And the nosebleed PLO swings continue. After blowing a €900K lead over Phil Galfond, VeniVidi posted consecutive winning sessions to regain the lead in the Galfond Challenge at Run It Once Poker. Galfond dropped 78,237 during Day 37. With 1,432 hands remaining in the 25,000-hand heads-up battle at €100/€200 PLO, VeniVidi now leads by €31,753. With the two nearly deadlocked over the past week, this could end in less than three sessions.
After storming back from a €900K hole, Phil Galfond looked like he was on top of the world. But just when you dig yourself out of a massive hole, you're not on even ground for a hot minute before you're back in a ditch. VeniVidi managed to book wins in back-to-back sessions to stop the bleeding on his end and regain the upper hand in the Galfond Challenge.
As much as Galfond has been riding super-high on an epic wave during his blitzkrieg of a historic €900K comeback, VeniVidi has been on the other end of an ugly, tumultuous and super depressing €900K downswing. But with less than 1,500 hands to go, VeniVidi has a chance to save face while staring at the edge of the abyss. Hey, despite the past, it's still GAME ON and VeniVidi can still win the overall challenge. VV will bank a €200K prop bet (plus other side action) if they can hold onto the lead heading into the weekend.
The two PLO highstakes denizens have been averaging 635 or so hands per session while slugging it out at €100/€200 PLO... and with two tables at a time. They could push it a little bit and finish this in two sessions. Or they could also slow it down a bit and stretch it out over three sessions.
Just the other day, Galfond finally booked a double green day to secure a lead at the end of a session for the first time since this began in late January.
So what went down since then?
On Day 36, VeniVidi won €34,580. He booked a modest win, but more importantly, stopped the hemorrhaging after Galfond regained the lead for the first time and seized momentum and all the headlines. With 2,311 hands remaining, Galfond still retained the lead for a second day in a row since storming back. Galfond led with +€46,484.
On Day 37, VeniVidi booked a second-winning day in a row with a +€78,237 score. That amount pushed him back ahead. Overall, he's up +€31,753 with less than 1,500 hands to go.
The hand count is 23,568. That's 1,432 hands to go.
Do not miss out on the next time these two heavyweights square off. It's been a heck of a wild ride... from 0 to €900K back down to 0. And now, after an endurance test that began in late January, it's a sprint to the finish line.
Oh, and there's a special COVID-19 Charity heads-up tournament featuring 16 pros and 16 donators/qualifiers. It will be streamed on RUn It Once Poker's Twitch channel starting Saturday April 11 at 16:00 UTC.
Phil Galfond will be the host and one of the players. Among the notable pros partipating ... Dan Smith, Luc Greenwood, Jame Kersetter, Marle Cordeiro, Ben Slusky, Sam Greenwood, John Cynn, Parker Talbot, Kevin Martin, Dan Dvoress, and Kevin Rabinchow.
