Poker Jc Tran
Tran (born Justin Cuong Van Tran January 20, 1977 in Vietnam) is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player, based in Sacramento, California. 17 January 2020 (Lincoln, Calif.) - J.C. Tran has just won the $3,250 High Roller at the Thunder Valley World Series of Poker Circuit. The two-time WSOP bracelet winner survived a field of 47 players to earn $49,035 and a WSOP Circuit gold ring.
| J.C. Tran | |
|---|---|
J. C. Tran at the 2019 World Poker Tour Legends of Poker | |
| Nickname(s) | 'J.C.' |
| Residence | Sacramento, California |
| Born | Justin Cuong Van Tran January 20, 1977 (age 43) Vietnam |
| World Series of Poker | |
| Bracelet(s) | 2 |
| Final table(s) | 11 |
| Money finish(es) | 46 |
| Highest ITM Main Event finish | 5th, 2013 |
| World Poker Tour | |
| Title(s) | 2 |
| Final table(s) | 8 |
| Money finish(es) | 20 |
| Information accurate as of 16 July 2014. | |
J. C. Tran (born Justin Cuong Van Tran January 20, 1977 in Vietnam) is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player, based in Sacramento, California.[1]
Tran is a two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, a World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event champion, has made eight World Poker Tour (WPT) final tables, winner of a WPT title, won at the World Poker Challenge[2] and is the WPT Player of the Year of their fifth season.[3] Tran was the chip leader coming into the final table of the 2013 WSOP Main Event November Nine. He ended up finishing in 5th place for $2,106,893 for the biggest cash of his career.
Early life[edit]
Tran was born in Vietnam, and is the youngest of eight children of Vietnamese parents. When he was two years old, his family moved to the United States, where he later received a degree in Business Management Information Systems from California State University at Sacramento.[1][3]
Tran built his bankroll playing the $9/$18 game at Capitol Casino in Sacramento, California. Tran has since noted that it had become too much of an action game to eke out a positive gain.
Poker career[edit]
Tran has finished in the money at numerous poker tournaments, finishing 5th at the 2004 World Poker Finals and on the television bubble of the 2004 L.A. Poker Classic and 2005 Borgata Poker Open. He also finished 5th in the 2006 L.A. Poker Classic. All of these events were televised on the World Poker Tour (WPT).
Tran has made 3 final tables in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and cashed in the $10,000 no limithold'em main event in both 2004 and 2005, finishing 117th both years. Tran also finished 2nd in a World Series of Poker circuit event, winning $251,920.[2]
On October 2, 2006, Tran won the main event at PokerStars' WCOOP, winning $670,000.[4]
On March 2, 2007, Tran finished 2nd in the 2007 L.A. Poker Classic, winning $1,177,010. On March 28 he won his first WPT title, the World Poker Challenge, earning $683,473. He was also the World Poker Tour's Player of the Year.[2]
Notable victories include:
- 2003 Heavenly Hold'em, $300 limit hold'em: $74,150
- 2005 Rio Las Vegas Poker Festival, $1,500 no limit hold'em: $97,470
- 2006 WCOOP Main event, $2,500 no limit hold'em: $670,000
On June 30, 2008 Tran won his first bracelet at the 2008 World Series of Poker in Event 49, $1,500 No Limit event besting a field of 2718. Tran took home $631,170 in winnings.[5] In all, Tran cashed in 7 events at the 2008 WSOP, good for $896,392 in total winnings and a 6th-place finish in the 2008 WSOP Player of the Year.[6]
In November 2008, Tran won The PartyPoker.com Premier League III by beating Tony G in heads-up play. Tran took home $300,000 for winning first place at the final table.
In June 2009, during the 40th Annual World Series of Poker, Tran won his second bracelet for winning the $2,500 Pot-limit Omaha event.
As of 2010, his total live tournament winnings amount to $7,996,635.[7] His 28 cashes as the WSOP account for $1,694,280 of those winnings.[8]
He has made the November 9 final table of the 2013 WSOP main event, where he started as chip leader but finished in 5th place.
