The hotly-anticipated Galfond Challenge between Phil Galfond and Dan Cates has finally begun, the “Jungleman” the latest player to accept Galfond’s PLO Challenge and moving out to an early lead of $77,500.
Nobody has so far managed to best Galfond in the heads-up, highstakes PLO matches, with victories over online crushers VeniVidi1993 and ActionFreak, as well as Chance Kornuth and Brandon Adams, on his resume.
The Jungleman, Dan Cates, however, fancies his chances of defeating Galfond, who he calls Mr Falcons, threatening to “rip his talons off” and turning down a juicy live game in favour of his online battle at $100/$200…
Oh and by the way @PhilGalfond pic.twitter.com/f0h07Ww8OF
— Daniel Cates 🇺🇸 🌎 (@junglemandan) February 3, 2023
The pair have agreed to play 7500 hands, and Cates will be looking to win back the €86,870 (US$90k) he lost in a 750-hand mini-match back in early 2020.
Day one of the match didn’t go exactly to plan for Cates, though, who lost about $10k, although it only showed up as $1k because of depositing issues on WSOP.com. As such, the players will settle up the correct 10x amount after the match.
Just finished my first rumble with the @junglemandan. I won $10k, but think he got the better of me today.
My rust showed.
Regardless of results this week, I’m going to be very disappointed in myself if I can’t get it together & play at the level I know I can.
Back tomorrow!
— Phil Galfond (@PhilGalfond) February 2, 2023
Day two didn’t work out so well for Galfond. Playing under the nickname “HeyGuys” – with Cates as “SlotsofFUN88” – he lost close to $50,000, sharing an analysis of the biggest hands on YouTube…
Describing it as “a swingy session, with plenty of $40,000-$60,000 pots flying back and forth,” Galfond was quick to take the positives from a tough session. “I was, overall, much happier with my play today than yesterday, though, so it’s a win in my book.”
The RunItOnce poker boss was looking for a better session on day three, but instead he was soon staring at a six-figure loss, although he managed to pull it back to just $35k in the red by the end of play.
“Welp, I started out down $115,000 to @junglemandan today, feeling good about my play the whole time!” tweeted Galfond, apologising to his wife along the way: “(Sorry, @Farah_Galfond) Managed to turn it around to finish down “only” $35,000.”
Facts and Figures:
- $77,500
- 2,250 hands
- 5,250 hands left to play in this #GalfondChallenge.”
Will Galfond fight his way back into the Galfond Challenge or is Jungleman just too good? Let us know your thoughts on our social media.
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