Matchroom Sport are delighted to announce that the Full Tilt Poker Durrrr Million Dollar Challenge will take place in London from November 17 to 19.

Tom “Durrrr” Dwan issued the challenge in July and Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies and high-stakes cash player Marcello “Luckexpress” Marigliano have stepped up to join Sammy “any two” George in taking on the most feared cash player in the game at the Les Ambassadeurs club in Mayfair.

The challenge will see Dwan take on three opponents over 500 hands each in a live heads up match up. Each player will buy into the challenge for $500,000 and the blinds will be set at $500/$1000 with each opponent being offered the preference of Pot-limit Omaha or No-Limit Hold’em. No player can leave the contest until either the 500 hands are up or the player has bust.

Finnish star Ziigmund is known as one of the most aggressive Pot-limit Omaha players around and his love of high-stakes and trash talk has earned him a huge following online and jumped at the chance to pit his wits against Durrrr.

“I am always excited to play my good friend Tom,” said Ziigmund. “He is one of the best Hold’em and PLO players in the world, and when I heard about the challenge I couldn‘t wait to sign up. With the gambling, the side-bets, the partying and the drinking in London, this is going to be a whole lot of fun.”

Londoner Sammy George was the first player to sign up to the challenge and fancies his chances on home soil. “While other pro’s have dithered in accepting the challenge I was the first man to step up to the plate and if Tom thinks he can come to my backyard and take half a million from my back pocket, he can think again,” said George.

Eddie Hearn, managing director of Matchroom Sport, said: “We are delighted to be working with Tom in creating poker's biggest ever TV spectacle – Matchroom are always looking to stretch the boundaries and with the introduction of PLO this is a new dawn for TV poker. Tom is a fearless competitor and he laid down the challenge to the entire poker world. Three players have stepped up to the plate.

"This is poker in its most raw form – two players battling it out for $1million, mano-a-mano. It doesn't get any bigger than this."

The Full Tilt Poker Durrrr Million Dollar Challenge will be televised on Sky Sports in 2010.

Date posted: November 10, 2009

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