Gossip Column: Negreanu & Galfond Make a Small Comeback in Their Respective Challenges

Multiple WSOP bracelet winners Daniel Negreanu and Phil Galfond returned from the Thanksgiving break in winning form.

The GGPoker Ambassador won two back-to-back sessions to bring his net deficit against Doug Polk down to $565,417.57.

The battle of the poker coaches in the Galfond Challenge saw Galfond win the 31st session to register a profit of $28,000. He now trails Chance Kornuth by $64,000.

Grudge Match: Daniel Negreanu Wins Back-to-Back Sessions, Trails Doug Polk by $565K After 14 Sessions

The epic High Stakes Feud, better known as the “Grudge Match” of the century, between Daniel Negreanu and Doug Polk has been a swingy battle right from the start. Before breaking off for Thanksgiving, Upswing Poker founder Polk had taken a commanding lead against his rival for $264,019.75. He extended his lead further in the 12th session, pulling ahead for almost $600,000.

Being the fighter that he is, Negreanu has bounced back. The 13th and 14th sessions witnessed ‘Kid Poker’ come out on top, cutting Polk’s lead down to $565,417.57.

Day 12 Recap

After a three day break to celebrate Thanksgiving, Negreanu and Polk returned to play the 12th session on November 29. The Canadian pro was trailing Polk by $264,019.75 before the session began. 684 hands were played, and Polk took down the session for a profit of $332,178.14.

At the end of session 12, the duo had played 5,751 hands, with Polk sitting with an overall lead of $596,197.89.

Session 12: +$332,178.14 over 684 hands

Total: +$596,197.89 over 5,751 hands

Monster session today. Hit everything. Every hero call went right. Every big bluff got through. Every runout gave me the nuts. Every all in went my way. This was the kind of session you dream about.

— Doug “Truck Driver” Polk (@DougPolkVids) November 29, 2020

Tonight I’m going to celebrate a well played session with a bottle of the good stuff.

Incredibly happy with how I played which is all you can control.

Lots of work to do to get even but these swings were expected absolutely. pic.twitter.com/Sv7WEpi86Y

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) November 29, 2020

Watch the highlights of the session below.

Day 13 Recap

Session 13 took place on December 1, with Polk and Negreanu playing 476 hands. After three back-to-back losing sessions, Negreanu finally bounced back in this session, booking a profit of $17,780.32. With 6,227 hands having been played, Negreanu was still staring at a $578,417.57 deficit.

Session 13: -$17,780.32 over 476 hands

Total: +$578,417.57 over 6227 hands

It was looking like we were gonna lose 2 or 3 buyins then we hit an extremely nice top pair to win a 3 buyin pot to close out the session. Daniel is playing much better imo, lots of new moves.

— Doug “Truck Driver” Polk (@DougPolkVids) December 1, 2020

Watch the highlights of the session below.

Day 14 Recap

After a break of another two days, session 14 took place on December 3. Negreanu continued his winning spree, and after 788 hands, he cut down his losses for another $13,000.

A total of 7,015 hands has now been played, and Polk still dominates the challenge with an overall lead of $565,417.57.

Even if the duo decides to call off the challenge at 12,500 hands, they have another 5,485 hands to play. However, looking at how the challenge is going so far, this could easily extend to 25,000 hands.

Session 14: -$13,000 (Estimate) over 788 hands

Total: 565,417.57 over 7015 hands

Going to need to get some verification from @WSOP on the exact numbers as I didnt realize my balance had changed pre session.

Swingy battle today. @RealKidPoker hung tough and came back.

— Doug “Truck Driver” Polk (@DougPolkVids) December 3, 2020

Holy shit I flopped a King hi flush again vs an Ace hi flush thankfully this time the board double paired and I didn’t go broke.

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) December 2, 2020

Watch the highlights of the session below.

With 14 sessions now in the books, here is how the Grudge Match has gone thus far.

Galfond Challenge: Phil Galfond Wins Session 31 for $28K, Chance Kornuth Still in the lead For $64K

Just like Negreanu and Polk, even Phil Galfond and Chance Kornuth had taken a break from their heads-up challenge to celebrate Thanksgiving with their families. The break seems to have worked in the Run It Once founder’s favor as he booked a $28,000 profit immediately on return. However, he is still in the red for $64,000.

Session 31

On Wednesday, the 31st session of the contest, Galfond booked a $28,000 win, a bit more than a full buy-in. It wasn’t a huge victory, given they played for over five hours, two tables at a time. But he chipped a bit more into Kornuth’s lead, which once was almost touching $350,000. The Run it Once Poker founder now trails Kornuth by just $64,000.

Battled back to finish strong today vs @PhilGalfond to end -28k. Up 64k overall. Gonna need to catch some heat to stay in the green!

— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) December 3, 2020

Watch the highlights of the session below.

Thus far, Galfond and Kornuth have played more than 16,500 hands, just a shade under the challenge’s midway point.