Professional Player Johnny Chan
- By John Simpson
- Published July 3, 2008
- Poker
Johnny Chan is one of the most successful and popular players in the world of professional poker. Originally born in China, Johnny Chan came to the United States with his family when he was eleven years old. Although he wasn't yet old enough to legally gamble, Chan visited Las Vegas when he was sixteen years old.
After high school, Chan went on to attend the University of Houston. He was majoring in hotel and restaurant management (with the intention of continuing his family's restaurant business), but at the age of twenty-one, he dropped out of college and headed to Las Vegas to become a professional poker player.
Chan's first big accomplishment came in 1985, when he earned $171,000 for winning the World Series of Poker's $1,000 Limit Hold'Em tournament. However, his career really skyrocketed when he accomplished a feat that no other professional poker player has done to this day: winning the WSOP's No Limit Texas Hold'Em championship event two years in a row (1987 and 1988)! Although he hasn't won another WSOP Main Event since, he set another record in 2005 when he became the first player to win ten World Series of Poker titles. By 2006, Johnny Chan had won over $3,700,000 at the World Series of Poker.
Johnny Chan has done extremely well at other tournaments and events, including Poker Superstars and NBC's Poker After Dark. However, he has yet to make it to a final table on World Poker Tour.
Over the course of his amazing professional poker career, Johnny Chan has accumulated over $6,300,000 from tournament play!
After high school, Chan went on to attend the University of Houston. He was majoring in hotel and restaurant management (with the intention of continuing his family's restaurant business), but at the age of twenty-one, he dropped out of college and headed to Las Vegas to become a professional poker player.
Chan's first big accomplishment came in 1985, when he earned $171,000 for winning the World Series of Poker's $1,000 Limit Hold'Em tournament. However, his career really skyrocketed when he accomplished a feat that no other professional poker player has done to this day: winning the WSOP's No Limit Texas Hold'Em championship event two years in a row (1987 and 1988)! Although he hasn't won another WSOP Main Event since, he set another record in 2005 when he became the first player to win ten World Series of Poker titles. By 2006, Johnny Chan had won over $3,700,000 at the World Series of Poker.
Johnny Chan has done extremely well at other tournaments and events, including Poker Superstars and NBC's Poker After Dark. However, he has yet to make it to a final table on World Poker Tour.
Over the course of his amazing professional poker career, Johnny Chan has accumulated over $6,300,000 from tournament play!