On January 20th we had the pleasure of Al Krux visiting ThePokerWeb office in beautiful San Jose, Costa Rica, where Mo Kings conducted an in depth interview with Al about his 40 years as a professional poker player. We caught up with Al at Café Gamboa in Escazu Plaza Colonial. Al has the distinction of holding a bracelet as the 1996 World Series of Poker Pot Limit Hold’em Champion.

You’ve been playing for over 30 years, any good luck, bad luck stories you’d like to start off with?
In all the years there have been thousands of hands with good and bad outcomes, but the ones I remember most are when I have a lot of chips and weaker hand beats me.
Especially if I am near the final table of a major tournament and all of a sudden I am
walking. This has happened to me many, many times in the past, some players are good players; who consistently get lucky and some who don’t and I am not a player who has gotten incredibly lucky over the last 25 years. I can’t say I have never gotten lucky, in fact this year at the WSOP main event I got all-in with pocket 10`s and was up against Pocket Ace’s and caught a miracle 10 on the river that kept me in it. But, it’s interesting while I was sitting there thinking I was about to go home I was running the previous three hands through my head and thinking about how bad I played them, and bang there was the 10 to keep me in it, probably the most important card in my career. I’ll give you another good one, in the `94 WSOP main event I was in a hand with John Esposito and we both had about $30,000 in chips midstream; he made a small raise off the big blind, I called with a pair of deuces. The flop came J-2-2. John held JJ and I took all his chips. I went on to finish 5 that year.

Are you superstitious, and/or do you have any preparation rituals, you perform before a tournament?
Tournament poker can be strenuous and exhausting; you must be able to play near-
perfect poker for 3-7 days on end. For me a good nights rest, decent meal, and no hang-over is good enough preparation. But as far as superstitions are concerned, I don’t have any.

What would you classify as your biggest strength as a poker player?
Definitely, my ability to read a table and individual players is my biggest strength. When
I sit down at a table I immediately begin to evaluate my opponents (excluding seasoned players) how they hold their cards, bet their chips, fold their hands, voice declares etc. Without sounding overconfident, I can evaluate a table as fast as anybody.

What is your favorite game to play?
I rarely play anything but no-limited hold’em. The higher the limit the better.

To what would you attribute your victory in Pot Limit Hold’em at the 1996 WSOP?
Well when I won the bracelet in`96 my game was on and my cards held up. In order to
win a major tournament your cards must hold up. When you stick to your game plan and Insert a little luck you will have a winning formula.

Do you regret the way you played your final hand at last year’s WSOP? Or do you feel you did the best you could with what you had?
Yes, unfortunately I let the big blind influence my play. Greg’s $500,000 bet fooled me
and I got all-in bet with the second best hand; I really believed I had the best hand. I have to give Greg credit he played very well.

What was it like going up against Raymer? Do the glasses bother you at all?
Before the WSOP I had never played against Greg before. He is a gentleman and a fine
player, he caught good cards and had it all together that’s what it takes to win. I think the glasses were kind of funny they added a little spice to the game, but they did not bother me at all, no.

They say that poker is a game that’s easy to be pretty good at, but takes a lifetime to master… Are you still learning “big” lessons at this stage, or is it more just adding nuances to what you already know?
Poker is a constant learning process. If you are able to file the lessons that you have
learned along the way and learn from them you are on your way to being a solid player.
You would think with the amount I’ve played I have seen it all, but the cards (and
players) never cease to amaze me.

How do you feel about the boom in poker popularity over the last few years?
I think it’s just great, I couldn’t be happier. I mean 10 years ago poker was like fishing or bowling as far as ratings and popularity goes. Nothing against those two sports you
get my point. Without the influences of the internet, the media introducing the camera in
the table and Chris Moneymaker none of this would have happened, at least as fast as it has.

Do you think many of these new players/fans will stick with it in the years to come or do you believe that most of them are just along for the ride?
Yes, I think poker is going to be popular for a long time. It might be 5-10 years before
we see pokers full potential. With players getting younger and younger it’s only going to
get bigger and bigger. For most players as they progress from mediocre to good to solid they think they are at the top of their game the whole time, that’s what keeps them
coming back. Pretty much the first time a player wins they are hooked, whether they are
good or not doest matter, if they believe that they can win they will never stop. That
means to me that this game has only just begun to show its true potential.

What is your secret to surviving over along period of time as a poker player?
Two things; know your opponents, and have a good plan and put it to work. Once I’ve
made a decision about my opponents I try to start building, slow or fast depending upon the competition.

