*** OFFICIAL *** 2020 Galfond Challenge Thread

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

There is now increasing talk that this whole thing is a setup... that it was possibly pre-agreed-upon by Galfond and Venividi for Galfond to fall way behind, "contemplate" quitting, take a few weeks off, barely decide to keep playing, and then come back and crush.

Could this have been a more perfect story for Phil and his site?

There's also the possibility that the match actually ended when Phil was 900k euro down, and an agreement was struck behind the scenes to pay Veni the 900k euro plus the sidebet plus some extra money, and then he would throw the rest of the match (which they'd never actually settle up in reality). In fact, if there is something shady going on here, I think that would be the most likely scenario, rather than it being set up the whole way. Such a deal would do a lot to both save Phil's rep and bring great marketing value to both his training site and poker site.

Of course, there would be no way to prove this, but it's not far-fetched to think this could be the case. We will have to see what happens with the other matches. I can't imagine that all 6 opponents would have agreed to do this, especially not guys like Jungleman.

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I was gonna post about this,I have also heard people saying this was staged from the beginning

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Could this have been a more perfect story for Phil and his site?

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Are you retarded? This whole thing makes it look like site owner is cheating. How is that the best story possible?

Starting to believe we have all been had, The Fix was in from the beginning, I can see it now top story on card player/ poker news “Greatest come back of all time”, Very clever plan to get his site plastered on the front page of every poker media site, Feel like a sucker to not have suspected this sooner

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

There is now increasing talk that this whole thing is a setup... that it was possibly pre-agreed-upon by Galfond and Venividi for Galfond to fall way behind, "contemplate" quitting, take a few weeks off, barely decide to keep playing, and then come back and crush.

Could this have been a more perfect story for Phil and his site?

There's also the possibility that the match actually ended when Phil was 900k euro down, and an agreement was struck behind the scenes to pay Veni the 900k euro plus the sidebet plus some extra money, and then he would throw the rest of the match (which they'd never actually settle up in reality). In fact, if there is something shady going on here, I think that would be the most likely scenario, rather than it being set up the whole way. Such a deal would do a lot to both save Phil's rep and bring great marketing value to both his training site and poker site.

Of course, there would be no way to prove this, but it's not far-fetched to think this could be the case. We will have to see what happens with the other matches. I can't imagine that all 6 opponents would have agreed to do this, especially not guys like Jungleman.

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Even if Galfond were willing to make a deal like that, I doubt he would unless he has a close relationship with Venividi. The downside is doing damage to his rep (one of the best in poker) and the business he's dumped a ton into.

If he had a shady past, or there were any evidence to suggest he was near busto, it would be fair game - otherwise I think it's kind of messed up to go around planting that seed in all the riggys heads.

the whole problem was venividi forgot the vici part. he's paying for that now.

of course druff and the other guy think it's some sort of conspiracy. You right wingers do love your conspiracy theories



have either one of you actually multi tabled heads up plo vs a reg/pro?

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Originally Posted by jsearles22

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Could this have been a more perfect story for Phil and his site?

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Are you retarded? This whole thing makes it look like site owner is cheating. How is that the best story possible?

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Let me try to explain for the slow kids.

If he just crushed right out the gate, it would look like he was cheating.

If he got crushed the whole way, it would look like he's a has-been.

If he essentially spun around even most of the way, it would be boring.

Here he gets to lose badly at first (thus giving the match legitimacy and some drama), quits, pays a penalty, almost decides to throw in the towel, elects to come back, and crushes his opponent to ultimately win a nice chunk of change.

Other than the conspiracy theorists, everyone is applauding him and telling him what a great story this is. Go look at Twitter and everywhere else on poker social media.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfvUVzZgvTo

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Originally Posted by big dick

of course druff and the other guy think it's some sort of conspiracy. You right wingers do love your conspiracy theories



have either one of you actually multi tabled heads up plo vs a reg/pro?

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I think people who believe in conspiracy theories are mostly nuts, 9/11,JFK all nuts, You are being naive here, I guess Russ Hamilton never took a peak at your hole cards?

If you want to watch Phil's comments in the Joey video above, and don't feel like investing 33 minutes into it, try watching between the 2 minute and the 10 minute mark. That's where the best stuff is being said. The rest is just kinda fluff.

Also at 21:48 he comments on Run It Once Poker.

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

If you want to watch Phil's comments in the Joey video above, and don't feel like investing 33 minutes into it, try watching between the 2 minute and the 10 minute mark. That's where the best stuff is being said. The rest is just kinda fluff.

Also at 21:48 he comments on Run It Once Poker.

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I think this video points to the challenge being staged, Phil even contacted big sports media outlets, I could hear him now telling them, Guys I was down a million, Would you like to cover the comeback? Lol, Get lost you phony, No one cares#Fake

Just maybe, Phil can actually play.

I'm sure he put a ton of work into his game and his opponent. Might have got help but that's not an issue.
Ghosted, I doubt it but maybe... you never know but he doesn't strike me as the type.

Standard swing in my opinion for Omaha HU at that limit.

Phil down 75k today so far.

Conspiracy theorists what do you say?

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Originally Posted by simpdog

Phil down 75k today so far.

Conspiracy theorists what do you say?

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This points to the theory match is staged, Now they will swing back and forth smaller amounts

The problem with the "is this match legit" argument is that there's absolutely no way to prove it on either side.

Also, as I've said many times, this could even be rigged without Galfond knowing it. Remember, he has investors -- both in his poker site and the match (perhaps the same people) -- who likely have some kind of relationship with the site programmers.

But this doesn't even have to be poker cheating. As I said, if there is something shady going on, the most likely scenario would be that nobody is cheating, and that Veni simply agreed to throw the match and they won't settle up.

Two things can be true at once. HU PLO can have huge variance, AND you could have someone throwing a match. Phil might be willing to do something like this, rationalizing that the upside is that it saves his poker crusher reputation while not actually cheating anyone.

I will say that, from what I know of Phil, I couldn't see him agreeing to actually rig a match and cheat someone out of money. But having an opponent agree to pretend to lose.... that I could see, if the benefits from it were great enough.

With all of that said, I am not saying it's likely that Phil did any of this. The most likely scenario is that all of this is legit. However, one would be a fool to completely ignore this possibility.

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

The problem with the "is this match legit" argument is that there's absolutely no way to prove it on either side.

Also, as I've said many times, this could even be rigged without Galfond knowing it. Remember, he has investors -- both in his poker site and the match (perhaps the same people) -- who likely have some kind of relationship with the site programmers.

But this doesn't even have to be poker cheating. As I said, if there is something shady going on, the most likely scenario would be that nobody is cheating, and that Veni simply agreed to throw the match and they won't settle up.

Two things can be true at once. HU PLO can have huge variance, AND you could have someone throwing a match. Phil might be willing to do something like this, rationalizing that the upside is that it saves his poker crusher reputation while not actually cheating anyone.

I will say that, from what I know of Phil, I couldn't see him agreeing to actually rig a match and cheat someone out of money. But having an opponent agree to pretend to lose.... that I could see, if the benefits from it were great enough.

With all of that said, I am not saying it's likely that Phil did any of this. The most likely scenario is that all of this is legit. However, one would be a fool to completely ignore this possibility.

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That would still be extremely shady of him. A lot of money has been wagered on the match. Fixing the result would be cheating a lot of people.

He has a super clean history as far as I know. Highly doubt he would risk his reputation with a fix.

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Originally Posted by 4BET

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Originally Posted by big dick

of course druff and the other guy think it's some sort of conspiracy. You right wingers do love your conspiracy theories



have either one of you actually multi tabled heads up plo vs a reg/pro?

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I think people who believe in conspiracy theories are mostly nuts, 9/11,JFK all nuts, You are being naive here, I guess Russ Hamilton never took a peak at your hole cards?

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russ didn't run a challenge that was covered by every poker news outlet out there.


dont be dumb dude.

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Originally Posted by big dick

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Originally Posted by 4BET

I think people who believe in conspiracy theories are mostly nuts, 9/11,JFK all nuts, You are being naive here, I guess Russ Hamilton never took a peak at your hole cards?

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russ didn't run a challenge that was covered by every poker news outlet out there.


dont be dumb dude.

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Point is if it’s online it could be shady

IMO anyone who thinks this match isn't real is very very stupid.

Sure we can't see ALL of the hole cards, but you know damn well some 2+2 nerds are scraping hand histories and will be doing the match on it. It would be absolutely ridiculous for Phil G to cheat this game (or even investors or anyone behind the scenes).


Druff has to take this stance so he can be the first to say "I thought it was fishy" and talk about it for 500 hours of radio show.

The rest of you are idiots for taking this stance.

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Originally Posted by simpdog

IMO anyone who thinks this match isn't real is very very stupid.

Sure we can't see ALL of the hole cards, but you know damn well some 2+2 nerds are scraping hand histories and will be doing the match on it. It would be absolutely ridiculous for Phil G to cheat this game (or even investors or anyone behind the scenes).


Druff has to take this stance so he can be the first to say "I thought it was fishy" and talk about it for 500 hours of radio show.

The rest of you are idiots for taking this stance.

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You can literally tell who has played HU PLO and who hasn't ITT ...