Phil Galfond - Ask Me Anything!

passmg2 · Dec 8, 2018

Hi Phil: Thanks for all the good stuff. I'm new here and finding my way around. Any advice to a new player? I'm trying not to be as aggressive when I have a good hand. Anyhow, all the best! George

Bozovicdj · Dec 8, 2018

I am very excited to see you in this community Phil,
Wish you a very warm welcome!

As for the question, I recently saw a podcast of yours with Joe Ingram, labeled: "Is online poker DOOMED", and found it quite good and eye-opening.
My question is: can you give a definitive answer to that particular question - is online poker doomed, in terms of how huge the field is nowadays (hard to go through the variance at lower stakes) and how rake is affecting the overall player's profit...

azforlife · Dec 10, 2018

Hi Mr. Galfond,
Glad to have you here! I just want to pick your brains on how what sort of games I should play in to build my BR for e.g with a $1,000. I crush MTTs, SNGs & average on cash against regs but now hoping to run it up using solid BR management. MY q is which games should I focus on & how should I divide my bankroll (or should I play a single game type?) Thanks for taking your time to answer our questions. Awesome to see you here!

PhilGalfond · Dec 10, 2018

Ahoy said:
Hello Phil!

I have been playing poker actively since early 2018 and I tried both Cash and tournaments NLHE.

The farthest I managed to climb was to 10NL zoom on stars, beating it at a decent winrate. I have one question:

I really struggle when playing super-fishy fields. I moved my BR to betting sites where people are known to mostly play horribly, but there is a lot of limping going ahead, a lot of random calling and stupid folding. While winning pretty decently at 10NLzoom stars which I consider pretty decent, I cant seem to be winning at these betting sites with all the fish around me.

While playing zoom I mostly capitalised on being really aggresive esp. preflop and on the flop, stealing and restealing a lot and also raising C-bets on particular board textures. I also put in a lot of time into studying the general player pool tendencies and tried to adapt based on that. However, nothing of this works on the fishy sites.

Could you please recommend me something that could help me with this issue?
Thanks!

Btw I have been a RIO subscriber in my very beginnings. I found the content very valuable, but very complex for my that-time level of play. I might look into it now that I got a bit better. Thanks!

You should definitely be able to have a higher winrate in softer, looser games, but it will absolutely require some adjustments.

If people are putting in too much money with hands they shouldn't, you need to effectively stop bluffing and stop trying to steal the blinds preflop. You'll make less with your weak hands (or you'll fold them) but you'll make much more money with your strong hands, which you can raise and bet big and squeeze out maximum value.

Just start playing much tighter preflop, and slow down on bluffing post. The rest should take care of itself if these games are as soft as you describe.

Good luck! And let me know if you've progressed enough to understand and implement the content on Run It Once... I think you'll find it really helpful if you're ready.

PhilGalfond · Dec 10, 2018

Figaroo2 said:
Phil
I have signed up for the Essentials program.
My username will be Figaroo2 (the same as on here on CC)
I would like to claim a the free month as you have indicated in the opening of the thread.
Thank you

Welcome and enjoy the free month!

Please let me know how the videos impact your game after you spend some time with them.

PhilGalfond · Dec 10, 2018

rgp007 said:
Congratulations on your brilliant career.

1 - How do you see this fashion moment of tournaments? Everyone joking about it. Will the cash game boil again or not?

2 - Which countries have the most cash games (live) soft today?

3 - How do you see the issue of bots with cash games online.

Thank you, rgp!

1) I think there's always room for tournaments and for cash games... the action in each always ebbs and flows.

2) I've only played cash games in the US so I don't know. I suspect somewhere in Asia might be best.

3) Bots are definitely a threat to online poker, but I'm hopeful that poker sites will be able to fend them off and keep their games safe.

PhilGalfond · Dec 10, 2018

TheHulk7 said:
Congrats Figaroo, you have chosen an excellent training site. There is some videos from Apotheosis - Chris Kruk, in my opinion one of the best, don't forget to check it out.

Question for Phil, would you sell your WSOP bracelet? If you can, please briefly explain why yes or no. Thanks

I love Chris Kruk videos too

I wouldn't sell my bracelets for whatever they're worth. If someone wanted to pay some crazy amount for them, I would. They have sentimental value, but even if I didn't have them, I'd still have won three bracelets - the accomplishments remain intact.

I never see my bracelets - they're in a drawer, I'm not even sure where.

pirateglenn · Dec 10, 2018

Hi Phil,

are there any tips you can pass on with regards to bet sizing, i know this can depend on many other variables but wanted to know specifically how you extract max value in late position when holding a monster - i have seen in many higher level tables players failing to gain value because they simply jam and therefore end up getting folded to..

What are your views on this?

Regards

Pirateglenn

HSmith · Dec 10, 2018

Hi Phil

How do i use maths when playing poker, i know a bit about pot odds and working out the chances of hitting your outs but nothing in depth.

