Alex Jones

Stakes: Up to $1k turbos, $200 hyper turbos

Charles Hawk: Firstly, please introduce yourself.

Alex Jones: I'm 22, spend my time between Whistler, Canada and Seoul, Korea, play turbos up to $1ks at the moment and am in the $200 hyper division. I've had a lot of success early in my career at 6max Cash games and now in HU. I've been playing professionally for about 2 years now.

CH: In your opinion, what are the main success factors that have allowed you to reach such high limits in such a fast time?

AJ: Living with HU hyper players in Canada was huge. It was the reason I switched to HU. Also just having a love for the game is important. Realizing you can learn anything from any situation or any player.

CH: With whom did you live?

AJ: 360flip019, MDg0rd0n, vers, alloman, ekko1, stinkypete13

CH: How do you study poker?

AJ: I don't have any magic way for studying. Mostly just talking hands/strategy with people whose opinion I respect. Nothing out of the ordinary.

CH: Describe your standard day.

AJ: There's a lot of activities to do in Whistler, so I snowboard in winter and mountain bike in the summer. I spend most of my evenings grinding into the early morning to my favorite music.

CH: How long do you usually sleep?

AJ: I usually go to bed pretty late but sleep a full cycle (8 hours).

CH: How did you discover poker? What was the hardest to learn in the beginning?

AJ: I got into poker like every other poker player playing home games in high school. Bankroll management. In the beginning I blew bankroll after bankroll. All I could think was, "BIG MONEYY! I like that"

CH: Do you have enough action in turbo husng?

AJ: Well, velociraptors trying to eat you for the green leaves. What I mean by that is people war hard at turbos and for good reason. While action isn't always the best, when do get sat by a recreational player it is very profitable.

CH: Are you afraid/conscious about online poker future? New laws, more regs every year, etc.

AJ: There always seems to be some new news or rumours about various countries having new laws. The future in Canada right now isn't certain if it will stay the same since Skrill pulled out a while back and PokerStars dropped sponsorship for WPT Montreal. We'll just have to wait and see.

Regarding more regs, that is only natural. Poker right now is the hardest it's ever been, but the easiest it will ever be.

CH: Did you reach such high stakes so fast because of taking aggressive shots?

AJ: Not overly aggressive, but I've always been in a mindset where I can lose a K but still smile cuz I know it's coming back another day.

CH: Are you a productive grinder? Can you sit and play for a long time without taking too many breaks?

AJ: I feel I'm quite productive. I credit this to our living room grind fort that 360flip and I built.

CH: How many tables can you comforably play for a long time?

AJ: I was into Warcraft 3 when I was a kid, so I think that helps with my multitabling. I can 6 table for a long time, but a few more isn't a problem either. :)

CH: This is in HUSNGs?

AJ: Yes.

CH: Are you able to accumulate reads in every table or do you play equilibrium only?

AJ: It's a mix of both.

CH: Have you memorised the Nash equilibrium chart?

AJ: Not exactly, but I have a very good idea of where each hand goes.

CH: How many games per day is standard for you?

AJ: I play 100-300 games depending on how the action is. I try and get 6000+/month.

CH: In which spots were you losing the most money at the beginning? Which hands were most unprofitable for you?

AJ: My major leak was spending too much time gaming women in Seoul instead of grinding.

CH: Do you mix turbos and hypers?

AJ: Yes I mix.

CH: Was it hard to get into the 200s division? How many games did you have to play against regs?

AJ: it was a full month of grinding. I got into 200s at a time when there were a lot of players in the cartel who are no longer in it, and I think that was to my advantage. At the time I think it was a much weaker group - it's much stronger now. I got in at the beginning of February.

CH: Any near plans to get into 300s and maybe 500s groups?

AJ: I'd rather not give away my timing for that, but there's plans. :) I've got a million dollars on my mind, 100g's at a time!