Gossip Column: Kornuth Books $84K Profit in the 11th Session of the Galfond Challenge & More

Eleven sessions of the heads-up challenge between Phil Galfond and Chance Kornuth are now in the books. While the Run It Once (RIO) founder is still in the lead, Kornuth is fighting back. Extending his winning streak, Kornuth profited $84,000 in the 11th session, cutting his losses down to $117,000.

The next big match-up in the making is the ‘Grudge Match’ between Daniel Negreanu and Doug Polk. The duo is still trying to work out the details and has now added smack talk to their Twitter parley.

Days after Dan Bilzerian and Bill Perkins came out accusing Jean-Robert Bellande of cheating, the self-proclaimed ‘King of Instagram,’ Bilzerian asserted that Bellande knew that a high stakes poker game in Las Vegas was rigged. He shared this titbit in a now-deleted tweet.

Rounding out this update is a report on online gaming conglomerate Betfred staring at a legal challenge after backing out of paying jackpot winner Andy Green $2.2 Million with the case now going to High Court.

Galfond Challenge: Chance Kornuth Makes a Comeback & Wins $84K in the 11th session

The heads-up challenge between Phil Galfond and Chance Kornuth has taken a very interesting turn. Kornuth had banked $79,000 in the 10th session but was still in the red for $201,000. The 11th session also ran in Kornuth’s favor, and the Chip Leader Coaching founder wiped out over half the arrears he was in to bring his net losses down to $117,000.

Back to back winning sessions for @ChancesCards has helped him cut his deficit from €280,000 to €117,000. @PhilGalfond and Chance will be taking the rest of the week off, and the challenge will return next Tuesday, October 20th. #GalfondChallenge pic.twitter.com/8PP6WmpLRe

— Run It Once Poker (@RunItOncePoker) October 14, 2020

The 11th session saw Kornuth win $84,000. After 5,851 hands of the 35,000 hands agreed on, Kornuth may be stuck six figures, but the two-session winning streak has yielded a positive result of around €163,000 for the WSOP bracelet winner.

Kornuth and Galfond return to the virtual felt on WSOP.com on Tuesday, October 20, for the 12th session of their challenge.

Daniel Negreanu vs. Doug Polk: Smack Talking in the Lead Up to the Grudge Match

There is never a dull moment when the dynamic duo of Daniel Negreanu and Doug Polk is involved, especially if they are washing their dirty laundry on Twitter. With the date of the Grudge Match set for November 1, the arch-rivals have had several Twitter spats regarding finalizing the details of their heads-up match.

Eventually, the rules debate got so intense that Polk hurled insults Negreanu’s way on October 12, stating that he “cannot wait to clean [Negreanu] out.”

A week ago you didnt care about using preflop ranges or not , now you are completely up in arms that they are cheating.

You are such a little bitch, I cannot wait to clean you out. https://t.co/dDPBpdWM24

— Doug Polk (@DougPolkVids) October 12, 2020

The Canadian pro, in his patent cool-headed way, responded with…

Now, now Dougie, stay classy.

Match is on as long as you agree to:

1) Absolutely no charts or assistance DURING play. You can look at them before and after sessions.

2) I will agree to showing hole cards for a portion of the match live @PokerGO studio.

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) October 12, 2020

As is the trend on Twitter, everyone had something to say, and Polk replied to many of them.

You think I care? This is my last hurrah. Ive done everything I want to in poker. The only thing left is to take out the fucking trash.

— Doug Polk (@DougPolkVids) October 12, 2020

Oh yeah? How about you put some money up on that Robert?

— Doug Polk (@DougPolkVids) October 12, 2020

Not happening. You think I can weight cut down to Flyweight?

— Doug Polk (@DougPolkVids) October 12, 2020

There are still about 15 more days to go before the D-Day. Let’s see what more will these two fights about in the coming days.

Dan Bilzerian Reveals Jean-Robert Bellande Knew a High Stakes Poker Game Was Rigged

A few days back, American poker pro Jean-Robert Bellande had been accused of staking multiple participants in a private game organized by him, without informing other players at the table. The revelation had been made by high stakes poker players and entrepreneurs Dan Bilzerian and Bill Perkins.

