PokerCoaching.com is excited to announce the latest addition to the coaching team: Adam Hendrix. One of the best young and up-and-coming players in the world of professional poker, Adam is excited to not only help our members excel at no-limit hold’em, but looks forward to providing the first series of Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) content in PokerCoaching’s history. Our members have been requesting PLO content for quite some time, and Team PokerCoaching is thrilled to have such an accomplished pro ready to provide it to them. In preparation for his PokerCoaching debut, Adam was kind enough to share more about himself and his story with our members.
Photo Courtesy of PokerGO
From Alaska To Egypt: The Poker Journey of Adam Hendrix
Born in the state of Alaska, Adam’s childhood consisted of many travels as his family followed his father wherever his career took him. Texas, Scotland, Egypt, throughout his adolescence Adam traveled all across the world. While he experienced different customs and cultures, Adam and his family often returned to “The Last Frontier”, visiting his grandmother in Homer, Alaska. In the United States’ largest state, Adam found his love for poker.
“When I had some off-time from fishing, I’d turn on ESPN and fully indulge myself in the World Series of Poker,” Adam shared. “Seeing all the characters in this $10,000 tournament, I quickly became obsessed. I would look to play any sort of game with relatives for as big as pennies a hand! From there, I always had poker in the back of my mind, but never thought about it much besides the occasional watch on ESPN, that was until university.”
Enrolling at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, Adam majored in economics while also minoring in statistics. While Adam earned his degree, he also made his return to the felt.
“At Virginia Tech my freshman year, I was living in a small dorm and everyone did a lot together. I remember some of the guys were playing a $5 poker game and I dove right in, somehow winning the first 6 or 7 person tournament. I was hooked again,” Adam recalled. “Fond memories of my time watching the WSOP reignited when I won that tournament and I never looked back. The Virginia Tech poker club was founded right out of that little $5 game.”
Proving himself amongst his peers was not enough for Adam. As his love for the game of poker grew at university, so did his ambitions for bigger stakes.
“I would go to neighboring towns to play cash games; starting off $10-$20 quickly moving to the occasional $2/$5. I was quickly humbled at the bigger stakes, whether it be the enormous rake per hand or the experience of the older, more veteran crowd I played with.”
Adam continued to grind and study poker throughout university, but upon graduation, his focus would shift as he entered the workforce.
“Upon graduating I put poker on the back burner for a few years to work as a software engineer in Northern Virginia,” Adam said. “From there I grinded primarily online and made the occasional trip to Borgata for a tournament or two. Days would be for work and night time for poker.”
Eventually building himself a suitable bankroll, Adam bet on himself and entered the world of professional poker. Quitting his lucrative yet unrewarding position with a government contractor in 2017, Adam made the trip to Las Vegas and competed in his first World Series of Poker. While Adam would have success at his first WSOP, it would not come without some trials and tribulations.
Signed for WSOPs free-to-play app, playWSOP and have joined their Thrill Team. Excited to be a part of it and can't wait to share more of my poker journey. pic.twitter.com/s4R8rb08OW
— Adam Hendrix (@AdamHendrix10) February 27, 2023
Along with joining Team PokerCoaching, Adam has also joined the WSOP Thrill Team as one of it’s newest ambassadors.
Adam Hendrix’s First Big Score At The World Series Of Poker
Only two weeks into his new career as a professional poker player, Adam caught a flight to Sin City to compete in his first-ever WSOP in 2017. Taking part in a $1,600 buy-in event at The Venetian, he lost a heartbreaking Q-Q versus 10-10 hand late into the day. Already devastated by the early exit from the tournament, Adam’s pro debut would only get worse when he developed a bacterial infection.
“In the middle of the night I became violently ill and had a bacterial infection that lasted a week, not allowing me to play any events,” Adam recounted.
It looked as if Adam’s first career WSOP would not provide the success he was hoping for. Just when it seemed like he would be returning home empty-handed, the Poker Gods looked favorably upon the young pro and provided him a “second wind”.
“One day I woke up, took my meds and looked to see what WSOP event I could play. There was a $1,600 PLO8 event and I had only sold 5%, which at the time was quite a shot take,” Adam shared. “I ended up getting 2nd in what was the shortest heads-up match ever, lasting one hand.”
