Tom Vu


Tuan Anh Vu, better known as Tommy or Tom Vu, is a Vietnamese American poker player, real estate investor and speaker best remembered as an infomercial personality in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Infomercial career

His late-night infomercial featured Vu surrounded by luxury items: mansions, yachts, expensive cars and, most visibly, collections of young bikini-clad women. He promoted his free 90-minute seminar to learn the same secrets he used to make millions. As a Vietnamese immigrant, he presented himself as the classic "rags to riches" story. His infomercials promoted free seminars that served as advertisements for paid seminars, the most expensive of which was a week-long seminar held only in Orlando, Florida that cost as much as $16,000. Vu's investment theory involved finding what he characterized as "distressed" properties, such as homes mired in foreclosures, bankruptcies, divorces or tax liens, and selling them at a profit.
In the early 1990s, Vu was sued by former students and investigated by government officials in Florida for alleged violations of securities laws, fraud and false advertising.
Formerly of Longwood, Florida and later a California resident, Vu has retired from real estate and lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Professional poker career

Vu continues his parallel career as a tournament poker player. As of 2017, he has won more than $1,975,000 in casino poker tournaments, including a second-place finish in a no limit Texas hold 'em event at the 2007 World Series of Poker and a 22nd-place finish at the 2005 World Series of Poker championship event. His 10 cashes at the WSOP account for over $850,000 of his lifetime tournament winnings.
In April 2006, he finished ninth in the Season Five World Poker Tour championship event, earning $216,585.