The Galfond Challenge So Far

The Galfond Challenge has, of course, been the greatest advocate of Galfond’s skill in the four-card game. Some of the world’s best players have taken on Galfond, only for luminaries such as Chance Kornuth, VeniVidi1993, Bill Perkins, ActionFreak and Brandon Adams to come up short. Galfond’s current opponent is Daniel ‘Jungleman’ Cates.

“I love any action I can get,” said Galfond “and Jungleman is as fun of an opponent as I can hope for. The perfect combination of toughness and excitement.”

That’s for sure. Cates is not only known for his off-the-felt antics but also his propensity to crush in mixed games, including PLO. He is the back-to-back winner of the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, after all.

It’s time to see if the falcon can survive the jungle

My #GalfondChallenge vs. @junglemandan finally begins!

We’ll play this Thurs-Sat from (roughly) 8am-Noon PT.

You’ll be able to catch me streaming on: https://t.co/95rCI2yhQt

Sub so you get alerted when we go live! pic.twitter.com/lUGQN6RvSj

— Phil Galfond (@PhilGalfond) January 30, 2023

Welp, I started out down $115,000 to @junglemandan today, feeling good about my play the whole time! (Sorry, @Farah_Galfond )

Managed to turn it around to finish down “only” $35,000.

Totals:
-$77,500
~2,250 hands

~5,250 hands left to play in this #GalfondChallenge.

— Phil Galfond (@PhilGalfond) February 4, 2023

Play PLO Within Your Means

Galfond’s knowledge of PLO is so vast, and he’s been playing the game so long. A lot of the mistakes players make can be eradicated by Galfond’s course but the variance is bigger in PLO, so a huge part of how someone moves from profitable to professional is how they can cope with those swings.

“I think it’s extremely important to play within your means,” Galfond says. “People try to do this, but I think they often fail to realize just how small they need to be playing to maximize their EV while minimizing their risk of ruin.”

Part of the This is PLO course teaches players to think like a solver rather than act on the basis of solver answers. But what does that mean in real terms for an intermediate player who is looking to become a crusher in Pot Limit Omaha? Humans aren’t computers.

“It’s impossible to memorize solver strategies. The only way to truly succeed in learning from solvers is to figure out how to transpose the solver outputs into human logic that they can digest and then draw on in any situation they find themselves in at the table.”

READ MORE: Bracelet Winner Nathan Gamble Reviews Galfond’s This is PLO

Heads-Up and Multi-Way Pots

Heads-up PLO hands vary hugely from multi-way, of course. Some of the easiest lessons to learn about the changes to make between hands boil down to a simple formula that Galfond is happy to crystallise. He goes into it in a lot more detail in his Run It Once Training course.

“In short, multiway pots create more incentives for small betting, including to clear up equity for pretty good hands.” He says. “In heads up pots, it’s more about getting the amount of money into the pot that your hand wants.”

Making a consistent profit in PLO is tough and this course really gets to the heart of this exciting variant of the game of poker – the ‘four card’ game so named because you receive four hole cards rather than two. What makes it so fascinating for Galfond is how a poker variant develops.

An Event Horizon for PLO

Galfond can see that PLO is approaching a kind of event horizon, a place where it cannot be improved further. So, what’s next for PLO?

“I think we’re already close to our final point of understanding in PLO, much like we are with cash game No Limit Hold’em,” says Galfond. “Solvers can tell us so much already, but the most successful people will be the ones who can extrapolate from what the solvers are telling us.”

Remembering His WSOP Bracelet Victory

Galfond has enjoyed a stellar career at the felt, winning three WSOP bracelets to date, two of them in Pot Limit Omaha. The first time he won a WSOP bracelet was in 2008, when he took down the $5,000 PLO event for over $817,000 – still Galfond’s biggest tournament cash. It’s not surprise that this is still his fondest memory playing the game live.

“It has to be the 2008 WSOP $5k PLO rebuy bracelet event that I won,” he agrees. “The table was star-studded, and it was my first big live poker score. And obviously, the bracelet meant a lot to me.”

Galfond is dead right when he says the final table was packed with stars. Players who made the final nine include Brian Rast, Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, Johnny Chan and David Benyamine. It’s a huge honor to have put the hard work he’s put into PLO over the years into practice, and is closing in on $3 million at the live felt, let alone the millions he’s won online playing PLO.

This summer, Galfond will be heading back to Las Vegas in effort to put the nuggets of gold he teaches via his This is PLO course back into practice at the felt at the World Series of Poker.

“I’m not sure what this summer has in store for me yet, but I think I’ll likely play quite a bit!”

We can’t wait to see Phil Galfond back at the felt, online battling in the Galfond Challenge, and at the WSOP competing for gold again.

For the seventh consecutive year, Cardplayer Lifestyle is proud to do precisely that by offering you, our readers, this Holiday Gift Guide for Poker Players. As always, there’s a lot to give thanks for. I, for one, am grateful to continue this annual tradition as I look back on what’s thankfully been another successful year both personally and professionally.

We always try to put together an eclectic mix of poker-themed products, services, and paraphernalia, and this year was no exception. In the guide below you’ll find a number of new, creative entries on our list as well as some annual stalwarts with top-tier wares to proffer.

Whether you’re looking for the perfect gift for your poker-loving partner or, alternatively, just want to treat yourself to something nice, be sure to take advantage!

We hope you enjoy this year’s guide!

SKIP TO: 1. D&B POKER BOOKS | 2. THE GTO+ RANGES APP BY RED CHIP POKER | 3. CUSTOM ENAMEL POKER PINS | 4. POKERCODE | 5. BBO POKER TABLES | 6. RUN IT ONCE TRAINING | 7. HALL OF FAME POKER ROOM | 8. RUNGOODGEAR APPAREL | 9. THE POKER COURSES VAULT | 10. POKERGO SUBSCRIPTION |

D&B POKER BOOKS

D&B Poker is the leading poker book, ebook, and audiobook publisher in the world. With over 40 poker books in print, many others in production and 19 audiobooks, D&B is where poker players go when they want the highest quality content, written by the most respected authors in the poker world.

Some of their bestsellers are pictured and described below.

Modern Poker Theory – acclaimed by many as the best poker book ever written, Modern Poker Theory, has made an impact that few poker books ever have. this truly remarkable book is the ultimate guide to no-limit hold’em poker based on GTO principles.

Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker: The Essential Guide – a landmark in poker publishing and undoubtedly THE definitive guide to tournament poker.

The 100 Biggest Mistakes that Poker Players Make – written by highly experienced professional player and leading poker coach, Alexander “Assassinato” Fitzgerald.

Mastering Small Stakes No-Limit Hold’em – Jonathan Little constructs a basic strategy to crush small stakes games and also identifies the adjustments that need to be made when facing more competent opposition.

Mastering Small Stakes Pot-Limit Omaha – a thoroughly comprehensive guide that will give you all the tools you need to gain a huge edge at lower stakes play.

Jonathan Little’s Excelling at Tough No-Limit Hold’em Games – a must-have book if you have ambitions to move up the stakes.

Mastering Small Stakes Cash Games – Renowned poker coach Evan Jarvis shows you how you can achieve your goals to become a better cash player.

D&B books can be purchased through all retailers. Their books, ebooks, videos and audiobooks can be purchased directly from their website: D&B Poker

All of the company’s books make for excellent stocking stuffers, so be sure to treat yourself to some of their finest, most popular titles this holiday season.

THE GTO+ RANGES APP BY RED CHIP POKER

Not all preflop ranges are created equal. Solid GTO poker charts are both complex to set up and costly to run, and that’s before trying to visualize them!

This is why the team at Red Chip Poker spent more than a year developing The GTO Poker Ranges App. This app was released in 2022 with a complete suite of preflop ranges for 6max and live cash game players, along with tournament ranges – and the app has only gotten better.

Since launching, Red Chip added the “world’s-first” most complex live GTO solve allowing for multiple callers which took the server multiple months to compute running 24/7 on a custom server with 2TB of RAM (not a typo!). There have also been two additional tournament GTO solves added for both 40bb and 60bb stack depths.

Red Chip’s server is still running and there are new ranges slated to be released in 2023, including solves for straddle pots and additional tournament ranges too. The free version of the app includes all open-raising ranges, and the paid version gets you everything from preflop calls to 3-bets to 5-betting ranges.

Learn more about The GTO Poker Ranges App here, or search for it in your Android or Apple app store.

CUSTOM ENAMEL POKER PINS with FREE DESIGN SERVICE

Poker is a way of life, not just a hobby or a career. If you have a friend or relative who loves to play poker, or earns a full-time living at it, honing in on multiple poker tables or online poker rooms every night, often sacrificing money, comfort, and sleep in pursuit of their dreams, they’re very important to the World Series of Poker. As much as the rest of us focus on the Super Bowl, the World Cup, or the Oscars.

