Phil Galfond moves to Canada

More than three months have passed since the poker community
was dealt a crushing blow in the form of Black Friday, but shockwaves are
continuing to reverberate. Following the damning actions taken on market
leaders PokerStars, Full Tilt and UB/Absolute Poker in the US, Phil Galfond has
been one of the first pros to relocate out of the States in order to pursue his
online career.

Galfond, who holds a 2008 WSOP bracelet, has settled in
Vancouver, Canada, tweeting the succinct statement ‘To everyone asking, I moved
to Canada to play.’

 The events of mid-April in the US caused much speculation
from the rest of the world, with many predicting a mass departure of pro
players from American soil. Galfond’s actions certainly pack a punch by giving
some credibility to this prophecy, but whether any other players will follow in
his footsteps remains to be seen.

 The High Stakes Poker Star seems to have settled in quickly, tweeting that he was ‘Really happy to be
back playing at @PokerStars. They’ve been extremely helpful and responsive with
getting everything setup again.’ His first session back even led to him running
into online pros Sauce123 (Ben Sulsky) and Isildur1 (Viktor Blom).

 The move didn’t go down as smoothly with other sites
however, with Galfond remarking how he had been ‘hoping to start playing on
@PartyPoker but they’ve responded to 0 of my 3 e-mails over the past 3 days
trying to verify my account.’

 It is likely that this kind of relocation will be happening
more frequently following the conclusion of the WSOP, with many pro players
waiting to see how they got on at the 2011 Vegas event before seriously
considering their options.

 Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for thousands of
low-stakes grinders who have since lost their livelihoods – those who cannot
afford a move for their online career will almost certainly find themselves
forced to continue facing the harsh realities of sudden unemployment.