The high-stakes cash game specialist came away soundly defeated in each of the first three sessions of the GGPoker Face-Off Challenge against high-roller tournament legend Fedor Holz, to the surprise of some in the poker community. Holz goes into the last of four sessions with a $160,268 lead over Malinowski.
The final chapter of the Holz vs. Malinowski heads-up challenge plays out at GGPoker Saturday. Holz and Malinowski have played just under 1,500 hands so far at $100/$200 heads-up No-Limit Hold’em stakes.
The Doug Polk vs. Daniel Negreanu High Stakes Feud challenge played out over 25,000 hands, with Polk posting a convincing $1.2 million win. The various chapters of the Galfond Challenge have also featured 25,000-plus hands of Pot-Limit Omaha.
The Holz vs. Malinowski challenge won’t come anywhere close to those numbers, as Saturday’s session will likely wrap up the match at around 2,000 hands. While that might not be enough to determine a definitive winner, Holz sits in the driver’s seat, on the verge of pulling off the upset.
The first three sessions all go to Holz
The Holz vs. Malinowski challenge features the players battling at two tables simultaneously, at $100/$200 stakes. Malinowski promised to drink wine while playing Holz, and so far that approach has resulted in a 3-0 match lead for Holz.
The first session, on March 5, featured Holz racking up nearly a $100,000 lead, before Malinowski managed to trim the gap to $37,421 by the end of the session. Holz, the underdog in the match according to PokerShares, paid bettors at (+118) with the win, as the favored Malinowski (-133) took the loss in the 459-hand session.
Session No. 2 took place on March 8, with the PokerShares odds on the session shifting slightly. Holz still came in as a (+110) underdog, with Malinowski installed at (-125).
Holz ended the second session with his most narrow win across the challenge so far. The high-stakes tournament legend ended up with a $14,651 victory after 472 hands against Malinowski.
Session No. 3 featured an all-out rout from Holz, who posted a $108,195 win after 562 hands. The PokerShares betting lines on Holz (+116) and Malinowski (-130) shifted back toward “Limitless” as the favorite, but bettors on the underdog Holz came away paid yet again.
The total from the three sessions puts Holz ahead more than $160,000 going into Saturday’s finale. The last chapter of the challenge streams on the GGPoker YouTube channel, with emerging heads-up force Joey Ingram calling the action.
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