"The rest of us are fading out, and he's just coming in". Johnny Chan was born in Canton, China. At the age of nine his family moved to the United States and settled in Houston. As you guess, his father was Chinese and he couldn’t invent anything better than running Chinese restaurant. Very originally… Meanwhile, Johnny began to attend school…though he even didn’t speak English: "When I came to this country I spoke zero English. In the whole school there was only one other Asian. The other kids tell you something, you don't know what they're talking about. Sometimes they laugh at you, and you don't know what they're laughing about. They yell at you and you don't know what they're yelling about. That was tough."
But Chan’s nationality became and advantage when he moved to Vegas after the University of Houston. An Asian poker player was a very uncommon thing there: “They didn't expect a good Asian player. They underestimated me and gave me more action than I deserved. When I bet, I usually have a hand, and they would call me. They wanted to see what I had, just for their own peace of mind. They were throwing money at me."
Yes, they were throwing money at him… But at first it was Johnny who threw a lot of money. His first year as a professional poker player was the “worst experience” he ever had.
Why? He just didn’t know when to quit. When he learned it – he began to play much better. Doyle Brunson said: "Now he's the youngest great poker player. The rest of us are fading out, and he's just coming in."
The two great victories
Like Doyle Brunson and Stu Ungar Johnny Chan won at the WSOP twice. And these two times he played with an orange in front of him. At the WSOP-1987 Chan managed to beat Frank Henderson. Frank was sitting with a pair of fours while Johnny Chan had an ace and a nine. Neither the flop, nor the turn changed this situation. The river brought Chan another nine, the title of the world champion and $625,000.
In 1988 he played against Erik Seidel. Johnny made a hand at the flop: a straight, while Erik went all-in with Hilton sisters (QQ). In 1989 he was going to win at the WSOP for the third time. But this year Phil Hellmuth was the first with his pocket nines. Again these nines! Like in 1987. In addition to his title of the two-time world champion Johnny Chan has nine WSOP bracelets:
1) 1985 – Limit Holdem
2) 1987 – NL Holdem
3) 1988 – NL Holdem
4) 1994 – Seven-Card Stud
5) 1997 – Deuce to Seven Draw
6) 2000 – Omaha Pot Limit
7) 2003 – NL Holdem
8) 2003 – PL Holdem
9) The last bracelet Johnny Chan got after the series of heads-up matches between other bracelet winners. Again he was heads-up with Phil Hellmuth. But this time he was the winner.
Chan About
the game:
"Amarillo Slim won't sit in on a game with me. I'd eat him alive."
"The higher I play, the better I am. That's where the skill kicks in. When I play in the smaller games, my skill is no good. And in this business you have to be at the top of your game."
"You don't have to have a lot of money to become a poker player, but you gotta have faith in yourself. The rest come and go, and they get lucky and win a tournament and you never hear from them again."
"I'm the best player in the Asian community. They're all dreaming they're going to be the Orient Express II."
and about the Money:
"You can never have enough of it."
"I'm a big spender. For example, I like new clothes, so I might buy a $5,000 suit. That's why I keep playing. The government takes a bite of you, the mortgage takes a bite.Life is too short, you have to enjoy it."
After Chan was audited in 1982 he said: "I won the case; they made a mistake. I asked the investigator a simple question: 'How many gamblers do you know that pay any taxes on their winnings? He could not name me more than ten people in the whole country."
The Great Players About The Great Player
Doyle Brunson: "You could play a million years and it would never happen again. Not only did Johnny win it twice and come in second, he won two other tournaments in between. He won four big tournaments in a row and came in second in the next one. It was very extraordinary."
T.J. Cloutier: "As far as I'm concerned, Johnny's always the favorite to win the World Series. He's the best at reading other players. At least 90 percent of the time he's right. He's one playing jesse."
