Online poker pro bballwiz named WSOP-NJ 2015 Player of the Year

Brett Fox of Brigantine, New Jersey – better known to the online poker community as “bballwiz” – has a lot to celebrate in the New Year. He was just bestowed with the WSOP-NJ 2015 Player of the Year Award, worthy of multiple prizes that include $10,000 in cash and a VIP seat at the 2016 World Series of Poker’s Final Table come November.

Bballwiz spent hour after hour grinding the multi-table tournaments at WSOP-NJ last year, cashing in 58 events for more than $24,000 on the year. According to his account data on PocketFives, Brett managed to accomplish his multi-table tournament wins in a span of just three collective months, including the second half of January, most of February, the last week of October and the majority of November 2015.

An SNG specialist by design, Fox surely accrued the rest of his POY points competing in his an untold amount of Sit’n’Go tournaments, which – ironically – will no longer award POY points for members of the New Jersey online poker site.

By the time the clock wound down the final moments of 2015, bballwiz had accumulated an impressive 14,733.015 points on the POY leaderboard. His nearest competitor, “phatdaddy”, finished out the year more than 1,500 points behind Brett, with 13,125.866.

“Congratulations to bballwiz for winning the 2015 WSOP.com New Jersey Player of the Year award,” read the laudatory announcement from WSOP.com.

“It was a grueling twelve months of battle for the top spot but well worth it as he collects $10,000 in cash, our exclusive WSOP.com Player of the Year ring, an invitation to the 2016 Poker Hall of Fame induction dinner to mix with poker’s elite champions, as well as VIP seating at the 2016 WSOP Final Table.”

Changes to WSOP-NJ 2016 POY Race Terms

Along with the online poker operator’s congratulatory statements came the announcement that certain terms of the POY race have been altered for the 2016 edition in New Jersey.

“Based on feedback from players, we’ve decided that no POY points will be awarded for Sit-n-Go tournaments this year,” read the statement, assuring players that the prize structure will remain fully enact. “For 2016, all points will be awarded for Multi-Table Tournaments only.”

As a long-time SNG grinder, that could prove damaging to Brett “bballwiz” Fox’s chances of defending his 2015 POY title over the next 12 months.

More on Online Poker Pro Brett “bballwiz” Fox

Brett “bballwiz” Fox has been playing poker since he was old enough to legally join the tables in 2003. The game has come rather naturally to him, but the native New Yorker didn’t pursue a professional career for some time, instead using the cards as a way to make extra money while earning a degree as a Hospitality Major at NYIT.

Fox was so good that he became an online poker training coach with PokerPwnage.com, which was later acquired by PocketFives. He spent several years racking up tens of thousands in cashes at PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, prior to their legally mandated ousting from the US market.

During those early days, the online poker pro became an SNG powerhouse, and he’s used that exceptional skill over the years to earn supplementary income in staking/coaching, as well as maintain a lofty bankroll. According to bballwiz’s statistics on Sharkscope, from 2005 to 2015, bballwiz staked $7.46 million on PokerStars, cashing for $8.13 million. Subtract the $569k he contributed to rake, and that totals a profit of just about $100,000 from PokerStars SNGs alone.

He still remains active at PokerStars SNG’s, which leads us to believe he spends some of his time outside the US in pursuance of an elite online poker career.  Amazingly, despite having any recorded MTT wins from March-September 2015 on WSOP-NJ, Fox was still able to top the POY leaderboard for the esteemed title; a further testament to his supremacy on the virtual felt.