Johnny Chan is an industrious professional poker player who’s been turning his prolific talent into a highly lucrative career plying cards for the last thirty years. In 2006, Chan earned his 10th World Series of Poker Bracelet, tying him with Doyle Brunson for the second most WSOP Bracelets next to Phil Hellmuth at 11. Johnny Chan has a long and bountiful history in the professional poker community, having accomplished 54 live tournament cashes, 12 1st-place victories and total live tournament career earnings of $4,327,623.

Chan was born in Guangzhou, China (known today as Canton, China) in 1957. He and his family moved to Hong Kong in 1962, then again in 1968 to Phoenix, Arizona, USA. In 1973, Chan’s family moved once more to Houston, Texas, where they owned several successful restaurants. Johnny Chan had every intention of continuing the family business when he got older, but a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada at the age of 16 changed his focus entirely.

Chan did not divert from his intentions just yet. He finished high school and went on to attend the University of Houston, working towards a master’s degree in hotel and restaurant management until the age of 21, when Johnny Chan dropped out of college, moved to Las Vegas and became a professional poker player.

While his family was surely uncertain and perhaps a bit disappointed in Johnny’s choice, it turned out to be an excellent decision in the long run. By 1985, Chan had been awarded his first WSOP Bracelet, and two years later, skillfully earned the title WSOP Champion, taking down the Main Event and a lucrative prize purse of $625,000. The next year, Johnny Chan followed in the footsteps of Doyle Brunson to become one of the very few poker pros who’ve won the WSOP Main Event two years straight - 1987 and 1988.

Johnny Chan and the WSOP
Johnny Chan has an extensive and highly successful history playing in the World Series of Poker (WSOP). In fact, 39 of his 54 live tournament career cashes came in the WSOP. Chan’s first WSOP finish in the money came in 1983, earning $8,000 for a 4th place win at a Heads-Up Limit Hold’em event. Two years later, Chan received his first of 10 career WSOP Bracelets on May 5, 1985 in a Limit Hold’em event worth $171,000.

Johnny Chan cashed twice in the 1987 WSOP, including taking down the entire field to earn the title of 1987 WSOP Champion and receiving his second WSOP Bracelet. In 1988, Chan became one of the rare elite poker pros to win the WSOP Main Event two years in a row; a feat accomplished by only 4 poker players in the history of the WSOP. Chan pocketed $700,000 and his third WSOP Bracelet for his extraordinary efforts.

Johnny Chan almost created a new record in 1989 by taking down his third consecutive WSOP Championship, but fell one seat shy, finishing in 2nd place for $302,000. In the 1991 WSOP, Chan took one small cash in an early event for finishing 16th, followed by two decent sized cashed in 1992, but Chan’s fourth WSOP Bracelet did not come until 1994, when Johnny Chan finished in the money three times, including a 1st place victory in Event #17 Limit 7 Card Stud, earning about $142,000 altogether.

Between 1995 and 1997, Chan finished six times in the money, earning little more than $100,000 for the first five, but the final sixth was Chan’s fifth WSOP Bracelet win, taking down a Deuce to Seven Lowball event in the 1997 WSOP for $164,250. 1998 saw Chan finishing 2nd in a PL Omaha event for another lucrative prize purse of $77,400.

On April 29, 2000, Johnny Chan was awarded his sixth WSOP Bracelet for clearing the tables in Event #6 PL Hold’em, pocketing $179,400. Chan took home another $10,000 for an 11th place finish in a NL Hold’em event nearly two weeks later. The 2001 WSOP was profitable for Johnny Chan, taking a 14th and 2nd place purse totalling about $215,000. However, the 2002 WSOP was even more kind to Chan, cashing 5 times in all for nearly $300,000 combined; one of those being a 1st place finish that awarded his seventh WSOP Bracelet.

Johnny Chan was on a roll, and it followed him all the way through the 2003 WSOP as well. Chan finished three times in the money, and made the most of two of them, triumphing over the field in Event #15 NL Hold’em and Event #24 PL Omaha for $224,400 and $158,100 respectively. Alongside those impressive purses came Chan’s eight and ninth WSOP Bracelets.

Chan’s final (thus far) WSOP Bracelet came on June 25, 2005, taking down