This Is PLO Review: Is Phil Galfond’s $2,500 Masterpiece Worth It?
There are Pot Limit Omaha courses, and then there is The Course.
If you have spent any time in the Pot Limit Omaha streets, you know the name Phil Galfond. He isn’t just a coach. He is a legend who put his own money on the line in the “Galfond Challenge”, battling the world’s best high-stakes crushers, and walked away undefeated.
Now, he offers to transfer his brain into yours.
The Pot Limit Omaha course “This Is PLO” is Run It Once‘s flagship product. It promises to save you “500 hours of solver study” by teaching you not just what to do, but how to think like a high-stakes pro.
But let’s be real: $2,499.99 is a massive price tag. You could buy a used car for that. You could fund a healthy bankroll for that.
So, is this Pot Limit Omaha course the “End Boss” training you need to skyrocket your career, or is it just an overpriced vanity project?
I’ve analyzed the 183 videos and 73+ hours of content to give you the honest truth. Here is my review of This Is PLO.
Quick Note: If you decide this investment is right for your career, you can save a massive $250 (10%) by using the exclusive Run It Once discount code PLO365 at checkout.
Use Run It Once discount code PLO365 for 10% off.
What Actually Is “This Is PLO”?
This is not a “quick fix” guide. It is an encyclopedia.
The Specs:
- Format: 183 Videos (73+ Hours).
- Instructor: Phil Galfond (with a 6-max cameo by Richard Gryko).
- Goal: To teach you “first principles” thinking so you never have to memorize a chart again.
- Tools Used: MonkerSolver, Vision GTO Trainer, and Phil’s brain.
Unlike other Pot Limit Omaha courses that give you rigid rules (“Always 3-bet Aces”), This Is PLO focuses on the why. Phil deconstructs the game tree to show you the mechanics of board coverage, range interaction, and EV maximization. It is designed to make you self-sufficient, so you can beat games that get tougher every day.
Why Learn from Phil Galfond?
You can buy PLO courses from plenty of winning players. But Phil is different.
1. The “Why” Factor: Most solvers (like Monker) spit out data that is impossible for a human to memorize. Phil has a unique gift for looking at a complex solver output and translating it into a simple heuristic (rule of thumb) you can use in real-time.
2. The Galfond Challenge Footage: This PLO course includes session reviews from his high-stakes battles against legends like VeniVidi1993, ActionFreak, and Chance Kornuth. Watching Phil analyze his own play against the toughest opponents in the world is arguably the most valuable Pot Limit Omaha course content in existence. You see him make hero calls, hero folds, and adjustments in the heat of battle.
The Elephant in the Room: Heads-Up vs. 6-Max
Let’s address the biggest objection straight away: “Most of this Pot Limit Omaha course is based on Heads-Up (HU) play. I play 6-max. Is this useless for me?”
The Answer: Absolutely not. In fact, studying HU is the best way to crush 6-max.
Here is why:
- Wider Ranges: In HU, you play almost every hand. This forces you to learn how to play weak ranges and marginal spots perfectly.
- Deep Theory: 6-max is just a subset of HU interactions (Button vs. Big Blind is essentially a HU match). If you can master the wide, difficult ranges of HU, the tighter ranges of 6-max feel like playing on “easy mode.”
Plus, Run It Once didn’t ignore you. Segment 7 is entirely dedicated to 6-max, taught by high-stakes coach Richard Gryko, translating Phil’s concepts specifically for ring games.
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The Curriculum: A Complete Tour of the Game Tree
The Pot Limit Omaha course is divided into 7 massive segments. Here is what you get for your money.
Segment 1: Theory & Foundations
This is the bedrock. Phil teaches you how to “Think Like a Solver.”
- Advanced EV Explorations: Understanding where your win rate actually comes from.
- Study Efficiency: How to use solvers without wasting hundreds of hours staring at irrelevant data. This section alone saves serious players years of trial and error.
Segment 2: Single Raised Pots (SRP)
The most frequent spot in PLO.
- Board Coverage: Deep dives into how ranges interact on different textures.
- Delay C-Betting: A masterclass on checking back the flop to attack the turn (a Phil Galfond specialty).
- Turn Probing: When to stab at the pot when the opponent shows weakness.
Segment 3: 3-Bet Pots
Where the stacks get shallow and the decisions get expensive.
- Value Thresholds: Learning exactly what hand strength you need to stack off on various runouts.
- Bluff Selection: How to choose the perfect blockers to blast with in bloated pots.
