Johnny Chan, nicknamed "the Oriental express, is Chinese-American professional poker player who is one of the most successful players in history.
Chan was born in Canton, in the People's Republic of China and later moved to Hong Kong with his family when he was 3 to seek out better opportunities. His family emigrated to the U.S. when he was 9, and ended up in Houston, where his family owned Chinese restaurants. He worked at their restaurant and had planned on continuing the family business. School was intimidating for him since he was a minority and don't speak the language.
Chan discovered that there was money to be made playing poker with his dad's friends in their weekly game. He became passionate about poker and went to Las Vegas at age 16 on a junket with some friends to play poker. He brought a $500 bankroll that he built up by a combination of working at his family restaurant and playing poker. During that trip, he turned the $500 into $20,000, overflowing with confidence, he made straight for the high-stakes blackjack tables and lost it all. But Chan now had caught the gambling "bug".
Despite his strong attraction to gambling, Chan enrolled at the University of Houston and majored in hotel and restaurant management. But at age 21 Chan dropped out and he moved out to Vegas to become a professional gambler.
His first year as a professional gambler was the worst experience of his life. Even though he was learning the ropes and was talented, his losses mounted. Chan embarked on a series of reckless gambling sprees where he constantly blew out his bankroll. He had a complete lack of control and discipline. He kept losing money and had to get a job. He worked as a chef, dealer and floor manager at casinos in order to support his gambling habit. He kept losing and borrowed money from friends, ran up his credit cards and sold his jewelry at a pawn shop. But he managed to eventually turn things around.
Chan started winning poker tournaments in the early 1980's and earned the nickname "Orient Express" for his aggressive style. He shot to fame in the late 1980s by winning the WSOP Main Event in two consecutive years (1987 and 1988). During his second victory, in 1988, he lost the biggest pot in the history of the tournament, but came back to win the title. Few people know this, but Chan almost won a third straight Main Event title when he finished in 2nd place to a then-24-year-old Phil Hellmuth in 1989. Chan played good, but admitted that he didn't play his best. Jerry Buss, an avid poker player and owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, had promised to give Chan an NBA championship ring if he could win three in a row. Chan is one of only 3 players (and the last player) to win back-to-back WSOP Main Events; a feat many people believe is now impossible, given how big the fields are.
In 2005, Chan became the first player to win ten WSOP bracelets. He is currently tied with Doyle Brunson for second place with 10 bracelets, behind Phil Hellmuth's 11.
Year | Event | 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 |
Chan has yet to make a final table on the World Poker Tour, despite playing in numerous events.
Chan competed in the $400,000 Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament in February 2005. He came back from having only $20,000 chips out of $3,200,000 in play to finish in second place to Gus Hansen. Chan later competed in Poker Superstars II during the summer of 2005 and came in first place, winning $400,000. He made it to the semi-finals in Poker Superstars III but was defeated by Todd Brunson.
On NBC's late-night show Poker After Dark, a six-person $20,000 buy-in winner-takes-all tournament, Johnny Chan has the distinction of having the most victories to date with four wins in six appearances. Chan also participated in the WSOP Tournament of Champions events and the National Heads-Up Poker Championship in. He appeared in the first season of the GSN series "High Stakes Poker".
Chan makes most of his income from cash games and also takes his poker talent overseas, traveling to Europe and Asia to compete in lucrative tournaments and side games. Many years ago, a dying French billionaire entertainment mogul invited Chan and several other players to Paris for a two-week poker vacation. According to Doyle Brunson, who was part of the group, Chan turned a big profit from his trip to France. Chan states that that his winnings were about $1 million and added that he won a good amount of that money from his friend Brunson.
Chan says that being one of few Asian poker players in Vegas during his early days gave him an advantage. His opponents had never played against Asian players and they didn't expect them to be any good. They underestimated him and gave him more action than he deserved.
Chan started bringing an orange to the table because he preferred the scent of it to that of smoke. He kept bringing an orange to the table later on, considering the oranges lucky.
Chan made a cameo in the film "Lucky You", as himself, and also appeared in 2009 Hong Kong movie "Poker King", as himself. Chan was immortalized in Rounders, when he played himself as the best poker player in the world. The movie shows actual footage from the hand when Chan won his second WSOP Main Event, trapping the then-young and inexperienced Erik Seidel into moving all-in with a pair of queens when Chan held the nut straight.
Although Chan has accomplished so much in poker, some poker fans consider him a player that is past his prime - as he has not made any headlines in the poker world over the last 10 years. In 2008, Chan cashed for the first time in the main event since 1992, earning $32,166 for his 329th place finish.
As of 2009, his total live tournament winnings exceed $8,067,792. Chan blazed the trail for many Asian poker players who view him as a role model and mentor. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2002.
Chan has also written for Card Player magazine and used to write a column for the bi-monthly magazine Trader Monthly.
In 2005, Chan collaborated with Mark Karowe to release "Play Poker Like Johnny Chan", to an instructional book on several different types of poker. In 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 2008.
A resident of Las Vegas, Chan is married with six children and six houses. He owns a fast-food franchise in the Las Vegas Stratosphere Hotel and is a consultant for various casinos and game makers.
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