Phil Galfond has defeated VeniVidi in Match #1 of the Galfond Challenge to take home €100,000 in prop bet proceeds.
Run It Once Poker founder Phil Galfond and Pot Limit Omaha opponent VeniVidi entertained over 26,000 live stream viewers Sunday in an epic Match #1 Final that wasn’t decided until the last 80 (of 25,000) hands. The heads-up contest, which appeared destined to end in VeniVidi’s favor only two months ago, unofficially reached an outcome when Phil Galfond showed down a Full House to take an insurmountable lead in Match #1 with just a few dozen hands remaining.
The final showdown that secured the victory for @PhilGalfond. 🏆#GalfondChallenge pic.twitter.com/0kIBHo75kL
— Run It Once Poker (@RunItOncePoker) April 12, 2020
“It feels pretty good,” Galfond informed live stream hosts Joe Stapleton, David Tuchman, and Joey Ingram on-air immediately following the Match #1 Final stream.
I guess I’ll try, but I can’t list everyone.
Thank you @Stapes, @TuckonSports, and to SO many others who commentated and made the #GalfondChallenge streams awesome!
Thank you @Joeingram1 and everyone else who created content about the challenge for keeping people engaged.
— Phil Galfond (@PhilGalfond) April 12, 2020
Poker Players React to Phil Galfond’s Epic Comeback
Poker players around the world posted their congratulatory thoughts on Twitter following Sunday’s Match #1 conclusion.
Poker Life Podcast creator Joey Ingram:
OMFG!!!!!!
— Joey Ingram #passion (@Joeingram1) April 12, 2020
Poker player, live streamer, and content creator Andreas Froehli:
Closest match in poker history – absolutely loved the strategy involved in last 100s of hands, we don't see this very often 😛
— Andreas Froehli (@AndreasFroehli) April 13, 2020
Live poker tournament #4 all-time cash prize winner Erik Seidel:
When asked if poker is a sport, Exhibit A will be this @PhilGalfond VeniVidi match. Had the whole poker world at the edge of our seats. Kudos to both players
— Erik Seidel (@Erik_Seidel) April 12, 2020
Triton Poker series ambassador Jason Koon:
Holy shit I’m shaking, congrats @PhilGalfond!!!
— Jason Koon (@JasonKoon) April 12, 2020
High stakes poker player and Days of Our Lives star Farah Galfond:
— Farah Galfond (@Farah_Galfond) April 12, 2020
Solve for Why Poker Training Academy instructor Matt Berkey:
I've never been happier for @Farah_Galfond's mental state…
Also @PhilGalfond you're a god damn animal!!!
— Matt Berkey (@berkey11) April 12, 2020
Next Galfond Challenge Match Versus Bill Perkins
The next Galfond Challenge contest has scheduled to take place on partypoker, with poker backer Bill Perkins risking a $250,000 USD side bet versus Galfond’s $1 million.
Alright, that’s enough rest. Time for some more #GalfondChallenge.
I’ll be playing @bp22 at $100/$200 PLO on @partypoker. We’re aiming to start 4 hours from now, but could be a lil’ late.
I’ll be streaming the action live on https://t.co/srDzM8uGDO
— Phil Galfond (@PhilGalfond) April 14, 2020
The Perkins matchup will feature a “Mercy Rule” in which the commodities trader has the option to forfeit the match if he is down €400,000 or more at any time versus Galfond for the duration of 50,000 hands.
Which side you guys like? https://t.co/IMC0HytiZB
— Mike McDonald (@MikeMcDonald89) April 13, 2020
Congratulations to Phil Galfond, VeniVidi, and Collaborators
When Run It Once Poker officially launched in February 2019, the site was immediately plagued with unforeseen software development challenges that had some longtime Phil Galfond fans wondering if RIO Poker would ever again attract hundreds of players as it did in its first few weeks post-launch.
Galfond Challenge Match #1 has clearly resulted in an increase of interest along with traffic to the No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha cash game online poker platform (not available in the United States).
Both Phil Galfond and VeniVidi entertained thousands of fans over a span of several months — completing over 24,900 hands of competitive high stakes poker before the match’s outcome was decided and the meaningless hands were folded-out by the victor.
I don’t know who Venividi is but seems to be one cool dude, he just typed “good game” after swing 1m + losing 100k side bet in this @RunItOncePoker marathon HU challenge to @PhilGalfond loved the commentary @Joeingram1 @TuckonSports @Stapes thx for the ride 👍 pic.twitter.com/iOd5JdC36t
— Rob Yong (@rob_yong_) April 13, 2020
At least dozens of high profile poker players and other collaborators have contributed to marketing the Galfond Challenge through live streams, podcasts, social media engagement, forum discussion, free Twitch subscriptions, cross-site promotion, and strategy analysis… culminating in one of the largest Twitch Poker streams ever for Sunday’s “good for poker” finale.
~26,000 viewers on Twitch were there to watch the final hand.
— Nick Jones (@pokerprojones) April 12, 2020
According to the Run It Once Poker landing page, Phil Galfond finished Match #1 with a gameplay profit of €1,671.58 after 25,001 hands.
That's a wrap. @PhilGalfond completes the €900,240.17 comeback by booking a dramatic win in the final session of the first #GalfondChallenge! Phil kept us on the edge of our seat throughout the entire match, before finally winning a crucial pot that secured him the victory! GG! pic.twitter.com/TvAhT5LcSD
— Run It Once Poker (@RunItOncePoker) April 12, 2020
* This article is directly funded by Part Time Poker.
Read More Part Time Poker Coverage of the Galfond Challenge
Chance Kornuth to Participate in 2020 Galfond Challenge (Dec 29, 2019)
Luke Schwartz to Participate in 2020 Galfond Challenge (Jan 6, 2020)
Could Run It Once Poker “Splash the Pot” be a Game-Changer? (Feb 3, 2019)
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