Phil Galfond holding $10k-per-head "mastermind" event at Palm Springs estate in January

[Dan Druff]

Every January, infamous gambling coaching scammer Christopher Mitchell holds a form of a "mastermind event" in Las Vegas, where suckers pay him as much as $5k to get gambling and mindset advice from him. The problem? Christopher is a longtime losing addicted gambler, who never completed high school, and simply isn't very intelligent. His "strategies" revolve around various forms of mathematically disproven nonsense such as Martingale, trend-following, and table-hopping.

We've come to expect such snake oil bullshit from a guy like Christopher Mitchell, but it surprised me to see Phil Galfond jumping into the whole mastermind/mindset realm. But here we are.

To be fair, Phil Galfond is no Christopher Mitchell. Phil is an honest guy, while Christopher is a career scammer. Phil is intelligent, and Christopher is dumb. Phil is respected, while Christopher is a laughingstock. Phil has a long history of success in poker, whereas Christopher is an addicted losing gambler. Phil has run a successful poker training company, whereas Christopher gives people losing advice under false pretenses.

Still, I find these mastermind events in general to be a lot of useless psychobabble.

Here's Phil's sales pitch, just posted to Twitter yesterday:

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/PhilGalfond/status/1729958115947450597


Here's the full text, if you don't feel like clicking on the tweet:

A Retreat & Mastermind Event (Jan 18th-22nd)
Who, What, When (↑), Where, and Why

My favorite environments for learning and growth have been in the form of retreats and masterminds.

I’ve been to several, but it all started with Elliot Roe’s Control Room Mastermind many years ago.

In 2024, Elliot will be discontinuing the Control Room Mastermind.

I spoke with him at length about the decision and his learnings from all the events he ran. In short, he loved running them, but it simply made too little sense from a business perspective, given the time, resources, and expenses required.

A few months ago, I took on my first-ever group coaching clients.

I’d describe my experience there similarly – it hasn’t made business sense on paper, but I’ve loved the experience of connecting with wonderful, like-minded people eager to improve their games and themselves.

I’ve loved being able to contribute to that mission of theirs on some level.

While I feel I’ve been able to deliver some value in the “lecture” portions of our calls – where I share my insight into specific, prepared topics – what I really love is the depth and the conversations. Asking questions, answering questions, digging in.

And I realized that’s the part of the live retreat and mastermind experiences I’ve enjoyed so much.

Given all of that, after conversations with Elliot and some other trusted friends, I’ve decided to try my hand at running an event of my own!


About The Event

From January 18th to 22nd, we’ll be gathering, collaborating, and growing together in a sprawling 26,000 sq. ft. estate in Palm Springs. This grand property, spread across 2 acres, includes 15 bedrooms, 19 bathrooms, and features a billiard room, gym, sauna, massage room, tennis court, pools, and spas.

The program will feature comprehensive individual mastermind sessions, as well as specialized sessions dedicated to personal growth and career progression. During your mastermind session, we will all aim to help you conquer whatever it is that’s standing between you and even more success.

While my group coaching has focused on poker, this event will not.

The group will undoubtedly include poker pros and enthusiasts, given my personal following, but my aim is to assemble a diverse group of high-performers who can bring their unique perspectives to the table, just like Elliot succeeded in doing.

This could be a one-off event. My goal with this is similar to my group coaching goal: Figure out if I enjoy it and can do it well, and then see if I can turn it into something repeatable that is a win-win for me and those who sign up.

While this is my first event, I’ve learned from several excellent mentors (and some will be there!).

For the right people, I’m confident this will be a great experience, and I’ll be giving it my all to make sure that’s the case!

Who are the right people?...


Who Should Attend

As mentioned above, this is not a poker event. You do not need to be a poker player, and in fact, I’d go so far as to say if all you are focused on is playing poker, you might not get as much out of the rest of the group’s insights.

This event is not for everyone, and because the group dynamic is of paramount importance, not everyone will be accepted.