PHX · Dec 11, 2018

I am a big fan, I saw this thread only today I don't come on this section often.

My questions:

Which Omaha variant is your favorite?

What do you do to prepare before a big tourney?

Do you like Pineapple on Pizza?

Are there any plans to play an event with the community here? We would love to have you play a game or two.

Polytarp · Dec 11, 2018

I just saw your AMA thread and congratulations on becoming a dad! With your poker training you should be able to handle the upcoming sleepless nights, raccoon eyes and crying for no apparent reason (until you understand the apparent reason).

How are you at blackjack if you play? How do you know you are ready to play in a private game where pots will exceed a million?

Best regards,

John

mbrenneman0 · Dec 12, 2018

Hi Phil.
I think one of the most difficult things in poker is learning to sort through good information and bad information. I've always felt like if you listen to everything everyone else says youre supposed to do, youre not going to go very far as a poker player. Do you have any tips for breaking away from the hive mind mentality of 'standard' strategy and sorting good information from the bad?

good luck on the new site btw. maybe someday in the future the US will have a more welcoming landscape for online poker

TheDude6622 · Dec 12, 2018

Hey Phil!

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer all of our questions!

I am mostly a live game player for NLH and have had success from time to time. I am trying to build my bankroll slowly but surely haha. I do have a few questions regarding tournament play.

Do you tend to try to build you early and quickly? Or do you play a more conservative game? Which game do you believe is a better way for you?

When getting strong hands in early position, like AA or KK, do you try to limit the amount of callers preflop? And if so, what sizing do you normally use?

When getting down close to the final table, what type of play do you use? Are you more aggressive or more laid back? What do you believe is your best strategy for building more with the blinds getting so big as well as having a BB ante structure?

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions!

The Dude

PhilGalfond · Dec 13, 2018

passmg2 said:
Hi Phil: Thanks for all the good stuff. I'm new here and finding my way around. Any advice to a new player? I'm trying not to be as aggressive when I have a good hand. Anyhow, all the best! George

My advice for new players is to absorb knowledge from wherever you can and to keep an open mind. The biggest mistake I see new players make is to assume they know what they're doing long before they do. Good luck!

PhilGalfond · Dec 13, 2018

Bozovicdj said:
I am very excited to see you in this community Phil,
Wish you a very warm welcome!

As for the question, I recently saw a podcast of yours with Joe Ingram, labeled: "Is Online Poker DOOMED", and found it quite good and eye-opening.
My question is: can you give a definitive answer to that particular question - is online poker doomed, in terms of how huge the field is nowadays (hard to go through the variance at lower stakes) and how rake is affecting the overall player's profit...

Thanks for the warm welcome!

I definitely think there are a lot of threats to online poker. One of them is rake and its increasing effect as edges in certain game formats get smaller. That's why we started Run It Once Poker - to be a part of protecting the game from the future challenges, because we worried that other sites weren't doing enough.

I don't think online poker is going away anytime soon.

PhilGalfond · Dec 13, 2018

azforlife said:
Hi Mr. Galfond,
Glad to have you here! I just want to pick your brains on how what sort of games I should play in to build my BR for e.g with a $1,000. I crush MTTs, SNGs & average on cash against regs but now hoping to run it up using solid BR management. MY q is which games should I focus on & how should I divide my bankroll (or should I play a single game type?) Thanks for taking your time to answer our questions. Awesome to see you here!

Glad to be here! I think your best bet would be to focus on a single game type, unless you have trouble finding enough action in that gametype and need to learn more to get enough hands/hours in.

Focusing on one game type will lead to the biggest edge for you. It's hard to say which to focus on - it depends on the availability and quality of the games you have access to in each game type and on how much you enjoy them. Find the best balance of those things and dive in!

Sometimes I get bored of a game, and I find myself able to focus on another and get more enjoyment (and progress) out of it. If you get sick of one, consider that, but I definitely suggest one to start. Good luck!

PhilGalfond · Dec 13, 2018

pirateglenn said:
Hi Phil,

are there any tips you can pass on with regards to bet sizing, i know this can depend on many other variables but wanted to know specifically how you extract max value in late position when holding a monster - i have seen in many higher level tables players failing to gain value because they simply jam and therefore end up getting folded to..

What are your views on this?

Regards

Pirateglenn

Thanks for the question, but as you mention, it's really tough to give an answer because there are so many variables.

One general piece of advice I'm comfortable giving is to focus on what your opponent is likely to have, based both on his action and on your hand, and size accordingly.

For example, if you have QQ on Q73, it's harder for you to get big value than it would be if you held 77, because there's one queen left in the deck (compared to 3) for your opponent to have.

azforlife · Dec 13, 2018

Thanks Phil!