The ideal gift for poker players is not only to express their passion but also to make a stressful lifestyle easier, more fun, and more comfortable. High-grade customized lapel pins – these have a unique process of hand sanding to a glossy finish. Besides the delicate surface, the enamel is vibrant, giving people a sense of noble luxury. The price is also very affordable. This material is widely used in the company’s high-end pins, high-end commemorative pins, high-end collection pins, etc.

GS-JJ.com is an enamel pin manufacturer with 20 years of production experience. Order No Minimum Hard Enamel Pins from them and enjoy the best quality and factory direct prices. Custom enamel pins made by them are of the highest quality and are made exactly to your specifications. Card dice and poker chip pins as well as a variety of hobby and interest pins support a free design service. Let them make your poker tournament and personalized card pins, allowing your recipient to add a sign of his/her passion for poker to the pin, perfect for poker players, poker tournaments, or event volunteers!

POKERCODE

Treat yourself during the holiday season and take your game to the next level with Pokercode. The mastermind behind this powerful all-in-one poker solution is none-other than Fedor Holz.

Pokercode is way more than just a poker course. It combines all the building blocks of successful poker in one place: Premium poker content, live coaching by some of the game’s best, excellent ranges, and at the heart of it all access to the exclusive Pokercode community.

On their buzzing Discord server, you can talk strategy with thousands of members and take on challenges to drill preflop and postflop spots. You can also take part in community events and free home games (with nice prizes). But most importantly, you have direct access to your mentors Fedor Holz, Matthias Eibinger, and Steffen Sontheimer.

You can fuel your poker development with not one but two top-of-the-line masterclasses. Tournament poker is covered by strategy wizards Eibinger and Holz, whose track records speak for themselves. Cash games are taught via a unique holistic approach designed by Sontheimer, the Purple Jacket Winner who has been crushing the games for years.

Everything is rounded out by multiple world-class live coaching sessions every month, which range from streamlining your fundamentals to taking a deep dive into advanced concepts. Pokercode covers both online and live play, regular tournaments, and knock-out formats to give you an all-around poker education to excel in every area.

BBO POKER TABLES

The ultimate thoughtful and lasting holiday gift for the poker player in your life is a personalized BBO poker table. BBO is the leader in customized poker tables and their tables are guaranteed to invoke table envy!

Choose from the largest selection of armrest materials, custom layouts, and accessories to create your own dream poker table, hand-built in Las Vegas. They are the only poker table company that offers free shipping and a lifetime guarantee and have been powering unforgettable poker nights for over 15 years.

Your BBO poker table will utilize exclusive materials and can even feature customized layouts as well as hi-tech built-in USB chargers. They’ve been recognized as the premier supplier to many of the biggest names and events in poker, including the World Poker Tour!

They are currently running holiday specials for a very limited time so head over to BBOpokertables.com and build a dream table for the special poker player in your life, or for yourself!

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RUN IT ONCE TRAINING

If you want to start taking your game seriously in 2023 you’ll find everything you need to back up your commitment at Run It Once Training. Launched in 2012 by high stakes legend Phil Galfond, Run It Once has always been the place for dedicated poker players to advance to the next level and stay ahead of their opponents.

The slogan ‘Train With the Best’ doesn’t only reflect that you’ll learn from the highest tier coaches like 2022 Main Event Champion Espen Jorstad, Kevin Rabichow, or Phil Galfond himself. It also means you’ll benefit from a community of students that have the highest aspirations in poker and are often professional players themselves.

Members of Run It Once Training Plans get access to an expansive library of over 7,200 training videos, with two brand new videos every single day to make sure you’re always learning the newest strategies. No matter which form of poker you play or which area of your game you need to work on, Run It Once has you covered.

Just starting out in poker or want to transition to a new game format? Run It Once Courses were specifically designed for new players who want to start learning poker from the beginning, the right way. The courses follow a carefully crafted learning journey until you have the proper foundation you need to expand your game to the highest levels.

Want to give yourself or loved ones a special gift? For a limited time, you can now save $200 on a full year of the Run It Once Elite membership while also locking in a bonus gift and the chance to get your play reviewed by a Run It Once Pro.

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HALL OF FAME POKER ROOM HORSESHOE LAS VEGAS

The Hall of Fame Poker Room at Horseshoe Las Vegas, home of the World Series of Poker, features 18 tables and offers many exciting varieties of live poker suited for the recreational poker player or the seasoned veteran.

You are sure to find your favorite with games ranging from $1-$3 to $5-$10 No-Limit Hold’em, $3/$6 and $4/$8 Limit Hold’em as well as Pot Limit Omaha and Omaha Eight or Better.

Our High Hand Madness promotion pays $200 every 20 minutes for the highest hand of that period of time.

Players earn $1 per hour and 17 tier credits for $1/$3 No-Limit Hold’em and $3/$6 Limit Hold’em, or double that at $2 per hour and 34 tier credits for any game $2/$3 No-Limit Hold’em and above.

Test your luck with six exciting tournament times daily, highlighted by our Horseshoe Saturday Special with a $5,000 guaranteed prize pool.

Call 702-976-4403 and get your name on the Hall of Fame Poker Room waiting list this holiday season.

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RUNGOODGEAR APPAREL

RunGoodGear is poker’s premier clothing line for apparel both on and off the felt. Based out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and founded by Tana Karn in 2012, our clothing line goes hand-in-hand with the two-time Global Poker Award-winning RunGood Poker Series, where we do regular apparel giveaways to some of our events.

We carry your favorite items including our ultra soft flagship RUNGOOD Classic tees in a multitude of colors and sizes up to 4XL, priced at $20 across the board for all sizes (some long sleeve T-shirt options are available as well). We also stock a variety of sweatshirts including hoodies, crewnecks, full zips, and quarter zips in plenty of colors and styles that are all priced at $50. Our hats are a top-selling item and we have both flex-fit and snapback mesh back trucker cap options, and those are $25.

We pride ourselves on staying stylish and comfortable while remaining affordable to low-stakes NLH poker room grinders. We also offer a few other items like golf shirts, drawstring bags, and Oakley brand backpacks.

Use code RUNGOODFREESHIP for free shipping on all orders placed within the United States!

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THE POKER COURSES VAULT (FROM SPLITSUIT)

There are few poker coaches more prolific than James “SplitSuit” Sweeney. From his VLOG to his hosting of the Red Chip Poker podcast to his excellent free poker quizzes – you’ll find training content for all cash game players.

So SplitSuit bundled up all of his best courses and put them together inside of a membership he calls “The Vault”. Vault includes 24/7 streaming access to courses like The Hand Reading Lab, The One Percent, The Mental Advantage, and more.

Instead of paying hundreds of dollars per course, you can study everything for just one monthly price. On top of the courses, you also get access to a private Discord server, homework, and pay nothing extra for new books & courses he releases in the future.

Join The Vault today and take control of your poker training for 2023.

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POKERGO SUBSCRIPTION

If you are looking for the perfect poker player gift, or just want to treat yourself this holiday season, look no further than a PokerGO subscription. Think of PokerGO as the Netflix of poker. Home to the iconic High Stakes Poker, poker’s hottest new show No Gamble, No Future, World Series of Poker live broadcasts, and an enormous portfolio of live and on-demand content, PokerGO is an absolute must-have for any poker enthusiast.

PokerGO offers monthly, quarterly, and annual subscription plans. The best deal is an annual subscription. At a regular price of $99.99, a PokerGO annual subscription breaks down to less than $9 per month — less than the price of two grande peppermint mochas for all you Starbucks lovers out there. But, for a limited time, Cardplayer Lifestyle readers can get an even better deal.

Purchase a new PokerGO annual subscription using the promo code CPLHOLIDAY2022 at checkout to save $20 off the regular annual price. That will give you the gift of unlimited PokerGO access for $79.99 for the year, which comes to less than $7 per month. If you’re already a PokerGO subscriber on a monthly or quarterly plan, you can use the CPLHOLIDAY2022 discount code to upgrade to an annual plan for some cost-saving.

The best holiday gift for a poker player is a PokerGO subscription. Head to get.PokerGO.com to purchase one today.

*Ed. note: Enter our contest to win a FREE 1-year PokerGO subscription. Details here.

But, the challenge with poker training courses is twofold. The first — and more obvious — one is figuring out which one to pick. Reading reviews and talking to those who have purchased the course already can help a lot in that department.

The second challenge or fear that many players have is whether they’ll be able to get value out of the training materials. How do you actually go about learning poker in the most efficient way and getting the best value out of the resources you’ve paid for?

The Game Plan by Kevin Rabichow is a course designed primarily to tackle this second challenge and teach you how to consume poker knowledge. If you’re hesitant about getting involved with a poker training site or have tried it in the past but felt like it didn’t help your game as much as you had hoped, this course is for you.

