Run It Once Review: Is Phil Galfond’s PLO Training Site Still #1?

In the world of Pot Limit Omaha, there are PLO training sites, and then there is Run It Once (RIO).

Founded in 2012 by the “G.O.A.T.” of Omaha Poker, Phil Galfond, Run It Once changed the industry overnight. Before RIO, PLO poker training was often dry, theoretical, and disconnected from the high-stakes reality. Galfond brought together the world’s best PLO players and coaches, such as Richard Gryko, Horseofhell, Cory Mikesell, Lucas Greenwood, and Rapha Nogueira, to teach the game exactly as they played it at the midstakes and nosebleeds. They also have hundreds of starter videos from essential coaches like Thomas Emter, Robin Lindqvist, Ollie Cass, Volodymyr Sabanin, and Paul Toda.

But poker moves fast. In 2026, the market is flooded with PLO solvers, charts, and AI-driven coaching apps. The question for any serious grinder today is simple: Is the Run It Once library still the gold standard, or has it been overtaken by the machines?

This Run It Once review is the most comprehensive guide on the internet. We have dissected the membership tiers, analyzed the specific Run It Once PLO courses, tested the mobile app, and compared the ROI of every plan to see if Phil Galfond’s school is still the best place for your bankroll.

The Verdict at a Glance

For those short on time, here is the bottom line.

Run It Once remains the undisputed king of theoretical poker education. While some competitors focus heavily on memorizing solver outputs and preflop charts, Run It Once excels at teaching you how to think. The coaches don’t just tell you “Solver checks here 60% of the time”; they explain why the mechanics of the game dictate that check, allowing you to apply the logic to thousands of other spots.

• Best For: Players who want to understand the “Why” behind the “What” and develop intuition that beats both humans and bots.
• Top Value: The Essential Plan ($24.99/mo) is the best dollar-for-dollar value in the entire poker industry for low-to-mid stakes players.
• The Crown Jewel: Run It Once Elite gives you daily access to the minds of players winning millions online ($199/mo).
• The PLO Edge: No other site has a deeper archive of high-stakes PLO hand reviews, covering both 4-Card PLO and 5-Card PLO.

Membership Tiers: Which Plan Fits Your Bankroll?

Run It Once splits its massive library (now over 8,500 videos) into two distinct membership tiers. This isn’t just about price; it’s about relevance. A PLO10 player should not be studying the same content as a PLO5k player.

Here is the deep dive on exactly what you get with each tier.

1. Run It Once Essential ($24.99/month)

For Starters and Bankroll Builders. If you are playing stakes between PLO10 ($0.05/$0.10) and PLO100 ($0.50/$1.00), this is your home.

Many players mistakenly believe “Essential” means “Beginner.” This is false. Essential is designed for the Low Stakes Professional. The games at PLO50 today are tougher than the games at PLO500 were ten years ago. The Essential plan acknowledges this reality by providing content that is technically sound but focused on Exploitative Strategy.

The Content & Coaches

• Volume: You get 5 new Essential videos per week.
• The Roster: You are learning from elite grinders like Thomas Emter, Robin Lindqvist, Ollie Cass, Volodymyr Sabanin, and Paul Toda. These coaches are often better at teaching low-stakes concepts than the high-stakes pros because they are closer to the specific meta-game you are fighting in. They understand that players at PLO25 don’t bluff-raise rivers enough, and they teach you how to print money from that tendency.
• Format Coverage: While heavily focused on 4-Card PLO and NLHE, the Essential library has a growing section for 5-Card PLO and PLO tournament strategies.

What You Will Actually Learn:

1. Rake Management: Low stakes have high rake. Essential teaches you to construct tighter preflop ranges that avoid “rake traps”, hands that win small pots but lose big to rake.
2. Population Exploits: How to crush the “fit-or-fold” players who over-cbet flops but give up on turns.
3. Mental Game: Basic bankroll management and tilt control to survive the insane variance of PLO.

