Player of the Week: Galen Hall Accelerates to Crazy 8s Title

Copy link Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Jul 08, 2018 3 min read Last updated Jul 09, 2018

It had been a long time coming for Galen Hall. With more than $4.25 million in live tournament winnings, Hall was still looking for his first bracelet. A tournament player for about a decade, he still hoped to lock up a bracelet after some close calls and a career with so many nice finishes.

That win finally came in the 2018 World Series of Poker $888 Crazy Eights last week and he couldn��t have been happier with some new gold and an $888,888 top prize. He topped a massive field that included 8,598 entries. Hall�� s girlfriend and parents drove in to watch him play out the fourth day of action until he took home the title.

��It was an overwhelming sense of relief and satisfaction,�� he says. ��I��ve had so many close calls �C a 9th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th 15th, and 16th at the series. It was like getting this huge monkey off my back."

The win makes a dream a reality and earns him Player of the Week honors. Hall was a sharp-dressed man as he accepted his hardware �C sporting a jacket and tie for his winner��s photo. At three-handed and on the fourth day of action, Hall felt he had an edge with an aggressive approach.

''I thought both of the other players were a little on the tighter side and I had the chip lead,�� he says. ��ICM was a little less than normal with small third to second pay jumps, but I thought it probably still mattered to them a reasonable amount, so I was hoping if one of them got short I could apply a lot of pressure to the other one. I thought I would get a lot of chips from that and I just generally came in planning to be aggressive.��

The strategy worked and he continued to collect pot after pot.

Hall: "I went out of my way to play small field tournaments to give myself a shot."

Sure, he��d had bigger win. In 2011, he won the $10,300 EPT PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event title for $2.3 million. But a bracelet is a superb bullet point on any poker players resum��, especially considering Hall is not a full-time player.

This summer, he had a strategy on events to play for his best shot at a title. The plan actually backfired in a good way.

��I��ve wanted to win one of those for years,�� he says. ��There��s something special about the WSOP bracelet. I went out of my way to play small field tournaments to give myself a shot, which is hilarious because the one I ended up winning was absurdly large.��

Hall works for Bridgewater Associates hedge fund in Connecticut and only drops in tournaments occasionally now. The Crazy Eights was the only low buy-in nine-handed tournament with a large field that he��s played in five years. It may be time to reconsider that approach after his win.

��I try to play poker every four months or so, and fit in a tournament whenever I cam,�� he told PokerNews. ��It��s a little surreal. I have tried to come and play a couple months for the last six or seven years, and have definitely had my fair share of fairly deep runs.��

While he had a big stack of chips late, it didn��t come easy. When play reached two tables, Hall was far from the chip leader and had to build.

��I had to play tight on the shorter stack for a long time in the final two fables,�� he says. ��But once I got lucky, won some coin flips, and got a stack �C I was really able to step on the gas.��

Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas. His work appears in numerous websites and publications. Follow him on Twitter @PokerTraditions. He is also the host of the True Gambling Stories podcast, available on iTunes, Google Play, TuneIn Radio, Spotify, Stitcher, PokerNews.com, HoldemRadio.com, and TrueGamblingStories.com.

Follow on

• Tags WSOP PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Poker Players
• Related Tournaments World Series of PokerPokerStars Caribbean Adventure