Phil Galfond's Comeback
Our last update on the Galfond Challenge was with Phil €900k down, and the question was whether or not he would throw in the towel or no. After that, Galfond decided to take a break to rethink his strategy. Last week the challenge was resumed, and the situation began to change for the host.
The first session in March ended very well for Phil (+€183,481), but after that, Galfond was cautious and even said that there was a high probability of another downswing. But, ten more positive sessions gave a good reason to talk about Phil's return.
In only two of these, VeniVidi was able to end in positive:
| Date | Hands | Winner | Results |
| 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 |
Thus, on March 20, 2020, Phil Galfond and VeniVidi1993 have played 16,403 of the 25,000 hands planed, and as a result, Phil lost €383,849.
Recall that Galfond's goal is to lose no more than €400k, and now with about 8k hands left, his task is going well.
Comments by Phil Galfond
During the challenge break and even after the first sessions, Galfond was almost absent on social networks. Only until yesterday, did he shared an update about the progress of the match:
"While I'm trying not to get caught up in the narrative & the dream of a massive comeback, I can still see that win or lose, a cool story is unfolding with the #GalfondChallenge: Ex top player challenges world, loses $1m promptly, clearly washed up & beaten down... etc"
In general, Phil is aware of how unpredictable the HU PLO game is. Especially against such a strong opponent as VeniVidi1993, and therefore he is realistic about the challenge prospects.
Considering the pace against VeniVidi, Galfond will have to play 14-15 more sessions, and, as we already have seen, the results can change dramatically.
Day 26 Galfond Challenge video:
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