The really interesting thing about Chan is though that he won 2 back-to-back WSOP main event championships, in 1987 and in 1988, a feat no one could repeat after him. What’s even more interesting is that he almost won a third consecutive title in 1989 too, but fell second to Phil Hellmuth eventually.

Besides his two Main Event victories Chan has 8 more bracelets to show, which he won in smaller WSOP events, and no less than a staggering 38 money finishes. Even though the prize pools were nowhere as big as they are today, back in the 80s, don’t forget that the value of the buck was different and that Main Event victories still yielded nice revenue.

Born in China in 1962 (in Guangzhou to be exact), Chan’s family moved to Hong Kong first, then to Phoenix AZ. Houston, TX was the next stop, where his family’s restaurant business finally took off.

Chan was supposed to follow in his father’s footsteps, and to that end he attended the hotel and restaurant management department of the University of Houston. His career in the hotel industry would come to a screeching halt though, as having caught the taste of professional gambling, he dropped out of school at 21 and moved to Las Vegas to play poker for a living.

Johnny Chan is known for bringing a fresh orange along to the table which many other players concluded was the source of most of his phenomenal luck, and therefore started bringing fruit to the tables themselves.

Chan revealed though that the only purpose of the orange was to refresh the smoke-infested air of the poker rooms with its pleasant scent.

Chan’s WPT accomplishments include three money finishes (no titles there yet). He also competed in Poker Superstars with excellent results (fell second once to Gus Hansen).

His total career earnings are estimated to about $5,900,000.

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