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What Is the Galfond Challenge?

High-stakes poker professional Phil Galfond has issued a challenge to the poker world with the Galfond Challenge. The founder and owner of Run It Once poker will be taking on at least six opponents in a series of individual high stakes heads-up matches that are played out of the course of weeks, or sometimes even months.

Phil Galfond (born January 16, 1985) is an American professional poker player. Galfond won three World Series of Poker bracelets, in the $5,000 buy-in pot-limit Omaha with rebuys event in 2008, the $10,000 no-limit 2-7 single draw championship in 2015 and the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship in 2018. Never doubt Phil Galfond’s abilities to come from behind in a Galfond Challenge. The Run it Once poker site founder has erased nearly all of a $300,000 deficit to Chance Kornuth, and all the.

Rio Poker Galfond Challenge Games

The heads-up matches will be played in Pot-Limit Omaha over a predetermined amount of hands, with blinds at €100/€200 or even higher. Both players have wagered money on the side in addition to the money won/lost during the matches itself.

Who Are Phil Galfond's Competitors?

At the time of writing, six players have lined up to take on one of the PLO end bosses of the game. These six competitors are Bill Perkins, Dan 'Jungleman' Cates, Chance Kornuth, and Brandon Adams, as well as high-stakers 'Venividi1993' and Ioannis 'ActionFreak' Kontonatsios. Five of these six will contest Galfond on the digital felt, while Adams will only play Galfond in heads-up live poker.

Galfond has defeated both 'VeniVidi1993' and 'ActionFreak', while sporting a lead over Perkins and Kornuth in their ongoing matches.

(32:48-33:50) Has RIO Poker cash game traffic picked up since the Galfond Challenge began? (33:50-35:45) Current Run It Once Poker promotions page (February 2020) (35:45-36:55) Phil Galfond versus the corporate, publicly-traded online poker world (36:55-37:38) RIO Poker “Splash The Pot” and “Legends” rakeback programs. True to his reputation, though — many considered him Galfond's toughest opponent and Galfond himself didn't extend any odds on the €150K side bet — ActionFreak roared back with a crushing win on.

What Is At Stake in the Galfond Challenge?

The Galfond Challenge features high-stakes Pot-Limit Omaha cash game poker with swings that can go up into millions of dollars. In addition, the loser will pay the winner a side bet that's been negotiated upfront, often a six- or seven-figure amount. Galfond is laying odds with most of his opponents.

The Matches in the Galfond Challenge

Phil Galfond vs. 'Venividi1993'

An epic showdown between Phil Galfond and 'Venividi1993' came down to a final €100/€200 Pot-Limit Omaha session. Galfond, who had found himself on the ropes multiple times throughout the challenge and was even trailing over €900,000 at one point, completed the ultimate comeback on the final night. Galfond was up €12,500 with about 75 hands to go, allowing him to blind off to win the €100,000 side bet from his Dutch opponent.

Rio Poker Galfond Challenge Game

Phil Galfond vs. Bill Perkins

In the aftermath of winning his 25,000-hand match against 'Venividi1993', Phil Galfond didn't waste any time with either celebrations or preparations for his ongoing Challenge series. Instead, two days after wrapping up his epic victory, Galfond sat right back down at the tables and traded the first blows with opponent No. 2, high-stakes tournament vet Bill Perkins.

Similar to the 'Venividi1993' match, the stakes are $100/$200 Pot-Limit Omaha but this time with Galfond laying $1 million against $250,000 that he'd win across either 50,000 hands or a $400,000 stop-loss. Action kicked off on partypoker

After just 862 hands, Galfond has opened up a $90K lead. The action in this challenge has been dormant for a while as Galfond focused on his other matches, while Perkins launched his new book Die With Zero.

Phil Galfond vs. 'ActionFreak'

Galfond's second series of matches against Ioannis 'ActionFreak' Kontonatsios provided much less drama than the first one. Galfond took an early lead in the challenge and rode it all the way to victory. Entering their final session, Galfond held a €237K lead over his opponent.

While 'ActionFreak' was able to recoup some of his losses, he ultimately had to shed with €114K of his own money after the 15,000 hands had concluded. Galfond and Kontonatsios had an even money side bet of €150K riding on it for a total profit of €264K and two for two for the Run It Once founder.

Phil Galfond vs. Chance Kornuth

After a quiet summer, the action flared up again in the Galfond Challenge with Galfond starting his series of heads-up battles against Chance Kornuth. The duo will play 35,000 hands against each other with the action kicking off on WSOP.com due to Kornuth living in the United States.

