Gossip Column: Galfond Moves to His 2nd Challenger Perkins, Hunichen Bets on Death to Create COVID-19 Awareness & More

As the world plunges deeper into the Coronavirus (COVID-19) abyss, things in the poker world seem to be functioning almost normally.

Run It Once (RIO) founder, Phil Galfond, fresh off his victory against ‘VeniVidi1993’, has moved onto the second challenge against the entrepreneur Bill Perkins. Similar to the first Heads-Up challenge, Galfond started off on the backfoot as Perkins won the session, taking a marginal $1,561.86 lead after playing 388 hands.

Strange prop bets have become the flavor of the season and the latest pro to join the list if Chris Hunichen, who bet that if 100,000 people die in the US due to the COVID-19 by September 1, then he’ll win $10,000. Needless to say, this created quite a stir on Twitter, with many accusing him of rooting for people to die, while others did see the true intentions behind the bet.

For those who have run out of things to do during the lockdown, keep an eye out for the poker documentary ‘David v. Goliath’ on Amazon Prime. Starring former boxer David Haye, it is the story of his journey from knowing nothing about poker to falling in love with the game. Grosvenor Poker will be releasing the documentary on April 17.

Phil Galfond Begins 2nd Challenge Against Bill Perkins

The legendary Phil Galfond is back at the grind. Just days after his incredible comeback victory against online phenom ‘VeniVidi1993’, Galfond moved on to his second challenger, business tycoon, and high-stakes poker player Bill Perkins.

Alright, that’s enough rest. Time for some more #GalfondChallenge.

I’ll be playing @bp22 at $100/$200 PLO on @partypoker. We’re aiming to start 4 hours from now, but could be a lil’ late.

I’ll be streaming the action live on https://t.co/srDzM8uGDO

— Phil Galfond (@PhilGalfond) April 14, 2020

The @PhilGalfond challenge is happening today & the B word is being thrown around. Billionaire. I’m NOT a billionaire. Not Close, & if I live my life right I will never be one because I’m consuming & donating the cash I make commensurate w/ the decay of my faculties #Diewithzero

— Bill Perkins (Guy) (@bp22) April 14, 2020

Both players were excited to begin the challenge, and on April 15, the first session of the match was played. The stakes for this challenge were $100/$200 Pot-Limit Omaha with Galfond laying $1 Million to Perkin’s $250,000 that either player can win after 50,000 hands or at a $400,000 stop-loss.

Unlike the first challenge, this match is taking place on partypoker, and got off to a slower-paced start, since the duo was playing one table rather than the two viewers were used to from the ‘Venividi1993’ match.

Galfond did find himself down almost $50,000 at one point but managed to recover most of it, bringing the loss down to around $6,000. After 388 hands were played, Perkins ended the session with a $1,561.86 lead.

You can count on Galfond to find humor in these things as he took to Twitter later, announcing that he has “a thing for comebacks.”

I guess I have a thing for comebacks. Started -$50k against @bp22 and finished the session down somewhere under $6k. We’ll get the official numbers from @partypoker later I believe.

Fun session, as those who were watching know. GG, Bill. Looking forward to the next one!

— Phil Galfond (@PhilGalfond) April 14, 2020

While it has started off well for Perkins, we all know how well Galfond can turn things around. So, let’s wait and see how this challenge plays out.

Chris Hunichen Bets on Death to Create COVID-19 Awareness

Since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, many poker players have been making prop bets. Some weirder than others. Former EPT Barcelona champion, Chris Hunichen made a rather horrible sounding bet that over 100,000 people in the US would lose their lives by September 1 due to COVID-19.

Want to take over 100k deaths from covid-19 in US by September 1st. Must know you or if I don’t you must post or escrow.

— Chris Hunichen (@BigHuni) April 5, 2020

It seems that Hunichen’s heart is in the right place and that there was no malice behind his words. However, the way he chose to create awareness regarding COVID-19 and its dangers was questionable.

