Galfond Poker Site
Phil Galfond’s infamous indoor slide could be yours if you’ve got a spare $15,000 in your bankroll.
Phil Galfond and the iconic slide has been taken out of his old apartment and put on sale for $15,000. (businessinsider.com/Curbed Moving Pictures)
Kornuth and Galfond played 600 hands with a modest loss of $35,000 from Galfond, the second-best session for Galfond since October 3rd. Through 16 days of the Galfond Challenge, they have played an estimated 8,500 hands with Galfond sitting down about $234,000 heading into Tuesday. Galfond hopes that both the challenge against VeniVidi and the second completed challenge against ActionFreak will encourage the wider poker community to play and enjoy watching Pot Limit Omaha. Tags: live poker, Mike Postle, Phil Galfond, Run It Once, Stones Gambling Hall The Mike Postle drama is a bit like the 11th and final season of the U.S. Sitcom Happy Days.
The iconic slide, which Galfond had custom-made for his penthouse apartment in New York City, caused a stir both inside and outside the poker community when it was first pictured.
However, after he sold the property (which was actually two penthouse apartments he’d connected via the slide) in 2012, the new owner decided to take it out.
According to Curbed New York, the anonymous buyer had sold his software company and wanted to relocate to the city’s East Village.
After agreeing to buy the apartment for $3.3 million, the new owner said he would dismantle the slide and donate it.
I think Galfond's team is probably missing a knowledgeable 'industry guy' - someone who understands what makes a poker site tick, what drives traffic, how the site's economy needs to stay afloat, and what the average player (both pro and rec) finds most important in a poker site. Phil Galfond is an accomplished poker player and poker coach who has amassed a sizeable fortune playing poker. Starting out with just a $50 deposit in his first online poker account, Phil is a true testament of how good anyone can become if they put in maximum hard work.
Slide Stays Longer than Anticipated
Quite what happened between 2012 and March 1 2017 is unclear, but it seems the owner may have had a little more fun with the slide that he first assumed he would.
Despite his broker, Elizabeth Kee, telling Curbed New York that he planned to renovate and give his friends one chance to use the slide, it remained in place until that start of March.
An ad on Craigslist says the “custom-made stainless steel” slide was “recently dismantled” and is now “sitting in storage.”Although Galfond had the Turrett Collaborative designed piece made for his apartment, the seller has said it could also be used as a pool slide or for a tree house.
Anyone that wants the slide will not only have to pay the $15,000 asking price, but pick it up from the Borden Avenue property of arrange for delivery with the seller. Either way, paying for a piece of iconic poker memorabilia looks as though it would be the easiest part of the deal.
Galfond Moving on from the Golden Days of Poker
As for Phil Galfond, his days of playing on a slide in between high stakes sessions online are long gone. Thanks to Black Friday shutting down online poker in the US back in 2011, Galfond was forced to rethink his presence in the poker community.
Although he’s still an active player, he isn’t seen as frequently in high stakes games online as he used to be. Back when online poker was at its peak between 2003 and 2010, Galfond was one of the top players.
On top of achieving success at the No Limit Hold’em tables, Galfond became known as “the” guy at Pot Limit Omaha tables.
On Full Tilt alone he won $6,599,839 under the moniker OMGClayAiken and he used that success to go on and win two WSOP bracelets and $2,339,619 in the live tournament arena. Today, with the game not what it was, Galfond has focused his energy on the business side of poker.
In addition to his training site, Raise It Once, Galfond announced in 2016 that he is in the process of opening a real money poker site. Set to be affiliated with Run It Once, Galfond wants the site to cater to players and reward them for their time online.
Outlining his plans in a blog post that outlined his discontent with the direction some established operators have been moving, Galfond said he wanted to provide a better experience for players.
Although he stopped short of saying when the site would go live, it’s clear he’s now consumed with the business of poker rather than the game itself.
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He may be busy sharpening his tools ahead of a showdown with some of the game’s best, but Phil Galfond has still found time to take a shot at PokerStars.
Phil Galfond is urging PokerStars cash game players to make the jump and join Run It Once. (Image: Twitter/Phil Galfond)
As the owner of poker site Run It Once, Galfond is using the buzz around his high stakes challenge to generate interest in the product.
With the community waiting for updates, the American has put out an offer. As per a Jan. 13 Twitter video (see below), new players can get double bonus points if they join Run It Once in January.
Phil Galfond Gets Personal
Phil Galfond Poker Site
While sign-up bonuses are nothing new in online poker, Galfond’s marketing angle is interesting. The premise of the video is that players can forget the issues they have with PokerStars and start afresh at Run It Once.
Calling the move “Stars Become Legends,” Galfond is picking up on the culture of discontent that’s swept over the industry in recent times. Although other operators have been in the firing line, few have taken as many hits as PokerStars.
Its efforts to focus on recreational players have kept it as the top international brand, but some players have rebelled. With rake increases and a general decrease in added value, a number of online grinders have found new places to play.
Appealing to that demographic, Phil Galfond is celebrating a year of activity by specifically targeting “PokerStars cash game players.” His goal for 2020 is to increase activity on Run It Once and build on some of the features introduced last year.
Perfect Time to Strike
#GalfondChallenge update: @PhilGalfond is under the weather but the betting market vs VeniVidi1993 moved a bit in Phil's favor today. 11 days until game time! Action: https://t.co/RAEumHqBrBpic.twitter.com/t2u3HRD5jo
— PokerShares (@pokershares) January 11, 2020
Topping the list of innovations is the integrated stats tracking system. With heads-up display (HUD) software a topic of debate in 2019, Galfond took a different line to other sites. As the likes of Partypoker banned third-party tracking software, Galfond oversaw the development of an in-between system.
At Run It Once, players can keep tabs on their opponent’s through emotionally responsive avatars. Although they can’t see data relating to traits such as pre-flop raising percentages, the avatars hint at playing styles such as passive and aggressive.
Galfond Poker Site
By tracking stats internally, the software conveys just enough information for pros to use but not so much that novices are unfairly targeted. Phil Galfond wants more players to experience this and he’s using the discontent with certain aspects of PokerStars’ to show it to the masses.
Phil Galfond Poker Site
Of course, the timing couldn’t be better. After issuing a challenge to online poker’s top talents, Galfond is the talk of the town. With the high stakes spectacle appealing to experienced players, the plan is to parlay that interest into a positive start to 2020 for Run It Up.