The Run It Once founder is laying a mighty price to his fellow coach: €1 million against Kornuth's €250,000. After 15% of their match completed, the favorite Galfond took a comfortable lead. However, a crushing streak of wins by Kornuth turned the match on its head and left him up a significant margin, almost $350K.

After a long stretch of close to break-even play, but Galfond finally put together a three-session run in which he profited more than $300,000 to reduce his deficit back to five figures. Kornuth stringed together three wins after that, but none were particularly large, so when Galfond booked back-to-back wins worth another $124K, he retook the lead on Dec. 4.

It proved a short-lived lead as Kornuth inched back in front the very next session with the players past the halfway mark. He'd grab one more small win, but then a big Galfond win pushed him back in front, and the back-and-forth battle remains closer than many predicted at this juncture.

Phil Galfond vs. Dan 'Jungleman' Cates

Possibly the most-anticipated match of the Galfond Challenge, Galfond will take on Dan 'Jungleman' Cates in the near future. While details have to be fully fleshed out, such as the side bet, the duo has already played a mini-challenge with Galfond walloping his adversary for €86K.

Phil Galfond vs. Brandon Adams

The match between Phil Galfond and Brandon Adams will be different than the other five as this match will be fully played out in yet to be determined live setting. Instead of a # of hands, the two will play for a total of 40 hours before the winner is determined. Galfond is laying €150K against Adams' €100K.

Galfond Challenge F.A.Q.

A series of high-stakes poker matches against Phil Galfond, a poker professional, and owner of the poker site Run It Once.

Phil Galfond is a highly respected professional poker player who's played the highest stakes on the planet. He's known under his aliases 'MrSweets28' and'OMGClayAiken' online and is especially feared for his Pot-Limit Omaha skills. Originally from Gaithersburg, MD, Galfond has won nearly $3 million dollars in live poker winnings according to The Hendon Mob, as well as countless more money in online cash games and tournaments. He also has three World Series of Poker bracelets.

Once a dominant player at the high stakes, Phil Galfond has stepped away from playing poker professionally to start his own poker site Run It Once. However, wanting to get back into the high-stakes ring, Galfond issued a challenge to the poker world to play him in a series of heads-up pot-limit Omaha matches.

Currently, six players have taken up the gauntlet to take on Galfond: Bill Perkins, Dan 'Jungleman' Cates, Chance Kornuth, Brandon Adams, as well as two high-stakes PLO players 'Venividi1993' and 'ActionFreak'.

'ActionFreak' is a Greek high-stakes player named Ioannis Kontonatsios, who is more famous under his moniker. 'Venividi1993' is a Dutch poker player that prefers to remain anonymous.

The Galfond Challenge features high-stakes Pot-Limit Omaha cash game poker with swings that can go up into millions of dollars. In addition, the loser will pay the winner a side bet that's been negotiated upfront, often a six- or seven-figure amount. Galfond is laying odds with most of his opponents.

The Galfond Challenge can be followed on the Run It Once Twitch channel, where all matches will be live-streamed. PokerNews often provides recaps of all the action.

Yes, players are able to bet on the outcome of the various Galfond Challenge matches.

Phil Galfond has won two of his Galfond Challenges so far, against 'Venividi1993' and 'ActionFreak'. Other matches are in progress or upcoming.

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Starting January 22, 2020, the 'Galfond Challenge' will be front and center of the poker world. Phil Galfond, owner of the online poker site Run It Once Poker, is taking on at least six competitors in a series of high-stakes heads-up challenges that will be streamed for all to watch.

Once a dominant player in the high-stakes poker community, Galfond stepped away from the game professionally to start his own online poker site, Run It Once Poker, with a mission to serve players first. Issuing the Galfond Challenge, Galfond announced that he wanted to get back in the high-stakes poker ring, so he issued a challenge to the poker world in November 2019. The smallest stakes for the Galfond Challenge are $100-$200. Those stakes are not small by any means, but it’s the additional side betting action totaling in the millions of dollars that really has people salivating.

What Is the Galfond Challenge?

The Galfond Challenge is a series of high-stakes, heads-up poker matches. Various challengers will take on Galfond over a set number of hands or period of time. They’ll be playing Pot Limit Omaha and there will be betting action on the side as to who wins each match.

Who Is Challenging Galfond?

There are currently six matches lined up, but more may be coming. The six challengers who will be taking on Galfond are Bill Perkins, Brandon Adams, Chance Kornuth, Dan 'Jungleman' Cates, and two online poker players known as 'ActionFreak' and 'VeniVidi1993.' Five of those six will face off against Galfond in heads-up online poker, and Adams will play Galfond in heads-up live poker.

How Can You Bet On the Galfond Challenge?

