Phil Galfond Challenge vs. 'VeniVidi1993'
The first match of the Galfond Challenge sees Phil Galfond take on 'VeniVidi1993' in 25,000 hands of €100-€200 PLO

Phil Galfond and ‘VeniVidi1993’ got back to their ‘Galfond Challenge’ match on Thursday, March 19, with the 26th session between the two. The two battled for 539 hands of €100-200 PLO on Run It Once Poker and the post-break good fortune continued for Galfond.

The latest session saw Galfond win €110,752.58 off ‘VeniVidi1993.’ Since returning from the three-week break the two took at request of Galfond, Galfond has won nine of 11 sessions and cut his deficit from €900,240.17 to €383,848.66 – a comeback of €516,391.51 over the last 11 sessions.

The Galfond Challenge match between Galfond and ‘VeniVidi1993’ is now 16,403 hands complete. The two are going to play 25,000 hands, so they’re more than 65% of the way through. For side actin, Galfond is risking €200,000 and ‘VeniVidi1993’ is risking €100,000. The side action comes in addition to whatever is won or lost on the Run It Once Poker virtual felt.

Galfond started the winning early on Thursday, and part of that was scooping the following €39,999 pot against ‘VeniVidi1993.’

With €10,799 in the middle on the Ac9d2c flop, ‘VeniVidi1993’ checked and Galfond fired €3,563.67. ‘VeniVidi1993’ made the call and the 6s hit the board on the turn. ‘VeniVidi1993’ checked, Galfond fired all in, and ‘VeniVidi1993’ called off his last €11,036.33 to create a €39,999 pot.

‘VeniVidi1993’ showed the JsTsTc8c and Galfond had the AdKsKc7c. The river was the Qh, which kept Galfond’s hand best and gave him the win.

Later on, another €39,999 pot went down, and again it was Galfond coming out on top.

There was €3,599 in the pot on the 6h5c4h flop and Galfond checked. ‘VeniVidi1993’ bet €1,835.49 and Galfond raised to €9,105.47. ‘VeniVidi1993’ shoved for €18,200 and Galfond made the call.

Galfond had the Ad9s8s7d and ‘VeniVidi1993’ had the As7h5h5d. The turn was the 8c to give Galfond a straight. The river was the Qs and Galfond’s nine-high straight won him the pot.

Of course, it really wouldn’t be a day of the Galfond Challenge if someone didn’t win a big pot with quads. It was Galfond making quads and winning a pot north of €49,000 on Thursday.

Galfond led with a €1,971.53 bet into a pot of €5,974.34 on the Qc9h6cQs board. ‘VeniVidi1993’ raised to €7,029.40 and Galfond called. The river was the 7h and the pot was at more than €20,000. Galfond checked, ‘VeniVidi1993’ shoved all in for €14,628.58, and Galfond quickly called.

Galfond had the KsKcQhQd for quad queens, beating the 8h8d7d6h of ‘VeniVidi1993’ and scooping the €49,290.30 pot.

Challenge Results To Date

Hands Played Daily Winner Amount Won
Day 1 (Jan. 22) 655 VeniVidi1993 €72,572.68
Day 2 (Jan. 23) 715 Phil Galfond €2,615.26
Day 3 (Jan. 24) 557 VeniVidi1993 €84,437.52
Day 4 (Jan. 25) 581 VeniVidi1993 €17,544.87
Day 5 (Jan. 27) 726 VeniVidi1993 €155,063.52
Day 6 (Jan. 28) 703 VeniVidi1993 €13.31
Day 7 (Jan. 30) 823 VeniVidi1993 €52,057.13
Day 8 (Jan. 31) 940 VeniVidi1993 €60,743.37
Day 9 (Feb. 1) 446 VeniVidi1993 12,706.51
Day 10 (Feb. 3) 696 VeniVidi1993 €100,993.30
Day 11 (Feb. 4) 741 VeniVidi1993 €15,647.36
Day 12 (Feb. 6) 622 Phil Galfond €87,940.91
Day 13 (Feb. 7) 470 VeniVidi1993 €267,949.70
Day 14 (Feb. 8) 593 VeniVidi1993 €48,473.73
Day 15 (Feb. 9) 659 VeniVidi1993 €102,593.34
Day 16 (Mar. 4) 574 Phil Galfond €183,481.38
Day 17 (Mar. 5) 582 VeniVidi1993 €21,571.51
Day 18 (Mar. 6) 555 Phil Galfond €27,198.94
Day 19 (Mar. 7) 638 Phil Galfond €26,018.41
Day 20 (Mar. 9) 566 Phil Galfond €92,803.89
Day 21 (Mar. 10) 576 Phil Galfond €3,766.94
Day 22 (Mar. 11) 556 VeniVidi1993 €88,465.60
Day 23 (Mar. 12) 598 Phil Galfond €23,821.05
Day 24 (Mar. 13) 628 Phil Galfond €19,099.65
Day 25 (Mar. 14) 664 Phil Galfond €139,485.78
Day 26 (Mar. 19) 539 Phil Galfond €110,752.58
Total 16,403 VeniVidi1993 €383,848.66

What’s Next for the Galfond Challenge?

The Galfond Challenge between Galfond and ‘VeniVidi1993’ will resume on Friday, March 20, starting at 12 p.m. ET. Sunday will be a day off for the two.

The match is currently 16,403 hands complete. The two are scheduled to play 25,000 hands, with Galfond putting up €200,000 in side action to the €100,000 of ‘VeniVidi1993.’

Be sure to stay tuned to PocketFives for more on the Galfond Challenge.