Johnny Chan History, profile, and background
The Orient Express, Johnny Chan, is one of the true living legends of poker. Originally from Canton, China, he has become of the most famous poker players. He began picking up the game of Texas Holdem when his family moved from Phoenix, AZ to Houston, TX (they moved to American when Johnny was 11) to open a restaurant. He didn't do very well at the University of Houston, although he passed his classes, and at the age of 21 he decided to take the skills he had developed through playing weekend poker games with his university friends and move to Las Vegas to become a professional poker player.
Since then, the Orient Express has become one of the legends of poker. He has won ten World Series of Poker gold bracelets, and won back-to-back WSOP Championship events in 1987 and 1988. Even in 1989 he was in the final game, but lost to another one of the famous poker players, the eleven-bracelet holding Phil Hellmuth. However, Johnny Chan beat Helmuth in the Gold Bracelet Match Play of 2002, which was a series of heads up matches between previous bracelet winners.
Johnny Chan's other bracelets are from Limit Holdem in 1985, Seven-Card Stud in 1994, Deuce to Seven Draw in 1997, Omaha Pot Limit in 2000, No Limit Holdem and Pot Limit Holdem in 2003, and Pot Limit Omaha in 2005.
Famous poker players all have their own unique personality--their inimitable, unique style that makes them harder to figure out than the "generic" poker player. Johnny Chan's style is a mixture of amiability and intense, laser-like focus on this opponents. He loves chatting it up the other players and telling them stories and laughing with them; yet he also glares at opponents when playing, almost trying to bore into their minds with his own. Chan himself never wears sunglasses, and it's said that he knows how to tell if a player has a good or bad hand by how often that player blinks while looking at his cards. Indeed, Chan's great strength lies in the psychological aspect of the game. He can read other players to a frightening degree. He is also a very aggressive player in the manner of "Texas Dolly", living legend of poker Doyle Brunson. So it's very difficult for other players to know if Chan is being aggressive to bluff...or because he almost surely has the winning hand.
Another unique trait of Johnny Chan is that he's known for bringing an orange to the poker table. He likes the smell (and, yes, the taste as well), and it may help his concentration as a sort of aromatherapy. So the Orient Express is sometimes known as the Orange Man. Apparently, though, it's not always a Mandarin orange that he brings to the table.
Along with author Mark Karowe, Johnny Chan has written the book 'Play Poker Like Johnny Chan'. However, you should not get it expecting to learn about the in-depth play of one of the living legends of poker. The book is mainly an introductory guide for the novice and might benefit intermediate poker players, too.
Exit Famous Poker Players: Johnny Chan » Learn Texas Holdem Poker
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