You can bet on the Galfond Challenge, thanks to PokerShares. PokerShares is offering match prices for the outcomes of the different Galfond Challenge matches, plus daily betting options for which player will come out on top after a specific session.

How Much Is at Stake?

Millions of dollars will be on the line. Not only will each side be playing for the stacks on the felt, but each side has agreed to terms of side betting action. In most cases, Galfond is laying odds to his opponent.

'VeniVidi1993' vs. Galfond

Start: Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Stakes: €100-€200 PLO
Duration: 25,000 hands
Side Action: Galfond's €200,000 to VeniVidi1993's €100,000

The first match of the Galfond Challenge saw Galfond square off against high-stakes online poker player 'VeniVidi1993.' Although not much information is available on 'VeniVidi1993,' we can tell you that he is a respected high-stakes PLO player. Galfond and 'VeniVidi1993' planned to play for 25,000 hands, with Galfond risking €200,000 and 'VeniVidi1993' having €100,000 on the line, in addition to any money won on the table.

The opening match of the Galfond Challenge saw two very different storylines play out. The first is the dominance of 'VeniVidi1993' over the first 15 sessions of play. At the end of those 15 sessions, 'VeniVidi1993' was up more than €900,000 and Galfond decided to suspend the match in an effort to regroup. After more than three weeks off, Galfond returned to continue playing 'VeniVidi1993' on March 4. That's when the second storyline kicked in and Galfond mounted a comeback for the ages.

Galfond went on to erase the €900,000 deficit, but the match came down to the wire. With less than 100 hands to go, 'VeniVidi1993' had Galfond on the ropes, but Galfond fought back in what was an incredibly suspenseful performance. Eventually, Galfond won a final pot that sealed his victory.

Day 1 Recap: 'VeniVidi1993' Grabs €72,527 Lead

Day 2 Recap: Galfond Books Small Win

Day 3 Recap: 'VeniVidi1993' Wins €84,437

Day 4 Recap: 'VeniVidi1993' Scores €17,544 Win

Day 5 Recap: Big Day for 'VeniVidi1993,' Wins €155,063

Day 6 Recap: Galfond Wins Final Pot for Breakeven Day

Day 7 Recap: 'VeniVidi1993' Wins €52,057

Day 8 Recap: 'VeniVidi1993' Now Up €439,817

Day 9 Recap: Galfond Now Down More Than €450,000

Day 10 Recap: Galfond Loses Another €100,000

Day 11 Recap: Galfond Now Down Nearly €570,000

Day 12 Recap: Galfond Wins Back €87,940

Day 13 Recap: Galfond Suffers €267,949 Loss

Day 14 Recap: Phil Galfond Down €797,646 Overall

Day 15 Recap: €102,593 Loss Leaves Galfond Down €900,000

Day 16 Recap: €183,481 Win for Galfond in Return

Day 17 Recap: ‘VeniVidi1993’ Picks Up €21,571 Win

Day 18 Recap: Friday Brings €27,198 Win for Galfond

Day 19 Recap: Galfond Picks Up €26,018 Win On Saturday

Day 20 Recap: €92,803 Win for Phil Galfond

Day 21 Recap: Tuesday Brings a Small Win for Galfond

Day 22 Recap: 'VeniVidi1993' Battles Back with €88,465 Win

Day 23 Recap: Galfond Books €23,821 Win

Day 24 Recap: Galfond Picks Up Another €19,099

Day 25 Recap: Galfond Wins €139,485 On Saturday

Day 26 Recap: €110,752 Thursday Win for Galfond

Day 27 Recap: 'VeniVidi1993' Scores €76,026 Victory

Day 28 Recap: 'VeniVidi1993' Rage Quits, Galfond Wins €140K

Day 29 Recap: Galfond Wins €85,271, Now Down €233,624

Day 30 Recap: €26,992 Win for ‘VeniVidi1993’

Rio Poker Galfond Challenge Results

Day 31 Recap: Galfond Scores €106,328 Win

Day 32 Recap: Galfond Enjoys First Overall Lead

Day 33 Recap: 'VeniVidi1993' Wins €28,538 On Friday

Day 34 Recap: €28,722 Win for Galfond On Saturday

Day 35 Recap: €121,486 Win Gives Galfond Overall Lead

Day 36 Recap: Galfond Loses Tuesday, Maintains Overall Lead

Day 37 Recap: 'VeniVidi1993' Retakes the Lead

Rio Poker Galfond Challenge Solitaire

Day 38 Recap: Galfond Trails By €8,171 with One Session Left

Day 39 Recap: Phil Galfond Completes Incredible Comeback To Win Galfond Challenge