Galfond Closes Run It Once Poker to Pursue US Market
It was a journey for Phil Galfond, one that he dreamt of for years and fulfilled in the last few. He worked for years to launch his own online poker site, one that met the criteria that he and fellow players had long hoped a site would offer. He launched Run It Once Poker, but he did more than that. He made the process transparent and took poker players and fans through the entire process, including their opinions in key decisions and updating the site per requests.
Alas, as 2021 ended, Galfond announced that the site, which had been open to the global poker market but not most ring-fenced ones, will close on January 3, 2022. Even so, he will keep his dream alive by working to become a part of the still-burgeoning US online poker market.
A Unique Dream
Many a poker player has talked about starting his or her own online poker site. Few had the tenacity, business sense, and financial wherewithal to actually do it. Phil Galfond did. He built it on the back of his already-successful Run It Once poker training business.
Galfond was a part of a team that started Run It Once in late 2012 as a poker training website. They released videos and created a membership training program that outlasted nearly all of its competitors. Today, it offers videos in almost every poker variant via instructions from 152 professional players. From Galfond himself to Ben Sulsky, Jason Koon, Sam Greenwood, and Daniel Dvoress, the site boasts of more than 6,600 videos.
That success led Galfond and his partners to launch a daily fantasy sports website and online poker site, the latter named Run It Once Poker.
The poker site began publicly in the second half of 2016 with a blog post outlining the positive traits of a great poker site. Those included valuing players – both casual and pro – and believing in the dream of poker as a career path. “I want a fair, honest, transparent poker site,” he wrote, “that believes in the dream that I have lived. I’m going to give it my best shot.”
It took longer than Galfond every anticipated, but he put together a team based in Malta to put it together and pull it together. And he offered the public a way to participate in everything from choosing a table cap, card designs, and avatar options. He decided based on polls and input from his tech team, explaining all of his decisions along the way. Galfond even based the rewards system and rake on such input. He even considered the opinions of some a bit too young to actually play.
Getting a 2nd opinion on my upcoming @RunItOncePoker post… pic.twitter.com/IT9J51bRWk
— Phil Galfond (@PhilGalfond) January 31, 2019
He launched the site, played on it, continued to improve it, and did everything to grow it.
Shutting Down
The last big announcement from Run It Once Poker was in October 2020 when he launched SNG Select. It was another product of player input and combined the popular but controversial lottery SNGs with standard Sit & Go products. Players were able to choose which they wanted but still compete in the same player pool. It was an innovative idea.
Despite the popularity among players, it didn’t attract new players at the levels they hoped. And when the pandemic lockdowns eased and people emerged from quarantining indoors, numbers decreased. Ultimately, traffic on the site dipped to the point of its early days. When traffic continued its downswing in 2021, everyone involved had to make a decision. And they did. On December 30, Galfond announced that the site would end all play on January 3, 2022. Emails informed players of the details, including the ability for them to withdraw account balances through the beginning of April.
“From the bottom of my (our) heart(s), thank you. We worked very hard to make it an enjoyable experience for you, and I very much hope that it was.”
Reflections
In his typical transparency, Galfond revealed the pride with which he can look back on the poker site and the disappointment of having to close it. He reflected on some of the mistakes.
One of the mistakes was the tech leadership and the inability to be cost-effective, prompt, and innovative all at the same time. He admitted that paying operational staff so long before launch cost money that possibly should have been used in the marketing department.
Galfond said he greatly underestimated the ability to keep players on a site that lacked the liquidity of its competitors. Many players awaited a larger player pool before spending time on Run It Once, and others balked at figuring out the new software and newer know-your-customer difficulties required by regulators.
On the other hand, though, Galfond discussed some of the accomplishments. He praised the poker platform that they created and the user experience it provided. He expressed pride in innovative features like Splash the Pot. In addition, he was proud of the policies and promotions, the community created on the site, and customer support.
Ultimately, Galfond concluded:
“We’ve poured our hearts, minds, and souls into Run It Once Poker. We didn’t accomplish everything that we set out to, but we’re far from finished. Long Live Poker.”
It’s Not Over Over
The global site may be shuttered, but the Run It Once poker training site continues to thrive, by all accounts. And even Run It Once Poker is not finished.
Galfond wrote, “Run It Once Poker is now headed down a path to enter the legal & regulated US market.” While he chose not to provide details at this time, he did say that he would share more in the coming months.
The end of 2021 will, coincidentally, mark the end of an era for @RunItOncePoker, while the start of 2022 marks the beginning of a new one.
More details here: https://t.co/GTxlFBWwP1
— Phil Galfond (@PhilGalfond) December 30, 2021
