Chris 'Fox' Wallace (Poker Pro, Coach and Author) - Ask Me Anything!

[Atararo14]

Hello Chris, I hope you are well.

I have a question regarding a tournament player's long turn objective.

Is it better to play a little loose to hope to make an advanced place in the tournament in order to compensate for the other lost tournaments? or is it better to be a little conservative to ensure an ITM place ?

The first strategy implies a low ITM percentage and the second implies a higher ITM percentage, but does doing ITM while playing tight allow you to win on the long turn ?

Thank you.

 

[mariussica88]

Hello Chris,

Do you recommend any good mental coaching books, or courses?

Thank you

 

[Gh0stL]

Hi Chris, What book that help you to improve your skills or what way you improve your skills playing poker?
Thanks for your answer.

 

[kley126]

Have you ever lost patience with a leading student?

 

[hjuosh]

Hello Chris. I would like to know what you think about play and study. Some coaches says that it's much better finish the study for complete before to start playing.

 

[georgi krastev]

Hi, Chris, nice to meet you...
... i want to ask you for your professional opinion for a particular case, that actually happened...
So, the action is (preflop) at the freeroll on CC, early stages, my current place is ~ 600th of ~ 1500 starting players (I have no idea how many are left at this time), (my stack is about ~15BB; note: before that to hapen i was sitting out), (the goal is wining the tournament):

I'm on UTG with AKo and i open with bet of 2xBB; the player, at left from me (through one or two places), shove (all in), everyone to BB folds, BB shove also (all in)... So, the action back to me and i... shove too (all in), (my main thought then was to triple up my stack )...

... The big blind caught us all with pocket queens.

I will be verry gladfull to know your professional opinion about this...

 

[Chica_bonita]

Hello Chris.
I have a question for you again: What ratio between training and practice do you think is optimal if, for example, we consider a one-week period? I mean, how many hours a week should a poker novice devote to learning and, at the same time, how many hours a week should he devote to playing poker in order to improve his skills?

 

[Mati532]

Hi Chris, thanks for sharing on the forum.

What poker room do you play? Which do you think is currently the best? do you do live daily?

 

[millya5]

Hello Chris !
I would like to know your opinion.. Lately I've become addicted to 6+ short deck hold'em, do you think I should continue playing there? I often forget the rules of the game... a short deck is the rule of the game of others and therefore I often lose...

 

[aurora1207]

Hi Chris.

I would like to know if it is necessary for a beginner to buy a tracker and use it to become a winner at poker
?

 

[Natta777]

Good afternoon! Chris, please share your favorite poker quote. Or maybe you yourself are the author of interesting quotes? Many of them are motivating and help to cope with negative mood after a bad game.

 

[Dmitriy_rus7]

Hello Chris! What is your favorite poker room?

 

[Atararo14]

Hi Chris, I hope you are doing well.

Is ICM important to consider or ignore in micro stack MTTs ?

Thank you !

 

[EddMaster]

Hi Chris,

I seem to be having some trouble with bad beats. It’s strange because even though I have a good hand (or a good bluff) and know that the play is right, I still seem to be losing the hand. Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks. ✌🏼

 

[werty328]

hello, tell me how much time you need to devote to poker in order to play not like a professional, but at least well?

 

[Natta777]

Good afternoon! Chris, I'm interested to know your opinion on the game in the satellites. Do you recommend that your students use them? Or do you think it's better to enter the tournament directly and not waste time on the satellite?

 

[FRANCODAMI]

Hello how are you ? I could ask you a question, how do I get rid of the urge to want to play all the hands before the bubble? I do it because otherwise I feel like I could lose a great opportunity.

 

[ChrisFoxWallace]

Hi Chris, how are you?

What would be the crucial thing to start in poker?

Just start learning and never stop. There are so many things to learn that I can't imagine one thing being crucial without all the others.

 

[ChrisFoxWallace]

Hello.
First of all, I would like to thank you for being here and ready to give advice to each member of the community. 🙂
I've been playing poker for a long time and it's more of a hobby than something really serious for me. Frankly speaking, I play pretty poorly and I have never used any poker tools to really improve my game, so I can call myself a beginner in this sense.
What poker tools, in your opinion, should be in the arsenal of every poker player to improve the quality of their game?

