Johnny Chan was born in Canton, China in 1957. At the age of 9 he moved to the United States where he lives in Phoenix before he was moved one more time to Houston, Texas in 1973. It was in Houston that his parents opened up a Chinese restaurant – which he was expected to take over when the time came. Chan struggled in school because he did not understand what the other kids and teachers were saying due to the fact that he didn’t know English.
When he was 21 he dropped out of the University of Houston and decided that he wanted to be a professional poker player. He moved to Las Vegas and saw the potential and advantage that he had over the other players. He noticed that when he played many of the other players didn’t know how to play against an Asian poker player giving him an advantage that won him many games. Unfortunately he had a weakness – he couldn’t control himself to know when to pull out of the game and ended up losing most of his money in the end.
Johnny did learn to control this and became known as a fast and aggressive player. He quickly earned himself the nickname “The Orient Express” and became a respected player. One of his strongest points was the ability to read people and anticipate their moves. Chan has gone up against some of the hardest and most professional poker player which include Barry Greenstein and Gus Hansen.
Chan has attained 10 World Series Of Poker bracelets – which makes him tied with Doyle Brunson. In 2000 and 2003 he won 2 awards for the Pot-Limit Omaha as well as winning hands in the 7 card stud and the 2-7 draw poker events.
If there is one thing that we could say that we love about Chan it would be the way that he has opened the door for Asian poker players around the world. There are very few Asian players in the professional world of poker – but these players are not always worth mentioning like Chan is. Chan took the poker world by storm and surprised us all with his ability to win the money hard and fast and with little ease.
Chan is also known for the presence that he holds. The minute he sits down at the table he takes people by surprise. For a man who plays aggressively he is actually very down to earth and there is always a smile on his face.
Johnny Chan is happily married and is showing no signs of slowing down with his poker fame. Many have wondered when his fame and luck will eventually fade out. Yet, it seems as if that might never happen. The Poker Superstars has proved to us all that Chan is still at the top of his game and it will be very many years before we see any signs of him losing that fame. We wouldn’t be surprised to see him get another World Series Of Poker bracelet and a new world record broken by the infamous Johnny “The Oriental Express” Chan.
