093 - Phil Galfond - Run It Once Poker

In this episode, Phil Galfond, poker pro and owner of the Run It Once training site, reveals insider information about the launch of his new site and the challenges he has faced while developing it. Elliot and Phil discuss how his playing style has evolved over the years and how he has come to accept losses. Listen in to hear who inspires Phil, why he started Run It Once, and what to expect when his new site launches. 

Visit The Mindset Advantage Podcast or find us on iTunes to subscribe, visit previous episodes, and learn more about your host, Elliot Roe. 

Time Stamped Show Notes

00:50 – Introducing Phil and his company 01:20 – He started playing poker 15 year ago; he dropped out of school to play full-time 02:00 – He’s been a pro for 13 years, plays mostly PLO, and has had a few WSOP wins; 6 years ago, he launched the Run It Once training site 02:40 – How poker has changed over the last 13 years 02:50 – Achievable win rates were higher, but pros have gotten better; it’s still the same game, but the strategic knowledge has progressed 03:30 – How Phil felt when launching Run It Once 03:50 – He had made training videos before and focused on balanced strategy; he was comfortable and confident that he wouldn’t show leaks 05:30 – He prefers video coaching; he doesn’t like doing 1 on 1 personal coaching 06:30 – Phil’s swings and how he dealt with them 06:50 – Swings take longer to get drastic in nosebleeds; he hasn’t seen the swings that some players have 07:30 – He started playing as a broke college kid and the money didn’t scare him; he saw getting back up to higher money levels as a game 08:30 – His emotional disconnection with money allowed him to think more clearly; today, he feels more pressure and that makes it harder to detach 09:00 – He finds himself shying away from certain spots now; he feels there’s no replacement for the naivety of youth 09:30 – What Phil’s mindset is like now 09:38 – He can snap out of feeling down very quickly; he can accept the reality of a loss or string of losses 10:30 – Everything feels stronger live; the social element makes wins and losses feel more personal 11:00 – Phil’s mindset inspiration 11:10 – Dan Cates (Jungleman) is very emotional when he plays, but his game never changes and this is a big advantage 12:00 – Phil used to think Dan tilted a lot, but he doesn’t; he has an interesting mind and can’t contain his emotions 12:37 – He doesn’t have the emotional pull that most people have 13:00 – The Run It Once company 13:15 – He loved meeting people who say Run It Once helped them; the coaches of the company are proud to be a part of the brand 14:10 – The switch from a training site to creating a software 14:15 – The training site gave him a false confidence in his business acumen; the training site did very well with little marketing 14:48 – The development team is bigger and the project is bigger; he now must manage people, which he hadn’t done before 15:15 – What’s new and different about Run It Once 15:30 – He was worried that the online poker market was in trouble; he didn’t know where online poker was heading 16:55 – They launched with cash games only; they have anonymous games and dynamic avatars to eliminate HUD use 18:30 – Stakes that’ll be allowed on the site 18:31 - It’ll be 6 max only at launch; they don’t want to split their player pool 18:50 – They’ve come up with some innovative things that’ll improve the quality of the experience and game for cash games and tournaments 19:10 – They are not incentivizing bum-hunting and targeting of weaker players 19:45 – There’s a balance that needs to be kept between the money that net depositing players lose going to the players on the site; it can go too far in one direction, as it has on other sites 20:19 – They haven’t finalized the exact stakes they’re going to offer; they must consider liquidity at launch and will open other stakes as more players join 20:55 – They won’t have nosebleed stakes at launch; they’ll build a separate experience for that with different rules and policies 21:15 – The launch timeline 21:18 – They are still working on fixing some bugs; he’s optimistic but needs to be sure it’s working perfectly before launch 22:30 – He’s not sure when it’ll launch 23:00 – New advancements with the training site 23:08 – They’ve gotten good coaches and are running a promotion for a discount and gift on annual elite membership 23:30 – They’ve reopened their apparel store 24:00 – How to join Run It Once 24:10 – Go to eu to see the features and policies and sign up for the mailing/beta test email list 

3 Key Points

An emotional disconnect with the money can allow for clearer thinking during the game. Creating a training site is very different than creating a software. Phil’s training site has improved, and he’s not sure when the new site will launch.

Contact/Resources

Run it Once Poker Training Sign up for the beta test/email list

Credits

Podcast Production by Podcastily