Hey Guys,
As you may have noticed, if you follow my blog- I’ve been slacking lately. The main reason for it is that I decided when I started this blog that it wouldn’t be a blog about nothing. I wanted to post entries that had content, or value, to you guys. When I get an idea (hopefully an interesting one), I write about it. It’s not very easy to force ideas, though, at least good ones.
So, how can we all win? I’m hoping some of you will ask some interesting questions. And please don’t limit them to strategy questions. Personal questions are cool (though I may pick and choose some to answer).
I’d actually enjoy offering my opinions/advice on personal, real life problems the most. I’ll still address poker questions of course- I know you guys would prefer that.
Please send any questions to askphil@philgalfond.com
Looking forward to my next post!
*Update* Lots of questions coming in. Thanks guys! Please keep them coming, but keep in mind ‘will you coach me’ ’what stakes should I play with $x’ ’how can I recover from running bad’ and other generic questions have all been asked many times. I’d much prefer to address problems/questions more specific to you (especially outside of or only peripherally related to poker), or specific questions about me or perhaps parts of my game or thought process that haven’t been talked about.
Take care.
-Phil
If you weren’t a poker player what would you be doing?
Will you teach me everything you know?
Hey Phil,
What would it take to get one or more of the major poker sites to implement the semi-anonymised tables you mentioned in an earlier post? Approaching it from the other side, what are the major drawbacks for them as a business? Would their rake decrease? Would it have to be mandatory or could they run both anon and public tables? Could the “results” be de-anonymized after some window of time, to accomplish the goal of encouraging pros to play each other and avoid bumhunting while still allowing watching from the rail, after a delay of a day or two.
Most of all, what would it take politically. DN has said he approves of the idea… how many celebs would you need to get together in a team to sway a major business?
what’s your favorite kinda food? also, what are your thoughts about eating during or before playing, do you think about that at all in terms of what kinds of food or how it effects you?
Hi Phil, thanks for the opportunity to ask you these questions. Do you think online poker will ever see the high stakes again like the stakes played at full tilt poker ie: 1\2 k 2\4 k plo? 2nd, what is your preferred poker game?
Rgds Hattenford
hey phil,
i started out to grind a lot. My actual question is:
How do you manage yourself in a way that allows you to keep your life around going? Especially in times, where it´s really not going your way? Do you do exercises? I know i really would have to do more, but i think i got a big hole of motivation. Could you give any advice to that?
Don´t you care for results at all? Do you feel sometimes like you wanna play more to get to “longterm” earlier?
greetings
hey phil, i’ve often said one of the traits a pro poker player needs to possess is a high tolerance for misery, would you agree? also, what are some of the other meta traits (meaning traits not specific to hand reading and good instincts and balance etc) a successful player needs to possess?
Mikey or bruiser?
Hi Phil what would be the minimum br reccomended for a 5-5 nl $500 buy in but you can rebuy for $1,500 ? Thanks
Hypothetically if you had to rebuild your bankroll starting with $1000, what stakes/games would you play?
When can we expect to see you and Bruiser get married?
Do you still discuss many hands with your fellow pros?
Hey Phil! Do you think Isildur1 deserves his reputation in the online poker world as the best headsup player in no limit and what do you think about his game in both nl and plo?
3 or 4 questions:
- democrat or republican?
- are you playing the high stakes games at the wsop this year (or more tourneys), and is it true, that you were not able to play at macau
- on poker after dark you said, you don’t want to play poker the entire life…what do you think you’ll do after playing poker..
cheers
forgot one, as a poker pro, you’re not playing that much online atm…living in canada…would be interesting if you could describe a typical day in your life staying in canada and your new experiences (poker excluded) you gained…
Hey Phil,
Where do you see poker in 5 years? (Will we have online poker in the u.s. worth playing? How hard/easy will games be? Will there be more or less traffic?) And secondly, would you ever coach a lower stake player trying to move up without being paid?
Hi Phil,
If you’re multi-tabling on-line, with a mix of cash games and tourneys, do you ever find it tough to keep track of the pace of each table, or do you tend to play each table the same way?
Cheers
James
The book(s), method(s) you would recommend to improve tilt control (@ the felt and… in life)?
Whats the sickest/craziest degenerate gambling prop bet story you have been involved in?
I read a lot of Tommy Angelo advice and take ‘off the table’ decisions very, very serious and try to express that to my friends who also play. I feel like its almost more important to learn/practice than strategy while playing, how would you rate the two on levels of importance?
Phil, what are your thoughts/preferences on running it more than once to reduce variance?
Hey phil..
What have been the most difficult descition in your personal life/poker career?
Have you ever ended up gambling away a lot of pokermoney on a roulette or other side games, while being on a downswing?
