It’s been a painful two weeks for Phil Galfond. The opening match of the Heads-up Challenge proved disastrous for the Run It Once founder after losing more than €900,000 over the course of 15 sessions against his first opponent “Venividi1993”.
Galfond Suspends Match
Both players kicked off the third week of their €100/€200 PLO match 09 Feb, with Galfond hoping to somehow turn things around. But he took some more pounding from the mysterious challenger, prompting him to postpone the remaining sessions of their game to reflect on his performance and reassess things.
In a lengthy note on Twitter, Galfond explained his decision to temporarily suspend the match following his unfortunate run. The former Full Tilt Poker pro said the extended downswing took a toll on his game plan and strategy, as he struggled to gather his thoughts coherently. Galfond suggested he had somehow become hopeless and “depressed” over his massive losses, and this situation merits some quiet time to contemplate on his next move.
The question now is, will Galfond eventually throw in the towel? We will find out on March 1, when the three-time WSOP bracelet winner will reveal his final decision.
Galfond Should Quit 
While Galfond’s fans would certainly wish for their hero to resume the battle, one poker pro thinks Galfond should just quit because he will never win anyway. In a response to Galfond’s note, Luke Schwartz published his own lengthy post, with some insults here and there directed towards Galfond who he referred to as just a “washed-up nice guy”.
Loudmouthed Schwartz said there is no way Galfond will be able to beat Venividi who is obviously a better player. The English poker pro said Galfond could have just waved the white flag instead of posting “pigeon” notes.
Schwartz also has some message for Galfond’s fans – they should get a new poker hero. He has once again challenged the RIO founder to a heads-up battle, but he also called out another player, American poker pro Mike Gorodinsky, saying the player was an “arrogant ape”.
Galfond-Schwartz Match To Take Place After WSOP
In response to Schwartz’s attacks, Galfond confirmed his heads-up match against the English pro which will most likely take place after the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Galfond said he and Schwartz have already privately talked about that match and he isn’t backing out.
From this point, Schwartz went easy on Galfond and admitted his post was more of a hype, and actually directed towards the “miserable fanboys”. He wished Galfond well in his next matches, which include hedge fund manager Bill Perkins, online poker pro “Action Freak”, WSOP bracelet winner Chance Kornuth, online legend Daniel Cates, as well as author and Harvard University lecturer Brandon Adams.
Schwartz is known in the poker world for wearing his heart on his sleeve, and blasting fellow players over certain issues. He used to play in big-bet online cash games, most of his recent success were in the mixed and limit tournaments.
Schwartz topped a field of 100 entries to capture the $10K Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship in the 2019 WSOP, earning $273,336 as top prize, alongside his maiden WSOP gold bracelet. Schwartz also has some online championship victories under his name.
The complete details of the match between Galfond and Schwartz have yet to be announced, but Galfond earlier indicated that they will play $1,000/$2,000 8-game. The match will last 15,000 hands, with Galfond side-betting 1.1 to 1 on $250,000.
While Galfond previously said he was comfortable in the mixed games arena, being a regular player in the $50K Poker Players Championship and also playing in high-stakes mixed events at ARIA and Bellagio, he admitted he’s “not very good”, and he still has a lot to learn.
Galfond Challenge
In November 2019, Galfond issued a heads-up challenge to the poker world. The challenge involves a high-stakes PLO tournament with a side bet to be played on his own site Run It Once, though he’s also open to playing it elsewhere. Just less than a day after announcing the challenge, a number of players their interest in taking part.
The first match kicked off in late January, against Venividi. However, after suspending the remaining sessions, Galfond will now move on to his next opponent.