Tran used all his poker knowledge and experience to overcome a short stack and with the major support of his friends and family, he won the latest WPT event held at the Thunder Valley Casino Resort on Mar 15–19, 2014.[9]
As a result of his second WPT title, he became only the 20th player in history to win multiple WPT events. Overall, he cashed in almost $11 million while playing live tournament, according to Hendon Mob Database.[10]
| Year | Cashes | Final Tables | Bracelets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 3 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 4 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 4 | ||
| 2008 | 7 | 3 | 1 |
| 2009 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| 2010 | 2 | ||
| 2011 | 3 | ||
| 2012 | 2 | ||
| 2013 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2014 | 3 | 2 |
Awards[edit]
ALL IN Magazine 2007 Poker Player of the Year [11]
World Series of Poker Bracelets[edit]
| Year | Tournament | Prize (US$) |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | $1,500 No Limit Hold'em | $631,170 |
| 2009 | $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha | $235,685 |
References[edit]
- ^ ab'J.C. Tran'. pokerpages.com. Archived from the original on April 23, 2008. Retrieved April 24, 2008.
- ^ abcButt, Robert. 'Justin Cuong Van Tran – Results'. The Hendon Mob. Retrieved April 24, 2008.
- ^ ab'JC Tran'. worldpokertour.com. Archived from the original on April 6, 2008. Retrieved April 24, 2008.
- ^Hintze, Haley (October 2, 2008). 'WCOOP #18, $2,500 NL Hold'em: J.C. Tran Captures Title in Main Event'. PokerNews.com. Retrieved April 24, 2008.
- ^Pojo. 'Congratulations to J.C. Tran – Champion of Event #49 ($631,170)'. Pokernews.com. Retrieved June 30, 2008.
- ^2008 World Series of Poker Player of the Year Standings, worldseriesofpoker.com
- ^Butt, Robert. 'Justin Cuong Van Tran – Stats'. The Hendon Mob. Retrieved April 24, 2008.
- ^World Series of Poker EarningsArchived October 30, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, worldseriesofpoker.com
- ^'j c tran wins wpt rolling thunder - pokerupdate.com'. www.pokerupdate.com. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
- ^'Justin Cuong Van Tran's profile on The Hendon Mob'. The Hendon Mob Poker Database. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
- ^Poker Player of the Year: J.C. Tran[permanent dead link]
External links[edit]
J.C. Tran is hot. His competition won't argue. His tournament track record certainly supports the statement. Even most of the hairsplitting forum posters agree.
On the heels of a successful 2006 that included World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour final table appearances, Tran rang in the new year by smoking up the felt.
Jc Tran Poker
In January he sampled some final table action but went out in sixth at the WPT World Poker Open in Tunica. In February he was within reaching distance of his first major title, but the L.A. Poker Classic slipped through his fingers when he went out on the bubble. Three times proved to be the charm though when Tran cemented his hot streak in March by winning the World Poker Challenge in Reno.
The win was a relief for Tran, whose competitive spirit couldn't be soothed by big cashes until he took down the WPT title.
'It's just getting that monkey off my back you know?' he told PokerListings.com after his March victory. 'It's not second, it's not fifth, it's not sixth, it's first and that's just such a great feeling.'
Credit for Tran's determination to finish first could have something to do with his birth order. The youngest of eight siblings, Justin Cuong Van Tran was born Jan. 20, 1977, to Vietnamese parents in Hong Kong.
At the age of 2, the family would immigrate to the U.S., where Tran eventually settled in Sacramento. After graduation, he enrolled at the California State University at Sacramento and continues to show pride for his hometown by frequently sporting Sacramento Kings gear at the poker table.
Became a casino regular at 21
While Tran was a 21-year-old student, his brother invited him to a local casino to get in on a poker game. The self-taught player enjoyed the action so much he became a casino regular and started raking back the chips.
The money came easily to Tran, who debated dropping out of school to play full time. But, given he was just a few credits shy of his Business Management Information Systems degree, the emerging poker player decided to stay in class until he graduated.
Though he finished his education, Tran correctly suspected he wouldn't be putting it to use.
