OMGClayAiken, aka Phil Galfond, is yet another young and talented high stakes online cash player to make a meteoric rise to the top. He started playing $10 SNGs before building his bankroll up and after reading Sklansky’s ‘Hold ‘Em Poker For Advanced Players’ took a shot at the $5/$10 cash games. After a winning streak Phil went for the $25/$50 and $50/$100 games before losing his entire roll in just a few days. It was then that he moved in with “The Ballas” and from there he hasn’t looked back and has been playing the highest levels ever since. Having gone from playing $5/$10 to $200/$400 limits in the space of just two years, he is easily one of the most successful online players around (his PLO stats on Full Tilt show he is up over $2.4 million). Phil is still a member of the “Ship It, Holla” crew, a team of young Americans including durrr and raptor who consistently mingle in the biggest online games going. He credits Dwan with helping his game the most, and who made Phil realise that “You should think of every possible option you have in NLHE. You usually have a ton of them”. His astute and innovative reading of the game is highlighted by his regular columns for “Bluff” Magazine and he is one of the very few online specialists to have made an appearance on “High Stakes Poker”.
Tom Dwan:
durrrr
Dang Brothers:
urindanger & trex313
Ilari Sahamies:
Ziigmund
Steven Jacobs:
stevesbets
Steve Sung:
SteveSung
During his brief spell on the show Galfond was critical not only of the way he was treated as an ‘onliner’ but also of the standard of play.
In a post on 2 2 Poker he wrote: “Just before going to bed that night, I was informed that 3 of the TV Pros from day 2 decided last minute that they wanted to play on day 3, and that I wasn’t good TV because I was so tight and didn’t talk enough to the players who don’t know me. So, I lost my spot on the table. To say the least, I was very mad.”
He goes on: “I would love it if someone would do a show where Me, durrr, Aba, and two more each play heads-up against Ivey, Doyle, Negreanu, etc. We each pair up with a pro and play best of 3 HU 200bb freeze-outs. Each team puts up $2m or whatever and whichever team wins most out of 5 splits the prize amongst themselves. Online pros v Live pros. Then maybe America would realize how it really is.”
Now that would be a game.
In June 2008 he announced himself to the offline world by winning his first WSOP Bracelet in Event #28 (the $5,000 PLO re-buys) for a whopping $817,781. This takes his live tournament winnings to just under a million dollars and is one of the few players in the world to show prowess in both fields of the game. His post-tournament interview was perhaps telling about the way he views modern poker and the sheer volume of hours he puts in: “The public and the poker community as a whole views winning a bracelet as so important, and because of that, I did. I felt that I had proven myself playing in the toughest games online for a long time now, but I hadn’t really proven myself to everybody. To me it means proving myself to everybody else.”
“I’ve played so many hands of PLO at all different stack sizes it’s almost second nature. I was focused even though I was nervous and stressed out about it. I still knew what to do; I’m so used to it.”
SH: You seem to have had a fine start to 2008, both online and at the World Series. Have you adjusted your game in any way this year or are you just running/playing well?
Phil Galfond: It’s mostly the latter. I’ve definitely improved my game… there are few months where I’m not better than I was the month before. Still, games have gotten tougher, so my edge hasn’t changed much. I think I ran poorly last year and very well this year, and that’s the difference in my results.
SH: Obviously you are one of the online pros who have taken to PLO in a big way recently. Do you see the future of high stakes cash poker in Pot Limit Omaha and do you have any plans to branch out further to the likes of Omaha Hi/Lo and H.O.R.S.E?
Phil Galfond: I wish I knew. I could see PLO being around for a long time, but it looks like HORSE and o8 are starting to become big. Unfortunately for me, I have zero limit experience in my background. I’m working on my HORSE game, but don’t expect me to be crushing 2000/4000 anytime soon.
SH: There has been some curiosity recently as to why the likes of yourself and Tom Dwan are not sponsored professionals of Full Tilt or any other site. Have you ever been approached for sponsorship and what would you see the benefits and drawbacks of such a deal to be?
