Joe Serock Talks Overcoming Obstacles And Staying On Course

Joe Serock may fly under the radar a bit compared to other poker pros, but that’s by design. Despite the lack of attention, the longtime grinder has put together quite the poker resume.

The 37-year-old has numerous deep runs and several wins all over the world, including earning World Poker Tour Player of the Year honors in 2012. The last couple of years have been good for him at the World Series of Poker as well, picking up his first bracelet in 2023 in an online event, while making the final table of the main event last summer.

But you can forget trophies and playing for glory. Over the course of his nearly 20-year poker career, the New Mexico native has racked up nearly $7.3 million in tournament earnings, which is how he measures success.

“I don’t care about a bracelet,” Serock said despite suffering a few runner-up finishes in previous years. “There are so many of them given out. Those are worthless now, so I don’t know what title would matter to me compared to the money.”

His focus on the bottom line and a consistent approach have been key to his sustained career. However, there were some bumps along the way.

Serock recently spoke with Card Player about his life in the game, overcoming personal obstacles, and his deep run in the WSOP main event.

Growth On And Away From The Tables

To say that Serock is a laid-back guy would be an understatement. Leading up to last year’s WSOP, he spent two years living in Miami. But as recently as December, his housing situation was in flux. Nobody would consider him homeless, but he was certainly between homes.

Not even housing uncertainty bothered him. He was heading to India in January for a wedding and he would “figure it out after the trip.”

Like most players his age, poker piqued Serock’s interest thanks to a combination of his family and the televised poker boom. Those kitchen table card games became a regular home game with grandpa. He eventually added online poker to the mix as the game grew in popularity.

For Serock, poker just seemed to connect with his personality.

“I guess my brain liked it compared to school,” he says. “I wasn’t that good at school, and with poker, it seemed like I could win easily.”

Growing up, Serock enjoyed skateboarding and reading comic books, with the X-Men as a particular favorite. He was very quiet, saying he rarely spoke more than 100 words in a day. Anxiety made him hesitant to engage with other people.

In recent years, he’s worked to overcome his shyness, but he doesn’t think any social reservations have affected his poker results.

“I was still pretty anxious through most of my 20s and now I feel very comfortable and think I’m more likable, and enjoy making people laugh,” he said. “But I could have stayed really quiet and reserved and still just crushed poker. There’s a lot of those people.”

Serock credits experience and personal growth for his subtle personality change, but added that he should “also probably give credit to ketamine and maybe mushrooms.”

Some researchers say that psilocybin, a psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms, can help relieve anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Serock said he now only uses small doses of mushrooms to help with his anxiety. He’s been open about battling mental health issues in the past, but thinks he may have most of that in the rearview mirror now.

“I basically just had this manic episode for five months and since then it’s been smooth sailing,” said Serock. “You can’t really go as hard as I did. And then when you look back, it was really fun being mad, but you knew that it wasn’t sustainable and you were scaring your friends and people (who are close to you).”

“You just kind of have to get back to normal life. I wasn’t doing drugs during the episode. It was just a permanent thing. I was drinking a lot though so I could get some sleep once in a while. The manic episode eventually wore off. I don’t think it took any meds.”

Serock says he misses some of the partying days, when he bought an RV and would travel to music festivals in between stops on the poker circuit. “It’s not as enjoyable,” he admitted, but he has been enjoying his success at the tables.

Not Feeling The Pressure

Last year, Serock navigated his way through a record field of 10,112 entrants in the WSOP main event, ultimately finishing in eighth place for a career-best $1,250,000.

Many players dream about making the main event final table, but Serock was a bit nonchalant about the whole affair. The gravity of the event, the cameras, bright lights, and big money on the line didn’t make him sweat. He looked relaxed throughout most of the event, decked out in his muscle shirt featuring images of Italian professional tennis player Jannik Sinner, shorts, and red sunglasses.

“I was just playing poker, just taking it one hand at a time,” he said. “I felt good the whole time, and things went my way. I guess that comes from making the right choices in the close spots for most of it and it worked out until the end.”

Instead of focusing on the life-changing money up for grabs, he hoped to bring a little entertainment value to the broadcast.

“I’ve appeared on WPT final table broadcasts before, so I was just trying to make it fun for the audience. I don’t watch poker anymore, but I feel like it could be really boring. I was feeling pretty good and loose, and I was having an extra good time and enjoying the moment.”

As the main event reached two tables, Kristen Foxen was the fan favorite on social media. But an ill-timed bluff when Serock held A K sent her to the rail.

She held K Q on a flop of A K J and when the 5 came on the turn, she moved all in after an initial bet from Serock. He made the call and Foxen ultimately finished 13th for $600,000. Did he get any grief for knocking out a player that many were hoping would make the final table?

“Not really, at least not in person, and I’m not on social media,” he says. “You can’t really be mad at someone (for that). I’m not the one who went all in. I had to call.”
Serock was eliminated on a shorter stack when his A J ran into the pocket queens of Niklas Astedt, but ultimately has no regrets about his play.

“I remember two hands – three-betting A-6 offsuit from the big blind, which I’m fine with, and then the bust hand with A-J,” he says. “I looked it up on the solver, which my friend said was fine. It was just one of those spots where you have six blinds and you want to take it down and don’t want to get called. You have the chip leader raising, the best player at the table to the right, he wants to get in there and he happened to have queens. Yeah, I’m fine with it.”

His 2024 experience was thankfully the complete opposite of his short-lived run in 2013. Serock advanced to day 2, but was nowhere to be found when the action resumed and his chip stack was blinded off.

The night before, Serock was riding his moped down toward the Strip when a car suddenly pulled out in front of him. He swerved to avoid a collision and ended up in a construction zone. His moped went through a section of the roadway missing payment.

He flew off his moped, luckily sustaining nothing more than surface-level injuries. But the incident forced an ambulance and police to show up at the scene. Unfortunately for Serock, he had unpaid traffic tickets and he spent the night in jail.

“So I’m just sitting there, going insane because this happened at literally the worst possible time, before day 2 of the main event,” he said. “The WSOP was at the top of my mind, along with my girlfriend worrying about me. I was just thinking about how all these stupid little things added up to missing the biggest tournament of the year after I already put down $10,000.”

Constantly Grinding

As a full-time poker pro, Serock is seemingly always grinding either in live tournaments or online. He usually plays online on Sundays and maybe some during the week if there is a major series going. He jumps in many Vegas-area series including some PokerGO events, where he recently finished runner-up in a Last Chance Series event in January for $184,450.

When it comes to working on his own game, Serock tries to keep up with the latest programs that have changed the game over the last several years, but he may not have a regimented approach to studying and reviewing hands.

“I just use basic solvers, and then I’m lazy – just watching videos of [top players],” he says.

Away from the game, Serock can often be found working out or playing tennis. He also is an avid reader and digs into books that focus on bettering his life. His most recent read was The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts, which draws on Eastern philosophy and religion to help readers find a more fulfilling life and live in the present.

For Serock, that has included giving some of his winnings to charity. Looking ahead, he doesn’t have too many goals, but just plans to continue the day-to-day grind, hopefully with some similar results – being healthy, happy, and winning plenty of pots. These days, he appreciates a routine and “being bored.”

“No poker goals, just playing, and I’ll probably keep making money,” he says. “I’m happy with my life. I don’t need much change.” ♠

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