Unsurprisingly, the bet created quite a hullabaloo on Twitter. Many criticized Hunichen’s post and demanded that he take it down.

that is the most disgusting bet I have ever seen in my life. ??‍♂️

— Scott Harris (@scott4h) April 5, 2020

Yea man, Scrath this

— Ronnie Bardah (@RonnieBardah) April 5, 2020

Lord huss don’t root for such a thing. Ppl really aren’t taking this seriously which is fucking us but u can’t root for high tolls.

— paul volpe (@paulgees81) April 5, 2020

Don’t be stupid and take this down.

— Regulo dnb (@irregularbass) April 5, 2020

How can u root for deaths man

— jaredjaffee (@jaredjaffee21) April 5, 2020

Dude what the hell is wrong with you , surely u can see this is not something to gamble on

— ben (@Benphilipps) April 5, 2020

However, many supported Hunichen as well.

Coming from someone that has had the virus and starting to recover. Chris has text me daily to ask how I was doing……. Maybe this post will open some eyes. I left my house 2 times in a month and got it….. just think about the 60/80% that thinks this is a joke.

— stephen burns (@burnsie517) April 5, 2020

Just Bc he bets on deaths doesn’t mean he’s rooting for it. Ppl don’t get this

— Mark Herm (@ChipHermFN) April 5, 2020

After reading some of the comments here, I want to go on the record and say that this offer is both reasonable and likely needed.

— Andrew Barber (@abarber1) April 5, 2020

Okay I’ll start by saying I read the comments, and at the very least you could have phrased this differently to get your point across better. Something to the effect of “now, those who think we’re overreacting can put their money where there mouth is”

— Nick Quazzo (@NQuazzo) April 5, 2020

I agree with @abarber1 that there is a societal benefit from Chris offering this bet

If you’re not willing to bet against Chris, then stay the fuck at home.

If you have a minority opinion, it’s ok to put your money where your mouth is. It’s not ok to risk the lives of others.

— Bonologic (@JustinBonomo) April 5, 2020

I really don’t understand people’s anger in the comments. Betting on something especially to highlight ignorance which is said to be the case here has 0 affect on outcome or if anything positively affects it. My friend and I have a similar bet where the number is waaaaay bigger..

— Horatio_64 (@Humble_Horatio) April 5, 2020

Hunichen has claimed that he did not make the bet because he was rooting for people to die. In fact, he says that he is quite afraid of contracting the virus. Even though he is only 35 years old, he dismissed talk about how people in his age group are not at risk of death. He claims to suffer from asthma and considers himself to be at high-risk of contracting the virus.

“Every day, I would see some kind of article where some 30-year-old or 35-year-old dies from this stuff. Honestly, I’m terrified. If I get it, I feel like that’s going to be me.”

Taking matters into his own hand, Hunichen decided to bet that if more than 100,000 Americans die because of COVID-19 by September 1, he wins $10,000. If not, he loses. While no one wants people to die, the poker pro`s stance on the issue does make sense in a way.

Grosvenor Poker & David Haye Release Documentary on Amazon Prime

With not much to do during the lockdown, here’s something to look forward to – Grosvenor Poker will be premiering a feature-length documentary starring David Haye.

The former boxing world champion had partnered with Grosvenor in 2018 to learn the game’s basics. Instead, he eventually ended up becoming a passionate player.

Grosvenor Poker, Stripe, and Amazon Prime came together to bring us Haye’s journey from being a poker newbie to a poker lover.

The documentary is called ‘David v. Goliath’ on account of Haye’s end goal of being a competitive player in Grosvenor’s Goliath tournament. Fans of poker will be able to stream or download it from Amazon Prime, April 17 onwards.

Sadly, this documentary is not available on Amazon Prime India. Nonetheless, you should be able to rent or buy the movie on the Amazon UK site.

You can watch the trailer of the documentary below.