- Float Betting: How to defend against aggression and take the pot away later.
Segment 4: 4-Bet Pots
The highest variance spots in the game.
- Trapping vs. Protecting: When to just call with Aces to trap, and when to jam to deny equity.
- Navigating “Check-Check” Lines: How to play turns and rivers when the flop goes check-check in a massive pot.
Segment 5: Hand Reading
The “Human” element that solvers can’t teach.
- Hero Calls & Folds: Phil breaks down his thought process for making soul reads.
- Exploit Theory: Analyzing spots where the population is “over-bluffing” or “under-bluffing” and how to deviate from GTO to print money.
Segment 6: Challenge Footage Review
The entertainment meets education segment.
- VeniVidi & ActionFreak: Reviewing sessions against the best online players in history.
- Adjustments: Seeing how Phil changed his strategy mid-match to turn losing sessions into winning ones.
Segment 7: 6-Max Specifics
Richard Gryko steps in to ensure ring-game players have a direct roadmap.
- Multiway Pots: How to adjust your c-betting and ranges when there are 3+ players (a huge part of live and low-stakes PLO).
- 6-Max SRP & 3-Bet: Specific adjustments for the tighter positions (UTG/MP).
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Is This Pot Limit Omaha Course Too Advanced for You?
This Is PLO is an investment product.
✅ Buy It If:
- You are an Aspiring Pro: You want to make poker your career (or a serious side income).
- You are a Mid-Stakes Grinder: You are beating PLO100/200 but hitting a wall against tough regs.
- You are a Motivated Low-Stakes Player: You have the budget and want to fast-track your learning by skipping the “beginner” fluff.
❌ Skip It If:
- You are a Total Beginner: If you don’t know what “range advantage” means, start with Foundations or From The Ground Up. This will go over your head.
- You are a Casual Player: If you just want to gamble on Friday nights, $2,500 is better spent on buy-ins.
Price vs. Value: The ROI Calculation
Let’s do the math on the $2,499.99 price.
- Coaching Equivalent: A coach of Phil’s caliber (if you could even hire him) would cost $1,000+ per hour. This PLO course gives you 73 hours of his best teaching. The coaching sessions would cost $73,000, or you can pay only $34/hour for this Pot Limit Omaha course.
- Win Rate Equivalent: If you play PLO100 ($1/$2) and this poker course adds just 2 bb/100 to your win rate, it pays for itself in roughly 60,000 hands. For a serious grinder, that’s 1-2 months of play. After that, the knowledge is pure profit forever.
Conclusion & Verdict
This Is PLO is the encyclopedia of Pot Limit Omaha. It is likely the last Pot Limit Omaha course you will ever need to buy.
Phil Galfond doesn’t just give you fish; he teaches you how to design the fishing rod, analyze the ocean, and predict the weather. It is dense, challenging, and utterly brilliant.
If you are serious about mastering Omaha Poker, this isn’t an expense. It’s the tool that builds your career.
Ready to learn from the best?
Use Run It Once discount code PLO365 for 10% off.
Key Takeaways
- The Ultimate Authority: Taught by Phil Galfond, arguably the greatest PLO teacher of all time.
- Solver + Human: Bridges the gap between GTO data (Vision & Monker Solver) and human execution (Hand Reading).
- Deepest Curriculum: Covers every node of the game tree: SRP, 3-Bet, 4-Bet, and Deep Stack play.
- Galfond Challenge Access: Exclusive breakdowns of high-stakes matches against the world’s elite.
- Lifetime Access: A one-time purchase that you own forever.
FAQs
Yes. While it uses HU examples to teach deep theory, the concepts of range interaction and board coverage are universal. Plus, there is a dedicated 6-max section by Richard Gryko.
No. Phil uses Vision in the videos, but the entire point is that he interprets the data for you. You do not need to run your own sims.
The strategies taught are “first principles” based on solvers, meaning they are timeless. They do not rely on temporary meta trends that go out of style.
You can use the Run It Once discount code PLO365 to save 10% on the total price.
Use Run It Once discount code PLO365 for 10% off.
Overview of all Pot Limit Omaha courses:
Starter Courses
- 4-Card PLO 30-Day Course Review
- 4-Card PLO From The Ground Up Course Review
- 5-Card PLO 30-Day Course Review
- 5-Card PLO From The Ground Up Course Review
Advanced Courses
- PLO Mastermind 6-Max Cash Game Course Review
- Solving The PLO Puzzle Course Review
- 6-Card PLO Blueprint Course Review