Run It Once and Kevin Rabichow have come together to offer the ultimate course on how to learn poker in the modern era of training courses, HUDs, and solvers, to create a very interesting and unique product. If you’re still confused as to what I’m talking about, don’t worry; this detailed Game Plan course review will tell you all you need to know.

The Game Plan Basics: What Poker Learning Consists Of?

The first couple of videos of Kevin Rabichow’s Game Plan lay out the foundation for everything discussed in later lessons. The introductory part is split into two parts, simply called:

• In Theory
• In Practice

With the ‘In Theory’ segment, Rabichow explains how you should approach the idea of poker learning before digging into any particular course or lesson. He explains the process you should go through to try and figure out how comfortable you are with major strategy sections such as preflop play, postflop play, GTO, and exploitative adjustments.

While the first video asks the player to try and evaluate their theoretical level of knowledge, the ‘In Practice’ segment asks a different important question: how does your theoretical knowledge translate into actual gameplay?

Rabichow goes through several major areas that you can use to evaluate this segment, such as:

• Generating edge: you’re not automatically making money from your opponents making mistakes.
• The skill of execution and table presence: the difference between knowing what to do and actually doing it.
• The river decision-making: a lot different from earlier street decisions as there is much more nuance.

Evaluating Your Abilities

The next two segments of The Game Plan are named ‘Evaluate’ and ‘Improve,’ and these tie in together.

The ‘Evaluate’ section is geared to give you the tools needed to identify strengths and weaknesses in your game and figure out where your biggest edge comes from.

The next few videos present you with detailed forms that you need to fill in to evaluate the current state of your poker skills. There are four core segments Rabichow focuses on in separate videos, namely:

• Strategy evaluation – identify your strengths and weaknesses and figure out what are the fundamental areas of your game that need improving first.
• Theory evaluation – figuring out how good your theoretical understanding of the game is. In this segment, you’re trying to figure out how confident you are about your background knowledge in those main areas that have been identified earlier in the course.
• Study evaluation – this segment is designed to help you figure out how effective your current studying process is.
• Skills evaluation – trying to determine what’s the skill gap between you and your opponents. The goal is to figure out where your execution can improve and what areas you should focus more in your studying routine.

There is a separate Google document for each of these sections, and after watching the video, you can go ahead and try to fill out the form for yourself, answering the questions inside, i.e., rating your skills and abilities.

This is a very important step in the process, as it all leads to building your study template, which is the final lesson in the ‘Evaluate’ section of the Game Plan course. Based on the different evaluation sheets, you’ll come up with your own conclusions about what you need to work on and what should be your highest priorities.

READ MORE: Kevin Rabichow on the Ecstasy of Choice in Poker Training

The Game Plan: Improving Your Play

The previous section of the course should end up with you having a fairly clear picture of where you are as a poker player, what your biggest strengths are, and what areas of your game need to improve. Based on these conclusions, you can start building your study plan.

Rabichow recognizes there are many different study methods, and not all of them are best suited for all types of players. He also identifies the biggest strengths and weaknesses of certain types of training materials, such as:

• Poker content (videos, streams, etc.)
• GTO sims and poker solvers
• Analyzing your own play using a hand database
• Community participation

The main idea behind this module is to help you identify the type of resource that would be the most effective for the type of knowledge you seek to acquire and for the type of person you are.

Like the previous section, this one also requires you to be honest with yourself and admit if you’ve faced the type of issues that Rabichow discusses when addressing particular poker training options. It is important to understand these pitfalls and take them to heart so that you can avoid them the next time you get down to studying.

The Gameplan – Putting the Process to the Test

The final section of the Run It Once Game Plan course features Kevin Rabichow putting his own studying plan to the test in a training module focused primarily on the heads-up play.

This module takes you through all the steps that go into building a successful learning strategy, starting with preflop ranges for heads-up play, going over flop and turn strategies, and wrapping up with river considerations.

The ‘Gameplan’ module is a very solid course on heads-up play in its own right, but it is also a great example of how the process described in the course can be applied by an actual player serious about improving their game.

Run It Once Game Plan: Summary

In the sea of different poker courses, The Game Plan by Kevin Rabichow manages to stand apart from the rest. It is an excellent resource for everyone wanting to learn how to study poker. And, as much as that phrase may sound strange, this is a big issue that many players face these days.

If you feel like studying poker is a struggle for you and that no matter how many hours you spend, you don’t get the desired results, The Game Plan could be the best investment you could make.

Instead of buying different courses, hoping that one of them works for you, you can learn the process that helps you get the best value out of every course out there. The Game Plan teaches you how to recognize your strengths and weaknesses, how to approach removing the leaks from your game, and understand what is the best type of training for you, specifically.

I’ll admit that my first thought was that this was a bit out there, but after watching the course, there is no doubt in my mind that it can be of great help to anyone looking to study poker seriously. The Game Plan is not designed for beginners or casual players, that much is clear, but if you have serious plans for your poker future and those plans include poker training in one way or another, this course can give you a great kick start.

• 2 Tables of Heads Up Pot Limit Omaha
• Established number of hands (between 10,000-35,000 hands)
• Galfond would lay odds

Phil is a perfect 5-for-5 against some of the top players in the world including Venividi, ActionFreak, Chance Kornuth, Brandon Adams, and Dan “Jungleman” Cates. Combined, he is up over $1,500,000 from his opponents between the poker and side bets.

What does this have to do with learning the great game of Pot Limit Omaha? Simple: Phil has turned his hundreds of thousands of hands into a course for his Run It Once Training site called This Is PLO. In it you’ll reap the rewards of his having broken down thousands of hands and running them through the solver, then sitting down to record his thoughts of how to play PLO.

For all intents and purposes, there are two ways to learn any type of poker: through intuition and through studying. Intuition lends itself to watching others play, feeling out the right time to bluff, watching what hands win at showdown, and figuring out how to manipulate situations to your advantage at the table in order to win the most with your best hand and win when you have the worst of it. Many modern players, however, lean towards studying and putting in work away from the table in order to understand the fundamental mathematical reason and the why behind every decision at the table.

Who Should (and Shouldn’t) Buy the Course?

This Is PLO is for the truly serious poker player who wants to dig into the depths of the game and uncover every nuanced reason for being in Omaha. Phil has put together a course that covers over 15 different segments of the game tree. Each segment of the game tree is broken down into four different branches, and each branch has 3-5 separate leaves. If the conversation of a game tree and the multiple facets of decision that fall off it leaves you scratching your head then it’s recommended to look elsewhere to learn the fundamentals of PLO. A wonderful spot to start this journey is through the more beginner level PLO course From The Ground Up on RIO. But if you’re serious about taking your game to the next level, this is the course for you!

As you can see illustrated in the screenshot below, each tab is broken out into Dynamic Boards, Straight Boards, Flush Boards, and Paired Boards.

The first few videos within the course are all about the fundamentals and delve into the math behind calling ranges and Minimum Defense Frequencies required to call down your opponent based off their bet sizing. It is very dry, it is very much like a professor walking his class through a problem on the chalk board. It is what’s required to win.

You will need to break it up in to multiple sessions and probably go back and rewatch it to make sure it sinks in. This section of the course is also inherently necessary to understanding the base level strategy in order to lay the foundation for your entire game so that you don’t have any fundamental flaws or leaks. You are going to need to understand terms like MDF, 1-A, and also want to learn from a mathematical perspective. In short, you need to be prepared to go back to school and unlearn all of what you thought you knew about PLO.

This being said, Galfond actively encourages the student to learn from a solver, understand the whys and hows of what it recommends, and then understand how to incorporate it into your game and deviate accordingly. It’s more than plugging situations into a computer; it’s also understanding the information that comes out. Naturally, it would also be sensible to have some working knowledge of the Run It Once Vision GTO Trainer tool in order to get the most out of this course.

READ MORE: Vision GTO Training Tool Review

In order to deviate from proper play, you must first know what proper play is. Once you make your way out of the fundamentals there are still plenty more lessons to dive into and Phil uses real life examples of hands he played in his heads up matches and explains his reasoning behind each of his decisions. This, coupled with some solver work to help provide clarity to the fundamental approach, enables Phil to provide a holistic answer on how and why decisions are made in PLO. Sometimes he follows what a solver would do, while other times he walks his own path, but there is always a what and a why for the play at hand.

To paraphrase one segment of Galfond’s videos: I’ll simplify my strategy slightly against what a solver would do and it may lose EV but it’s easier to implement in the long run, which means it’s a better strategy as I can stick to it and know what I’m doing across all situations.

The vast majority of This Is PLO material is based off of Galfond’s Heads-Up play from his challenge but don’t let that dissuade you; all of the fundamentals crossover and will strengthen your PLO game no matter how many players are at the table. If that doesn’t convince you then keep in mind there is also a 6-Max section.