With his runner-up finish at the 2017 WSOP, Adam won $137,992 and started his pro poker career off with a bang. Going on to accrue over $4 million in career tournament winnings while securing victories in prestigious tournament series such as the Poker Masters and PokerGO Cup, Adam is ready to provide his wealth of experience to PokerCoaching members.
Along with his runner-up finish at the 2017 WSOP, Adam mentions this hand in the 2021 Poker Masters when discussing the first few major scores of his poker career.
The Genesis of a PLO Prodigy
Before final tabling PLO events at the WSOP, Adam discovered the game during his time at Virginia Tech.
“When I began playing home games during university, I stumbled upon different forms of poker like Omaha,” Adam said. “At the time we would play these short-handed as a warm-up until enough players arrived to play Texas Hold’em.”
As Adam began playing the tournament circuit, his eyes would wander towards the potential of PLO.
“While traveling the tournament scene, I noticed a lot of the places I went to had big Omaha games and little to no high stakes hold’em,” Adam said. “The lineups always seemed good and I saw it as a good thing to play when not in tournaments to increase my chances to make money on the road, as well as not experience burnout playing one form of poker over and over again.”
Playing more PLO and eventually making it a primary portion of his play schedule, Adam found inspiration from some of the game’s best as he began specializing in the new variation.
“I put in a lot of work mainly studying Phil Galfond and Richard Gryk. I worked with solvers and put in volume online as well as live.”
Joining Team PokerCoaching and Growing PLO
A regular on various poker tours and at PokerGO Studios in Las Vegas, Adam has had plenty of experience facing fellow PokerCoaching coaches on the felt. When asked about past experiences at the table with other coaches, Adam made sure to mention his defeat of “The Boss” Jonathan Little head’s-up.
While Adam has faced Jonathan at PokerGO Studios, he has also faced other PokerCoaching coaches on a number of occasions, and even roomed with one back-in-the-day. With one of the best sites in the poker industry supported by a cast of familiar faces, the decision to join PokerCoaching.com was an easy one for Adam.
“PokerCoaching.com seemed right for me,” Adam said. “With Brock Wilson and I being former roommates and knowing Aram Zobian, Justin Saliba and James Romero for a while now, the foundation has already been set for a great platform for training, and I think I can add to the training given to users in my own way.”
Adam “Iceman” Hendrix (Photo Courtesy of PokerGO)
Bringing The Game Of PLO To PokerCoaching.com
Adam aspires to not only have success as a PLO player, but grow the game in the process. When asked what motivated him to become a poker coach, Adam voiced a desire to not just teach PLO strategy, but share the game with PokerCoaching members.
“My motivation stems from wanting to grow the game of PLO, I feel the game can be shown in a different light,” Adam shared. “Most people assume PLO is just a form of gambling with little skill involved. I want to show people where the edge is to be found, and what other people aren’t seeing. Teach people the meta of the game, divulge population reads, and give people a good core so they can play any game and feel comfortable.”
Although NLH remains the main game within the poker landscape, mixed games such as PLO continue to grow in popularity as both pro and recreational poker players look for new variations of poker to master. With PokerGO organizing mixed game and PLO tournament series as well as outlets like Cardplayer Lifestyle hosting events like the Mixed Game Festival, PLO continues to rise in popularity as more people discover the game. As a PLO pro, Adam has also noticed the shift in interest.
“With PokerGO and other venues putting on big mixed game events, I think operators notice a need for more of these events on the scene, and they are right,” Adam said. “Right now you get a neat mix of new and older poker players and get to see so many contrasting styles. It is still like the Wild West, much like Texas Hold’em used to be.”
As PLO remains the main focus of Adam’s new role within Team PokerCoaching, he looks forward to sharing knowledge in other areas as well.
“I will be offering individual coaching on the side,” Adam said when asked what he would like to share with PokerCoaching members. “If you’d ever like to go over poker as a whole, the mental game, bankroll management or things you struggle with, my door is always open. I am looking forward to showing (PokerCoaching members) the game of PLO and poker in general.”
