We all have our thing.
Some of us like to gawk at the underside of motorway bridges. Others prefer the modern madness of a shopping mall. Then there are those of us who want nothing better than to relax in the comfort of our own home watching two people battling it out on the high stakes poker tables.
If you’re the latter, then you need to find a newfound reverence for something else, for a short while, at least.
Match #3 in the ‘Galfond Challenge’ is over, and Phil is losing his touch.
After the absurd way that Galfond recovered from a one million euro hiding from ‘VeniVidi1993’ in Match #1, to win at the death, in a gut and glory display of this great game – his match with ‘ActionFreak’ felt a tad tepid.
After losing €6.5k after the first two sessions, Galfond grabbed a blank canvas, slapped it on an easel, and painted a run of results that shut ‘ActionFreak’ out of the lead ever again.
Ever the scrutiniser of his work, Galfond will be a little irked at the way his final two sessions went (he lost close to €300,000) but will be relieved that the match is over.
Galfond can get back to chopping mushrooms without seeing the head of ‘ActionFreak’ underneath his knife after coming out on top by €114,803.51 through 15,000 hands of €150/€300 Pot-Limit Omaha. Add a €150,000 side bet to the mix, and, well, not bad, Phil. Not bad.
Entering the final session, Galfond led by €237,803.51. ‘ActionFreak’ put in a sterling performance on the last day, winning €123,000, but it wasn’t enough to tip the canoe in his balance, and the man who adorned his bedroom walls with posters of the master, had to settle for the experience of going toe-to-toe with one of his idols.
Galfond is now up €366,000 after winning both matches against ‘VeniVidi1993’ and ‘ActionFreak.’ He is also up more than $90,000 after the first 1,000 hands of his stop-start match with Bill Perkins. One assumes that this resumes once Galfond has spent some time clearing the silverfish from his bathroom, or whatever else he gets up to when not winning and losing millions playing poker.
Here are the final results.
Results
Day 1 – 145 hands – ‘ActionFreak’ wins €11,162.32
Day 2 – 1,107 hands – Phil Galfond wins €3,632.83
Day 3 – 844 hands – Phil Galfond wins €310,594.59
Day 4 – 665 hands – Phil Galfond wins €113,377.48
Day 5 – 680 hands – ‘ActionFreak’ wins €95,304.17
Day 6 – 727 hands – ‘ActionFreak’ wins €74,625.85
Day 7 – 746 hands – Phil Galfond wins €26,980.36
Day 8 – 944 hands – Phil Galfond wins €165,093.85
Day 9 – 721 hands – ‘ActionFreak’ wins €256,044
Day 10 – 776 hands – Phil Galfond wins €19,003.35
Day 11 – 784 hands – ‘ActionFreak’ wins €23,363.64
Day 12 – 710 hands – ‘ActionFreak’ wins €57,580.53
Day 13 – 716 hands – Phil Galfond wins €48,169.76
Day 14 – 740 hands – ActionFreak wins €61,136.84
Day 15 – 833 hands – Phil Galfond wins €167,811.71
Day 16 – 674 hands – Phil Galfond wins €179,545.58
Day 17 – 725 hands – ActionFreak wins €180,000
Day 18 – 840 hands – Phil Galfond wins €135,000
Day 19 – 820 hands – ActionFreak wins €168,000
Day 20 – 881 hands – ActionFreak wins €123,000
Total
Phil Galfond wins €114,803.51 through 15,000 hands, plus a €150,000 side bet.