Al Krux is an American professional poker player, who was born in North Carolina, but now lives near Syracuse, New York. Before turning to the game, Krux was a diamonds merchant for many years. Dealing with gorgeous jewelry and their beautiful buyers must have been pleasing. So what would make him give it away?
Al Krux grew up in a poor Italian family and spent most of his childhood playing cards with friends. Ever since, the passion for the game has lived inside of him. However, it wasn’t until 1990 when he made his first big score. Al Krux made the final table of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) $10,000 no limit hold'em main event and finished 6th in 1990. So what helps Al along the way? Well, according to his words, a good night sleep and clear mind can do miracles! But that’s just the beginning.
He classifies as his biggest strength his ability to read a table and individual players. When he sits down at the table, he immediately begins to evaluate his opponents – thinking what move they would do and what would their reactions be. Can you do that only by looking at someone? Obviously Al Krux can.
He often plays No-limit Hold’Em and always with a high limit. As a matter of fact, he rarely plays anything but the No-Limit Hold’Em. In 1996, however, Al Krux won his first World Series of Poker bracelet. People wonder what gave him the strength to win - he says himself that in order to win a major tournament, your cards must hold up. Well, obviously sticking to your game plan and inserting a little luck clears the way to the big reward - and quite a reward it is! He even defeated “Miami” John Cernuto.
People say that poker is the game where it is easy to be just good, but it takes a lifetime to master. So the big question is – is Al Krux still learning or is he just adding new tricks to his already successful abilities? To that statement Krux says that poker is a constant learning process. So every player has to be able to file the lessons he learned along the way and take the best of them. Many poker players think that being in the game for so many years provides them with all the knowledge they need to be winners. They think they have seen it all and that is where Al Krux disagrees – if you ask him, he will probably say that cards can always amaze you… and so can players!
It’s a well known fact, that poker has had its boom in popularity over the last few years. So how does that affect a professional player? Good. Al Krux is always happy that 10 years ago poker was like fishing or bowling as far as ratings and popularity goes, but now that has changed a lot. In 1994 Al Krux finished 5th in the World Series of Poker tour and in 2004 – he made it to the 6th place.
Now days, however, the casino where he mostly plays poker is Turning Stone Casino, located in Verona, New York. And he stills keep working on adding new moves to his inventory. Of course, so far the one he already has, have done him only well - as of 2008 his total tournament winnings exceed $1,200,000.