Johnny Chan (;
[He has another Chinese name "Chen Qiangni" () which is also commonly used by Chinese-language media. It is a transliteration of "Johnny Chan" (as "Chen" for "Chan", "Qiangni" for "Johnny") rather than his Chinese birth name.] born in
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
,
China in 1957) is a Chinese professional
poker player. He has won 10
World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker p ...
bracelets
A bracelet is an article of jewellery that is worn around the wrist. Bracelets may serve different uses, such as being worn as an ornament. When worn as ornaments, bracelets may have a supportive function to hold other items of decoration, suc ...
, including the
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
and
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
World Series of Poker main events consecutively.
Early life
Chan moved with his family in 1962 from Guangzhou to
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
, then in 1968 to
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...
, and later in 1973 to
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
, where his family owned restaurants. He started playing cards with the staff of the restaurant.
When he was 21, Chan dropped out of the
University of Houston
The University of Houston (UH) is a public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the university in Texas with over 47,000 students. Its campus, which is primarily in s ...
, where he was majoring in hotel and restaurant management, and moved to
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
to become a professional gambler.
However, his first live casino experience was before his 21st birthday. During a visit in Las Vegas at the age of 16, Chan managed to buy in for a cash game, allegedly turning $500 into $20,000 in one night, before losing the whole $20,000 the next day.
Poker tournaments
World Series of Poker
Chan won the
World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker p ...
(WSOP) in
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
and
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
becoming the first foreign national to win the main event. A videotape of the 1988 WSOP final heads-up match is featured in the 1998 movie ''
Rounders
Rounders is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams. Rounders is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a rounded end wooden, plastic, or metal bat. The players score by running arou ...
'', in which Chan makes a cameo appearance. He almost won a third consecutive title, but finished as the runner-up in
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...
to
Phil Hellmuth
Phillip Jerome Hellmuth Jr. (born July 16, 1964) is an American professional poker player who has won a record sixteen World Series of Poker bracelets. He is the winner of the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the Main Event ...
. He is the last player to win back-to-back WSOP Main Events.
In
2005, Chan became the first player to win ten World Series of Poker bracelets, defeating
Phil Laak
Philip Courtney Laak (born September 8, 1972) is an Irish–American professional poker player and a poker commentator, now residing in Los Angeles, California. Laak holds a World Poker Tour (WPT) title, a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet, a ...
in a $2,500 Pot Limit
Texas hold 'em
Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt fa ...
event. He is currently tied with
Doyle Brunson
Doyle F. Brunson (born August 10, 1933) is a retired American poker player who played professionally for over 50 years. He is a two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several ...
and
Phil Ivey
Phillip Dennis Ivey Jr. (born February 1, 1977) is an American professional poker player who has won ten World Series of Poker bracelets, one World Poker Tour title, and appeared at nine World Poker Tour final tables. Ivey is regarded by numero ...
for second place with 10
World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker p ...
bracelets, behind
Phil Hellmuth
Phillip Jerome Hellmuth Jr. (born July 16, 1964) is an American professional poker player who has won a record sixteen World Series of Poker bracelets. He is the winner of the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the Main Event ...
(16). He was inducted into the
Poker Hall of Fame
The Poker Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional poker in the United States. Founded in Las Vegas, it was created in 1979 by Benny Binion, the owner of the Horseshoe Casino, to preserve the names and legacies of the world's greatest p ...
in 2002.
In
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
, Chan cashed for the first time in the Main Event since
1992, earning $32,166 for his 329th-place finish.
In
2010, Chan cashed in the Main Event taking 156th place for $57,102.
Chan's last recorded cash dates back to 2019, when he had a fairly deep run in the WSOP Main Event, eventually busting in 560th place.
World Series of Poker Bracelets
Poker Superstars
Chan competed in the $400,000
Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament
The Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament was a series of no limit Texas hold 'em poker tournaments. The first season is available on NTSC DVD. It airs on Fox Sports Net in the United States, Rogers Sportsnet in Canada and Ftn in the United Ki ...
in February 2005. He came back from having $20,000 chips out of $3,200,000 in play to finish in second place to
Gus Hansen
Gustav Hansen (born 13 February 1974) is a Danish professional poker player from Copenhagen, Denmark who has lived in Monaco since 2003. In his poker career, Hansen has won three World Poker Tour open titles, one WSOP bracelet and the 2007 Aus ...
. Chan later competed in Poker Superstars II during the summer of 2005. He defeated 22 players to make it to the finals. He defeated
Todd Brunson in the finals after three matches to win the $400,000 first prize. Chan appeared in Poker Superstars III where he made it as far as the semi finals but was defeated by
Todd Brunson after three matches.
Poker After Dark
On
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's late-night show ''
Poker After Dark
''Poker After Dark'' is an hour-long poker television program that originally aired on NBC, premiering on January 1, 2007. '', a six-person $20,000 buy-in winner-takes-all tournament, Johnny Chan has the most victories to date with four wins in six appearances. He came in second and fifth when he did not win.
