Highlights of Phil Galfond's Reddit AMA | Profiting at Poker
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Highlights of Phil Galfond’s Reddit AMA

In November of 2013, Phil Galfond took to Reddit’s /r/poker to host his AMA (Ask Me Anything). Galfond’s AMA is a great insight into the high stakes poker world, plus his personal journey to the top. The highlights of Galfond’s AMA can be found below.

Phil Galfond reddit ama



You can support Phil through his training site, Run It Once Poker.

What are some of your insights into PLO/Holdem that you only recently understood?

What are some of your insights into PLO/Holdem that you only recently understood?

This isn’t extremely recent, but in the last few years I’ve come to think about individual poker decisions as part of a larger and more complex problem. A flop decision isn’t just about your hand, the board, what you think your opponent can have, your equity against that range, and what you think he will do against a bet/raise/whatever. For each flop (in NLHE) there are 47 possible turns (as far as you know), and for each of those turns, 46 possible rivers. Thinking about how your hand will play out against different parts of their range on each of those board run-outs is more important than what your equity looks like now. If it sounds like a lot to think about… it is. However, you can usually group turns and rivers into categories and end up just thinking about a few of the most likely and most important (as far as EV swings) scenarios.


Oddly specific question: That hand from High Stakes Poker where you folded nines over kings vs. Elezra's kings full (nice fold by the way) and you proclaim 'I had a king', to which Eli says 'I don't believe it'...did you ever have a chance to talk to him about it after the fact? Once filming wrapped on a session, do you guys talk about big hands or did you all make each other wait until it aired? Anyway, you're a great ambassador for the game - keep on doing what you do.

Oddly specific question: That hand from High Stakes Poker where you folded nines over kings vs. Elezra's kings full (nice fold by the way) and you proclaim 'I had a king', to which Eli says 'I don't believe it'...did you ever have a chance to talk to him about it after the fact? Once filming wrapped on a session, do you guys talk about big hands or did you all make each other wait until it aired? Anyway, you're a great ambassador for the game - keep on doing what you do.

Thank you very much, man. Much appreciated. Back then, I was new in the live poker and TV poker world, and I really didn’t know any of the guys. If the hand happened today, we’d have talked about it after the show, but back then (and since) we never chatted about it.


How does the poker community handle players like Chris Ferguson and such? Are they still blackballed by the community? Know anyone who keeps in touch with them still?

How does the poker community handle players like Chris Ferguson and such? Are they still blackballed by the community? Know anyone who keeps in touch with them still?

I hung out with Chris a couple of times before Black Friday. He was extremely kind and interesting. I still would like to believe he had no ill-intent, and maybe even little to no knowledge of what went on. I haven’t seen him since, but if I did, I would greet him with respect and give him the benefit of the doubt until hearing him out. I don’t hear many people talking about Chris specifically, but I know that Howard is viewed very negatively by the poker community and is often confronted when he shows up places. I don’t know anyone who’s in touch with them. Well, I’m sure I do, but I’ve never asked about it.


Got any interesting prop bets going on atm? What kinda games do you play aside from poker?

Got any interesting prop bets going on atm? What kinda games do you play aside from poker?

I have $7.5k riding on this season of The Voice! Probably not as exciting a prop bet as you were hoping for 🙂 I used to play a lot of video games, but since I started playing poker, I lost interest. It takes up enough of my time and mental energy, and it’s more fun and exciting than other games are to me anyways.


What did you do in college, did you enjoy it? What do you think you'd be doing if not for poker?

What did you do in college, did you enjoy it? What do you think you'd be doing if not for poker?

I studied Philosophy, and I enjoyed it a lot. I loved college and my “college years” (in quotes because I stayed and hung out after I quit school). I didn’t really have a plan. I used to think I’d either be a teacher or a lawyer, but I have a feeling all the reading/work in law school would’ve been too much for me and I’d have quit. I would’ve ended up a teacher or an entrepreneur, probably. Two very different paths, I know, but it’s where my skills and interests lie. (heh… wrote that out before realizing that those are exactly what I do now, other than poker)


Best live cash game players? How much money are the western guys winning in Macau?

Best live cash game players? How much money are the western guys winning in Macau?

Tough question to answer. The obvious one is Ivey… Then it depends what games you’re talking about. Most of the successful live players specialize in mixed games rather than NL and PLO. Off the top of my head: Antonius, Oppenheim, Hennigan, Schulman, Seed… to be completely honest though, I’m not a specialist in mixed games, so I’m not very confident in my list. I’m sure I forgot some too, but I’m trying to speed through here. As far as I know, the stakes over there are equivalent to 2k/4k US sometimes, so it’d be pretty easy to win or lose 5m. I’d expect that there are a handful of $10m+ winners from those games.


How do you study as a poker player to stay ahead of the curve?

How do you study as a poker player to stay ahead of the curve?

I study poker a lot less than many of my peers. I’ve never been good at learning by forcing work on myself. My attention span won’t allow it. However, when I’m interested in something, I can maintain full focus for 20 hours. So, I learn the most from playing. I think about hands while playing. I think about hands when I quit, while I eat, while people try to talk to me, and while I’m trying to sleep. It’s hard to keep my mind off of something it’s interested in. I also love to talk poker. Making videos helps me stay sharp, as well as watching videos (not only on my own site… I have probably watched 500+ on other sites over the years too). Talking to poker friends has probably been the single most important key to my growth as a player, if I had to choose one. Learning in isolation works, but I think it severely limits you.


Who do you most respect in poker? Who do you find it hardest to play against?

Who do you most respect in poker? Who do you find it hardest to play against?

Tough question. I have a LOT of respect for a lot of my opponents and friends in the game. If I had to pick someone I have the most respect for as a poker player, I’d go with Ben Tollerene (aka Ben86/Bttech86). His work ethic and his mindset are incredible. Not to mention he’s just a great guy. Ben’s one of the only people harder on himself than I am. It’s not a fun quality to have, but it’s one that can make you great.


Any tips on how to decimate your good friends in cash games?

Any tips on how to decimate your good friends in cash games?

Make friends with terrible players.


Do you believe that there can be another poker boom? Possibly when USA gets international online poker again.

Do you believe that there can be another poker boom? Possibly when USA gets international online poker again.

I think that poker can grow a bit, and good things can and will happen if the US gets international online poker again. That said, it’ll never be easy like it was 5-10 years ago. There are too many skilled pros now, so the influx of recreational players and cash will only go so far.

You can find Phil Galfond’s full AMA in the original Reddit thread, here.

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