Galfond originally announced he was working on an online poker room last September, when the high stakes/high volume community’s anxiety over the ongoing changes at PokerStars was at its peak. The project, RunItOnce Poker, is ambitious. Poker professional Phil Galfond once won $1.6 million in one day of poker. Not bad for a guy who started off with a $50 online poker deposit from money he earned as a camp counselor. Galfond is one of the winningest poker players of all time, yet it may be a kiddie slide in his apartment for which he is most famous.

Prominent poker pro Phil Galfond has recently announced that his Run It Once poker site will finally be opening the actual poker-play portion of the site that was promised nearly two years ago.

In an announcement made at RunItOnce.eu, which will likely be the portal for the game server once its up and running, Galfond waxed long — very long — about the many delays, setbacks and unexpected developments that delayed the site, first announced in September of 2016.

To his credit, as the site’s majority owner and public face, Galfond shouldered personal responsibility for many of the problems the effort encountered. Among them:software development delays, changes in both operational leadership and technical staff, and a reevaluation of what the site should focus on and offer.

With all that, admitted Galfond, the site still isn’t ready. And with the idealized version of what he and his partners still a long ways off, Galfond announced that the rollout would occur in two phases. Phase 1, due at some point his summer, will offer cash games, while tournament play and other special offerings will be delayed until Phase 2, with an unspecified launch date.

Here’s part of what Galfond had to say about the Phase 1 launch:

Our Phase 1 platform will provide cash games that (we think) look and feel great and include some exciting and innovative features. …

We decided on this for a few reasons:

• We didn’t want to release anything we aren’t proud of, so launching with unpolished and partial versions of multiple offerings was off the table.
• We figured that you’d rather have something from us than to wait much longer for us to offer everything.
• We were furthest along on cash games, and even if we hadn’t been, launching with tournaments only would be extremely challenging for a new site fighting for liquidity.

A significant amount of further marketing text followed, but as for specifics beyond the cash-game launch, there wasn’t much for details. The site will include a reward system skewed slightly toward dedicated pros, and Galfond has always promised reduced rake at his tables, but how different RunItOnce’s offerings will be compared to other sites still remains to be seen.

Galfond also admitted that the Phase 1 details “were left vague for a reason,” as he plans to fully market (in a blog-posting sense) each of the site’s significant or unique details. “We have some fun features and distinct policies that you’ll have to wait to hear about, but I assure you that Run It Once Poker, even in Phase 1, will be different from the rest.”

Such promises have been made by many new operators, though few others have had Galfond’s gravitas, meaning it’ll be interesting to see what’s in store.

Phil Galfond Poker Room Games

Then it’ll be on to Phase 2, which is when tourney play on the site will commence. According to Galfond:

Phase 2 will include:

• General software enhancements, more user options
• A distinct SNG offering
• An innovative Tournament experience
• An awesome nosebleed stakes offering, with several unique ideas from someone who’s played these games for a long time and thinks he knows what they need!

Galfond added, regarding the lack of a timetable, “I just became ready to announce Phase 1, so I’m still a ways away from sharing estimates for Phase 2. You’ll hear from me on that once I have something concrete to tell you.”

So the waiting game for Galfond’s market audience continues. But now, there’s the promise of something real, something soon.

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