Galfond pairs up with Richard Gryko for 20 different videos covering the nuanced differences between playing PLO Heads-Up vs. multiway. Gryko has multiple solo videos where he breaks down the theory of different spots and, to quote a friend, “Richard Gryko is an amazing player but isn’t the best teacher”. The theory videos are akin to going back to college and trying to stay awake during your 9am Physics class taught by your least favorite professor.

They are extremely dense in knowledge and, as such, if you want to truly ingest the information, you’ll need to watch it multiple times. With that said, they are important and are going to help you build an overall strategy if you give them their due. Thankfully the other 75% of the 6-max coursework is much more palpable.

Phil sits alongside Grkyo and they banter back and forth about situations: what Phil would do, why he would do it, what the theory dictates, and what his counterpart actually did in reality. It helps drive home the concepts and the differences between the two worlds; as much as some players may buy this course and think they can skip all the Heads-Up content and dive solely into the 6-max videos, I would challenge this idea and suggest that it would be detrimental to their overall learning. Spend the time on all sections and allow this section to sharpen your overall game.

Clearly This Is PLO is for professionals who look to make their living by knowing how their four cards interact with their opponents ranges and a variety of board textures. If you play PLO as more than a passing fancy online at stakes of $2-5 or higher or live at $5-10 and above, you are doing yourself a disservice by not buying this course and putting in the hours away from the table to become the best version on yourself at the table. It is a time commitment, as well as a monetary commitment, but it will reap huge rewards in a very short time. Plainly speaking, the $2,499 you invest will be a distant memory as your hourly increases and pays for the course in all but a handful of sessions.

Phil Galfond’s This is PLO: Pros vs. Cons

Pros:

• Most knowledgeable coach in the entire world
• Extremely extensive material, hundreds of videos broken down in a comprehensive manner
• More material being uploaded regularly

Cons:

• Expensive
• Helps to have a basis in solvers to learn faster, mathematically based

Let’s be clear: Phil Galfond’s This Is PLO isn’t for the faint of heart. If you buy it then you’re committing to hundreds of hours of video content, thought experiments, and familiarization with new terms and concepts. You truly have to want to get better at your Pot Limit Omaha game and that isn’t for everyone. There is a purity to the game that will be stripped away and the notion that it’s “just a game that you can gamble on and get large amounts of chips in willy-nilly” will vanish. But then again, everyone around you will still have that notion and you’ll be left picking up the free money that sits down on a daily basis.

READ MORE: Phil Galfond Discusses This is PLO, His First Ever Full-Length Course for Run It Once

That said, whether you’re making a transition or Pot Limit Omaha is the first poker variant you’ve tackled, there is one problem that comes up immediately. How to learn to play the game correctly and adopt profitable strategies?

Phil Galfond’s training site Run It Once (or RIO, for short) offers a vast, excellent selection of coaching videos to help you become a better PLO player. However, if you prefer a more hands-on approach, the RIO Vision GTO Trainer, created by Matthias Pum, is just the tool you need.

RIO Vision GTO Trainer in a Nutshell

As you’re probably aware, PLO can be a very complicated game. With four hole cards instead of two, the decision-making process becomes increasingly complex. It’s hard to know what the best course of action is in different spots.

RIO Vision GTO Trainer is designed to help you address these concerns and find answers to all the questions you may have.

The tool allows you to easily set up different post-flop scenarios for heads-up and six-max PLO spots at 50bb and 100bb. The interface is quite intuitive, although it may take you a little while to get used to it and learn how to use all the available functionalities.

This is a good thing, though, as it means that RIO Vision GTO Trainer is a powerful piece of software that lets you break down all the different spots to the minute detail and get the answer you’re looking for. Plus, there are great video tutorials to help you understand how to use all these different options (scroll down to check them out).

RIO Vision GTO Trainer is a poker solver tool, which means it will supply you with mathematically optimal solutions for various spots. It will tell you how often you should check or bet in a certain spot and how to size your bets depending on the board texture.

However, unlike many solvers out there, this one is actually quite easy and intuitive to use, and you don’t have to wait long to get your results. It comes with preloaded GTO solutions for over 420 board textures and 11,000+ ready-made solver solutions, which eliminates the problem of long loading times.

UPDATE July 2022: 5-Card PLO simulations are now included in the RIO Vision GTO Trainer.

We’ve officially added 5-card PLO simulations to our GTO Trainer, Vision.

Now, you’re able to learn the basics of 5-card PLO, study tricky spots, or test yourself against others in Streak mode.

For more information, check out our website! https://t.co/kX8JrugQY9 pic.twitter.com/0BAaqlbMHi

— Run It Once Training (@RunItOnce) June 30, 2022

How to Make the Most Out of RIO Vision GTO Trainer?

This tool is probably not the best fit for absolute PLO beginners, as you still need to have a solid grasp and understanding of the game to make the most out of all the capabilities this software has to offer. That said, you don’t have to be an expert to use it, either.

The interface is very user-friendly, so setting up the scenarios you want to look at is easy. On the right-hand side, there is a panel where you can apply additional filters to further narrow things down and only focus on the boards you’re interested in, allowing you to save a lot of time.

Because the solutions have been computed ahead of time, you don’t need a powerful computer to use this tool. It even works on your mobile phone, which is quite revolutionary for poker solvers.

Once you figure things out, RIO Vision GTO Trainer allows you to set up everything exactly the way you want it. Whether it’s a button vs. big blind spot or you want to look into playing from the button against an early position raiser, you can easily create and study different scenarios.

If you want to make your learning experience more engaging, there is also the Vision Streak Mode. Here, you need to come up with correct answers for various spots, collecting leaderboard points along the way, and unlocking access to more streaks.

Value for Money: Is Vision Trainer a Good Investment?

The poker community is divided into two major camps. There are those who swear by the solvers and those who think that this type of software shouldn’t be around in the first place. But no one is denying these programs can be very helpful in shaping up your game.

When it comes to RIO Vision GTO Trainer, this tool has a lot going for it. Unlike many solvers out there, it’s really fast and doesn’t require you to have a supercomputer to make the most out of it. It is geared more towards an average PLO player looking to get better than someone already on a very high level.

As such, it is definitely a good buy for anyone looking for a tool they can use without much hassle. At under $100/month for the 6-max or the HU version (you can also get the package deal for under $150/month), it is great value for money even if you play at very low stakes.

Choosing an annual plan saves you 25% off the RIO Vision GTO Trainer monthly price

Of course, like all tools of this type, it won’t do the work for you. To get the highest value out of the software, you’ll need to spend the time analyzing hands, looking into GTO solutions, and understanding how these spots are solved. It’s impossible to memorize every single situation, but, with time, you can develop a very good feeling for “what a computer would do” in a certain spot.

All in all, if you’re serious about shaping up your PLO game, this tool will 100% help you on your journey. You’ll still need other resources to get there, but this is one that you can get for a very fair price and have handy whenever you feel like putting in some study time.

BONUS: Check out a the additional videos below, where Vision creator Matthias Pum guides you through the tool’s numerous various functionalities, including:

• Changing positions and flop texture
• Comparing our actions on different boards
• Introduction to practice mode
• Detailed practice mode overview
• Practicing with the frequency trainer
• Isolating specific hand categories
• Turn analysis in practice mode
• Exporting ranges with AutoHotkey
• River custom mode analysis
• Preflop custom mode analysis
• Analyzing rivers with MonkerSolver Free
• Saving and linking from custom preflop spots

For the sixth consecutive year, Cardplayer Lifestyle is proud to offer our readers this Holiday Gift Guide for Poker Players. In much of the developed world, things seem to finally be heading back towards what we knew as normal, and there’s a lot to give thanks for. Thus, it’s important to try and focus on things that can make us happy and bring us smiles.

As always, we’ve put together a wide variety of gift giving ideas for you to consider this holiday season, including a number of new, creative entries on our list as well as some annual stalwarts.

Moreover, many of our featured vendors are offering exclusive holiday discounts to Cardplayer Lifestyle readers, so whether you’re looking for the perfect gift for your poker-loving partner or, alternatively, just want to treat yourself to something nice, be sure to take advantage!

We hope you enjoy this year’s guide!

SKIP TO: 1. DIGITAL POKER TABLES | 2. THE GTO+ SOLVER BUNDLE BY RED CHIP POKER | 3. THE MENTAL GAME TUNE UP FOR TOURNAMENT POKER | 4. RUN IT ONCE TRAINING | 5. FADED SPADE PLAYING CARDS | 6. CAESARS PALACE POKER ROOM | 7. SHUFFLE TECH MDS-6 MULTI-DECK SHUFFLER | 8. D&B POKER BOOKS | 9. POKERCOACHING PREMIUM | 10. THE POKER FORGE | 11. FLOPZILLA PRO CUSTOM SPLITSUIT EDITION | 12. RUNGOODGEAR APPAREL |

DIGITAL POKER TABLES

Take your home game to the next level with your very own Digital Poker Table. This holiday season is the perfect time to purchase your very own electronic gaming table, where you can play up to 18 different poker variants at the touch of a button.