The first round of filtering is right here!

This is for you if are:

• A high-performer who has proven successful in your field.
• A life-long learner with a curiosity for personal growth and an eagerness to learn new skills, gain insights, and explore your potential.
• Willing to invest time, energy, and resources into your personal and career development journey.
• Open to connecting with like-minded individuals who share your passion for personal growth and self-discovery.

This is not for you if you are:

• Looking for instant solutions or shortcuts.
• Resistant to feedback or unwilling to share your weaknesses.
• Uncomfortable with vulnerability in a small group setting.
• Solely interested in networking. (While networking can be a valuable aspect of this experience, it won't work well if it's the only reason you're there!)
• Expecting to passively absorb information without participation or engagement.

If this feels event right for you after reading the above, the next round of filtering will be through a brief application, which I’ll review with my team.


Details and Pricing

If you’re interested in applying, the rates are:

$10k VIP
• Your own beautiful room w/ en-suite
$7.5k General
• Share a beautiful room & bathroom with a partner, friend, or unknown event-goer

We are aiming for 12-15 people but could go slightly over or under, depending on room sharing!

A Tweet?

Since this event is a beta launch of sorts, and I suspect it will sell out from one or two tweets, we won’t be creating an official landing page for now.

I assure you that despite that, the event will be organized, professional, and great!

My comments in the next post...

[Dan Druff]

First off, you may not know of this Elliot Roe guy being mentioned.

Elliot is a "poker mindset coach". His business model is not a novel one. Since the poker boom began, we have seen many "mindset coaches" come and go. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, the most prominent one was Sam Chauhan, who has since vanished from the scene.

Some poker pros have sworn by them. I remember when Gavin Smith was running deep in a WSOP event, he was so addicted to Sam's mindset coaching that he went into a panic when he couldn't reach Sam prior to playing the final table. He did manage to get a hold of Sam just before sitting down, got a few words of encouragement, and went on to win the bracelet (and somewhat credited Sam for it).

I am not a believer in mindset coaching. I think they can be of limited initial assistance if you're approaching poker with the wrong mindset or a lack of confidence, but there's a huge law of diminishing returns here. After the first 30 minutes of "mindset coaching", there's really not much left to learn, and these guys become more of a security blanket than anything else. Reminds me a lot of the classic children's story of Dumbo the flying elephant, and his belief that he needed a magic feather in order to fly. In the story, the meaningless feather had been given to Dumbo in order to give him the confidence to fly, and he really didn't need it. Such is the case with mindset coaching.

There's also the "fooled by variance" model involved here. If you get mindset coaching, and then bink a tournament shortly thereafter, you credit the mindset coach, even if he had little or nothing to do with it. If you get mindset coaching and continue to brick tournaments, then it's simply a matter of you "needing more work", and then the mindset coach gets credit once you finally do luckbox into something.



With all of that said, poker players tend to be an erratic, superstitious, and unstable bunch. Many of these players are very logical in their decision making when it comes to playing poker hands, but are wanting for stability away from the felt. It doesn't help that poker tournament success and failure is often separated by a few key hands in a few key spots, and often the perception of crushing and the perception of failure are a result of which way these hands fall.

When on a downswing, it's tempting to grasp at anything which can right the ship, especially if the rest of your life is also chaotic at the moment. That's how these mindset coaches make a killing. They claim to have the psychological answers for what ails both your poker game and your outside life.

Here is Elliot Roe's website: https://elliotroe.com/


You'll see that he has coached big names like Fedor Holz, Haralabob Voulgaris (very surprising, actually), Scott Blumstein, and a bunch of businesspeople who aren't involved in poker.

Elliot has done what Sam Chauhan and the other poker mindset coaches couldn't do. He's had success in the mindset coaching realm, while avoiding the snake oil reputation which constantly dogged guys like Sam, even at their peak.

