Gossip Column: Galfond Pulls Ahead in 2nd Session Against Perkins, Miles Qualifies For American Ninja Warrior & More

Phil Galfond, Bill Perkins, Tony Miles, Shaun Deeb & Lon McEachern - Gossip Column
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  • Attreyee Khasnabis April 22, 2020
  • 6 Minutes Read

To take your mind away from the ever-growing Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we bring you another hot tea spilling gossip session.

Three-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Galfond may have started his second Galfond Challenge against entrepreneur Bill Perkins on the backfoot, but by the end of the second session, he is now firmly in the lead. Day 2 took place on April 21, and Galfond pulled ahead with a $70,000 lead.

The 2018 WSOP Main Event runner-up Tony Miles also had some good news to share as he got selected to participate in the American Ninja Warrior Season 12 – the second time he has been chosen to appear on the show. He had agreed to a prop bet with Shaun Deeb for $100,000 wherein he has to qualify and complete at least one round on the show for him to win the bet.

Meanwhile, poker commentator Lon McEachern landed himself in some trouble after commenting on some tweets showing support for Stones Gambling Hall in the Mike Postle cheating saga.

 

Phil Galfond Snatches Lead Back From Bill Perkins

RIO founder Phil Galfond had made the cheeky remark recently that he has a thing for comebacks, and yet again on April 21, he proved how good he truly is.

Phil Galfond
Phil Galfond

 

The second Galfond Challenge featuring Bill Perkins and the PLO legend commenced on April 14, and right off the bat, Perkins took the lead with a small profit of $1,561.86.

The second session was played yesterday, and Galfond managed to overcome Perkins’ lead and register a considerable $70,000 profit.

Bill Perkins
Bill Perkins

 

Galfond and Perkins are scheduled to play 50,000 hands of $100-200 PLO or at a $400,000 stop-loss, whichever comes first. The challenge is taking place on partypoker.

 

Tony Miles Gets a Second Shot to Win American Ninja Warrior Prop Bet Against Shaun Deeb

Tony Miles is most well-known for his dramatic runner-up finish in the 2018 WSOP Main Event. Just a few months later, he used some of his money to make a prop bet with fellow poker player and friend Shaun Deeb.

Tony Miles
Tony Miles

 

According to the details of the bet, Miles put up $5k getting 25:1 odds to get on the show American Ninja Warrior and advance at least one round. If he doesn’t make it in the first year, he can get 20:1 in the second year and 15:1 for the third year. Otherwise, he has to pay up.

On March 11, Miles announced on Twitter that he had managed to qualify for Season 12 of the American Ninja Warrior.

Talking about the bet, he said, “For our bet, the odds started at 25-to-1 and will decrease yearly over the three-year period to 20-to-1 and 15-to-1 respectively,” said Miles, who now stands to win $100,000 from his $5,000 wager against Deeb. “Getting the call is an extremely exciting part of the process. You have to understand that a lot of people, around 100,000 I’ve heard, apply to be on Ninja Warrior so it is considered an extreme honor to be chosen to actually compete on the show.”

Shaun Deeb
Shaun Deeb

 

He further stated, “People wait months after applying and spend thousands of dollars creating their application videos, so the time between applying and hearing back from the producers is a very tense time in the ninja community. Getting the call means that a producer from the show will call you personally to let you know that you’ve officially been selected. A lot of ninjas will record themselves receiving the call and completely lose it with joy and excitement.”

The process of getting selected to appear on the show is not an easy one. It begins with an online application process that requires a three-minute audition video. It’s during this point that the applicant shares details about their athletic ability, family history, personal influences, life experiences, and things of that nature.

“The show really focuses on inspiring and motivating people so they really want to know what kind of obstacles have you overcome in your life and how that drives you,” Miles said. “Then there’s the video submission, basically this part is the most critical component of the process. Along with your online application, you’re required to create a video highlighting your ability, showcasing your personality, and selling yourself on why you deserve a chance to be on the show.”

However, this isn’t the first time that Miles has qualified for the show. In 2019, Miles was selected to appear on American Ninja Warrior but stumbled reasonably early in his course run to fall short.

“Last year I kind of got a late jump on training,” he explained. “The producers had contacted me when they heard about the bet and I had applied early but I was going through some personal things after the Main Event, dealing with some depression and feeling a bit lost so I actually didn’t start training until January.”

“Even after getting a late jump, I felt really confident about my ability to win the bet and complete the qualifying course. I have a pretty good natural aptitude for learning the sport based on my background in gymnastics and wakeboarding. When I arrived in Atlanta for the filming, we were allowed to see the course a day before we competed, and based on seeing the obstacles I thought there was about a 70% chance of getting through,” he said.

The spinning blocks that comprises of six different shaped boxes with a pole that goes through the center, allowing them to spin, had been the undoing in Miles’s participation last time.

“I’ve been watching the show for years, and I know how much variance there is in that obstacle,” Miles continued. “I’ve seen it take out the top ninjas time and time again over the course of the years. After completing the first two obstacles I approached the spinning blocks. I thought to myself an old poker adage ‘think long, think wrong,’ and flung myself as fast as possible over the top of the blocks but on the second one I got a little outside of the center of the axis where I was supposed to step and the block spun and it threw me off balance and I fell one block before reaching the next platform.”

However, Miles is determined to use his second opportunity well. “Since competing last year I’ve really dedicated myself to this endeavor,” he said. “As soon as I was home from playing WCOOP and EPT Barcelona I hit the ground running. I’ve been training four to five days a week and I’ve also given some of the guys who are stars of the show a freeroll (2%) on the bet so they’ve been coaching me and we’re working hard.”

 

Lon McEachern Comes Out in Support For Stones Gambling Hall in Postlegate Scandal

Famed poker commentator Lon McEachern found himself in a soup after he showed support for the Stones Gambling Hall in light of the Mike Postle cheating scandal. McEachern, who is also a Stones Gambling Hall ambassador, made comments on Twitter that appeared to absolve the owners of Sacramento’s Stones Gambling Hall of responsibility in the alleged cheating scandal.

Lon McEachern
Lon McEachern

 

McEachern’s rough day escalated after increasingly heated exchanges with Abraham “pocketabes” Martin, a former tech worker at Stones Gambling Hall, and Veronica “angry_polak” Brill, who both played in and announced a few of the “Stones Live!” sessions in which Postle allegedly cheated.

Martin claims to have witnessed McEachern talking up Stones Gambling Hall and downplaying the Postle situation, to which Martin found affront. That led to Martin going back to a McEachern quote bashing Donald Trump from a day earlier, then mimicking it to illustrate Stones’ dubious legal claims of having no responsibility.

Instead of stepping away from the exchange, McEachern pressed his viewpoint, which included further defending Stones’ owners while also trading more shots with Martin and Brill, the lead defendant in the lawsuit targeting Postle, Stones, and Justin Kuraitis. Brill was also the person who first took the cheating complaints about Postle after she and several others took complaints to Kuraitis but were allegedly stonewalled.

Despite Stones’ attempts to legally disavow itself of any responsibility, it’s a stance that’s not only legally dubious, it’s also vastly unpopular with the gambling public. McEachern stirred further anger by offering this claim:

He did, however, admit that he is no expert in casino cheating, and is “just waiting for the legal process to play out.” The ESPN poker voice then said he isn’t defending cheaters.

Eventually, Twiteratti came knocking, and they had quite a lot to say to McEachern.

Well, it seems for once McEachern would have done better had he kept his commentary to himself!

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