No cards or chips necessary! Just an outlet, WiFi, and you’re ready to play poker with your buddies!

Whether you opt for the 2-, 4-, 6-, 8-, or 10-seat Digital Poker Table, you’ll always have access to the latest software updates and upgrades.

Choose to play limit, pot limit, or no-limit, whether in cash game or tournament format.

Best of all, the Digital Poker Table doubles as a family gaming table! You can play popular favorites like Rummikub, Trivia, and more with your kids, neighbors, and even invite the grandparents over for game night.

Don’t have room in your home for a table? No problem — for just $25/month you can purchase a premium subscription to the Digital Poker Table software and play on your iOS devices, even broadcasting the game onto your Apple TV!

Visit DigitalPokerTable.com or call (702) 628-1900 to order in time for the holidays, and be sure to mention Cardplayer Lifestyle!

THE GTO+ SOLVER BUNDLE BY RED CHIP POKER

Red Chip Poker has officially partnered up with GTO+ to offer you the best introduction to GTO. As game theory optimal (GTO) poker continues to increase in popularity and importance, now is the time to invest in a quality solver and training. So their new GTO+ Bundle includes a lifetime license to the GTO+ solver AND a complete course so you know exactly how to set up the tool, explore the trees, and analyze solves like a pro.

GTO+ allows you to do everything from simple solves to complex bet sizing exploration. Plus, you can “play against the solver” to test your skills between sessions. And for the more advanced players, this solver allows for node locking, various display methods, and even scripting.

Buy the GTO+ bundle for the poker player in your life (or as a nice holiday gift for yourself!) to start seeing GTO poker more clearly.

THE MENTAL GAME TUNE UP FOR TOURNAMENT POKER

The Mental Game Tune Up for Tournament Poker is a video-based course that walks players through the same steps that Jared Tendler takes his clients through to prepare for tournament play. Comprehensive yet simple, it consists of eight modules covering key topics, such as tilt, handling swings in variance, burnout, and distractions.

The most popular feature of the course are the unscripted coaching sessions called “Coaching the Pros” featuring two notable professional poker players: Diego Ventura and Matt Affleck. Go inside to see how top online and live professionals think and prepare for WCOOP and the WSOP. Now is the time to get yourself ready for 2022. Don’t wait until the next series to get started. Invest in your game and let Jared guide you through the steps to get it in shape.

“I can’t recommend the Mental Game Tune Up course and Jared’s work highly enough. I really found it valuable to work through leading up to my last WSOP trip which was my most successful trip by far. Thanks for another amazing product Jared!”

Lara Eiesenberg, 2021 WSOP Ladies Champion

Claim your special $125 discount this Holiday Season by using promo code CPL125 when you enroll in Jared’s course.

RUN IT ONCE TRAINING

If you want to start taking your game seriously in 2022 you’ll find everything you need to back up your commitment at Run It Once Training. Launched in 2012 by high stakes legend Phil Galfond, Run It Once has always been the place for dedicated poker players to advance to the next level and stay ahead of their opponents.

The slogan ‘Train With the Best’ doesn’t only reflect that you’ll learn from the highest tier coaches like Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates, Kevin Rabichow, or Phil Galfond himself. It also means you’ll benefit from a community of students that have the highest aspirations in poker and are often professional players themselves.

Members of Run It Once Training Plans get access to an expansive library of over 6,500 training videos, with two brand new videos every single day to make sure you’re always learning the newest strategies. No matter which form of poker you play or which area of your game you need to work on, Run It Once has you covered.

Just starting out in poker or want to transition to a new game format? Run It Once Courses were specifically designed for new players who want to start learning poker from the beginning, the right way. The courses follow a carefully crafted learning journey until you have the proper foundation you need to expand your game to the highest levels.

If you need help planning the perfect poker gift for your loved ones, reach out to Run It Once Support and we’ll assist you every step of the way.

FADED SPADE PLAYING CARDS

As the preferred playing cards of the World Poker Tour, Faded Spade has fast become the most popular playing card brand for poker players across the globe.

Poker players in many countries and continents have switched to Faded Spade playing cards for their poker home games. The cards are known for their modern face card designs and high quality 100% plastic that has an intentional balance of strength and flexibility. Two-deck sets are available in Poker Size 2.0 (Wide), Bridge Size 2.0 (Narrow), and 4-Color 2.0.

Beyond WPT programming, you might have also played with Faded Spade cards at your local poker room! Plus, you may have seen Faded Spade poker playing cards on many popular poker live stream shows or in play on NBC Sports, PokerGO, and more during poker programs like Poker After Dark, Super High Roller Bowl, Poker Masters, and the U.S. Poker Open.

CAESARS PALACE POKER ROOM

There’s perhaps no more enjoyable time to take a poker trip than the Holiday season, and similarly there’s perhaps no more enjoyable poker room to play in than the one at Caesars Palace! Once you hit Las Vegas, head straight to the center of the famed Las Vegas Strip to the one-of-a-kind Caesars Palace Poker Room.

With 18 tables, and located right next to the casino’s sportsbook, the 4,500-square-foot poker room offers all the action you can handle at limits ranging from $1-3 right up to the nosebleeds. Comps are offered at $2 per hour, with Caesars Rewards Members also earning 34 tier points/hour.

Beyond cash games, the room also offers multiple tournaments each day and is staffed by some of the most professional, friendly dealers and floorpeople you’ll find in the city.

Staff are happy to speak with you anytime, so feel free to call (866) 227-5938 and get your name on the waiting lists this holiday season at Caesars Palace, home of champions!

SHUFFLE TECH MDS-6 MULTI-DECK SHUFFLER

The new Shuffle Tech MDS-6 is perfect for this upcoming Holiday Season. As you gather with friends and family to spend time together and play games, this makes a perfect addition to your game night.

This multi-deck card shuffler can shuffle up to 6 full decks of playing cards. Whether you play canasta, blackjack, or any other multi-deck card game, this will streamline your hand shuffling. Paper cards will shuffle, but not as well as with 100% plastic playing cards. So, quality playing cards are always recommended. And as always, our products come with a 1-year warranty.

The MDS-6 runs both on direct power or battery operated (4 x D-sized). Plus, as with all Shuffle Tech products, you also get a 1-year warranty!

We ship worldwide! For more information, visit www.shuffletech.com.

D&B POKER BOOKS

D&B Poker produces the best poker books out there and their latest publication from the highly successful coach and author Jonathan Little is no exception. Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker: The Essential Guide can rightly claim to be the definitive guide to tournament poker. As per our own review, “The poker world was ready for an age-defining poker book in a period of global flux; it has found it in this book.”

This holiday season, you can get your hands on either the beautiful hardcover edition, the ebook, or the audiobook (recorded by Jonathan), all of which can be found HERE.

Also due out in the coming weeks is an addition to D&B’s Mastering Small Stakes series, Evan Jarvis‘ Mastering Small Stakes Cash Games. Evan’s reputation as a top notch coach at Gripsed.com is well established and in this book he brings his full arsenal of knowledge and skills to help players master cash game play. Evan takes a holistic approach, recognizing that being able to master people and master yourself are equally important in order to achieve poker success.

This book makes for an excellent stocking stuffer, as the paperback edition will be publishing in December in UK/Europe and January in the US, with the ebook due out in January.

POKERCOACHING PREMIUM

This holiday season PokerCoaching.com is rolling out the red carpet and giving you up to 61% off on PREMIUM memberships!

Beyond their already massive suite of training materials, you’ll also get FREE access to two of Jonathan Little‘s exclusive courses — the all-new Cash Game Masterclass and his Tournament Masterclass — PLUS his vast library of 1-on-1 coaching videos!

Cash Game Masterclass

• 32+ hours
• 156 lessons

In this completely new course, Little teaches you everything you need to know to crush small and medium stakes cash games. Via numerous hand examples and quizzes, you’ll internalize how to consistently win in both online and live cash games, with starting stacks of 100 and 200 big blinds.

Tournament Masterclass

• 30+ hours
• 180 lessons

In this highly regarded course, Little teaches you everything you need to know to play every stage of a poker tournament optimally, maximally exploit your opponents, and maximize your tournament equity.

1-on-1 Coaching Videos

Best of all, if you act now and join PokerCoaching Premium, you’ll get FREE ACCESS to 240+ hours Jonathan Little’s 1-on-1 coaching videos!

