From High-Stakes Legend to Platform Builder
Phil Galfond once risked $10 million to build a poker site that would change the game.
He didn't just want to play poker. He wanted to rebuild the table itself.
For years, Phil was one of the most feared and respected players alive. Measured, analytical, and ice-calm in the moments that break most people. But what separates him isn't what he did with the cards. It's what he did after he pushed them aside.
In 2012, when most pros were chasing bracelets, Phil launched Run It Once, a training platform that taught a generation how to think. He built it like a player builds a game plan: study, refine, iterate. It wasn't hype. It was substance. And it worked. Run It Once became the go-to training hub for anyone serious about learning, not just watching.
Then, in 2019, he went all in again. He didn't raise a fund. He didn't take investors. He built Run It Once Poker from the ground up. A real-money poker site designed to give power back to players. No shady rake. No black-box algorithms. Just transparency and trust. It was a rare thing: a founder who was also his own customer.
And he paid for it. Literally. The site burned cash. Millions of his own money. For most, that's where the story would end. But Phil treated it like a hand gone wrong: study the loss, don't tilt, learn the pattern.
By 2022, Run It Once was acquired by Rush Street Interactive, and its tech became the foundation for BetRivers Poker. Phil took on a new role. Not as a face on a poster, but as a strategic partner. He'd gone from high-stakes player to architect of the very infrastructure the industry runs on.
Most people would've quit there. Phil didn't. He pivoted again. This time, from teaching poker to teaching people.
He created Beyond The Game. A coaching program for poker players who want to win at life, not just cards. It's a full-stack system: mindset, habits, purpose. The goal isn't to grind harder. It's to think better. To treat your career like a business and your life like a game of long-term EV. His summits bring together world-class players and thinkers, blurring the line between performance coaching and entrepreneurship.
Phil doesn't just talk about self-improvement. He built an economy around it.
He turned the lessons of variance into principles of business.
He transformed failure into a curriculum.
While others chase clout and sponsorships, Phil builds platforms. He builds people. And he builds with the same patience he once used to outplay the world's best.
He's proof that the skills you learn in poker. Risk, resilience, logic, adaptability. Can be your greatest assets outside of it. You just have to be willing to push all your chips in on yourself.
Phil Galfond did. And instead of winning another bracelet, he built a legacy.