![\"Johnny](\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Johnny-Chan-1.jpg\")
Before skipping to current times, it\u2019s worth\nlooking back at Johnny Chan\u2019s career and what made him one of the biggest names\nin poker in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Chan was born in 1957 in China. <\/li>
- His family first moved to Hong Kong\nin 1962 and then to Phoenix, Arizona, in 1968. <\/li>
- In 1973 they ended up in Texas,\nwhere they established a successful restaurant business.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Johnny enrolled in the University of Huston for\na degree in hotel and restaurant management, but he quickly figured out this\nreally wasn\u2019t his calling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Poker was his true passion, so when he turned\n21, he dropped out and moved to Las Vegas to embark on an exciting journey that\nwould end up with him being one of the best players in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His decision to take up poker as a career<\/a> wasn\u2019t received well by his family, but Johnny was determined to make his future on the green felt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His first tournament results came in 1982. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back in the day, tournament fields were much\nsmaller and prizes weren’t nearly as big, so it’s hard to properly view his\nsuccess in comparison to that of modern-day players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His first six-figure score came in 1983 when he\nbanked $130,000 for taking down America’s Cup of Poker in Las Vegas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shortly after, he triumphed in a much larger $1,500\nevent, where his efforts brought him $60,750.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1985, Johnny Chan claimed the first of many\nWSOP bracelets to follow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having outlasted 341 other players in a $1,000\nLimit Hold’em event, Chan took home the coveted trinket and the $171,000\nfirst-place prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Johnny Chan Wins Back-To-Back WSOP Main Event Titles<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In 1987, Johnny Chan made his real breakthrough\nin poker, which would make him a huge part of the game\u2019s history for decades to\ncome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That year, he managed to take down the $10,000\nWSOP Main Event, outlasting 151 other players and banking $625,000 for his\nsuccess. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This may seem small compared to today\u2019s Main\nEvent prizes, but it was a massive win for that period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Johnny](\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Johnny-Chan-1987-WSOP.jpg\")
Image: YouTube<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Chan didn\u2019t stop there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The very next year, he managed a feat that only\na few other players could match. He went on to defend his Main Event title,\nthis time around winning $700,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chan almost did the unthinkable the following\nyear when he came close to winning three Main Events in a row. He fell just\nshort of this amazing achievement, though, as he eventually lost in the\nheads-up skirmish to a young Phil Hellmuth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chan\u2019s impressive results earned him a nickname\nthat he would come to be known by in the years to come: \u201cThe Orient Express\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Johnny was never one of those crazy players\nthat you\u2019d see throw chips around in attempts of crazy bluffs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was much more calculated and precise, which\nmade him so dangerous. His feeling for the game and the ability to read his\nopponents was truly impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Orient Express\u201d Keeps Rolling On<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Chan kept on grinding, achieving numerous great\nresults along the years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1989, after his runner-up finish in the Main\nEvent, he went on to take down the Hall of Fame Poker Classic to the tune of\n$232,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a little while, Chan had a bit of a bad\nrun, as his results for the next few years weren\u2019t all that great. But in 1994\nthe train was back on track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1994, he won another WSOP bracelet, going\nall the way in a $1,500 Seven Card Stud tournament, followed by another one in\n1997.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2000, Chan took down a PLO tournament,\nearning close to $180,000 and continuing to add to his already-impressive\ncollection of WSOP bracelets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s interesting to note that Johnny has never\nhad a single seven-figure cash win in his career, making his total tally even\nmore impressive. He kept the grind going, and slowly but surely built his poker\nr\u00e9sum\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His biggest win actually came from a runner-up\nfinish in the 2003 Poker Superstars Invitational, good for $750,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2002, \u201cThe Orient Express\u201d was officially\nrecognized as one of the game\u2019s best as he was inducted into the prestigious\nPoker Hall of Fame, entering the company of some of poker\u2019s greatest legends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chan won his latest bracelet in 2005,\ntriumphing in a Pot-Limit Hold’em tournament and picking up more than $300,000\nfor his efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the years, he’s shown that he’s no\none-trick pony. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chan won all sorts of tournaments \u2013 from\nHold’em, over PLO, to Seven Card Stud, \u201cThe Orient Express\u201d could hold his own\nin almost any format of poker in existence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Johnny Chan Stars In Rounders<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
While his poker results were impressive enough, what cemented Johnny Chan as a legend was his appearance in the cult poker movie<\/a> Rounders<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the movie, Chan plays himself and plays a\nhand against the main protagonist, Mike McDermott. Mike manages to pull a bluff\non Johnny, which gives him the confidence that he has what it takes to make it\nin the \u201cbig league\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n