Two New Poker Players Accept Phil Galfond’s Heads-Up Challenge

Two New Poker Players Accept Phil Galfond’s Heads-Up Challenge

In November 2019, Run It Once founder Phil Galfond issued a heads-up challenge to poker players from all over the world.

After more than a month since announcing the challenge, a total of six actual matches have been confirmed, the first of which will kick off a week from now.

The challenge will take place according to specific conditions set by Galfond – the game will be played in PLO heads-up format, within the $100/$200 to $300/$600 limits. The matches involve different bets and also vary in the number of minimum hands to be played.

Run It Once

Galfond has yet to announce who his first rival will be in the upcoming January 22 battle, but the current line-up includes high-stakes poker player and hedge fund manager Bill Perkins who will play over 50,000 hands against Galfond in €100/€200 PLO. If one of them loses $400,000, the game will be stopped. For this match, Galfond is putting in $800,000 against Perkins’ $200,000.

Another high-profile player taking on the challenge is two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Chance Kornuth, who is also the founder of poker training site Chip Leader Coaching (CLC). Kornuth and Galfond will play at €100/€200 PLO, over 25,000 hands. The match involves a much higher bet – if Kornuth wins, Galfond will pay him €1 million. Otherwise, Galfond gets €250,000.

Potential Matches On Offer

Galfond will also compete with “Venividi1993” over 25,000 hands, at the limits of €100/€200. If Galfond ends up as the winner, he gets €100,000, while his opponent takes home €150,000 if Galfond loses.

Another player known by the nickname “ActionFreak” will play €150/€300 PLO over 25,000 hands against Galfond. Whoever wins will walk away with €150,000. High-stakes poker pro Dan “Jungleman” Cates will also be taking part in the challenge but with special conditions – both players will play 7,500 hands at €100/€200 limits.

Galfond is also set to take on American poker player and Harvard University lecturer Brandon Adams, with both playing $100/$200 PLO over 40 hours. If Galfond wins, he takes home $100,000; otherwise, Adams will walk away with $150,000.

The lineup is still subject to change though as Galfond has found two more interested participants – Dusk Till Dawn owner Rob Yong, and English poker pro Luke Schwartz.

Schwartz recently went on a Twitter spree, labelling the Galfond challenge and its participants as “pigeons“. Galfond did not let it pass and offered to play $1,000-$2,000 8-game mix against Schwartz who said “Yes“. Further details of the match are expected to be released soon.