Poker pro turned hedge fund manager, Hall booked his first six-figure score since 2012.
The Californian-born Gallen first got recognition in the poker world, when he took down the PCA Main Event for $2.3 million back in 2011. Since then a lot has changed in his life as he gave up poker as a full-time job, to find success in the world of hedge funds.
However, he still plays some poker, and it looks like he still knows a thing or two about the game as he managed to outlast a massive field of 8,598 to take down his first ever WSOP bracelet and the easily recognizable first prize of $888,888.
According to the original schedule, the tournament should have ended on Tuesday, but the players had to return to an unscheduled Day 4 on Thursday. Galen returned to the table with about 40% of the chips in play. Even though, he would’ve preferred to play it down to the end on Tuesday, at the end things turned out perfect for Hall.
“You know, a lot of players can get coaching, or they get rest, they change their style a little bit if there’s time off. (…) “Luckily I ran hot so it didn’t matter.”
With his parents and girlfriend supporting him from the rail, Galen beat Latvia’s Eduards Kudrjavcevs heads-up when his pocket nines held against the Jack-ten of Eduards’. With this win, Hall has now more than $5 million in total earnings, but Eduards is probably pretty happy too with his personal record win of $476,888.
Final results
| 1 | Galen Hall | $888,888 |
| 2 | Eduards Kudrjavcevs | $476,888 |
| 3 | Niels Herregodts | $355,888 |
| 4 | Andrey Zaichenko | $266,888 |
| 5 | Alexander Kuzmin | $201,888 |
| 6 | Jeremiah Miesen | $153,888 |
| 7 | Martin Stausholm | $117,888 |
| 8 | Philip Tom | $90,888 |
