[splonk]

It's not a few tiers down in skill, it's a few tiers down in fame. Each of the four players named is likely a favorite over Ivey in this format. Being a specialist counts for a lot here.

[iopq]

Ivey played HU vs. Tom Dwan, Galfond, Blom, etc. and did fine. There's no way they're favorites against Ivey.

[splonk]

Galfond thinks otherwise. From the article:

“Your favorite poker player almost surely wouldn't agree to play any of these guys for high stakes, and would lose a lot of money if they did,” Galfond added. “Each of the four would beat me decisively.”

[iopq]

Interesting, because for the durrrr challenge Galfond was named as the only person Tom Dwan won't play. Maybe I've been out of the loop too long.

[ramblerman]

Yeah these would not be considered the world's best HU NL players anymore.

Names like Ben Sulsky, Doug Polk, Isaac Haxton would be big favourites over your lineup.

Galfond while still playing is playing mostly Omaha