Galen Hall Earns $888 Crazy Eights Title

Galen Hall, from New York City, has finally gotten his first WSOP (World Series of Poker) gold bracelet, which came with $888,888 in prize money. He won the bracelet at the 2018 WSOP’s Event No. 62, $888 Crazy Eights event.

Hall’s $888,888 payday

The winner’s cash prize has been, by far, the largest amount he has won in his career, making his overall winnings in poker tournaments cross the $5 million mark. The 33-year-old graduate of Stanford University juggles his full-time career as a hedge fund manager with his passion for playing professional poker.

Hall closed out a win in the Day 4 event, leading with 40 percent of the in-play chips. His final competition was against Eduards Kudrjavcevs, who got the second-place prize of $476,888, which is also the largest prize money he has won in his play career.

In third place was Niels Herregodts who lost in the all-in races to Kudrjavcevs in the first one and Hall in the second. He received $355,888 for his third-place finish.

In fourth place was Russia’s Andrey Zaichenko, who earned a $266,888 in prize money. A prior bracelet winner, Zaichenko’s winnings pushed his overall WSOP winnings to just over the $1.5 million mark. Alexander Kuzmin came in at fifth place, earning a $201,888 in prize money.  

Rapid succession to the top

Hall was leading in the two-and-a-half hours of Day 3’s play, beating both Herregodts and Kudrjavcevs in a relatively short time of each other.

Hall’s busy schedule has limited him from taking part in a full WSOP tournament. Upon winning his bracelet, he explained how he would have to travel every time there was a particular event he was interested in and had the time to participate in it.

In every play he has been in, Hall is well-known for executing a planned attack on his competition. Describing the play, he said that starting off, he found the other players to be a little tight during play. He explained he planned to be aggressive in his attack.

He described himself as having had an edge on play day. This is especially hard considering that the players had a previous full day of play, and most were visibly tired. He said he used this opportunity to read the players and the game better.

2018 largest WSOP event yet

This year’s 2018 WSOP $888 buy-in “crazy eights” no-limit hold’em event saw an impressive 8,598 entries. This turnout raised a $6,871,521 prize pool. Day 3’s event saw 29 players return hoping to claim the $888,888 first-place prize. This number had already reduced to eight players by the time the play was half over for the day.

The three remaining players continued with the play for an extra hour before it was halted for two nights. They resumed on Thursday afternoon, with Hall taking the lead with a 30.1 million stack. Herregodts and Kudrjavcevs had 24.7 million and 16.4 million, respectively. Kudrjavcevs’ stack was reduced further to an even lesser amount before he doubled up on Herregodts to remain in play. He went on to face Hall in the final play after Herregodts lost to Hall in an all-in race.

Family and friends show up for the final game

After the win, Hall shared a few moments with his family and friends who had come to see him participate in the finals. His parents had traveled all the way from Pasadena, Calif., to give him moral support. Hall seemed elated that his parents were able to be present, watch him participate in this year’s event, and see him win his first WSOP bracelet.

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