Phil Galfond - Feature Bio

News / Chris Edwards / 17 June 2008 / Leave a comment

152 players entered the 2008 PLO w/Rebuys event generating a prize pool of over $3m. Coming out on top of one of the most difficult final tables in WSOP history was 23 year old Phil 'OMGCLAYAIKEN" Galfond.

Phil was born in 1985 and currently resides in Madison, Wisconsin. Phil began playing poker around 3 years ago, playing Sit n Go's online. He first played $50 and $10 games, but these proved too tough and he went broke. He redeposited $50 and tried again, this time reading his first poker book 'Hold'em Poker For Advanced Players' by David Sklansky and joined the popular 2+2 forums. He slowly started winning, moving up the Sit n Go stakes, taking shots at $1k+ buy-in games and even cashing in some online MTT's.

He then decided to try cash games with his first experience being at $5/$10 NLHE. He initially found the game very different due to there being little post flop play in Sit n Go's but was still able to win, especially after reading the cash game forums on 2+2 and hiring coaches like well known online player Whitelime. It was around this time he decided to drop out of college to play poker full time.

Ignoring basic BR management, he took shots at $25/$50 and $50/$100 and made almost $100k before losing it in the span of a few days. It was after this he moved to Vegas in 2006 to live with a group of players that would call themselves the 'Ship It Holla Ballas'. This helped Phil improve his game to the point where he felt confident taking shots again at the higher levels. He credits that time as being the pivotal point in his poker career.

One player he credits as helping him the most was Tom 'durrr' Dwan. Tom was already a huge winner at the highest levels and spending him with him helped Phil 'open his mind and think about situations completely differently'. He recalls watching one hand where Dwan was coaching infamous online player H@££INGOL where he held a weak top pair facing a massive river bet. Phil thought a call was better than a fold, Tom agreed but said he would actually move all in. This amazed Phil who realised that: 'You should think of every possible option you have in NLHE. You usually have a ton of them.'

He has since moved up the limits to playing the highest NLHE and PLO games online, being one of the biggest ever winners in both. He has also cashed at the WPT Championship and had 6 WSOP cashes. The event 28 bracelet is his first, but with his dedication and steady progress over the years is likely to be one of many.