Ring in the holidays by joining the 120,000+ poker players who are using PokerCoaching.com to increase their win rate through active learning!

THE POKER FORGE

The Poker Forge helps online small-stakes players build valuable skills for a fun and profitable journey. You will go through 9 Masterclass courses that teach foundational and advanced poker strategies in a logical progression. This will build you up as a player with useful skills one upon the other, while helping you avoid poker overwhelm: That feeling of having too much to study and not enough time. The Poker Forge helps you learn where you must focus your efforts and guides you in that direction.

You can start booking wins right away with course #1, the Quick Wins Gameplans, which help you earn quick profits with easy-to-use strategies. Or, you can bounce around from course to course. Maybe start with the Hand Reading Course (to learn poker’s #1 skill) or the Finding the Fold Course (to plug that costly leak of poor post-flop calling). The journey is up to you, but along the way the Poker Forge gives you checklists, calendars and study guides to keep you on track.

All Poker Forge training is built upon the idea of “learn then apply”. Each video teaches you important strategies to use in-game or during your study time. Plus, every video gives you action steps to take that force you to practice what you just learned because… action is the greatest teacher.

Give yourself or the poker player in your life the gift of a profitable and fun online poker journey with The Poker Forge.

FLOPZILLA PRO CUSTOM SPLITSUIT EDITION

One of the best tools for poker study is Flopzilla Pro. Flopzilla can do everything from analyzing single hands to complex ranges, break down post-flop situations statistically, and even do advanced range-vs.-range analysis.

If you’ve never used this app before, here’s an example of using Flopzilla Pro to study a common $2/$5 hand:

To make things even better, the SPLITSUIT EDITION of Flopzilla Pro not only includes a lifetime license for the software, but it also includes custom range presets and additional training videos. This bundle sets every poker player up for success to make off-table time easier and on-table time more profitable.

Get the SplitSuit Edition of Flopzilla Pro today and book yourself a winning holiday season!

RUNGOODGEAR APPAREL

This holiday season it’s time to scroll past the parody shirts send your favorite poker player something they want to wear both at and away from the tables.

Since 2012, poker players have been gearing up with RunGood, the industry’s leading apparel company. Focused on producing clothing with an emphasis on comfort and style, the RunGoodGear brand is a popular sight in poker rooms around the United States, with a wide variety of hats, hoodies, and shirts available online.

“As a poker player, we don’t make anything we wouldn’t wear ourselves on or off the table.” says Tana Karn, Founder of RunGoodGear. There is a reason items become out of stock, don’t delay and pick up an item today.

Also, be sure to visit www.RunGoodGear.com to see what’s happening next with the multi-time GPI Award-Winning Mid-Major Tour, the RunGood Poker Series, while picking up your next hat or hoodie.

Wishing all of our readers here at Cardplayer Lifestyle a happy holiday season!

Free Video Offer for Cardplayer Lifestyle Readers

For the next seven days, exclusively for Cardplayer Lifestyle readers, you can access a brand new Essential video from coach Tariq Haji. His main game is NL200 on Ignition which makes his content specifically interesting for all Americans or players who compete at anonymous tables like Run It Once Poker. One of Tariq’s biggest strengths as a coach are his outstanding exploit skills which will teach you important lessons even if you play much lower stakes. 

In the free video, Tariq battles at two $1/$2 Zone tables while teaching you how to hand read and recognize suspicious bet sizes to outplay weaker players. Check out the video now!

From the Ground Up: PLO & SNG Editions Available Now!

Over the last few weeks Run It Once Training launched TWO brand new additions to their From The the Ground Up library. In addition to the ultimate NLHE cash game beginner guide and the all-in-one tournament guide, you can now accelerate your learning curve with the PLO and the Sit & Go editions!

The PLO Edition is the perfect on-ramp into the fascinating world of 4-card poker. Regardless of whether you’re still fairly new to poker or have been playing No Limit Hold’em for some time, in PLO it often takes a little longer for players to feel comfortable at the table. This course offers the solution by teaching you everything you need to know to play and win in this great action-packed game.

The Preflop Mastery section alone consists of 13 videos teaching solid preflop ranges to equip you for all the potential upcoming spots. Opening ranges, 3-betting ranges and what to do when facing 4-bets are all covered in this module. From there, you’ll dive into flop, turn & river play incorporating advanced concepts that will make your opponents fear your skills. 

This course is also great for players with more PLO experience who are looking to shore up their fundamentals. For more visual learners, the 50 pages PDF handbook accompanying the course will make sure that you don’t lose sight of the most important lessons that you’ve learned throughout the course.

Run It Once Training hasn’t always been the obvious option to learn about SNG play. This has now changed: with the SNG Edition of From the Ground Up you’re offered THE place to start your SNG career on the right foot or to revise potential strategy leaks in your current game. Longtime Run It Once Training Pro Ryan Martin shepherds you through everything you need to know to start crushing at this form of poker. Having focused most of his career on Sit & Gos, Ryan knows all the challenges and opportunities that come with this game type.

You’ll learn why the old wisdom of ‘tight is right’ at the early stages has long been overhauled and why it’s still more than possible to earn a fortune in the world of this fast-paced poker format. Across five modules, Ryan teaches you how to master all the different stages of a Sit & Go whether it’s preflop ranges, adjusting your post-flop strategy facing huge ICM pressure or most effectively leveraging a big stack. As with the PLO Edition you’ll get a comprehensive PDF that serves as a cheat sheet and compiles all of the most important lessons, links and charts utilized in each installment.

For all of the From the Ground Up courses you can check out the first two videos for free. So if you’re still unsure, get ready to see which From the Ground Up is for you : NLHE, MTT, PLO or SNGs.

Run It Once Poker’s Biggest Welcome Offer: Earn & Learn

But wait there’s more! If you like the idea of getting one of the From the Ground Up Courses AND want to put your newfound knowledge to use, you’ll want to take advantage of Run It Once Poker‘s  generous Earn & Learn promo.

To take part, all you need to do is head to runitonce.eu, download the poker client and make your first deposit and you’ll automatically unlock this incredible list of welcome bonuses:

• Your choice of lifetime access to one of the From The Ground Up courses: NLHE, PLO or SNG
• Boosted Legends rewards for 8 weeks
• Up to 3 months of the Run It Once Training Essential membership
• Up to €100 in SNG tickets
• Up to €600 Welcome Deposit Bonus with no time limit to unlock!

If you want to learn more about this great offer simply check out the promotion page here.

PADS on PADS: Patrick “pads1161” Leonard Joins the Team

Run It Once Training has announced an exciting addition to the Run It Once Training family with MTT legend Patrick ‘pads1161’ Leonard. Pads is well known from many high stakes appearances in televised events but had even more success in the online world of MTTs.

Delighted to announce that I’m partnering with @RunItOnce training for the course

– 100+ immediate videos Feb 8th
– HU in MTTs with @KRabichow
– PSKOs with Pwndidi
– Monthly current trends updates
– HH review with big winners from each site

More info https://t.co/gzz90KTffu pic.twitter.com/XzRCHvtVfR

— Patrick Leonard (@padspoker) January 21, 2021

Patrick’s brand new course PADS on PADS will be available in just a few weeks and it will teach you the secrets to Perfecting Analysis, Decisions & Strategy that has led Patrick to crush MTTs for over $14 million lifetime.

If you want to be one of the first to find out what makes this course so special, you can sign up for a pre-launch mailing list that will share early looks at the content, giveaways and even access to an exclusive Q&A session with Patrick. 

Galfond Challenge: Phil Goes 3-0 Forcing Kornuth to Surrender

In our last quarterly update Phil Galfond found himself being down a considerable amount and people were starting to wonder if Chance Kornuth would be the first of the challengers to break the PLO GOAT. Well think again. Once again Phil was able to overcome a deficit of -$344,000 and grinded back over $1 million to reach a massive lead of +$726,500 after roughly 25k hands played. With Kornuth approaching his loss limit, he decided to respectfully throw in the towel mid-session on January 23, making Phil the winner. With the win, Phil also scooped the $250,000 side bet, making this challenge’s profit roughly $1 million.

Chance displayed great sportsmanship and showed just how great of a guy he is by immediately jumping into a live interview with Phil, his wife Farah and commentators Nick Steiner and Henry Kilbane.

The matchup with Chance was one of the most dynamic battles so far as both players embraced exploitative adjustments on a daily basis leading to frequent changes in the match’s meta-game. Phil maintains his perfect record and brings his total winnings for the Galfond Challenge to $1,433,081. Don’t forget that you can also learn from Phil by getting access to hundreds of his training videos on the Run It Once Training plans.

Vision Streak: The Community Battle is On! 

