Vietnamese refugee J.C. Tran has won his second career World Series of Poker (WSOP) championship gold bracelet.

Competing at the 2009 WSOP in Las Vegas, Tran won WSOP Event #30, a pot-limit Omaha tournament that had a $2,500 buy-in, a prize pool of about $1 million, 436 participants and 45 payouts.

In addition to bracelet No. 2, Tran earns $235,685 for the victory.

Coming in second was Jeff “Jaffa Cake” Kimber of London, England, taking home $145,656.

Third was Jean-Phillippe Leandri of Paris, France, collecting $95,837.

Notable names finishing in the money in the event include John Juanda in ninth place, Eli Elezra in 33rd and Phil “Poison” Ivey in 44th.

Tran, 32, came to the USA as a refugee from Vietnam when he was three years old, accompanied by his parents and seven siblings.

He now lives in Sacramento, California, USA, and is a professional poker player.

He got his first WSOP gold bracelet at the 2008 WSOP, winning a $1,500 buy-in, no-limit Texas hold ‘em tournament that earned him $631,170.

According to tournament records, he has now earned a total of almost $7.3 million in his career playing tournament poker in the WSOP and elsewhere.

At a press conference held after winning his second gold bracelet, Tran said: “Getting that first bracelet out of the way takes a lot of pressure off you. I definitely would not want to finish second here. It’s a horrible feeling. But the win last year meant the pressure was off.

“I was more comfortable and more relaxed when I came in. My head was clear. I was not too worried about trying to win. Just play poker and let it come to me, instead of forcing it. And it came to me.”

He also said: “I learned to play pot-limit Omaha less than two years ago. I play the biggest stakes. I had some swings. It is the kind of game where you always have room to learn. Even after I win this bracelet, I still feel I have a lot to learn.

“Being able to win a non-hold ‘em event, it goes to show that I can play a game outside of hold ‘em. I would like to learn mixed games in the future, as I know how to play them, but I do not know enough to sit down in a big buy-in game. But this helps.”

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)