Even Will Jaffe tweeted today that he ended up using Elliot as a substitute for "talk therapy" he had been previously receiving, and claimed Elliot helped him immensely:

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/dankness3/status/1730111656552788396


So how does this connect back to Galfond? I'll get to that in the next post.

[Dan Druff]

It is not clear to me exactly how Elliot fits into this.

Phil's tweet sells his mastermind event as his own attempt to channel his inner Elliot. Galfond claims to have attended Elliot's own mastermind event a few years ago, and being impressed by it. Apparently Elliot is discontinuing his events after 2023, and Phil claims to be attempting to replace it with his own version, starting in January.

This is all being done with Elliot's blessing, and likely cross-promotion, as Elliot himself will be there:

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/ElliotRoe1/status/1729964891480498658



It's also worth noting that Phil Galfond himself has been dabbling in the mindset coaching realm, as he released a free poker mindset e-book in August 2023, which I'm guessing was done with the plan of eventually launching this January 2024 event.

I have respect for Phil Galfond's poker accomplishments, as well as his successful poker coaching business. He's also been a very good ambassador for the game, maintaining an even temperament which most players (including myself) do not possess.

However, I don't think Phil Galfond is the right guy to be teaching mindset beyond the realm of poker.

Remember, his attempt at launching a poker site was an epic fail, and not due to market forces. Notably, he attempted this at roughly the same time that GGPoker was doing the same, and both were aimed at the same market. Run It Once Poker failed the entire way, hemorrhaging investor money, while GGPoker overtook Pokerstars to become the biggest site in the world.

Most importantly, Run It Once Poker failed mostly because Phil was surprisingly resistant to community feedback, and did a poor job reading the market. It is ironic that Phil is now running a mindset program, teaching people to "receive feedback and confront weaknesses", when his inability to do exactly that resulted in the failure of his poker site.

I would love to take PLO lessons from Phil Galfond.

I would love to take lessons from Galfond regarding running and promoting a poker coaching business.

I would be interested to hear from Galfond how he manages to keep such an even temperament, though I think some of that is just his inborn personality, and can't really be taught.

I do not think Galfond has much to teach regarding how to use mindset to succeed in a world outside of poker and poker coaching. The only example we have of this was a failure from start to finish.

[Dan Druff]

Doug Polk couldn't resist taking a swipe at this.

Recall that Phil Galfond led the May 2023 cancellation attempt of Polk via a long blog, which got a ton of traction because Galfond was so respected and normally drama-free.

After taking some further hits from guys like Matt Berkey and Charlie Carrel, Polk ultimately survived the cancellation attempt, but his reputation took somewhat of a hit, and he was clearly rattled by it.

I felt this attempt to cancel Polk was overblown and somewhat unfair, even though a few of the points against him had some limited validity. Simply put, Polk wasn't the monster he was portrayed to be in the blog, but at the same time, Polk was not entirely without fault.

Still, the parade of me-too style victims of Polk's internet trolling definitely exaggerated his culpability, and in some cases (especially Carrel's), Polk's prior criticism of them was at least somewhat warranted.


Anyway, here was Polk's somewhat careful criticism of Galfond's event, followed by a typical friendly response by Phil:

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/PhilGalfond/status/1729962520675602879



Does Polk have a point? Is Galfond really "charging people $10k to hang out" with him?

Well, kind of.

Galfond is charging $10k per head to basically bring a bunch of people to a big Palm Springs estate, while everyone shares their vulnerabilities and teaches one another how to approach life with the proper mindset. Phil will be leading the group, presumably with assistance from Elliot Roe.

I don't doubt that people will leave believing it was money well spent, and that they experienced immense personal growth during their stay in Palm Springs.

But that doesn't mean much. Let's get back to Christopher Mitchell. Unlike Phil Galfond, Christopher has nothing to teach, and in fact his advice is actually harmful. Yet those paying him $5k for "gambling coaching" and "gambling mindset advice" often walk out of his mindset events believing they learned valuable lessons, when in reality they've not only learned nothing useful, but they've learned harmful advice AND are $5k lighter (plus future gambling losses) for the experience.

The bottom line is that mindset customer feedback is useless, because anyone can convince themselves that they've grown from learning mindset advice, and it's a freeroll for the mindset coach. If things immediately improve, he gets the credit. If things don't immediately improve, it's only because the student needs more work or needs to persevere.



This seems to be a new career attempt by Galfond. Between his August mindset e-book, and now this retreat, he probably thinks he can parlay his strong reputation in poker and poker coaching into a business model like Roe's.

Kind of a weird and unexpected turn by him, but maybe he's feeling the need to pivot, as poker games dry up, and as the coaching/coaching video landscape faces increased competition and a smaller customer pool.

Comments?

[DJ_Chaps]

ASIAN SPA > EVERY OTHER HACK LIFE COACH ALIVE


RIP

[sah_24]

I wonder if he's got a lesson on how to create a FAIL SITE ... lols

[Dan Druff]

I wonder if he's got a lesson on how to create a FAIL SITE ... lols

If actual humility regarding his mistakes with his poker site are not part of the course, then he's not bringing the introspection he's promoting.

I don't know if he plans to discuss this or not, but I do know that his own postmortem blog after Run It Once Poker's failure was missing a lot of that introspection.

I met the GGPoker owner at a summer 2022 party. I straight up told the guy that I respected what he accomplished -- building a ground-up poker site in the late 2010s, and quickly rising to market leader. I told him that this required a great feel for the market and what people wanted out of a poker site.

I wasn't kissing his ass. I also stated that I didn't agree with some of their decisions regarding how they treated pro players, but that I did respect their business approach, and obviously it worked really well.

The bottom line was that GGPoker put their ear to the ground and listened to the market, while Phil had his head in the clouds and built a poker site in HIS vision, but not the vision of those who would actually be playing on it.

I just think that if you're going to lead a mastermind event where everyone gets together and each takes a hard look where they erred and where they can improve, you as the leader should be expected to do the same.

[Dan Druff]

One more thing.

Palm Springs isn't the best choice as a venue in January.

Why?

Because Palm Springs isn't Miami. It's not warm in the winter. The average January high is 71, and the average low is 48. That's not cold by any means, but it's also not swimming weather, or the type of weather where it's enjoyable to sit outside for long periods of time.

Phil probably got a good deal on the rental, given it's mid-January, and people really aren't visiting Palm Springs at that time of year. The weather there is roughly the same as nearby Los Angeles (except it rains less often, and is a few degrees warmer).

Palm Springs is much nicer from mid-March through mid-May, and again from late September to late October. That's the sweet spot where the days are hot but not blazing hot, and the nights are pleasantly warm.

I realize this isn't a sit-by-the-pool retreat, but if I'm gonna spend 4 days at a beautiful resort-like home, I'm going to want to spend some time enjoying the grounds.

[tigerpiper]

I am let down that this topic is not about the game Mastermind. When I was growing up, I thought this lady was hot.

[hesterandeldridge]

if some of the biggest names in poker , speak positive of what mindset coaching has done for their game , why are people doubting it ?

if the 10k is a drop in the bucket for these guys attending , why do we care ?

if my net worth is above 2-3 million , what is 10k really ?


you think this is a money grab by Phil ? you think he is trying to make profit and think its a scam ?

some of the top earners in the poker field and trading field give elliot roe massive credit , who are we to doubt them ?

[JeffDime]

if some of the biggest names in poker , speak positive of what mindset coaching has done for their game , why are people doubting it ?

if the 10k is a drop in the bucket for these guys attending , why do we care ?

if my net worth is above 2-3 million , what is 10k really ?


you think this is a money grab by Phil ? you think he is trying to make profit and think its a scam ?

some of the top earners in the poker field and trading field give elliot roe massive credit , who are we to doubt them ?

The placebo effect. It can work for some. 10K seems steep.

Roe has clearly helped Jaffe fully realize his inner insufferable doucheness.

In all seriousness, Druff’s well thought out critique is an extremely important counter to much of the group think in the poker community. So many barnacles attach to the same ship because it financially benefits all. At least Druff is making a counter argument and not just rubber stamping this like most of the community will do. It’s important to have a different perspective.

I largely agree with Druff. Get a dog, get a reliable friend, an understanding spouse and work on interpersonal relationships. Mind will be good and you save the 10 g birds. Plus these will be real relationships. Don’t fool yourself…mindset coaches are not doing this shit pro-bono. It’s a transactional/Artificial relationship.

Anyways sorry to be so blunt…but your argument to not even have an opposing argument is silly. It’s important to bring other perspectives. Particularly for such an expensive endeavor. 10K is a lot of money…I don’t care who you are.

[ftpjesus]

What is it with some poker players and this mindset voodoo?? Reminds me of the choice center bullshyt Dnegs was involved with awhile back. Ironically didnt him hooking up with amanda kinda bury that whole thing because it sure seemed like he went radio silent about it around the same time

[hesterandeldridge]

What is it with some poker players and this mindset voodoo?? Reminds me of the choice center bullshyt Dnegs was involved with awhile back. Ironically didnt him hooking up with amanda kinda bury that whole thing because it sure seemed like he went radio silent about it around the same time

its just not poker players , other fields (traders etc) have spoken very positive of it, now it could easily be a placebo effect but when the 10k represents less than 10% of 1% of your net worth the downside is minimal and the upside huge

[Dan Druff]

That’s why it works.

There’s always rich guys willing to fork over $$ for pie in the sky bullshit purporting to be transformative.

What surprises me is seeing guys like Haralabob do it. I pictured him to be the type to see this all as useless psychobabble.

There’s a value in approaching the game with the correct mindset, but as I said, you can learn the right mindset within 30 minutes and then it’s up to you to execute.

[Texter]

The problem with some poker players is impostor syndrome, no matter how they present themselves on the outside, they feel like phonies on the inside.

[hesterandeldridge]

That’s why it works.

There’s always rich guys willing to fork over $$ for pie in the sky bullshit purporting to be transformative.

What surprises me is seeing guys like Haralabob do it. I pictured him to be the type to see this all as useless psychobabble.

There’s a value in approaching the game with the correct mindset, but as I said, you can learn the right mindset within 30 minutes and then it’s up to you to execute.

the business ideas and networking (even though he said no networking) they can gather from this is worth many multiples of this.

look what liv did by becoming friends with Grimes etc

[Dan Druff]

That’s why it works.

There’s always rich guys willing to fork over $$ for pie in the sky bullshit purporting to be transformative.

What surprises me is seeing guys like Haralabob do it. I pictured him to be the type to see this all as useless psychobabble.

There’s a value in approaching the game with the correct mindset, but as I said, you can learn the right mindset within 30 minutes and then it’s up to you to execute.

the business ideas and networking (even though he said no networking) they can gather from this is worth many multiples of this.

look what liv did by becoming friends with Grimes etc

I suppose there's potential value there, but why not just hold a networking type event, like a dinner party or whatever in a very nice venue, with some activities for people to get to know each other?

Because there's not much money in that.

[Dan Druff]

Here's the Dan Druff Tournament Poker Mindset course:

 

Don't go into a tournament believing you're unlucky or going to lose in big spots.

Don't be intimidated by anyone in the field. They're human just like you, and operating on imperfect information just like you. Instead, think about how they perceive you, and then do the opposite.

Don't be jealous of anyone else's chip stack. Just focus on your own. Often the people with mountains of chips in the early and middle stages will chunk them all off very quickly.

Each hand is independent. There's no such thing as "running bad", no matter how much it feels like it sometimes. Approach each hand as a new opportunity to win.

Don't get upset about bad beats. Those mean you got the money in good, which indicates that you're a skillful player who did the right thing. In most cases, these spots will make you a lot of money.

Some of the most inspiring tournament victories came from people who were short stacked, even late in the event. Remember that if you're still in, you've got a fighting chance.

Always just play your best game and go with your instincts. It's more important for you to make the right moves than for others to be impressed with your play.

See the tournament as a competition where the goal is to take everyone's chips. If people are giving you info, willingly or unwillingly, take it and use it to beat them. If you want to be a generous guy, do it off the felt.

Remember that others have the potential to get frustrated and play badly, just like you potentially can. Recognize who is in the wrong mindset, and exploit that.

Be friendly to everyone, and they will be easier to play against -- and sometimes will even show hands after you fold. It benefits you to be social.

If you're about to register for a tournament and can't shake the feeling that you're going to lose, don't register and do something else with your day.

Chips saved are just as good as chips won. Be proud of your correct folds.

Don't get psyched out by table changes. Even if your new table is tougher than the last, you can handle it, and everyone there will be uncomfortable because they don't know your play style yet.

That will be $10,000. PM for Cash App tag.

[Sheesfaced]

Here's the Dan Druff Tournament Poker Mindset course:

 

Don't go into a tournament believing you're unlucky or going to lose in big spots.

Don't be intimidated by anyone in the field. They're human just like you, and operating on imperfect information just like you. Instead, think about how they perceive you, and then do the opposite.

Don't be jealous of anyone else's chip stack. Just focus on your own. Often the people with mountains of chips in the early and middle stages will chunk them all off very quickly.

Each hand is independent. There's no such thing as "running bad", no matter how much it feels like it sometimes. Approach each hand as a new opportunity to win.

Don't get upset about bad beats. Those mean you got the money in good, which indicates that you're a skillful player who did the right thing. In most cases, these spots will make you a lot of money.

Some of the most inspiring tournament victories came from people who were short stacked, even late in the event. Remember that if you're still in, you've got a fighting chance.

Always just play your best game and go with your instincts. It's more important for you to make the right moves than for others to be impressed with your play.

See the tournament as a competition where the goal is to take everyone's chips. If people are giving you info, willingly or unwillingly, take it and use it to beat them. If you want to be a generous guy, do it off the felt.

Remember that others have the potential to get frustrated and play badly, just like you potentially can. Recognize who is in the wrong mindset, and exploit that.

Be friendly to everyone, and they will be easier to play against -- and sometimes will even show hands after you fold. It benefits you to be social.

If you're about to register for a tournament and can't shake the feeling that you're going to lose, don't register and do something else with your day.

Chips saved are just as good as chips won. Be proud of your correct folds.

Don't get psyched out by table changes. Even if your new table is tougher than the last, you can handle it, and everyone there will be uncomfortable because they don't know your play style yet.

That will be $10,000. PM for Cash App tag.

I agree with you a lot more on this topic than I don’t; and think your post is all great advice for tournament poker. But I do think you’re also oversimplifying this significantly. Ive witnessed you being frustrated by things like table changes, being seated in the big blind, bad beats etc countless times when providing your Twitter chip updates.

Yet you know these are things that are actively working against your chances of success and still do them. And if this mindset coaching conference helps you be able to more affectively act on all the things you mentioned then that would certainly be valuable.

Now I’m skeptical of that being the case, or that you’d need to pay $10,000 to learn that thru this course and not thru other means. But completely ignoring that part is disingenuous.

[hesterandeldridge]

I also agree with druff for the most part , but 10k for some possible self improvement or what might be a placebo effect and hava nagila goes on in the back of our heads.

the people he is targeting, 10k (which is really 7k after it being a write-off) is probably less than 1/1000 their net worth. if you told me i can possibly improve my mental state even if placebo effect at 1/1000 my net worth and im in considering what i have done for a living for 25+ years, i would snap do it , and i have subscribed to some elliot roe and tommy angelo content/books