Would you enjoy leveling up your PLO skills against Phil Galfond WITHOUT putting millions of dollars on the line? Well there might be something just for you. In our previous update on Run It Once Training we talked about the addition of Streak to the Vision GTO Trainer software, which makes the study experience much more engaging and efficient. Since the last update, Run It Once Training members have been battling for trophies in the monthly and all-time Vision Leaderboards to compete for the top spots and to find out who deserves the crown for best PLO student on the site!

And of course Phil Galfond has shown some interest in getting into this leaderboard challenge himself. For the next seven days you can watch him fight for his spot on the community leaderboards in his Elite video: Streak Leaderboard Chase for free.

You can even try the new Vision Streak feature for free by logging into your Run It Once Training account (the free Basic plan suffices for this) and head to the Vision Demo page.

—

That’s all for now. This column will be back once again come spring, where we’ll continue updating you with the latest news, updates, and product releases that Run It Once Training has to offer.

We’ve amassed a wide variety of gift giving ideas for you to consider, whether you’re looking for the perfect gift for your poker-loving partner or, alternatively, just want to treat yourself to something nice this holiday season.

As always, many of our featured vendors are offering exclusive holiday discounts to Cardplayer Lifestyle readers, so be sure to take advantage of them. We hope you enjoy this year’s guide!

RED CHIP POKER PRO MEMBERSHIP

The PRO Membership from Red Chip Poker is the perfect study tool for beginner-intermediate players, and the perfect gift to give yourself if you’d like to start improving your poker game. PRO not only includes 24/7 streaming access to hundreds of in-depth training videos, you get complete access to CORE as well. CORE is the most comprehensive poker syllabus with 200+ lessons, the brand-new Bulletproof Ranges, and a complete MTT sub-course taught by a WSOP bracelet winner Chris “Fox” Wallace.

PRO is growing it’s beginner-oriented GTO content, everything from exact solver ranges applicable to your game to practical applications of GTO concepts. You can even help them choose what GTO ideas to explore next as they have an active Monker Solver server running.

More intermediate players will love the new 15+ lesson master class on bet sizing alongside series on live poker, range building, and more. There is no shortage of material for you to study and make significant improvements to your poker strategy. You don’t need to play professionally to study like a PRO with Red Chip Poker!

FRESH CLEAN TEES

Ready to give the gift of comfort, maybe even to yourself? We’ve got you covered. Co-founded by Matthew Parvis, who previously worked in the poker industry for 10+ years, you can expect the softest and most comfortable tee shirts, hoodies, and more from FreshCleanTees.com.

Easily set you basics on auto-pilot with their VIP subscribe and save plans, or stock up on hoodies for those long sessions at the tables. Seriously, when every tee shirt or hoodie in your closet becomes your FAVORITE hoodie or tee shirt, you’ll hit the tables with confidence and be ready to play your best.

Beyond WPT programming, you’ve also seen Faded Spade poker playing cards in play on NBC Sports, PokerGO, Twitch, YouTube and more during poker programs like Poker After Dark, Super High Roller Bowl, Poker Masters, US Poker Open, Run It Up Reno, and each new Heartland Poker Tour episode.

Faded Spade poker playing cards are known for their fresh face card designs and high quality 100% plastic that has an intentional balance of strength and flexibility. Decks are available in Poker Size 2.0 (Wide), Bridge Size 2.0 (Narrow), and 4-Color 2.0.

Holiday Gift Guide Special: Use promo code CPL to order a new two-deck set and get 15% off your entire order at fadedspade.com. You’ll also find some brand new apparel options!

BBO POKER TABLES

When you’re shopping for your dream poker table, you want the best, and there’s no better than BBO Poker Tables, official poker table provider of the World Poker Tour.

BBO Poker Tables has just debuted their brand new Signature Series of tables designed by WSOP Champions Jamie Gold and Joe Cada, as well as poker pros Lexy Gavin and Alec Torelli. What better gift for the holidays is there than treating yourself to your very own championship-caliber poker table?!

Featuring exclusive materials, customized layouts, and hi-tech features like built-in USB chargers, you’ll be primed to receive a poker table that truly delivers the goods.

Whether you want to order one of the Signature Series models or prefer to customize your very own bespoke poker table for your home game, configuring your dream table is simple via the BBO website.

And of course, shipping is always FREE.

SPLITSUIT POKER WORKBOOKS

Poker workbooks are the perfect way to improve your game between sessions. Especially for players who have read a few books and watched a few training videos, workbooks lay out the off-table exercise that helps you build a deep intuition of key poker concepts. Both launched in 2020, James “Splitsuit” Sweeney‘s workbooks collectively contain over 3,000 questions and come with complete answer keys. You also get a companion course that shows you exactly how to do every single chapter.

The Preflop & Math Workbook is more focused on beginner-intermediate players who need to solidify their mathematical approach. The Postflop Workbook is more intermediate-advanced focused with complex explorations into flop textures, EV calculations, and bet sizing. Start making your real-time decisions stronger by doing these workbooks between poker sessions!

Treat yourself to these two poker workbooks for the holidays, and Splitsuit will happily provide FREE shipping!

PokerGO SUBSCRIPTION

PokerGO is the premier worldwide destination for watching live poker tournaments, high-stakes cash games, and original poker shows. This makes PokerGO the essential holiday gift for your poker loving friends and family.

Especially with favorites like Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker coming back with all-new episodes beginning December 13th and 16th, respectively, now is the BEST time to subscribe!

Stream the world’s biggest tournaments on PokerGO like the World Series of Poker, Super High Roller Bowl, Poker Masters, U.S. Poker Open, and much more. If you miss any of the Live action from the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas, it’s all available On Demand anytime, anywhere.

PokerGO is also home to exclusive, original programming like the acclaimed Legends of the Game mini-series and the poker game show, The Big Blind. If you’re in the mood to binge some poker, PokerGO has a vast library full of thousands of hours of additional poker programming.

Pound for pound, PokerGO is simply the best poker app on the planet.

Get in the game this holiday season and sign up today; use code POKER for $30 an annual subscription.

SHUFFLE TECH’S MDS-6 MULTI-DECK SHUFFLER

This holiday season is the perfect time to treat yourself and your home game buddies to a great, unique gift: upgrade your poker game with an automatic shuffler! The all-new Shuffle Tech MDS-6 is already the best home game shuffling product on the market. Effortlessly shuffling up to six decks at a time, this machine is guaranteed to improve on manual shuffle time, allowing you to get many more hands in per session.

The MDS-6 comes fully equipped with four decks of COPAG playing cards, and it runs both on direct power or battery operated (4 x D-sized). Plus, you also get a 1-year warranty!

We ship worldwide! For more information, visit us at www.shuffletech.com.

ARIA POKER ROOM

Holiday season is the perfect time to take a poker vacation, and what better destination is there than the poker capital of the world, Las Vegas! Once your flight has touched down, make a beeline straight to the award-winning Aria Poker Room.

Aria Poker Room

Two dozen luxurious tables await your arrival, where you can play every poker variant from Texas Hold’em to a dealer’s choice mix. We’ve got a great cash game for you to take a seat in no matter the size of your bankroll. If you prefer tournaments, we run plenty of them every day of the week, too.

Be sure to ask for our special poker room rates ahead of your arrival, so you can reserve your stay at the top hotel and resort on the Las Vegas Strip and be right in the heart of all the action!

THE GIFT OF GIVING, WITH POKER GIVES & MIKE SEXTON

While it’s always fun to get and give gifts during the holiday season, there’s nothing like the gift of giving. Poker Gives was originally founded by Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, Lisa Tenner, and the late Mike Sexton as a way for poker players and the poker industry to give back to worthwhile charity organizations. A fully volunteer-run organization now administered by Lupe Soto, 100% of all funds donated to the cause are funneled to the charitable efforts. The non-profit’s aim is to raise funds through poker events and private donations and distribute them on behalf of the poker world to their direct service programs.

Cardplayer Lifestyle is proud to have partnered with Poker Gives for this special holiday offer: If you make a donation of $20 or more to Poker Gives, the organization will send you a copy of one of Mike’s two books, Shuffle Up and Deal or Life’s a Gamble.

To take advantage of this special holiday giving offer, please send screenshot proof of your donation to [email protected] and mention the 2020 Cardplayer Lifestyle Holiday Gift Guide for Poker Players, and the book you prefer to receive.

*** Free shipping within the U.S. only. Please note you’ll have to add postage if you live outside the United States. ***

Wishing all of our readers here at Cardplayer Lifestyle a happy holiday season!

Free Video Offer for Cardplayer Lifestyle Readers

For the next seven days — exclusively for Cardplayer Lifestyle readers — you can access a brand new Essential video from Peter Clarke for free! The video reveals six cycles of failure that might be preventing you from reaching your poker goals in 2020. Peter shares specific advice on how you can change each of these detrimental patterns to escape the failure plaguing your game and get on the path to poker success. The video is relevant for all forms of poker and applicable for both live and online players. Check it out now!

