Phil Galfond was among the first wave of online poker pros to become a household name in the community. He first rose to prominence as OMGClayAiken on Full Tilt Poker during the boom era, and later MrSweets28 on PokerStars. Today, he’s best known by his real name and is as visible in the live poker scene as online.
His specialties are high-stakes Hold’em and Omaha cash games. Nonetheless, he has over $3 million in tournament winnings and three WSOP gold bracelets as of 2025.
In 2012, a year after Black Friday, Galfond launched a training site called Run It Once. Four years later, he expanded the brand to include an innovative online poker room, aimed at the European market.
Although Run It Once Poker was not a commercial success, it introduced interesting ideas like dynamic user avatars, a simple built-in HUD for recreational players, and a randomized rakeback system called Splash the Pot.
The software behind Run It Once lives on as the basis for BetRivers Poker, now available in four states. It doesn’t have all the same features as the original Run It Once Poker, but retains Galfond as an ambassador and consultant.
Online poker legend Phil Galfond has built a poker variance calculator, free for all to use. He announced the tool yesterday… Continue reading Phil Galfond Builds, Releases Free Poker Variance Calculator
In case there was any doubt, there won’t actually be any series of heads-up poker matches involving Elon Musk’s generative… Continue reading ‘I Absolutely Wasted Your Time’ — Grok Finally Admits It Lacks the Ability to Agree to High-Stakes Poker Matches
The ongoing saga of man vs. machine might soon get its latest chapter, as popular poker players Phil Galfond and… Continue reading Phil Galfond, Joe Ingram Challenge Elon Musk’s Grok to Heads-Up Poker
The National Heads-Up Championship released the bracket for its long-awaited return to Peacock and PokerGO. The series kicks off this… Continue reading National Heads-Up Championship Bracket Set: Good Draws and Matchups to Watch
The National Heads-Up Poker Championship is making its return after a twelve-year hiatus in the fall of 2025. Presented by… Continue reading National Heads-Up Poker Championship Returns This Fall on Peacock and PokerGO
BetRivers Poker has expanded from a single state to four, all in a single day. The fledgling US poker room,… Continue reading BetRivers Poker Branches Out Into Multi-State Network, Launching Simultaneously in Michigan, Delaware and West Virginia
Launching a new online poker site is no easy task. But that’s the scenario poker player Phil Galfond faced when… Continue reading Phil Galfond Discusses Run It Once Year 1, Luring PokerStars Players
Shortly after the 2016 WSOP, Phil Galfond announced that he would launch his own online poker room. Two years later… Continue reading Review: Phil Galfond’s New Run It Once Poker Room In Beta Test
