Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond And Reversing A $1.7m Downturn

It would seem that Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond’s $1.7 million downturn may finally be coming to an end after a great weekend in which he won around $750,000.
Recently, Phil Galfond had been learning to play 2-7 triple draw but confessed to not taking a conventional approach while learning the game. Instead, Galfond said he prefered to learn by jumping right in at the high stakes end, in this case the 1500/3000 2-7 TD game, the result of which has been what he described as the biggest downswing of his life.
Explaining his reasoning for playing a new game at such high stakes, Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond said:
 
“I think it’s extremely important to my career that I learn every game as best I can.  At nosebleed stakes, ESPECIALLY live, it’s hugely beneficial to be able to play a variety of games.”
Galfond then says he mostly learns by thinking hard about every hand he plays and continues by saying: “The main reason I play so big is to learn.  It may be surprising to some of you, but I don’t learn the way many other pros do.  I don’t spend hours combing through HEM looking for leaks.  I don’t run spend very much time running equities, though I know I should, especially in new games…If I play smaller stakes, I won’t care enough to think hard, either at the table or afterwards.” 
However, Galfond did say he would consider taking an extended break from the 2-7 triple draw game unless things improved soon.
That seems to have been a shrewd move and on Friday, 4th Feb he took around $200k from Gus Hansen playing just 74 hands of heads-up $500/$1,000 Cap PLO, before the ‘Great Dane’ had enough and quit.
The following day Galfond was back in action again, this time playing 1000 hands of $500/$1000 PLO against Scott “URnotINdanger2″ Palmer to book a further $600k profit.
As a result of his winning week-end Phil Galfond seems to have levelled out his profit for 2011, and will now be hoping to better stabilise his 2-7 triple draw game in order to avoid putting extra pressure on his game and his bankroll.