Galfond Challenge: ‘ActionFreak’ Beats Up On Galfond
On Monday, Phil Galfond and ‘ActionFreak‘ squared off for their fifth session of the ‘Galfond Challenge‘ between them. Galfond finished down €95,304.17 on the session.
Galfond remains up overall, sitting positive by €321,138.41. The two played 680 hands on Monday and are now 3,351 hands through the 15,000-hand challenge.
Reason that the exact figures aren’t known for this session is that Galfond and ‘ActionFreak’ played Monday’s session on partypoker instead of on Run It Once Poker because ‘ActionFreak’ was said to have a tough time moving money around.
Because the match was played on partypoker, the two played with what is assumed their real names to be showing. That lets us know who ‘ActionFreak’ is, as his name was showing as ‘I. Kontonatsios.’ His Twitter profile, @crackLiNg1, says that he is from Greece, so putting those two things together gives us Ioannis Kontonatsios as the identity of ‘ActionFreak.’
The biggest pot of Monday was one that eclipsed €120,000 and went Galfond’s way after he found a very favorable river card.
With €16,199 in the middle on the 
board, Galfond checked and ‘ActionFreak’ bet $10,691.34. Galfond called and the 
hit the turn with the pot at €37,581.68. Galfond had €42,223.89 left in his stack and bet the full pot. ‘ActionFreak’ shoved and Galfond called off the rest.
Galfond had the 
and was in some trouble against the 
of ‘ActionFreak.’ The river was the 
and out of nowhere Galfond hit a winning two pair to win the €122,029.46 pot.
A big one that went the way of ‘ActionFreak’ was this €83,121.64 one.
‘ActionFreak’ made it €900 on the button, Galfond reraised to €2,700 from the big blind, and ‘ActionFreak’ fired in a four-bet to €8,100. Galfond called and the flop came down 
. After Galfond checked, ‘ActionFreak’ bet €16,199 for a pot-sized bet. Galfond shoved for €33,461.32 and ‘ActionFreak’ called.
Galfond had the 
and was up against the 
of ‘ActionFreak.’ The turn was the and the river was the 
. Holding trip kings with an ace kicker, ‘ActionFreak’ pulled in the pot.
‘ActionFreak’ also won a pot worth €97,182, thanks to flopping an eight-high straight.
On the 
board, there was €32,394 in the middle and ‘ActionFreak’ checked over to Galfond. Galfond fired a pot-sized bet and ‘ActionFreak’ made the call. Galfond showed a losing 
and ‘ActionFreak’ won the pot with the 
.
Challenge Results To Date
| Hands Played | Daily Winner | Amount Won | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 (Apr. 27) | 145 | ActionFreak | €11,162.32 |
| Day 2 (Apr. 28) | 1,017 | Phil Galfond | €3,632.83 |
| Day 3 (Apr. 30) | 844 | Phil Galfond | €310,594.59 |
| Day 4 (May 1) | 665 | Phil Galfond | €113,377.48 |
| Day 5 (May 4) | 680 | ActionFreak | €95,304.17 |
| – | – | – | – |
| Total | 3,351 | Phil Galfond | €321,138.41 |
What’s Next for the Galfond Challenge?
Galfond and ‘ActionFreak’ will be back action on Tuesday, May 5. It is yet to be known if they’ll return to play on Run It Once Poker or if they’ll stick to playing on partypoker.