In the latest twist to this tale, Bilzerian, in a now-deleted tweet, claimed that Bellande knew a big money Las Vegas cash game was rigged.

The previous cheating accusation had upset Bellande. Then Eli Elezra went ahead and blew things out of proportion with his tweet, mentioning that Bilzerian had his own investigator assess the home game and that it was declared clean.

Hey @brokelivingjrb. I heard Blitz had his own investigator fully tear apart that home game and said it was 100% clean. Is @DanBilzerian gonna apologize?

— Eli Elezra (@elielezra1) October 8, 2020

Perkins, who knows both men well, jumped in to reveal how angry Bilzerian was at the thought of being cheated by a friend.

Nah, he ain't never apologizing. New information came out that flip it to most likely cheated. Dan is friking livid…..

— Bill Perkins (Guy) (@bp22) October 8, 2020

Perkins also clarified that Bellande wasn’t under suspicion, at least, not for him.

That prompted Bellande to post a thank you note on Twitter.

I really appreciate you clearing my name @bp22

For the record, I’m confident that neither you or @DanBilzerian ever cheated. I know you both very well and feel confident that you are stand up guys. #brokefat&dumb

— Jean-Robert Bellande (@BrokeLivingJRB) October 9, 2020

But Bilzerian wasn’t having any of it and in a now-deleted tweet had said, “The game isn’t clean, and JRB knew 2 weeks prior.”

Then Brandon Cantu stepped in, questioning Perkins about his vague tweets and asking him for further details.

Bill the game was not cheated. Please tell us how it was done and who was involved please? Instead of these cryptic tweets.

— Brandon Cantu (@brandoncantu) October 8, 2020

To this, Perkins replied that Bilzerian wasn’t going to apologize to Bellande.

I said dan aint apologizing. He played call him.

— Bill Perkins (Guy) (@bp22) October 8, 2020

Does that mean that this scandal is done and dusted? Well, doesn’t seem like it.

Betfred Refuses to Pay Jackpot Winner $2.2 Million With the Dispute Going to High Court

British gambling giant Betfred is heading to the High Court later this month over the non-payment of a jackpot weighing in at more than £1.7 million or $2.2 Million.

The almost two and a half-year-old case involves Andy Green, who was playing “Frankie Dettori’s Magic Seven Blackjack” on the Betfred mobile app. Green’s lawyer, Peter Coyle, told Gambling Insider that Green played the game for six hours one day before winning a £1.7 million ($2.2 million) jackpot on odds of 7,777/1.

Coyle said that Betfred’s representatives congratulated him for four days and then suddenly changed their tune, saying the site would not pay him his winnings.

Betfred claims that the app malfunctioned but cannot specify how, claiming that the evidence belongs to the app developer Playtech, who apparently refuses to release the information ‘because of supposed confidentiality.’

Betfred offered Green £2,500 ($3,235) to reimburse costs incurred in his celebrations and another £60,000 ($77,634), but the latter sum required Green to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Coyle told Gambling Insider magazine’s Tim Poole: “If it was a more reasonable figure that properly reflected the risk to Andy of litigating but also the fact he’s in good faith won that money, then we’d do a deal.”

He continued: “They’re doing themselves no favors by not paying out to a punter who won in good faith and giving no rationale for doing it.”

Two and half years on from the win, and two years since Green launched his legal action against Betfred, the case is set to appear before a High Court judge.

“The last two and a half years have felt like hell on earth,” Green told Gambling Insider, adding: “You wouldn’t treat an animal like I’ve been treated by Betfred, but hopefully the judge will accept the arguments put forward by my legal team and this nightmare will be over next month.”

Fast forward two years, and now they will finally appear in court again for the summary judgment. Summary judgment is essentially a ruling by a judge without the need of a jury. The two parties exchange evidence, so it is all out there. If there are no facts in dispute, and it is obvious which way a jury would have to rule, the judge can just make the summary judgment and avoid going to trial.

If Green loses the summary judgment, the case can still go to trial.