Almost 10,000 hands into the first Galfond Challenge, Phil Galfond find himself almost €800,000 in the hole to the highly experienced VeniVidi. Worse still, with €200,000 on the line in the side bet he is currently losing, Galfond stands to lose almost a million euros if things stay as they are. The worst part is, few observers expect Galfond to break even over the rest of the series.

So, if you’re Galfond, how do you deal with it? Tilting could cost him a million more, while doing nothing simply continues the slide. He must arrest his losses, turn them into profit and at the same time, maintain his demeanour and class at all times, all the while under constant analysis from poker insiders and constant demand as a parent of young children.

There is precedent for what to do next from the pages of poker history, with the Tom Dwan ‘Durrrr’ Challenge springing to mind for Joey Ingram.

How crazy would it be if Phil took a break from the challenge for the next 10 years and told Veni every so often he would get around to continuing it?