Young Phan is a professional poker player from Irvine, California.
Originally from Vietnam, Young Phan moved to the U.S. in 1975 as a teenager to build a new life. After arriving in California, he attended English school 12 hours a day to learn the language. Later, he studied at UCLA and graduated from California Polytechnic in San Luis Obispo.
After graduation Phan accepted a position at the Bicycle Casino as a casino supervisor. It was here where his interest in poker started. After playing successfully for a while, he started making more money at poker than his job at the Bicycle so he decided to turn professional, even though he was still making decent money at his casino job. He points to Johnny Chan as being his biggest poker inspiration.
For a long time after going pro, Phan kept his profession a secret from his family because in his native country playing poker was not considered a legitimate job. His family found out after he appeared in a TV interview on the Discovery Channel, and now his family's attitude is improving.
In 1999 he earned a $370,475 payout for 1st place in the $5,000 Carnivale of Poker II tournament in 1999.
In 2001 he earned $186,850 for a 1st place finish in the LA Poker Classic Main Event.
He has cashed 26 times at the WSOP for a total of $440,361. His best finish was 2nd place in the 2003 $2,500 Limit Hold 'em event, earning $85,700. He also won $125,273 in a WSOP circuit even in 2007.
He has cashed 6 times at the WPT (including one final table) for a total of $217,896. He has earned more than $2,000 000 since he started playing poker.
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HPG ADMIN on February 27, 2013