The much-talked-about heads-up battle that’s been firing up our engines is the ongoing Galfond Challenge between Run It Once Poker supremo Phil Galfond and Chip Leader coaching’s Chance Kornuth.

The last time we recounted the match, Galfond had lost Session #37 but was still ahead of Kornuth by $23,000 after 19,300 hands. Two more sessions have played out since, and proving just what a beast he can be, Galfond won them both! If he swept off Session 38 by registering a $113,000 win over Kornuth, the latest session, i.e., Session 39, had Galfond adding another $123,000 to his lead.

Kornuth is Galfond’s third heads-up challenger in the challenge after ‘VeniVedi1993’ and Ioannis ‘Action Freak’ Kontonatsios.

The duo began the first of their €100/€200 PLO heads-up sessions on September 23, and since then, it’s been a roller coaster, full of sparks and mind-blowing action! With 20,500 hands of the 35,000-hand challenge now over, the Galfond Challenge is well past the halfway mark, and the PLO legend is currently sitting with a comfortable $259,000 lead over Kornuth! There’s a lot more than glory riding on the outcome of the match as in addition to the winnings, Galfond has an insane side bet of €1,000,000 vs. Chance’s €250,000 riding on the challenge.

Let’s take a look at how the past two sessions panned out.

Session 38

This was perhaps one of the most epic sessions at the challenge yet. Galfond had a rough start in play, as Kornuth climbed up to enjoy a six-figure lead. But that’s not how it ended. Not only did Galfond take charge, but he also added a whopping $113,000 in profits after 700 hands.

Last night, things were looking rough for @PhilGalfond early on, as @ChancesCards soared out to a six-figure lead, but then Mr. Falcons took flight! 🦅 Phil managed to swing things around entirely and book a six-figure win of his own. #GalfondChallenge pic.twitter.com/x32RAYrxC2

— Run It Once Poker (@RunItOncePoker) December 12, 2020

Kornuth, who had a rough day, admitted Galfond played well.

What started off as a 5-6 buy in lead ended w me losing 114k. Back at it tomorrow. Nice work today Phil

— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) December 12, 2020

But then, Galfond tweeted about the Doug Polk vs. Daniel Negreanu Grudge Match, asking the Twitterati who they felt were the true underdog in their respective heads-up matches. Kornuth reacted defensively to this, underlining that he was playing heads-up PLO after over five years.

I hadn't played HU PLO in 5+ years when I accepted the challenge https://t.co/takWaV33oA

— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) December 13, 2020

Watch the highlights of the session below.

Session 39

On December 15, Galfond and Kornuth met virtually over another session. This time they played 500 hands of $100/$200 PLO. It proved to be Galfond’s best day yet in his challenge, and by the time they halted play, Galfond had added another $123,000 to his overall profit over Kornuth.

RIOP tweeted the update.

Last night, @PhilGalfond managed to secure his largest win of the challenge, $123,000! 📈 He now holds on to a quarter of a million-dollar advantage. 🦅 These two will jump back on the tables in roughly four hours, and the coverage can be seen on https://t.co/RvHjkQ4Dgh! pic.twitter.com/XZDrBRwD3m

— Run It Once Poker (@RunItOncePoker) December 16, 2020

End of the day, Kornuth tweeted that he was feeling down after the losing session.

Had a bad few sessions vs Phil and was feeling a little down (285k worth overall to be exact). But just finished all my Xmas shopping AND I get to be a Dad any day now 🥰, so feeling awesome again. Two more days of play this week b4 the holiday break.

— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) December 17, 2020

But while they were playing, they lost the live-stream of the match. Galfond posted on the same, asking if anyone wanted to cover the session last minute.

NV & NJ streamers: @ChancesCards and I start our #GalfondChallenge match in 1hr and 15 minutes and we lost our stream for today. Anyone want to cover it last minute? 🙏

— Phil Galfond (@PhilGalfond) December 15, 2020

Even Kornuth posted, asking the viewers for help.

Help! https://t.co/NmHH74aHEd

— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) December 15, 2020

As Kornuth said, he is currently staring at a $259K deficit. Session #40 reportedly started off last night, and we will be soon bringing your more updates on that one. Stay tuned!