Phil Galfond
Contributors to Wikimedia projects
Article Images
Phil Galfond (born January 16, 1985)[1] is an American professional poker player. Galfond won three World Series of Poker bracelets, in the $5,000 buy-in pot-limit Omaha with rebuys event in 2008, the $10,000 no-limit 2-7 single draw championship in 2015 and the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship in 2018 . Due to his success as a high-stakes online player, he appeared on multiple seasons of GSN's High Stakes Poker.
| Phil Galfond | |
|---|---|
 Galfond, after winning the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha w/Rebuys event at the 2008 World Series of Poker | |
| Nickname(s) | OMGClayAiken (Full Tilt) MrSweets28 (PokerStars) Jman28 (2+2) |
| Residence | North Potomac, Maryland, U.S. |
| Born | January 16, 1985 (age 39) |
| World Series of Poker | |
| Bracelet(s) | 3 |
| Final table(s) | 8 |
| Money finish(es) | 19 |
| Highest ITM Main Event finish | 141st, 2010 |
| World Poker Tour | |
| Title(s) | None |
| Final table(s) | None |
| Money finish(es) | 1 |
| Information accurate as of July 2, 2018. | |
He is currently the owner and a trainer on poker training site Run It Once.
Personal life
Galfond is originally from North Potomac, Maryland and attended Thomas Sprigg Wootton High School and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He used to reside in New York City where he installed a slide as his access between the two penthouse apartments he purchased in 2011.[2] He married actress Farah Fath on May 15, 2015.
Poker
Live poker
Tournaments
As of August 2015, Galfond's total live tournament winnings exceed $2,300,000.[3] His nine cashes at the WSOP account for $1,705,999 of those winnings.[4]
World Series of Poker
Galfond won the $5,000 pot-limit Omaha with rebuys event at the 2008 World Series of Poker, earning $817,781. He defeated Adam Hourani during heads-up play. The final table featured a number of well known professional players including Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, Kirill Gerasimov, Johnny Chan, David Benyamine, Brian Rast as well as online star Adam 'houdini' Hourani.[5][6] At the 2013 WSOP Galfond finished second in the $25,000 No Limit Hold'em six handed event for $744,841.
| Year | Event | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha w/ Rebuys | $817,781 |
| 2015 | $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw Championship | $224,383 |
| 2018 | $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship | $567,788 |
World Poker Tour
Galfond finished in 70th place in the 2008 $25,000 buy-in World Poker Tour No Limit Hold'em Championship Event, earning $39,570.
Other notable tournaments
Galfond finished in 18th place at the 2006 World Series of Poker Circuit event in Grand Casino Tunica, earning $22,895.[6]
Online poker
Galfond is well known for online poker where he plays high-stakes cash games primarily $200/$400 stakes and above in no-limit Texas hold 'em and pot limit Omaha tables on Full Tilt Poker under his nickname "OMGClayAiken," and on Pokerstars under the screen name "MrSweets28."[7][8] With a lifetime net profit of over $8M in Internet poker play, he has been one of the most successful online poker players in history (as of May 2011).[9] According to Galfond, he chose “OMGClayAiken” as the antithesis of the “macho” screen names that are prevalent in online poker in hopes that other players would be embarrassed to lose to him.[10]
Due to the legal actions against online poker, which are known as Black Friday, that took place on April 15, 2011 in the United States, Galfond moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada so he could continue to play poker online. In February 2013, Galfond's all-time online earnings on Full Tilt Poker came to over $10,000,000.[11][12]
Business venture
Galfond has been involved with poker training site Blue Fire Poker. In 2013, Galfond started his own poker training site Run It Once with friend and fellow poker players, Di Dang, Hac Dang, and Ben Sulsky.
References
- ^ Phil Galfond's Twitter
- ^ Bachelor Builds Slide Between His NYC Apartments. Realestate.yahoo.com. Retrieved on January 4, 2012.
- ^ Butt, Robert. "Philip Galfond – Stats". The Hendon Mob. Retrieved June 11, 2008.
- ^ Player Info, Winnings & Bracelets | Official World Series of Poker. Wsop.com. Retrieved on January 4, 2012.
- ^ "A final table for the ages". ESPN.com. June 16, 2008. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
- ^ a b Butt, Robert. "Philip Galfond – Results". The Hendon Mob. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
- ^ http://www.runitonce.com/phil/
- ^ "Phil Galfond (OMGClayAiken) Poker Bio". pokeronamac.com. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
- ^ "Top Poker Winners". pokertableratings.com. Retrieved May 3, 2011.
- ^ Galfond interview by Amanda Leatherman for PokerNews (June 17, 2008); https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUUx0wcn29A
- ^ Pempus, Brian (July 27, 2011). "Phil Galfond Returns to Online Poker". CardPlayer. CardPlayer.com. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
- ^ Rhodes, M. (March 12, 2012). "Phil "MrSweets28" Galfond's $1 Million Upswing After Winning $650k from Isildur1". OnlinePoker.Net. OnlinePoker.Net. Retrieved April 2, 2012.