Instead, he turned his attention to cards. He was a winning player, but Tran's presence wasn't felt on the circuit for a few years. Tournaments started proving themselves to be his forte as he final tabled and won several smaller events early in his career as a professional poker player.
His first notable result came in 2004 when Tran went out on the television bubble at the WPT L.A. Poker Classic, finishing in seventh for his then-largest tournament cash - $94,000. The year was to be a good one for Tran, who also final tabled at two World Series of Poker events - eighth in $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em and seventh in $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout.
Tran continued to get comfortable at WPT events, making it deep in the Doyle Brunson North American No-Limit Hold'em Poker Championship. His 13th place spot in that event was topped, however, by the start of his string of serious cashes when he placed fifth at the main event of the World Poker Finals to win $353,850.
Cue the cash register sound effects for a recap of Tran's 2005 performance: The World Series saw him in familiar territory again, when he finished fifth in the $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em event for $118, 350; he placed seventh at the WPT championship for a $200,000 haul; at a WSOP Circuit main event that year he was second for $250,000.
The following year's performance was nothing to sniff at either. In 2006, Tran was paid $265,000 for placing fifth in the WPT Championship. He also cashed in six WSOP events and won back-to-back tournaments - the World Poker Finals and the Five Diamond - for a total payday of nearly $700,000.
Hot out of the gates in 2007, Tran boosted his WPT final table appearances by three with a solid run that started in February (sixth at the World Poker Open), continued to March (second at the L.A. Poker Classic for $1.2 million) and saw him seal the deal in April (first at the World Poker Challenge).
Prior to his April win in Reno - then his fourth time sitting at a WPT final table - Tran was antsy to nail down a first-place finish.
'I'm overdue,' he told PokerListings.com prior to his final table appearance at the 2007 L.A. Poker Classic. 'People see my face deep a lot and they say ‘What's going on?' Last year, fortunately enough, I won a few small tournaments, and proved that I can win, but it's time to win a major. I'm owed a major. I'm overdue for a major, and I think right now I'm playing my best poker.'
JC Tran been patient before his first major title
He was right. Though Tran didn't win the LAPC, he was first in Reno just weeks later and near untouchable in the WPT Season 6 Player of the Year race.
Though there's no denying his career is on fire, some of Tran's peers would argue that his success isn't simply a hot streak.
Writing on the 2+2 forums, poker pro Shane Schleger - known as Shaniac - argued with posters who said Tran is just having a good run. Tran, Schleger wrote, is one of the most consistent players on the tour, a man with few leaks who loves poker and knows how to make money.
Poker Jc Tran Ngoc
'Basically, J.C. is the consummate tournament pro, and I really can't agree with anyone who thinks 'he's just running good, give him time to cool off,' wrote Schleger. 'I've been waiting for J.C. to cool off for a couple years, but instead he wins every tournament in sight.'
And Tran didn't disappoint at the 2008 WSOP, where he proved Schleger right and his detractors wrong by taking down his first gold bracelet.
Eager to shed his reputation as 'the best poker player without a bracelet,' Tran defeated his opponent, Danish player Rasmus Nielsen, in heads-up play for $630k. Despite the large payout, though, it was the gold that kept J.C. going.
'I've come close so many times, this year alone, apart from other years. It's been disappointing,' he told PokerListings.com after his win.
'So when I ran deep in this tournament, I kept telling myself 'Hey you know, play this like it's the Main Event, your last event, and keep fighting.'
'I never gave up when I was low. The whole way I didn't really think about the money. It's about the bracelet. I [didn't] even know what first-place money [was], I just wanted the bracelet.
'When we went heads-up, and the bracelet's sitting there, I would just stare at it. Every time I got beaten in a pot, I'd look at the bracelet and say, 'You know what? - You've got to fight for that,' and that's what I did!'
Tran's personal life is just as active as his poker career. The young bachelor's favorite activity is partying with friends - many of whom will show up to sweat him at tournaments - with some sports thrown in the mix. He also enjoys music, mostly hip hop, electronic and R&B.