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Johnny Chan -
Oriental Express
Legendary poker player Johnny Chan is currently one of the most
famous names in poker, holding ten World Series of Poker gold bracelets. This
places him in a tie with another legend,
Doyle Brunson,
for the most WSOP bracelets won by any player. The most remarkable aspect of
Chan’s achievement is that two of the bracelets were won in back to back WSOP
Main Events in 1987 and 1988. Chan almost won a third Main Event in 1989, but
ended up finishing second to Phil Hellmuth.
Johnny Chan was born in Canton, China, but moved with his family to Hong Kong in
1962 and then to the United States in 1968. He lived with his family in Phoenix,
Arizona and later in Houston, Texas. Chan is said to have gotten the poker “bug”
at the age of 16 when he visited Las Vegas. At the age of 21, in approximately
1978, he dropped out of the University of Houston and moved to Las Vegas to
follow his dream of becoming a professional gambler. Within a few years Chan
started making money at the poker table, and, in 1985, he won his first WSOP
tournament in $1,000 Limit Hold’em. His first win was followed by nine other
wins between 1987 and 2005, including the famous back-to-back wins in $10,000 No
Limit Hold’em World Championship in 1987 and 1988. Through 2005, Chan has won
$3,744,331 in the World Series of Poker.
Chan lives in Las Vegas. He is the father of six, and, in addition to playing
poker, owns a fast-food franchise in the Las Vegas Stratosphere Hotel. He is
also a consultant to various casinos and game makers. Chan has written for Card
Player magazine, and, in 2005, released a book, together with Mark Karowe,
entitled Play Poker Like Johnny Chan. The book explains how to play several
different types of poker. On July 11, 2006, Chan and Karowe plan to release a
follow-up book titled: Million Dollar Hold’em: Winning Big in Limit Cash Games,
which will focus on limit hold”em strategy. Johnny Chan was inducted into the
Poker Hall of Fame in 2002.
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