Procrastinate No More! Introducing: Vision Streak

All serious poker students have experienced bouts of procrastination when it comes to studying poker and actually taking the steps needed in order to improve our game. Run It Once has sought to improve on the monotony that can accompany working with solvers with the release of their newest addendum to its PLO software “Vision” with “Streak.”

Vision Streak works in conjunction with the Vision software and allows users to drill a variety of spots quickly and rapidly forcing you to choose the best option and counting correct guesses towards your overall score. The program begins with the raise first in strategy from all positions requiring certain scores before allowing you to proceed to more difficult areas of the game tree. High scores are shared among other members allowing for bragging rights for exceptionally lengthy streaks.

Throughout 12 different modules you’ll learn the foundations required for a successful GTO approach at the four-card tables. Each module is organized into the different positions you can find yourself in at a table and you can explore the correct answers with Vision’s intuitive learning modes for a deeper understanding.

Vision Streak is included in all Vision plans and enhances the software that was already one of the most powerful ways to improve your game. If you want to find out more about Vision and the new addition of Vision Streak, you can do so here.

Introducing Elite Q&A Calls

A few months back, Run It Once Training began offering an exclusive benefit to their Elite Members: Monthly Q&A Calls with some of the best players on the planet live on Zoom.

Back in August, we released a detailed article about these calls outlining the structure and benefits. In a nutshell, the Elite calls were launched as a way for Run It Once Training members to get in touch and communicate on a more personal level with the coaches on the site. Discussions have ranged from getting specific strategic tips in tough spots to discovering how pros climbed and worked their way to the top of the poker food chain.

Run It Once Training has held four calls featuring Sam Greenwood, Daniel Dvoress, Kevin Rabichow as well as pre-Black Friday nosebleed crusher (and now successful restaurant owner) Hac Dang. Elite members can not only participate live during the event but also get access to all previous Q&A sessions in a new section on the site.

If you want to check out the previous Elite Q&A calls and get ready for the next installment, all you need to do is upgrade your account now.

Kevin Rabichow: Crowned Heads-Up NLHE Legend

Towards the end of summer, Run It Once Poker launched the 2020 Legends Showdown inviting a mix of high stakes Heads-Up NL crushers as well as MTT high roller star Fedor ‘CrownUpGuy’ Holz to battle it out on the virtual felt. Over the course of nine matches, at stakes of €50/€100, players competed for spots in the semi-finals for the final showdown of the best of the best.

It was Fedor Holz, Pauli ‘Fiilismies’ Ayras, Bjorn ‘asianflushie’ Li as well as Run It Once Training Elite coach Kevin Rabichow who reserved their spots to battle for an additional €60,000 in prize money. In the semi-finals Fiilismies destroyed Holz, winning over $91,000 over the course of 1,500 hands. Rabichow matched the destruction with an impressive match in which he booked a win over asianflushie for almost $80,000.

With both finalists being well known in the high-stakes Heads Up NL pools there were lots of expectations for the big showdown, which was held as a 3-session match with 750 hands in each session. After some crazy ups and downs it was Kevin Rabichow who crossed the finish line with €10,796 in profits, capturing the €40,000 in prize money bringing his overall profit for the 2020 Legends Showdown to €144,000. Congratulations to Kevin for this great performance!

If you’re looking for insight on Kevin’s game and how he approaches HUNL, he has released over 135 training videos on the Run It Once Training Elite plan.

Run It Once Training Releases New Book: Poker Foundations

For the first time, a team of Run It Once pros combined forces to get their thoughts into one text in an effort to improve your game. Lead author Cory Mikesell is joined by Phil Galfond, Kevin Rabichow, and Tommy Angelo to build the foundation required for success at the tables with the release of Cory’s book Poker Foundations.

Want to start learning poker from the beginning the right way? Want to understand essential Game Theory concepts that pros love to discuss? Want to rise from the micro stakes and become a pro? Then you want Poker Foundations.

Most books for beginning and intermediate players teach tricks that are obsolete before the book is even complete. With Poker Foundations, you will learn the deepest poker truths which never age.

Cory Mikesall, Run It Once Training – Elite Pro

You can find out more about the book and even get a free sample chapter here.

Galfond Challenge: Can Kornuth Break Phil?

One month ago the Galfond Challenge finally returned after a brief hiatus with Chance Kornuth taking on Phil in his high stakes PLO challenge. After the once in a lifetime comeback of Phil in his first match against Venividi1993 and the dominant performance against ActionFreak, Phil was the clear favorite heading into the match in the eyes of the poker community. 

It seemed like everything was going as expected as the action saw Phil building an early lead of $280,000 after 4,800 hands. However, after a forced break due to difficulties with Chance reloading his busted account, the momentum drastically shifted and Chance struck back winning big in five consecutive sessions.

It’s now Phil who finds himself down $234,000. Things appear to be even more dire for him since, as the decided favorite, he is laying $1,000,000 to Chance’s $250,000 in a side bet that goes to the player up at the end of the match. You can follow all the action on the Run It Once Poker Twitch channel and if you want to track results make sure to check out the Run It Once Poker website.

Run It Once Poker: Announcing SNG Select

Just a few days ago Phil Galfond released one of the most exciting update posts since the launch of the site in February 2019: The upcoming addition of a new game type, SNG Select. These SNGs, which are just around the corner, aim to follow in the steps of previous policy and feature decisions at Run It Once Poker, as they take their own unique approach to tackling some of the problems that they see with current versions of SNGs. 

Unilaterally increasing the variance for players who enjoy it, while not doing so for the players who don’t, is a concept that I believe has the potential to do a lot of good for online poker.

Phil Galfond

As usual, Phil doesn’t just stop at announcing the new feature but gives first-hand insight into a lot of the reasoning that went into the new innovation and how all the decisions assure an exciting, but simultaneously fair and beatable poker experience. Curious to find out what Run It Once’s approach to one of the all-time favorite forms of poker will look like? Check out Phil’s post.

One of the things that the Run It Once Poker team is most excited about is bringing on board the players who wanted to support Run It Once’s vision but couldn’t, at that point in time, find their main game on the site.

With this new offering, Phil Galfond and his team will welcome all of the Sit & Go players who have wanted to support them but haven’t had the option to move their volume over to Run It Once Poker yet.

Be sure to check out SNG Select for all of the latest updates so that you’ll know the moment that this new game mode goes live.

—

That’s all for now. This column will be back once again come winter, where we’ll continue updating you with the latest news, updates, and product releases that Run It Once Training has to offer.

The Elite Calls were launched as a way for members to get in touch and communicate directly with some of the most successful poker players in the world. The interactive video sessions are approximately one hour in length and allow members to ask both poker-related and non-poker-related questions to each featured coach.

Questions can be submitted in advance or be asked live during the call. Thus, discussions can range from getting specific strategic tips in tough spots to discovering how pros climbed and worked their way to the top of the poker food chain to learning a coach’s pizza topping preferences, and more. Interesting discussions are assured!

The first Elite Q&A session was held with Sam Greenwood in mid-July. Examples of questions asked and answered include:

• What were some of the biggest adjustments you had to make when starting to play in Super High Roller events?
• Do you play cash games? If so how often? Do you feel it’s bad to mix cash and tournament play in the same day/week?
• What was your biggest leak or flaw on your rise to the top? Did anything surprise you or casue you more trouble than you would have imagined?
• How in the world did you come up with Str8$$$Homey as a screen name?

For those who may have missed the live video call, the Greenwood Q&A session is still available on-demand to Elite members on a brand new section of Run It Once.

Next Up: Daniel Dvoress

The next Monthly Q&A Elite Call will feature another high stakes crusher, Daniel Dvoress. Dvoress’ play over the years has earned him a spot in the top 50 all-time tournament earners, with over $15 million in live winnings. He scored his biggest cash ($4,080,000) by winning the 2019 Super High Roller Bowl.

Dvoress has been a Run It Once instructor since 2014 and is celebrating the release of his 100th video with the poker training site.

For a taste of the type of coaching Dvoress has to offer, you can check out one of his latest videos in which he battles at the felt in $25,000 and $5,000 High Roller evens while sharing his thoughts and hand analysis in real time

To get to know Dvoress on a somewhat more personal level, you can check out his recent appearance on The Rake podcast, hosted by Jamie Kerstetter and Marle Cordeiro.

The Q&A Elite Call with Daniel Dvoress will take place next Monday, August 10, at 12PM Eastern, and Elite members are welcome to send in any questions they have in advance.

As mentioned throughout this bulletin, the video call is only available to Run It Once Training Elite members but if you upgrade your account now you can hop on the call on Monday (or on-demand, thereafter) through your personal invitation link and, of course, get access to over 5,500 high level poker training videos, and everything else on offer!