Your opinion on using combinatorics for PLO analyse and weighted range.
Where do you hang out in van so I can stalk you?
Have you ever gone through some extremely rough times involving gambling and everyday life? If so, what are some good suggestions and mindsets to get refocused and back on track?
when are you coming out of the closet, you gorgeous hunk?!?!
Balance: Poker, Lover, Friends, other responsibilities. When the shit is just hitting the fan where do you turn to get your head straight? Fav books, mentors, yoga, mexico a bottle of tequila native girls and washin your crank in the sink after waking up nekkid with stragers and no memory of the nights events. Lol serious about the question humor thrown in for fun.
what do you reckon the relationship between live and online dificutly level is (for example can a 1-2 NLH online player beat a regular 5-10 live) ? expand on this with as much knowledge as you have.
and i was wondering how much nosebleeds players play online this days ‘cuz i feel there are fewer and fewer games (detalis on how many tables, hours , when and how the games are formed )
How hard is it nowadays to beat $1/2 6 max games online? Is it worth the effort? Or is it more profitable to focus on something else like PLO, HU, live play etc. I noticed many big winners in $2/4-$5/10 6 max a couple years ago dropped down to $1/2…that can’t be good for the avg reg.
Hey Phil – are you still doing improv comedy up in Vancouver? I believe you said you used to coach improv – any parallels between that and poker coaching?
Phil
Do you ever play in WSOP Circuit events
like New Orleans May 10-May 21
I am a recreational player who has hit a bad streak over the past year. As a result, I’m playing less and less poker and losing almost every session (some big some small). I still love the game, but it’s hard to motivate myself to play when I don’t feel like a winning player anymore, and my results validate that sentiment. I am quite happy with my life overall, and my other competitive endeavors are going better than average.
What can I do to turn my thought process and poker game around?
Thanks for the entertaining blogs!
Chad
Hey Phil, much respect! I’ve pretty much given up poker as it demands too much time: I don’t think it’s worth it for me any more, but am still checking in to see if you’ve blogged.
My questions for now are about your favourite books – novels, philosophy, and anything else you care to mention.
Phil, When you discuss adjusting your range you mention things take 44 55 ax suited out and make the opponents bet a 25% equity vice 50%. Just random numbers. What exactly are you doing in detail if you can? I don’t understand what you have and what losing those hands affect your action. This was based on a hand in galfond bucks where AJ called you. Ty for your help-Mark
1. Any general tips on how to play longer sessions (and keep up your A-game)?
2. Pick three (or more) fun things you might do (at lower stakes) when in a rut (like minraising every flop bet, mindonking every turn after c/c flop etc)?
Hi Phil,
I’m from Europe and me and wife are recreational players and love to watch HSP or PAD but now it’s only second rate stuff we can see. My question/suggestion: Isn’t a good idea that you and Tom Dwan and other high profile players try to organize a new TV pokershow, mayby the producers of HSP/PAD are interested.Or mayby a setup like Cash poker tv, which i watch on utube. I really really miss the good poker shows and of course the great poker wisecracks from Gabe Kaplan
Very curious what you think of this
greetings
Peter
Hey Phil,
Thanks for taking your time to keep this going. With so much bull shit clouding 99%+ of the internet these days, it’s nice being pleasantly surprised when I check back here every couple of weeks and see a new, well articulated article you’ve put up.
I have a year to go to get my bachelors degree. Which I have every intention of doing. But at this point I am extremely fed up with how monotonous the majority of college as a whole is, specifically: (the material, the lectures, etc..). IMHO college has become a system driven buy capitalist greed and as result has lost most of the value it had 20, 30, 40 years ago. I play live 2-5 NL and make a decent living at it and am planning on making the step up to 5-10 over the summer when I can focus on only poker for a few months. That’s not really what this question is about though. I am curious as to what made you decide to drop out of college? Aside from the obvious (financial gain). After having studied your play on Blue Fire and reading many of your articles I’m fairly certain you didn’t originally come to that conclusion lightly. If you could walk through your thought process regarding that decision it would be great and I think a lot of people will find it extremely useful.
Thanks for your time,
Lucas
Hey,
Why are u all asking questions in the comments when he specifically asked you to send them to the email address askphil@philgalfond.com.ARE U BLIND????
Sup Phil,
“Tragedy of the commons” is an economic term describing any common ground being over mined/over fished/ to the point that profits (correlating to effort) diminish when more skilled laborers enter the common ground market.
I’ve experienced this in poker over the last 4 years+, going from being a 20bb/100 to 3bb/100 player, and I’ve even heard professionals such as Tom Dwan stating that the games have gotten tougher and decreasing in stakes (such as Europe and the States, not Macau/Asia). More sharks and fishermen, less fishy fish fish.
What’s your take on this dawg?