Interview With Phil Galfond

PTP: You refer to Tommy Angelo pretty frequently in your blog. Talk a little bit about working with Tommy and what that experience has been like for you.

PG: Tommy is an amazing coach and a really great guy. When I was making the transition from a mid/high stakes player to the biggest games around, he played an important role in helping me understand and deal with all the things that come with the territory. Many people have a great understanding of the game of poker but have problems with the other aspects of the game like bankroll management, game selection and dealing with downswings to name a few. Tommy has a unique perspective on many of those topics that helped me become the player that I am today.

PTP: You recently opened up your time to include coaching for a few select students. What was behind that decision and how’s it working out?

PG: I had always been interested in teaching. I enjoy explaining difficult concepts to people, especially when it involves topics that I am passionate about like poker. So far, the experience is going really well. It’s a very satisfying feeling to see a student put something that I’ve taught them into practice in real life situations.

PTP: You no doubt have a pretty great reservoir of high stakes stories. What match or opponent really sticks out among them all?

PG: I think what sticks out the most for me was the first time I ever played 300/600. I sat down HU with Phil Ivey. The first hand, I called his raise in the BB with 44. Flop 984 two spades. I c/r, he 3bets, I shove. He calls with 99 and I lose. So I got set over setted the first time I ever played 300/600, and it was a long time until I played another hand there.

PTP: What do you see as being the biggest challenge to the continued growth of online poker?

PG: Governmental regulation is without a doubt the biggest obstacle that the online poker industry is facing right now. The industry suffered a huge blow with the super-user scandals and regulation is a major step toward insuring the safety of players’ money and protecting the integrity of the games. It would also allow new poker sites to crop up and create competition amongst the sites for business which will ultimately benefit the players.

PTP: We’ve got a few questions below that were submitted by members of our forums:

If he would have to build a team of 5 poker players to face Ivey, Brunson, Negreanu, Lindgren and Scotty Baby who would he pick to be his teammates? (they would play a horse team challenge)

PG: I’m sorry. I’d like to offer an answer, but I’m completely unqualified for this. I’m very new to HORSE and I can’t really tell who the best players are yet.

If durrrrr had allowed him to accept the challenge that was issued to the world less Phil Galfond, would he have accepted it?

PG: It’s hard to determine if an edge exists between the two of us and the variance at the stakes of the challenge is incredibly high. Tom is also, as you know, a good friend of mine. For those reasons, I don’t think I would accept the challenge.

I’m very excited to see the 1 mill challenge that bluefire has issued to President Obama and the Congress, get him to elaborate on this idea.

PG: We issued the challenge with the full intention of going through with it should anyone accept. Unfortunately, I don’t think it is going to come to fruition. Although the match was never played, I think it served to get some media attention for the UIGEA and the online poker industry.

Learn more about Bluefire Poker and their exclusive Phil Galfond video content. No other training site offers you regular access to one of the most respected minds in poker – check them out today.

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