The greatest comeback in poker history?

Phil Galfond comes back from a €900k loss to take down the first Galfond Challenge by less than nine big blinds.

What started as a fun publicity stunt soon became the thing of nightmares for Phil Galfond as his first Galfond Challenge against VeniVidi1993 saw him suffer perhaps the toughest downswing of his career. So bad it was that, after 9,927 hands, he was forced to take a break to ponder whether he should quit the challenge €900,240 down and a further €200,000 down to pay in the form of a side bet. 

What followed was what may be remembered as the biggest comeback in online poker history. It may have took him the next 10,000 hands to get there, but he actually went ahead in the challenge, only by a relatively small amount. With less than 5,000 hands to go, this set up a tense back-and-forth finale. 

The monumental hand... @PhilGalfond has comeback from his €900k deficit and is now in the GREEN! 📉📈#GalfondChallenge #BigPots pic.twitter.com/tVOpnXLZfd

— Run It Once Poker (@RunItOncePoker) April 2, 2020

So close it was that it came down literally to the last 73 hands. Over 22,000 people watched live on Twitch to see the closest finale ever. It came down to who could win a buy-in, after which they mathematically could fold their blinds and still win. 

In the end Phil won the challenge by €1,671.58, which was less than nine big blinds. You can see how it developed over the 39 days below:

An ever stoic Galfond was graceful in victory and thankful to those who supported him during his toughest downswing ever:

Over the past 15 years, I’ve played poker in a number of high-pressure situations. Nothing came close to feeling as intense as today did.

I’m overwhelmed, exhausted, and most of all, grateful.

There are so many people to thank that I don’t know where to begin.

— Phil Galfond (@PhilGalfond) April 12, 2020

He was a lot calmer than his wife Farah, who really wore her heart on her sleeve during the entire challenge:

pic.twitter.com/Fo98cgA6KD

— Farah Galfond (@Farah_Galfond) April 12, 2020

This was the first of a yearlong series of challenges, which will also include Bill Perkins, Brandon Adams, Chance Kornuth and 'ActionFreak'. Daniel Cates and Luke Schwartz have also agreed a challenge but terms have not been set yet. 

He begins his challenge against Bill Perkins this week over 50,000 hands, with Perkins betting an additional €250,000 to Galfond's €1 million. There is also a 'mercy clause' where Perkins can drop out if he is losing by more than €500,000.

Is this the greatest comeback in poker history? Let us know in the comments: