One of online poker’s best players, and most well respected coaches, Chris “Fox” Wallace, is gearing up for an intensive Pro Poker Seminarin Reno, Nevada in March; where along with other top poker minds he will offer aspiring poker players what “Fox” calls a “serious, college style, poker education”.
For those of you unfamiliar with Fox’s work, he is one of lead instructors at the online poker training site Poker X Factor, author of the book No Limits, as well as being one of the online poker world’s best grinders –he is also fresh off a 3rdplace finish in the Caesar’s Palace Winter Open Main Event where he pocketed almost $25k!
I recently had a chance to talk to Fox about the poker world, as well as the upcoming Pro Poker Seminar:
Online Poker Examiner: The first thing I want to ask you about was the big story of 2010: What were your thoughts on the online poker legislation that ultimately fell short in the US Senate this past December?
Chris “Fox” Wallace: I thought the legislation was really bad, and indicative of how things are right now. Money runs everything and corrupt politicians are just supporting whatever legislation they are paid to support. The UIEGA happened for the same reasons, and in Washington State the people who supported the anti-poker legislation received huge campaign contributions from the native casinos. The idea that you would want to regulate something, but first make it illegal for up to two years, is ridiculous. With regulation like that we don't have nay need for prohibition. I was also a little disappointed in the PPA and how they started out supporting the bill and never came out strongly against it.
OPE: It looks like New Jersey will soon become the first state to pass online poker legislation: Are you worried about the possibility of Intra-State online poker carving up the market into small player pools similar to France and Italy?
Fox: It will be a mess if every state starts doing this, though I wouldn't be surprised to see states form coalitions, much like the powerball where multiple states get together for larger prize pools. Otherwise you will have poker players moving out of the states with less population. If it goes state by state I would have to strongly consider moving to California where there are lots of players with lots of money. The biggest problem for me is that American players win more than they lose from foreign players simply because we've had the game longer and all the books are written in English and many have not been translated yet. If you shut out the foreign market you are shutting down one of the few trading markets where the US isn't running a deficit right now. We need all teh capital influx we can get.
OPE: One thing I’ve noticed is that online poker sites are starting to move away from being “copies” of live poker, and started implementing features specifically geared toward the aspects that make online poker different –such as Rush Poker and Multi-Entry tournaments at Full Tilt Poker, and the new Home Games feature at PokerStars. Do you think we’ll start seeing online poker and live poker drift further apart in terms of the way the game is played, what they offer and what skills are needed?
Fox: I do think the two games will continue to evolve. There will probably never be enough competition in most areas of live poker to fund serious innovation because most live casinos have partial or complete monopolies in their area. The lack of competition will keep live rooms just as they are, but online in a free market we will continue to see the game evolve.
OPE: You’ll be appearing at the Pro Poker Seminars event taking place from March 11-13, at the Peppermill Casino in Reno, Nevada, what can poker players expect to be exposed to at this seminar?
Fox: This is serious, college style, poker education. We aren't going to sit around a poker table, we'll be in a classroom, so anyone who shows up needs to be prepared to take notes and study. With some of the best poker coaches and writers in the business, I'm almost as excited to attend some of these seminars as I am to be part of giving them.
OPE: Pro Poker Seminars is a relatively new company; could you give me a little insight on how you became involved with them, and what separates them from other poker training companies?
Fox: I am actually part of the company, and the goal was to teach people who really want to improve. Our focus is on players who want to go pro or semi-pro and give them the tools to do that. It's the difference between a baseball fantasy camp where you go pal around with some ex-pros and a prep camp where coaches work with you to improve your game and help you move to the next level. In our opinion, most of the other live poker training "boot camps" out there were basically fantasy camps. We aren't about shaking hands with big name pros, we'll just teach you how to crush them. You can shake their hand after you take all their chips.
OPE: I know you are also a contributor at pokerXfactor.com, so for the people out there who won’t be able to make it to the seminar in Reno, what can they expect from your lessons at PokerXfactor?
Fox: We have a new video every day from some of the best players in the world. Guys like Scott Clements, AJKHoosier, Eric 'Sheets' Haber, Cliff 'JohnnyBax' Josephy, myself, and many others. The roster is incredible. We also do live seminars, and I run two of them myself every week. Any paid member can show up on Monday night with hands that caused him trouble over the last week and we will analyze them and come up with a solution. It's an incredible learning tool and a way for anyone who is interested to get access to a pro and get some advice on hands they actually played every week.My Wednesday seminar always has a specific topic, sometimes it's technical like Resteal Math or Using Nash Equilibriums and other times it's simple and practical like Bankroll Management or Making the Adjustment to Live Tournaments.
OPE: Last time we spoke we talked about your book No Limits and you told me you were working on a Mixed Games book, any updates on that front?
Fox: So far sales of No-Limits have been good and we just learned that the book will be translated into Italian and possibly other languages soon after. The Mixed Games book is nearly done, but I don't have a market or a publisher for it and haven't really tried to find those things yet. I'll give No-Limits time to sink in before I release something else.
OPE: Another thing you had mentioned was a new project called GrinderU.com, how has the website been progressing?
Fox: There were some technical issues and things got off to a slow start on Grinder U. The site still has potential, but I'm not sure if it will ever be realized at this point. We have a lot of projects and most of them don't come to anything, but the few that do go somewhere are fairly successful. We're gamblers at heart I guess, even when it comes to buying domains and building websites. Bankrolltools.com is a better example of a site that we developed, finished, and is now generating some traffic. It's probably the best site of it's kind and very easy to use, so people are recommending it to their friends and posting links to it in forums.
OPE: Finally, what were your new year’s resolutions for 2011?
Fox: I resolved to stop being such a nit with my bankroll. I'm such a wimp that I won't play big enough even when I can afford it, and while it means that I've made a living playing poker for almost eight years and never gone broke, it also means that I'll never be rich if I don't take a a few more risks. So far it isn't working out, I'm still sort of a wimp when it comes to bankroll and moving up in stakes.
The Pro Poker Seminar will take place from March 11-13, 2011, and it’s advised that you reserve your seat as soon as possible as spots are limited. For more information or to reserve your seat you can visit the Pro Poker Seminars website.
For more information on Fox’s other poker projects, or to order No Limits, you can visit his website www.FoxPoker.com.
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