Foundations
Learn Poker the Right Way
Learn from a player who has:
- 3 WSOP Bracelets
- Millions in cash game earnings
- Been teaching poker for more than a decade
Why Phil is Your Perfect Guide
Phil Galfond is considered by many to be the greatest poker instructor in the world. In addition to founding Run It Once over 10 years ago to build “the first-class cabin of poker training,” Phil has personally released over 650 poker training videos, an advanced PLO course, and more.
Phil's poker prowess is legendary. He holds 3 World Series of Poker bracelets, but he’s best known for his cash game dominance. His eight figures in cash game earnings include his undefeated record in the “Galfond Challenge”, a series of heads-up battles against poker’s biggest names, including: Dan “Jungleman” Cates, Chance Kornuth, and Bill Perkins. His match against high-stakes online crusher “VeniVidi1993” was a nail-biter, with Phil pulling off a come-from-behind victory that ESPN hailed as “the greatest comeback story” in all of sports.
This course, Foundations, marks the first time he’s creating content specifically focused on the fundamentals. If you’re getting started on your poker journey, feel lost, or just want to reinforce your fundamentals, Foundations is the definitive course to help you build a deeper understanding of the game we all love.
Join the hundreds of thousands who have transformed their skills under Phil's guidance.
This Course Includes
49
Videos covering No Limit Hold'em fundamentals
21
Charts showing you exactly which hands to play and when
3
Bonus add-ons covering Poker Basics, Easy Poker Math, and Bankroll Management
+1 FREE month of Essential membership
(A $25 value), so you can continue your training with videos from Essential pros.
- You’re ready to begin your competitive journey in poker
- You want to become a consistent winner on the felt
- You’re eager to understand what the pros are talking about
- You want to master the fundamentals of No Limit Hold'em
What the Pros Think
What's in the Course
- What is Game Theory
- Intro to Poker Fundamentals
- Preflop + Gameplay Foundations
- Ranges and Hand Reading
- Hacks and Tricks
- Adjustments and Exploits
- Off the Felt Essentials
- Rock, Paper, Scissors
- Importance of balance to win
- 1 minus alpha: The Minimum Defense Frequency (MDF)
- Creating optimal frequencies for bluffs and value
- Ace, King, Queen Game
- What is Expected Value (EV)
- Calculating "outs" and equity
- Calculating pot odds
- Implied odds and reverse implied odds
- Utilizing position
- Board textures
- Preflop fundamentals
- 3-betting
- Continuation bets
- Multi-way pots
- Utilizing bet sizing
- Bluffing and semi-bluffing
- What is SPR? (Stack to Pot Ratio)
- Adjusting play based on stack depths
- Check-raising on different streets
- Intro to hand reading
- Building bluff and value ranges
- Planning for future streets
- Multi-level thinking
- Embracing "tight is right"
- Fast playing: How to get max value
- Checking to trap on dry boards
- How to fold when you're beat
- Playing vs weak players
- Intro to exploits
- Exploiting Different Player Types:
- Loose Passive
- Tight Passive
- Maniac
- Nits/Rocks
- Players who tighten up as hands progress
- Players who love to trap
- Bankroll Management
- Game Selection
- Continuing to learn: Where to go from here
Questions?
-
What Topics are Covered in the Course?
The course covers a wide range of poker fundamentals from GTO play, exploiting opponents, and hand reading to off-the-felt essentials like game selection and bankroll management.
-
What Languages Does the Course Support?
The course has captions available in 9 languages: English, German, Chinese, Portuguese, German, Russian, French, Spanish, and Italian
-
Who is this course designed for?
The course is specially designed for players who want to start their competitive poker journey the right way. Instead of memorizing small bits of information to superficially improve, the course helps build solid poker foundations that you can build on to achieve your maximum potential in poker.
-
Do I need any prior experience with poker to take this course?
You don't! The course includes a PDF covering all the basics for new players!
-
What will I learn from this course?
The course will teach you the fundamentals of game theory, why they matter, and also when to disregard them. It will also teach you how to make poker math easy, manage your time and money, and to think more critically about decisions at the table.
-
How is the course structured?
The course is broken down into 49 videos across 7 sections.
-
How long will it take to complete the course?
The course contains about 4.5 hours of total watch time broken down into digestible, short videos. For the best results you may want to pause and take notes throughout.
-
What materials or resources are included with the course?
In addition to the videos the course includes 21 preflop charts to help you understand what hands to play preflop from each position, and 3 bonus add-on PDFs covering: Poker Basics, Poker Math Made Easy, Bankroll Management.
-
What if I'm a more advanced player but still want to learn from Phil?
If you've been playing poker for years, consider yourself fairly advanced, and want to study PLO from Phil you'll want to check out This Is PLO.