His appearances in which he made it to heads-up were:
*WSOP Champions — originally aired January 15–20, 2007 — Won heads-up against
Chris Moneymaker
Christopher Bryan Moneymaker (born November 21, 1975) is an American poker player who won the Main Event at the 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP). His 2003 win is said to have revolutionized poker because he was the first person to become a wo ...
*Golden Men — originally aired June 11–16, 2007 — Lost heads-up against
Joe Hachem
Joseph Hachem ( ar, جوزف هاشم; ; born 11 March 1966) is a Lebanese-Australian professional poker player known for being the first Australian to win the World Series of Poker main event, which earned him $7.5 million, then a record for al ...
*World Champions — originally aired February 11–16, 2008 — Won heads-up against
Phil Hellmuth
Phillip Jerome Hellmuth Jr. (born July 16, 1964) is an American professional poker player who has won a record sixteen World Series of Poker bracelets. He is the winner of the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the Main Event ...
*International — originally aired February 25 – March 1, 2008 — Won heads-up against
Patrik Antonius
}
Patrik Antonius (born 13 December 1980) is a Finnish professional poker player, former tennis player and coach, and model from Vantaa, Finland. He currently resides in Monte Carlo. Antonius was mentored by poker pro Marcel Lüske as a member of ...
*Dream Table III — originally aired March 23–27, 2009 — Won heads-up against
Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly (born Jennifer Ellen Chan; September 16, 1958) is an American–Canadian actress and poker player. Known for her distinctive voice and comedic timing, she has been nominated for an Academy Award, two MTV Movie Awards and three Sa ...
Other tournaments
Chan won
Bob Stupak
Robert Edward Stupak (April 6, 1942 – September 25, 2009) was a Las Vegas casino owner and entrepreneur.
He was also a poker player, winning titles at the World Series of Poker and the Super Bowl of Poker. He also competed on the World Poker ...
's 1981 American Cup poker tournament. He defeated all 9 other players at the final table in less than an hour. As a result, Stupak gave Chan the nickname "The Orient Express".
Chan has never made a final table on the
World Poker Tour
The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the f ...
(WPT).
Chan played in the 2004 and 2005
World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions
The World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions is an invitational freeroll poker event. Wins in this event do not count as official WSOP bracelets, but the winner receives a large trophy in the shape of the official World Series of Poker log ...
events and the
in the same years.
As of 2014, his total live tournament winnings exceed $8,600,000. His 45 WSOP cashes account for $4,355,464 of those winnings.
Personal life
In addition to playing poker, Chan owns a fast-food franchise in the Las Vegas
Stratosphere Hotel and is a consultant for casinos and game makers. Chan has written for ''Card Player'' magazine. He appeared in the first (2006) and 2011 seasons of the
GSN series
High Stakes Poker
''High Stakes Poker'' is an American cash game poker television program. The poker variant played on the show is no limit Texas hold 'em. The first four seasons ran from January 16, 2006 to December 17, 2007 on GSN. The next three seasons ran f ...
.
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
Online poker is the game of poker played over the Internet. It has been partly responsible for a huge increase in the number of poker players worldwide. Christiansen Capital Advisors stated online poker revenues grew from $82.7 million in 2001 t ...
room, ChanPokerOnline.com. It closed in August 2008.
Chan wrote a regular article in the bi-monthly magazine ''
Trader Monthly ''Trader Monthly'' was a lifestyle magazine for financial traders founded by Magnus Greaves. The headquarters was in New York City. The target audience of ''Trader Monthly'' was the financial community with an average income at or exceeding US$450, ...
''.
In popular culture
Johnny Chan portrayed himself in the 1998 film ''
Rounders
Rounders is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams. Rounders is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a rounded end wooden, plastic, or metal bat. The players score by running arou ...
''.
In a flashback scene, Chan is bluffed out of a pot by the main character Mike McDermott (
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Ameri ...
).
He also appeared in the 2009
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
movie ''
Poker King
''Poker King'' () is a 2009 Hong Kong comedy film co-written and directed by Chan Hing-Kai and Janet Chun and starring Louis Koo and Sean Lau.
Plot
People say one's fate has been pre-determined from the start like the cards in a Texas Hold’em ...
'' as himself.
Notes
References
External links
Goldsea article and interviewPokerListings.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chan, Johnny
1957 births
American poker players
Hong Kong emigrants to the United States
Living people
Sportspeople from Guangzhou
People from Houston
People from the Las Vegas Valley
Poker After Dark tournament winners
Super Bowl of Poker event winners
University of Houston alumni
World Series of Poker bracelet winners
World Series of Poker Main Event winners
Chinese poker players
American people of Chinese descent
Poker Hall of Fame inductees