ROI Calculation:

At $24.99/month, the cost is negligible. If you play PLO25, one single buy-in is $25. If this subscription saves you from making one bad call in a month, it is free. If it helps you stack one extra player, you have profited 300% on your investment.

2. Run It Once Elite ($199.99/month or ~$1,400/year)

The Professional’s Choice. This is the famous “Red Subscription.” Run It Once Elite is the premier poker education product in the world. It is the only place where you can watch players who have literally “solved” the game explain their strategies in real-time.

The Content & Coaches

• Volume: 2 new Elite videos every single day, plus full access to the Essential library and the entire Elite archive (thousands of videos).
• The Roster: This is the Hall of Fame of modern PLO.
• Phil Galfond: The founder. His videos are legendary for their depth. He doesn’t just review a hand; he dissects the soul of the decision.
• Richard Gryko & Cory Mikesell: The architects of modern theory. Famous for their work on “Solving the PLO Puzzle,” they are the go-to authorities for mastering Single Raised Pots and deep theoretical mechanics.
• Lucas Greenwood & Horseofhell: High-stakes crushers who battle at the nosebleeds. They bring practical, battle-tested strategies from the toughest games in the world.
• Rapha Nogueira: A technical wizard known for breaking down complex spots into actionable strategies.
• Target Audience: This is for players at PLO200 ($1/$2) and above. At these stakes, your opponents are balanced. They don’t make massive, obvious mistakes. You need to learn Game Theory Optimal (GTO) baselines to defend yourself, and then learn high-level deviations to crush them.

What You Will Actually Learn:

1. Deep Solver Analysis: How to use tools like Run It Once Vision to understand texture shifts, board coverage, and blocker effects.
2. Nosebleed Reviews: Watch Galfond review sessions where the pots are worth $50,000 and more. You see how the best players in the world handle extreme pressure.
3. Advanced Theory: Concepts like “Minimum Defense Frequency,” “Range Advantage,” and “Nut Advantage” are broken down mathematically.

Annual Perks & The “Free” Argument:

If you commit to the Annual Elite plan, RIO often sweetens the deal. In 2026, annual members typically receive:

• A Free Month of Vision (The GTO Trainer).
• Sometimes a Free Course Credit (e.g., for From The Ground Up).
• Free PokerGO Subscription (depending on the current promo).

Run It Once PLO Courses: Structured Roadmaps

While the subscription plans give you a steady stream of new content (“Video of the Day”), they can be unstructured. Sometimes you don’t want to browse; you want a complete, A-to-Z system that fixes your game from the bottom up.

This is where the standalone Run It Once courses shine. These are one-time purchases that give you lifetime access to a specific roadmap.

1. Run It Once From The Ground Up (PLO Edition)

• Format: 4-Card PLO
• Coach: Thomas “Emty” Emter
• Level: Beginner to Intermediate
• Discount: Save 10% with code PLO365

This is, without a doubt, the most important course for 90% of PLO players. From The Ground Up (PLO) is designed to take a complete beginner (or a Hold’em convert) and turn them into a winning low-stakes PLO player.

The Curriculum:

Emter breaks the game down into digestible “Modules” that build upon each other:

• Module 1: The Setup. Bankroll Management & Rake. Most players fail here. Emty explains why you lose money before you even sit down if your game selection is wrong.
• Module 2: Preflop Matrices. Stop guessing. You get concrete rules on exactly what hands to open, 3-bet, cold-call, and fold from every position.
• Module 3: Postflop Dynamics. How to handle C-betting on different textures. When to barrel the turn. How to play draws aggressively.
• Module 4: Rake Traps. This is the secret sauce. Emty teaches you to identify hands that look pretty (like low double-suited rundowns) but actually bleed money at high-rake low-stakes tables.

Why It Works:

It strips away the confusion. You stop calling with “trashy” hands. You start playing a solid, low-variance style that prints money against bad players.

