In this episode, Phil Galfond talks about The Phil Galfond Challenge, his series of challenges playing high-stakes PLO against some of the world’s best. He shares how the challenge came about, why he created it, and what he has been doing to prepare. Elliot and Phil discuss the mindset shifts that Phil has undergone, and he opens up about the hidden fear that has kept him from studying.
Listen in to hear Phil share what makes Run It Once different– and learn why he won’t need a vacation after these challenges are completed.
Time Stamped Show Notes:
[01:30] – The Phil Galfond Challenge
02:25 – Elliot’s course and discussions inspired some of Phil’s big moves and made the challenge possible
03:15 – The challenge idea came about because his video views were going down; he still has more guidance and wants to teach people
04:05 – He challenged any other training site coach to a match; 50,000 hands with 3:1 odds
04:20 – He’s playing on Run It Once since he’s outside of the U.S.; it’s a big promotion for Run It Once poker
04:50 – They opened it up to not just coaches to make sure they had a match
05:05 – He’s excited to play high-stakes poker for a length of time; he’ll brush up on his game and get better
[06:00] – On opponents and game structures
06:05 – As of the recording, he has matches set up with some of the best in the world and other matches still need details to be discussed
08:20 – He’s planning on playing for four months in Vancouver, but he’ll likely have to play beyond that
09:00 – With the Thirst Lounge 10, Phil won’t know who he’s playing; he won’t enjoy that because he won’t be able to study tells and leaks
[10:10] – The streaming rules
10:15 – He’ll stream cards up with anyone else who’ll do the same; challenges will have commentators and PLO analysts on Run It Once’s Twitch
[11:20] – What’s different about Run It Once
11:35 – He didn’t like what he was seeing on other poker sites, so he was inspired to be a player supporting the longevity of online poker
12:10 – The three challenges facing online poker: Bots, regulation, and the loss of the casual player
13:10 – When players lose more slowly, there are more of them playing at a time; if they lose quickly, they leave the pool
14:35 – Phil believes it’s possible to have people winning and people losing that still enjoy the game
15:40 – The table alias system anonymizes you; HUDs aren’t allowed but they have dynamic avatars
16:20 – The stats are easy to understand for all players; they also have a “splashed pot” and legends
18:05 – It has been tough to make changes because they don’t know how the community will react; outreach and being in touch with players has been important
[19:15] – On the role of mindset in Phil’s challenges for him and his opponents
19:20 – He doesn’t think most people will be impacted by the fact that they’ll be streamed on Twitch; the schedule will be the toughest part
19:40 – There are financial penalties if players in the challenge take time off, so he won’t be able to break when he normally would
20:20 – His biggest challenge will be dealing with the negative swings and errors without taking breaks
[20:40] – On others not wanting to play long sessions
21:00 – He only has one person, Chance, who wants to play the long sessions (as of this recording)
[21:10] – Something Phil picked up from the mindset course that’ll help him in the challenge
21:15 – He’s moving past his fear of studying; he was always successful at poker without having to try too hard and now he’s learning that he needs to study
22:20 – He’s realizing that he doesn’t want to find out that he’s not as smart as he thinks he is; he finds it easier now to work through worst and best-case scenarios
22:35 – He’s starting to build up his ability to study
[23:15] – More information on the challenges
23:30 – They’ll be broadcasted on twitch.tv/runitoncepoker
23:45 – They play 5x/week with Sundays and Wednesdays off; they have a page where you can see the matches
24:50 – He hopes that the challenges will help Run It Once grow and get more attention
[25:20] – Phil’s post-challenge treat
25:40 – He sees this challenge as being the treat; he’s getting a vacation from full-time work on the site
3 Key Points
Challenges are learning opportunities.
Set the ego aside and study so you can get even better!
If you love what you do, doing it feels like vacation!
***If you’ve enjoyed this episode of The Mindset Advantage podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review over on iTunes to help spread the word about the show. Thanks!***
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