PhilGalfond said:
Glad to be here! I think your best bet would be to focus on a single game type, unless you have trouble finding enough action in that gametype and need to learn more to get enough hands/hours in.

Focusing on one game type will lead to the biggest edge for you. It's hard to say which to focus on - it depends on the availability and quality of the games you have access to in each game type and on how much you enjoy them. Find the best balance of those things and dive in!

Sometimes I get bored of a game, and I find myself able to focus on another and get more enjoyment (and progress) out of it. If you get sick of one, consider that, but I definitely suggest one to start. Good luck!

I will heed your advice! Thanks for not giving an size fits all advice which was what I was asking for, I appreciate it! I'll probably focus on SNGs. I've been thinking a lot about PLO on the side, seems like something to study on & do a Galfond. Honored to get a reply! GL & success with the poker site & Everything else! Cheers!

PhilGalfond · Dec 13, 2018

HSmith said:
Hi Phil How do i use maths when playing poker, i know a bit about pot odds and working out the chances of hitting your outs but nothing in depth.

Hi Hsmith

The other main way to use math is to think about how likely your opponent is to have certain hands based on combinatorics.

For example, if the board is JhTh4c3d4d and you think your opponent could have either JJ, TT, A4s, or KQ:

There are 3 ways for him to have JJ, TT, and 2 ways to have A4s:

JdJc, JdJs, JcJs
TdTc, TdTs, TcTs
Ah4h, As4s

That's a total of 8 combinations.

There are 16 ways for him to have KQ:

suited: KsQs, KhQh, KdQd, KcQc
offsuit: KsQh, KsQd, KsQc, KhQs, KhQd, KhQc, KdQs, KdQh, KdQc, KcQs, KcQh, KcQd

So he's twice as likely to have a bluff as he is to have trips or better!

mikkex99 · Dec 14, 2018

What do you think of playing A 2 unsuited before the flop. Is it a good hand and should I raise or just check?

ChickenArise · Dec 15, 2018

Hi Phil,

I am a beta tester for your software and I am curious about a few things.

What computer language(s) are your developers using for which aspects of your poker software at RunItOnce?

I understand you may not be able to get into specifics but is there anything that sets your RNG apart from the rest? Is there any hardware that goes into it?

HSmith · Dec 15, 2018

PhilGalfond said:
Hi Hsmith

The other main way to use math is to think about how likely your opponent is to have certain hands based on combinatorics.

For example, if the board is JhTh4c3d4d and you think your opponent could have either JJ, TT, A4s, or KQ:

There are 3 ways for him to have JJ, TT, and 2 ways to have A4s:

JdJc, JdJs, JcJs
TdTc, TdTs, TcTs
Ah4h, As4s

That's a total of 8 combinations.

There are 16 ways for him to have KQ:

suited: KsQs, KhQh, KdQd, KcQc
offsuit: KsQh, KsQd, KsQc, KhQs, KhQd, KhQc, KdQs, KdQh, KdQc, KcQs, KcQh, KcQd

So he's twice as likely to have a bluff as he is to have trips or better!

Brilliant thanks Phil, combinatrix seems like a tricky subject but well worth learning!

DuffMcGruff · Dec 15, 2018

Welcome aboard Phil! I'm super excited to have you here. A bit star struck too. I have a few questions actually...
1. What stakes do I need to shoot for to be simi-pro (live and online) with the intention of going full-time. In other words, how high do I need to go before I can take a supplementary income and still build a BR at a reasonable rate, and is it even doable in this day an age with a kid?
2. Is GTO still standard among top players?
3. What game type/format does a skill edge net the most profit? Meaning do I want to play PLO, Holdem, STT, MTT, etc. If my goal is to build the fastest BR assuming I have the edge in either of them.

Destruct51 · Dec 15, 2018

Welcome Phil, do you have any special socks or shirts, etc. That you wear when u play. I have my luck rocks and red bracelet, lol.

madrafa33 · Dec 16, 2018

any thing

whats the squer root of 155427365456737

Phil Galfond - Ask Me Anything!

passmg2

Enthusiast

Bozovicdj

Legend

azforlife

Legend

PhilGalfond

Enthusiast

PhilGalfond

Enthusiast

PhilGalfond

Enthusiast

PhilGalfond

Enthusiast

pirateglenn

Legend

HSmith

Rock Star

PHX

Legend

Polytarp

Legend

mbrenneman0

Legend

TheDude6622

Legend

PhilGalfond

Enthusiast

PhilGalfond

Enthusiast

PhilGalfond

Enthusiast

PhilGalfond

Enthusiast

azforlife

Legend

PhilGalfond

Enthusiast

mikkex99

Rising Star

ChickenArise

Legend

HSmith

Rock Star

DuffMcGruff

Rock Star

Destruct51

Rock Star

madrafa33

Rising Star

About CardsChat

Our Community

Our Site