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2. From The Ground Up: 5-Card PLO

• Format: 5-Card PLO (PLO5)
• Coach: Thomas “Emty” Emter
• Level: All Levels
• Discount: Save 10% with code PLO365

The “Wild West” of poker is here. 5-Card PLO is exploding on crypto poker sites such as CoinPoker and Phenom Poker, but most players are losing money because they treat it like 4-Card PLO with an extra card.

The Core Lesson: Equities run close. In PLO5, the difference between the nuts and the second nuts is massive. This course teaches you the “Nuttiness Standards” required to survive.

Key Modules:

• Transitioning: What habits from 4-Card will get you killed in 5-Card (e.g., overvaluing low flushes).
• Preflop Selection: Why double-suited junk is a fold. How the 5th card changes connectivity.
• Side Cards: How to use the 5th card to block your opponents’ outs—a crucial concept for winning stacks.

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3. Solving the PLO Puzzle

• Format: 4-Card PLO
• Coaches: Richard Gryko & Cory Mikesell
• Focus: Single Raised Pots (SRP)
• Discount: Save 10% with code PLO365

This is a grinder’s favorite. While YouTube highlights show massive 4-bet pots, your actual win rate is determined by how you play the hundreds of small, single-raised pots that happen every hour.

The Approach: Richard Gryko and Cory Miksell use a solver-based approach to categorize board textures. Instead of trying to memorize what to do on every single flop (impossible), they teach you a Heuristic System. You learn to look at a board and say, “This is a dynamic texture, so my c-bet frequency should be high/low.”

The Result: You stop “bleeding” red-line chips in small pots. By plugging these small leaks, your overall win rate skyrockets because these situations happen so frequently.

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4. This Is PLO (Phil Galfond’s Masterclass)

• Format: Advanced PLO
• Coach: Phil Galfond
• Price: ~$2,500
• Discount: Save ~$250 with code PLO365

This is the magnum opus. This Is PLO is not for beginners. It is a deep-dive into the mind of one of the best to ever play the game.

The Content:

• 189 Videos: Over 100 hours of elite content.
• The “Galfond Challenge” Hands: Phil reviews his legendary heads-up battles against Venividi1993, ActionFreak, and Chance Kornuth. This is poker history being analyzed by the victor.
• The Philosophy: Galfond teaches you the limitations of solvers. He shows you where the machines get it wrong and how human psychology and “blocker manipulation” can exploit even the toughest opponents.

Who Needs This?

If you are a professional or semi-pro player, this course is an investment. It is aimed at players who view buy-ins as business expenses. If learning one concept from Galfond helps you win one extra stack at $5/$10, the course has paid for itself.

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Run It Once vs. The Competition: RIO vs. PLO Mastermind

The battle for PLO supremacy is largely between Run It Once and PLO Mastermind. Here is the honest breakdown of who wins where.

1. Philosophy: Artist vs. Engineer

• PLO Mastermind (JNandez): Focuses on the “Engineer” approach. It is very structured, heavily reliant on preflop charts, and focuses on memorizing GTO baselines. It says: “Do X because the solver says so.”
• Run It Once (Galfond): Focuses on the “Artist” approach. It respects the solver but prioritizes logic, feel, and adaptation. It says: “The solver does X, but because the villain is human, we can do Y.”

2. The Library

• PLO Mastermind: Smaller library, but easier to navigate because it is highly categorized.
• Run It Once: Massive library (8,500+ videos). You get way more volume and variety of opinions, but you have to be better at filtering to find what you need.

3. The Verdict

• Choose PLO Mastermind if: You are a complete beginner who wants a strict “paint-by-numbers” system to follow.
• Choose Run It Once if: You want to become a complete player. If you want to crush high stakes, you need the flexibility and deep theoretical understanding that only Galfond and his team provide.

The “Vision” Bridge: Integrated GTO Training

We cannot talk about Run It Once without mentioning the PLO solver Vision.

