093 - Phil Galfond - Run It Once Poker

The Mindset Advantage Poker Podcast

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