| Johnny Chan |
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| Written by PkrGt |
| Thursday, 04 February 2010 09:14 |
Johnny Chan (Traditional Chinese: 陳強尼), born in Guangzhou (Canton), China in 1957, now living in Las Vegas, Nevada) is a professional poker player.Chan moved with his family in 1962 from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, then in 1968 to Phoenix, Arizona and later in 1973 to Houston, Texas where his family owned restaurants. He was going to continue in the family business, but when he was 16 he went on a junket to Las Vegas, Nevada. When he was 21, Chan dropped out of the University of Houston, where he was majoring in hotel and restaurant management, and moved to Las Vegas to become a professional gambler. Chan attributes some of his early success to the fact that many players had not previously played against Asian players. He shot to fame in the late 1980s, winning the championship event of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in two consecutive years (1987 and 1988). A videotape of the 1988 WSOP final heads up match is featured in the movie Rounders, in which Johnny Chan makes a cameo appearance. He almost won a third consecutive title, but finished in 2nd place in 1989 to Phil Hellmuth. He is the last player to win back-to-back WSOP Main Events, a feat many prognosticators think he could hold forever given the increasingly larger fields. Jerry Buss, an avid poker player and owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, promised Chan an NBA championship ring if he could win three in a row. Chan is known for keeping a "lucky" orange in front of him on the table, and after the second consecutive WSOP title other players began bringing fruit to the table in hopes of increasing their luck. Chan says he only had an orange with him because of the pleasant scent, as smoking, which was allowed in many tournaments then, bothered him. Chan was once a smoker, but now he neither smokes nor drinks alcohol. In 2005, Chan became the first player to win ten World Series of Poker titles, defeating Phil Laak in a Texas hold 'em event. He is currently tied with Doyle Brunson for second place with 10 World Series of Poker bracelets, behind Phil Hellmuth (11). He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2002.In 2008, Chan cashed for the first time in the main event since 1992, earning $32,166 for his 329th place finish. In addition to playing poker, Chan owns a fast-food franchise in the Las Vegas Stratosphere Hotel and is a consultant for various casinos and game makers. He has aspirations of opening his own casino. Chan has also written for Card Player magazine. He appeared in the first season of the GSN series High Stakes Poker. In 2005, Chan collaborated with Mark Karowe to release Play Poker Like Johnny Chan, an instructional book on several different types of poker. On November 28, 2006, the follow-up titled: Million Dollar Hold'em: Winning Big in Limit Cash Games , which focuses on limit hold'em strategy, was released. In 2007, Chan launched an online poker room, ChanPokerOnline.com. It closed in August 2008. Chan wrote a regular article in the bi-monthly magazine Trader Monthly. Johnny Chan was portrayed in 1998 film Rounders as himself. In a flashback, he's shown as having been bluffed by the main character Mike McDermott (Matt Damon). He also appeared in 2009 Hong Kong movie Poker King, as himself. Bracelets:
Year Tournament Prize 1985 $1,000 Limit Hold'em $171,000 1987 $10,000 No Limit Hold'em World Championship $625,000 1988 $10,000 No Limit Hold'em World Championship $700,000 1994 $1,500 Seven Card Stud $135,600 1997 $5,000 Deuce to Seven Draw $164,250 2000 $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha $178,800 2002 $2,500 No Limit Hold'em Gold Bracelet Match Play $34,000 2003 $5,000 No Limit Hold'em $224,400 2003 $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha $158,100 2005 $2,500 Pot Limit Hold'em $303,025 |








Johnny Chan (Traditional Chinese: 陳強尼), born in Guangzhou (Canton), China in 1957, now living in Las Vegas, Nevada) is a professional poker player.
He is currently tied with Doyle Brunson for second place with 10 World Series of Poker bracelets, behind Phil Hellmuth (11). He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2002.