Gossip Column: Galfond Wins the First Mini Galfond Challenge, Bales Seals His Own Push-Up Challenge & More!

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  • Namita Ghosh April 2, 2020
  • 3 Minutes Read

We have a lot of gossip for you, promising to ward away some of those lockdown blues. Phil Galfond’s ongoing Galfond Challenge has kept many in the poker community busy during this dull phase, and what do you know, the PLO legend even sneaked in a Mini Galfond Challenge recently. Playing the first match against ‘AmSoGood,’ Galfond booked a profit of $15K after 800 hands of $200/$400 PLO on PokerStars! It was a close win, and Galfond smartly turned away more offers for the Mini Challenge to get some rest before his heads-up clash with ‘VeniVidi1993’ later today!

The lockdown has got many in the gaming community focusing on physical fitness, but some people are taking it to extremes. One such outlier is Jonathan Bales, the co-founder of FantasyLabs, who has made a $2K prop bet with Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) player Peter Christensen that he will perform 2,400 push-ups in 12 hours! Now Bales has a gambling history, but this wager not only looks tough but also something very un-doable! As anticipation builds for the Push-up Challenge, sportsbooks have begun offering entertainment odds on the results of the challenge.

Nevada is the hub of gambling in the U.S., but with the country reeling under the Coronavirus pandemic, all casinos in Sin City have been shut down. The gaming regulators of the U.S. district recently approved betting on eSports. From the latest news coming in, it looks like residents of Nevada have already started wagering as a gambler from the state recently made a $50 bet on the William Hill mobile app and won no less than $9,676!

Let’s catch the more juicy details on these stories!

 

Phil Galfond Wins First Mini Galfond Challenge Against ‘AmSoGood’

Run It Once Poker (RIOP) founder Phil Galfond is on the verge of pulling off a legendary comeback in his ongoing €100-200 PLO Heads-Up Challenge against ‘VeniVidi1993.’ Stuck over €900K at one point, Galfond has managed to win 11 out of the last 15 sessions to cut that deficit down to €154,287.

With only 5,637 hands left to be played in the challenge, VeniVidi199 requested a two-day break. Clearly, up for more action, Galfond called out to the poker community with a new Mini Galfond Challenge and found one caller, ‘AmSoGood.’

From what we hear, the two played 800 hands of $200/$400 PLO on PokerStars on April 1. Galfond, who plays as ‘MrSweets28’ on the site, had a strong start and won $180,000. Still, ‘AmSoGood’ lived up to his moniker by going on a $220,000 winning streak to take the lead. Just when it looked like Galfond might end up losing the challenge, he won a couple of pots towards the end to book a profit of $15,000!

Galfond shared details of the Mini Challenge afterward.

Reacting to Galfond’s first tweet, ‘AmSoGood’ responded that even though he lost the challenge, it felt good to win back the $200K he had dropped early on in the session.

Galfond also declared that he would not be competing in another Mini Galfond Challenge for now, since he had to keep his head clear for the Main Challenge against ‘VeniVidi1993’.

On this, a Twitter user laughed it off, saying Galfond probably had no more takers.

Flattered at the suggestion, Galfond clarified that he had three more takers for the Mini Galfond challenge but didn’t want to get tired before the main match.

The match highlights from the Mini Challenge have been compiled by ‘Moonlightmaster.’ You can watch them in the YouTube video below.

The Galfond Challenge resumes today. The duo has 5,637 more hands to play to complete the 25,000-hand challenge.

 

FantasyLabs Co-founder Jonathan Bales Locks in a $2K Prop Bet to Complete 2,400 Push-ups in 12 Hours

Co-founder of FantasyLabs, Jonathan Bales is a man known as much for his proclivity for taking on outlandish bets as he is for his gambling skills. Back in 2018, Bales had won the 2018 Gambling Olympics Main Event. Bales has now entered not just a tough bet, but something clearly unfathomable for someone at his fitness level. In response to a tweet by Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) player Peter Christensen, Bales has agreed to enter a $2,000 prop bet that he can perform 2,400 push-ups in just under 12 hours!

Jonathan Bales

 

It began with Christensen putting up a post on Twitter asking players how many push-ups they were ready to complete in the next 12 hours if they were paid $1,000 per push-up.

Christensen’s tweet got a range of replies. When Peter Jennings said he could do 3,600, Christensen called him out for that. Jennings then brought the number down to 2,400. Christensen asked Bales out aloud if he’d be interested.

At this point, Bales came into the picture, claiming that he could do 2,400 push-ups over 12 hours, and he was willing to do it.

The two discussed the when and how and soon Christensen agreed.

Bales, who has admittedly only gone up to 500 push-ups a day, then shared a video of five push-ups so that they could finalize the challenge.

Christensen agreed and later announced that the Push-Up Challenge was officially on. He detailed that Bales will be starting the challenge on April 2, at whatever time he wants to, and each and every push up will be recorded of camera. The duo has agreed on three judges, Dan Back, ‘Manz’ and ‘Headchopper’. If any number of push-ups that Bales does are deemed not acceptable by the judges, then he will have to re-do them.

The record for the maximum push-ups that have ever been completed in 24 hours stands at 46,001. We have heard that American footballer Herschel Walker does 2,000 push-ups every day, even though he’s in his 50’s. But will Bales be able to do it?

All eyes are on Push-Up Challenge now, and some sportsbooks in the U.S. are even offering entertainment odds on the result.

Meanwhile, in one of his interviews with Action Network, Christensen exuded confidence that he’d win the bet. “I think he’s mentally strong enough to do it. I think he’ll have a good plan. And I do believe if he’s physically capable of doing 2,400 push-ups in 12 hours, he will almost certainly win this bet. I just think his muscles will give out, and he will end the challenge essentially physically unable to do any push-ups at all.”

 

Nevada Gambler Turns $50 Into $9,676 After Betting on Ukrainian Table Tennis Game

With all Las Vegas brick-and-mortar casinos and sportsbooks shut down for over 30 days now due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. gambling hub has legalized betting on eSports, making it the first U.S. state to legalize such betting. Until things return to normalcy, gamblers have pivoted and are putting down wagers sitting at home, while following social distancing.

GC WIlliam Hill Table Tennis

It seems that gambling residents of Nevada are not wasting time to get in on the action. On March 30, William Hill U.S.’ twitter account shared the news of how a local Nevada gambler had won a 10-leg parlay in Ukrainian table tennis and converted his $50 bet into a $9,676 mini-jackpot. According to the tweet, the player had placed the bet on the William Hill Nevada sportsbook app.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the 10 selections made by the person had odds ranging between -135 and -160 on the money line, and the gambler went on to win all of them! Though table tennis doesn’t really sound like a game a bettor would wager on, this one evidently worked out for the winner!

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