Chan moved with his family in 1962 from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, then in 1968 to Phoenix, Arizona, and later in 1973 to Houston, Texas, where his family owned restaurants. When he was 21, Chan dropped out of the University of Houston, where he was majoring in hotel and restaurant management, and moved to Las Vegas to become a professional gambler.
Chan won the World Series of Poker in 1987 and 1988 becoming the first foreign national to win the main event. A videotape of the 1988 WSOP final heads-up match is featured in the movie Rounders, in which Chan makes a cameo appearance. He almost won a third consecutive title, but finished in 2nd place in 1989 to Phil Hellmuth. He is the last player to win back-to-back WSOP Main Events. Jerry Buss, who was an avid poker player and owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, promised Chan an NBA Championship ring if he could win three in a row. In 2005, Chan became the first player to win ten World Series of Poker bracelets, defeating Phil Laak in a Texas hold 'em event. He is currently tied with Doyle Brunson and Phil Ivey for second place with 10 World Series of Poker bracelets, behind Phil Hellmuth. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2008, Chan cashed for the first time in the Main Event since 1992, earning $32,166 for his 329th-place finish. In 2010, Chan cashed in the Main Event taking 156th place for $57,102.
Chan competed in the $400,000 Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament in February 2005. He came back from having $20,000 chips out of $3,200,000 in play to finish in second place to Gus Hansen. Chan later competed in Poker Superstars II during the summer of 2005. He defeated 22 players to make it to the finals. He defeated Todd Brunson in the finals after three matches to win the $400,000 first prize. Chan appeared in Poker Superstars III where he made it as far as the semi finals but was defeated by Todd Brunson after three matches.
On NBC's late-night show Poker After Dark, a six-person $20,000 buy-in winner-takes-all tournament, Johnny Chan has the most victories to date with four wins in six appearances. He came in second and fifth when he did not win. His appearances in which he made it to heads-up were:
WSOP Champions — originally aired Jan. 15–20, 2007 — Won heads-up against Chris Moneymaker
Golden Men — originally aired June 11–16, 2007 — Lost heads-up against Joe Hachem
World Champions — originally aired Feb. 11–16, 2008 — Won heads-up against Phil Hellmuth
International — originally aired Feb. 25 – March 1, 2008 — Won heads-up against Patrik Antonius
Dream Table III — originally aired Mar. 23–27, 2009 — Won heads-up against Jennifer Tilly
Other tournaments
Chan won Bob Stupak's 1981 American Cup poker tournament. He defeated all 9 other players at the final table in less than an hour. As a result, Stupak gave Chan the nickname "The Orient Express". Chan has never made a final table on the World Poker Tour. Chan played in the 2004 and 2005 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions events and the National Heads-Up Poker Championship in the same years. As of 2014, his total live tournament winnings exceed $8,600,000. His 45 WSOP cashes account for $4,355,464 of those winnings.
Personal life
In addition to playing poker, Chan owns a fast-food franchise in the Las Vegas Stratosphere Hotel and is a consultant for casinos and game makers. Chan has written for Card Player magazine. He appeared in the first and 2011 seasons of the GSN series High Stakes Poker. In 2005, Chan collaborated with Mark Karowe to release Play Poker Like Johnny Chan, an instructional book on several different types of poker. On November 28, 2006, the follow-up titled: Million Dollar Hold'em: Winning Big in Limit Cash Games, which focuses on limithold'em strategy, was released. In 2007, Chan launched an online poker room, ChanPokerOnline.com. It closed in August 2008. Chan wrote a regular article in the bi-monthly magazine Trader Monthly.
In popular culture
Johnny Chan portrayed himself in the 1998 film Rounders. In a flashback scene, Chan is bluffed out of a pot by the main character Mike McDermott. He also appeared in the 2009 Hong Kong moviePoker King as himself.