Tom Dwan:
durrrr
Ilari Sahamies:
Ziigmund
Chris Lee:
Genius28
Steven Jacobs:
stevesbets
Steve Sung:
SteveSung
Phil Galfond: I have been approached for sponsorship. The only drawback to most deals is the inability to make a deal in the future. For me (and Tom), the offers amount to almost nothing when looked at as a % of our yearly earnings. I obviously can’t be sure that things will change in the future, but I believe it’s possible. One more bracelet, maybe in a TV event, a few more invites to cash games, and I think I can show the public what I can do. Who knows if it’ll happen and I’ll be able to get a sponsorship that will actually make a difference for me, but I feel like the possibility of that is enough to keep me from taking a deal that wouldn’t change anything for me.
SH: I remember reading that you didn’t want to stay in poker your whole life. Ariel Schneller also had similar sentiments in his blog not so long ago. Have you thought any more about when you might want to get out of the game and is there any other career that you would like to give a try? And one a similar note, do you subscribe to the view that the games are becoming increasingly harder to beat?
Phil Galfond: The games are becoming tougher, but as I mentioned, I’m getting better. I think that I can keep up with the pace of the highest stake games for many years to come, assuming I want to. I’m not sure what the future holds for me. I still enjoy poker most of the time. I have many friends who don’t, and I’m worried I’ll eventually feel the same. Until something better comes along, I don’t see a reason to quit. I suppose at a certain point, you don’t need more money, but I’m competitive by nature. Once I’m at the point where I don’t need to think about money, I’ll probably approach poker as more of a sport, taking on the toughest players HU, rather than being careful with my roll. If I retired from poker, I’d want to get involved in teaching or writing, or some combination of both.
SH: A lot of high stakes players (Tom Dwan, the Dang Brothers, David Benefield, yourself etc) seem to be friends with each other and know a lot about each others games. How often do you play short-handed with these guys and does it make it difficult that you are all looking to play in similar games?
Phil Galfond: It is a bit weird. Those guys are all great friends of mine. We end up playing a good bit of 3-6 handed games. If one of them is HU at a 6 handed table, I usually let them have it until someone else sits in. I don’t really like playing 3 handed with a friend. It sucks so much to take a big pot from a friend, especially when he’s losing already. As far as gameplay, it actually creates a really interesting dynamic. With some of them, I know their game inside and out, maybe as well as they do. I can usually tell what they have when I’m not involved in a hand. But they know that, and they know my game, so when we get involved in HU pots, we have to think so far outside the box.
SH: There seems to have been an explosion of ‘flipping’ in recent months. Do you ‘flip’ yourself? Why do you think this is an increasingly popular hobby?
Phil Galfond: I have flipped a few times. I think it’s bad for games, so I try not to. I guess it’s popular because it’s pure gambling, and so many poker players are gamblers at heart. It’s interesting how relaxing flipping is to me, even for large amounts of money. I think after making tough decisions for massive pots year round, it’s nice to be involved in a big pot where you know you couldn’t have done anything wrong.
SH: Congratulations on your WSOP bracelet. Do you plan to continue to work on your live tournament game and where would you place the win in terms of your poker highlights to date?
Phil Galfond: Thank you, Simon. I actually am very confident in my live tournament game. I was a tournament player for the first 18 months of my career, which most people don’t realize. I don’t plan on travelling the circuit to play every event out there. I just don’t like being away from home and my friends. I definitely will be back next summer to play as many WSOP events as I can. The bracelet win, while not being among the most difficult things I’ve accomplished, is definitely my number one career highlight. The WSOP, and big tournaments in general, are basically all about glory. A ton of people play, one man wins. If you do consider poker a sport, it’s because of tournaments, and the WSOP is the Super Bowl. Or a collection of mini-Super Bowls. Or the World Series I guess, since they are called the same thing. I don’t really like baseball though.
SH: And finally, what are your plans poker wise for the rest of 2008?
Phil Galfond: More of the same. Play online. I’ll hopefully be able to pick up HORSE, but I doubt I’ll be satisfied with my HORSE game anytime in 2008.
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