In the latest episode of The Interview, celebrated poker player Phil Galfond opens up to PokerOrg’s Craig Tapscott on everything from poker strategy to business, family life and more.
In discussing his evolution as a player, Galfond highlights a key factor in his growth: being able to discuss poker with likeminded friends.
In Phil’s own words…
“One of the biggest keys to my success, and what I would advise everybody to do, is surround yourself with other poker players that are learning with you. If for some reason you can't, at least get a coach - you can always hire somebody to be that person for you, but it just just can't be overstated how helpful it is to be learning with others, rather than out there on an island.
“Learning from training videos is valuable, learning from solvers is valuable, but if it's just you and the video or you and the solver, there’s no feedback loop and no shared motivation.
“There's emotional reward in helping others get better, that turns into motivation for you to get better. There's camaraderie. There's so much that goes into it, it's not just one thing, but the biggest jumps in my career have been when I've been working closely with other players.”
Galfond appeared in a self-titled four-part documentary series last year.A lasting moment of clarity, courtesy of Tom Dwan
Having input from other players is clearly a huge benefit in Galfond’s eyes, and the lessons don’t stop when you turn professional, enjoy success, or even make it to the highest stakes.
This is perfectly illustrated by one particular story Galfond shares in The Interview, in which he discussed a hand with fellow elite poker player Tom Dwan that helped shape his poker philosophy and left a lasting impression.
“When I met Tom he was already a legend online. I was playing $5/10 no limit [hold’em], he was playing $50/100, $100/200… I don't remember what the biggest games were that ran back then - I think this was on Ultimate Bet - but he was playing the biggest games.
Tom Dwan has been playing high stakes poker for almost 20 years.“He was friends with some of my friends, so the first summer I stayed in a house with several poker players from the Two Plus Two forums, and Tom and Dave Benfield were friends with each other. Dave didn't live with us but he was part of that sit and go crew, and so Dave would come over and Tom would come with him, and that's how I met Tom.
“He's always very generous with sharing knowledge. A year or two later [from first meeting him] there was a point where I was playing nosebleed no limit hold‘em, he was telling me how the PLO games are really good and I should get in them. I was saying ‘Tom, I have never played PLO’ and he's saying ‘Okay, okay, well just watch me play’.
“And so he let me sit behind him and watch him play six tables of $200/400 PLO. He's just always very giving in that way, with no expectation of you returning the favor.
“We talked about hands a lot when we hung out over the summer; it's what we loved to do, we were all poker nerds, and it was fun. I had played a hand and asked him about it. Basically, I had a bluff-catcher on the river facing a triple barrel [bet], and I said I wanted to call. And he pretty quickly said ‘Oh, I’d raise’.
“I’d never considered raising. I was, like, ‘Is this a call, or is it a fold?’ and he was, like, ‘Well, you've called twice, you obviously have a made hand on this board and he'll realize that and just fold whatever overpair he has’.
“That opened my mind to evaluating every option at all points.”
The Interview with Phil Galfond is available now to watch in full, or to listen to on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Additional image courtesy of Melissa Haereiti