An equity calculator is a good place to start. And some good books. Dive in and start learning everything you can and it won't be long before you are able to tell which learning tools are working for you. I like Equilab for equity calculations and it's free.

 

[ChrisFoxWallace]

Hi Chris, In the early stages of live MTT's, I can usually build up a decent stack. Then, in the middle stages, I seem to tighten up too much because I don't want to risk my chips. Then, I start whittling down until I am a short stack. What do you suggest I do to change my pattern?

Learn to become risk tolerant. Gamble on very small things just to get used to it. And remember that you are guaranteeing that you won't win the tournament if you never put your chips in the middle until you are super short. More study will help too, because you will know the spots to gamble and not have to be afraid that you are choosing the wrong time. Focus on using that big stack and not letting those chips dwindle away.

 

[ChrisFoxWallace]

Hi Chris, I also like mixed games and since the WSOP is coming up, I am curious to know which WSOP event are you most looking forward to? Thanks for taking my question and best of luck to you.

As much as I love mixed games, I really look forward to the main event more than anything. The excitement in that room is amazing!

 

[ChrisFoxWallace]

hello Chris,
I don't think any coaches are teaching most of the stuff I see in here lol, but my question is the game itself evolving into more of a bingo match?
I get beat regularly by trash hands I would not even play.

I think there is less luck involved in poker now than there has been since the days of most people playing stud. Are you giving those people huge piles of chips when they suck out on you? Remember, if they are getting good enough odds, it makes sense to play trash hands. So don't pay them off when they hit, and make sure you are charging them enough to try.

If you are a 4 to 1 favorite preflop, then get in $12, and lose $200 every time you get out flopped, your opponent actually makes almost $55 per hand playing that junk against you. You may need to work on your post flop game, because the modern game is too tough to just play good hands preflop and expect to win.

 

[ChrisFoxWallace]

Hi Chris!

I know you won the WSOP $10,000 HORSE in 2014! I like it very much, as well as 8 GAME. I've won smaller amounts before, but I've never won a Horse tournament, because as many chips as I collect in different games, I regularly lose most of them in the Fix Limit parts... My question is, do you think it's worth using this knowledge in HORSE - 8GAME tournaments, or should I confirm my Fix Limit deficiencies in advance? Thank you in advance for your answer!

You should definitely work on your fixed-limit game before playing any bigger mixed game events. But playing smaller events is one of the ways to work on your game. My book on HORSE (Getting Started With HORSE Poker) would be a good place to start working on your fixed-limit game.

 

[ChrisFoxWallace]

Hi Chris,

What are the most fundamental considerations, facing a min raise, when in the big blind with a short stack? Can a donk bet/stop and go strategy be profitable sometimes? I think I over fold my big blind when under 20 big blinds, worrying about the loss of fold equity in later hands.

Thanks, nbg

Oh, this is a good one. I could write a whole book about this. In fact, I sort of did. Short Stack Ninja is available on Amazon here https://amzn.to/3JFyG6G and covers this stuff in-depth. Sometimes a stop and go works, but learn about resteals too, they are super valuable. If your opponent is likely to fold, usually because they raised from later position and have a wide range, then going all-in with between 10 and 20 big blinds can be very profitable, especially with weak hands that can still win seeing all five cards, like suited hands and medium or bigger connectors.

You're going to lose that fold equity if you just fold all the time too. If you aren't eating the other players, then the blinds are eating you. In fact, I liked your question enough that I decided to make you an answer in video format.

 

[ChrisFoxWallace]

Hi Chris a pleasure to be able to ask you!! How does it feel to be successful in poker?

It was amazing for a few years, nice for a few years, and then just okay. Playing for a living is not a great life, even when it pays well. Bad chairs, bad food, and sometimes people you don't like, and the job security and benefits are not great. Poker is a wonderful hobby, a good side hustle, but not a good job. I'm much happier to be writing and doing other things now.