauty queen, but this young lady seemed particularly alluring. When she pivoted, I realised who it was: it was Mrs. Durrrr! Aye carumba! No wonder he’s knackered.
Check out tomorrow’s third and final article as durrrr’s meets lovable London rogue Sammy George.