Alex Foxen had a front-row seat when his wife, Kristen, nearly made the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2024.
He is hoping to top that run this year.
Foxen was one of the big stacks Wednesday on Day 3 of the $10,000 buy-in No-limit Hold’em World Championship at Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris Las Vegas. The high-stakes poker pro originally from Cold Spring Harbor, New York, had 830,000 chips at the 6 p.m. dinner break, which put him inside the top 50.
The Main Event continues on Thursday with Day 4 when the money bubble is expected to burst. The top 1,382 places are paid with the minimum cash worth $15,000.
Foxen played tight end at Boston College for three seasons from 2009 to 2011 before he was forced to retire because of recurring concussions. With his stature and aggressive style of play, he cuts an imposing figure at the poker table.
“I had played a little bit of poker as a teenager just for fun here and there with friends. And it was always a game I was interested in. I felt like I had a natural ability for it,” Foxen said.
“Once I no longer had that competitive outlet from football since I played sports my entire life, competition was everything for me. I kind of needed something to compete on and I couldn’t play physical contact sports so poker was just the perfect outlet for me.”
Since turning professional, Foxen has become one of the world’s top tournament players. He won a WSOP Circuit event in 2012 at age 21 and was the Global Poker Index Player of the Year in 2018 and 2019.
Foxen, 35, has more than $58.8 million in career live tournament earnings, according to the Hendon Mob Poker Database, good for 10th on the all-time money list.
“There’s one moment I can remember when I was a kid when I was first trying to learn the game where I took a deck of cards and would just deal out nine hands face-up and kind of play each hand as I thought I would and get a feel for how hands would play out,” Foxen said. “I’d say that kind of was the foundation of my understanding of the game and then just became obsessed and it’s all I did for 10 or so years.”
This summer, the Las Vegas resident won the $10,000 buy-in Super Turbo Bounty No-limit Hold’em Eight-handed event to notch his fourth career WSOP bracelet, which are awarded for tournament victories.
Foxen leads the WSOP Player of the Year race and has cashed in nine events for $1.92 million while making five final tables.
“To me, consistent results and longevity is the most important marker of success,” Foxen said. “I’m not really thinking about (Player of the Year) too much, but it is something that would mean a lot to me.”
Kristen Foxen finished 13th in the 2024 Main Event, but Alex Foxen hasn’t found the same success in the tournament following a 40th-place showing in 2019. His lone cash in the Main Event since then was 2023 when he went out in 456th place.
But Alex Foxen made a bold call with only ace high on Day 2D to help build his stack and continued to chip up during the afternoon levels Wednesday.
“To me, the goal is to be the best tournament player ever. That’s always been my goal since I started playing,” Foxen said. “But again, it’s not something that I think too much about in any given moment. I’m just trying to show up and do my best every day and play every hand to the best of my ability.”
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on X.