Do you consciously change your playing habits at each tournament you attend?
Yes, depending on the quality of players at my table I adjust my play. With new players I
must hold worthy cards, it’s hard to bluff an amateur player. Knowing the value of your
starting cards is very important, whether to fold, check or raise to get a feel of what my
opponent has. During a session it is very important to know why you won or lost. If you
won did you get lucky, or did you play well? If you lost did you get unlucky or did you
play poorly?

Do you keep a record of peoples tells for tournaments?
In my head.

If you could issue one tip for new poker players coming into poker, what would it Be?
Read some books and try to apply those techniques in your own winning style.

What’s your favorite poker book?
I have two which I have read and would recommend to any level player; “Super Systems” by Doyle Brunson, and “Championship No-Limit/Pot-Limit Hold`em” by T.J. Cloutier. Both are comprehensive in their own respects and can improve even the best players.

Upon researching your back ground for this interview, can you please explain the Connection with Native Americans across the US?
I’ve done consulting for Native Americans casinos and poker rooms across the Northeast.

Catching up with you here in Costa Rica Al, have you found any poker games in San Jose since you’ve been here?
No, not yet but I have heard that there are some good no-limit games that are played, but I haven’t found them yet.

Its come to our attention that you now reside in Costa Rica?
Well for some years now my wife and I have been looking for a warm place to be able to visit during the cold winter months of Syracuse, NY. So when NativePoker.com asked me to be their host and #1 pro I decided to look into it, but I still call Syracuse my home.

What are you current poker ventures?
I‘ve been hired as the host and #1 pro for a new poker site called NativePoker.com, we should be testing in the beginning of February. I’ve also been named a 2 year card for the PPT, which is the equivalent to the PGA for poker players. It is an invitation only
freeroll tournament where the best play the best; it should be interesting and I’m looking forward to playing in it. It really is the ultimate for pro poker players. This should be a good year for me.

Are you looking forward to this year’s WSOP?
Of course, there will be over 5,000 entrants and 1st place will be around $10 million.
That’s an insane amount of money; if I can make it down to 200 people I will be grateful.

What was your most disappointing hand?
Obviously, A9 vs. Greg Raymer’s AQ.

Thinking back can you pinpoint a hand which you remember the most?
There are two that stick out in my mind; the pocket 10`s when I caught the 10 on the river and when I had pocket 6`s (one being a spade) against Raymer’s AQ flop nothing w/2 spades, turn the Ace of spades, and river 2 of spades to give me a flush, my kids went Nuts. 3 million dollar pot.

In keeping to the topic of actual poker play, what would you consider as your best
Played hand?
There were two hands at the `04 WSOP that I feel I played very well. The first was
against Gary Jones; I had pocket 9`s and he slow played his pocket Ace’s. I raised it, and he just called. The flop came 3 rags with a 10 high. I could have bet when he checked but I just felt that he had a big hand. The turn was a nine giving me the set and he bet, I raised all-in and called. It was a big hand for me. The second hand was a little later in the day when I flopped a set of 6`against AK, I bet he called. He turned and ace I went all-in, he called drawing dead.

What was the best played hand against you?
Again, Raymer with his AQ, he rally fooled me with that $500,000 bet.

How did you learn poker?
I grew up in a poor Italian family; we were playing cards from as far back as I can
remember. It was a good way to pass the time.

Do play online where?
I didn’t play online very much until NativePoker.com approached me, now all I do is test for them to make sure the software has no bugs. A major part of my game is watching and studying my opponent. I can’t do that online so I hadn’t played much before I signed on with NativePoker.com.

How do you feel about online players?
I find it easy to play them live; most of them play very fast betting large with weak
hands. But online I can’t get that feel for them and are many players per hand and
this makes it hard for me to compete.

What are the biggest mistakes made by online players?
Risking big stacks with weak hands.

How do you see the big tournament changing over the next 5 years? 10 years?
More people, more money, more media.

What do you do when your game loses its edge? How do you take a break?
When a poker player loses his edge, if there is an edge to lose, they may not realize it.
It’s like a golfer losing his swing or a baseball slugger hitting a slump. It’s going to
happen even to the best of us. The best thing is to have a knowledgeable person looking in from the outside, maybe a coach to bring them back to shore. I had such a coach, matter of fact, I was lucky enough to have two. They watched me at all times when I played in Vegas and I could bounce things off of them and I could quickly get back to business at hand. I would have never made it without them.