Vision is RIO’s browser-based GTO Trainer. It is not just a video series; it is a powerful GTO solver that lets you play hands against a solver solution in real-time.

Why it matters for RIO users:

Watching a video is passive. You can nod your head and think you understand, but until you are tested, you don’t know. Vision is the “Exam.” It forces you to make decisions (Check or Bet? Fold or Call?) and instantly tells you the EV loss of your mistake.

• Integration: If you buy an Elite Annual membership, RIO often includes a free month or more of Vision.
• Tech: It is solved using MonkerSolver (the industry standard for PLO) and covers both 4-Card and 5-Card variants.

Deep Dive: Vision is complex enough that it deserves its own review. If you are interested in the software side, read our comprehensive Run It Once Vision Review Here.

The Platform: Mobile App & User Experience

A poker training site is only as good as its usability. You can’t study if the site is a pain to use. RIO has invested heavily in their tech stack.

The Mobile App (iOS & Android)

For grinders who have day jobs or travel for live events, the Run It Once App is a critical feature.

• Offline Viewing: Yes, it exists! You can download videos to your mobile device within the app. This is a lifesaver for flights to Las Vegas or commuting on the subway where you have no signal. Note: This feature is mobile-only; you cannot download files to a desktop.
• Sync: You can start a video on your PC, pause it, and pick it up on your phone exactly where you left off.
• Speed Controls: Watch videos at 1.5x or 2x speed. This is essential for getting through the massive Elite archives efficiently.

The Interface

With 8,500+ videos, finding the right one is tough. RIO’s filter system is excellent. You can drill down by:

• Game Type: PLO, NLHE, MTT, Mixed Games.
• Stakes: High, Mid, Low.
• Topic: 3-Bet Pots, Mental Game, Live Play, Theory.
• Coach: Filter specifically for Phil Galfond or Emty.

How to Use the Run It Once Discount Code PLO365

This is the most important part of the review for your wallet. Run It Once allows you to use a discount code during checkout, but the field can be easy to miss if you are rushing.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Navigate: Go to the Run It Once Training homepage.
2. Select: Choose your plan (e.g., “Essential Monthly” or “Elite Annual”) or the specific Course (e.g., “From The Ground Up”) you want to buy.
3. Account: You will be asked to log in or create an account.
4. Checkout: On the payment screen, look for a text box labeled “Promo Code” or “Coupon Code”.
5. Enter Code: Type in PLO365 (all caps).
6. Verify: Click “Apply.” You should see the total price drop by 10% instantly.
7. Complete: Finish the payment via Credit Card or Crypto.

Run It Once Free: A Strategic Guide

We mentioned the paid tiers, but what about the free stuff? RIO offers a “Basic” membership that is permanently free.

What you get:

1. Forum Access: RIO has one of the most active strategy forums in the world. You can post hands and get feedback from pros and community members.
2. 3 Elite Videos/Month: Every month, RIO unlocks a curated selection of Elite videos for free members. This is high-value content given away for $0.
3. The “2-Minute” Tease: You can watch the first 2 minutes of any video on the site.

Strategy for Free Users: Don’t just watch random clips. Use the “2-minute” feature to audition coaches. Watch the intro of a Galfond video, then an Emter video, then a Rabichow video. Decide whose teaching style clicks with your brain before you buy a subscription. This ensures that when you do pull out the credit card, you are buying the right plan.

Conclusion

Run It Once Training is not just a library; it is an institution. It remains the most comprehensive resource for 4-Card PLO & 5-Card PLO players who want to move beyond simple charts and understand the deep theory of the game.

With the combination of Phil Galfond’s legendary teaching, a massive archive of 8,500+ videos, the high-value Essential and Elite tiers for grinders, and the integrated PLO solver Vision trainer, it earns our highest recommendation.

Ready to start? Don’t leave money on the table. Use the Run It Once discount code PLO365 to save 10% and start your journey to high stakes today.

FAQ – Questions and Answers