J.C. Tran is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player, based in Sacramento, California. Tran is a two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner and a World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event champion. In this episode of Pro Files, Calvinayre.com takes us through JC Tran’s poker career and his personal life.
With a total live-tournament career earnings amounting to more than $11 million, JC Tran still keeps on getting back at the final table to take on the big names of the poker world.
Who is J.C. Tran?
J.C. Tran was born in Vietnam and he is the youngest of eight children of Vietnamese parents. His family migrated from Vietnam and settled to Sacramento, California when he was two years old. He graduated and received a degree in Business Management Information Systems from California State University at Sacramento. His skills with numbers that got him his degree were the same skills that led him to the number games of poker.
Poker Career
On his 21st birthday, his brother taught him how to play poker and from then on, J.C. worked his way around the local casinos.
2004 was when J.C. started to make it big when he landed his big live tournament at the World’s Poker’s World and finished at fifth, earning more than $300K.
Tran has made three final tables in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and cashed in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event in both 2004 and 2005. He also finished second in a World Series of Poker circuit event, winning $251,920.
He scored another fifth place finish at World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2005 $10,000 No Limit Hold’em and pocketed more than $118K.
The name J.C. Tran started to become synonymous to winning when he backed his first World Poker Tour title in 2007 by winning the $1500 No-Limit Hold’em at the World Poker challenge in Reno and cashed $700K. It was the same year when he got his biggest prize ever when he finished 2nd in the 2007 L.A. Poker Classic No Limit Hold’em, winning $1,177,010.
On 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.
The next year, during the 40th Annual World Series of Poker, Tran captured his second bracelet for winning the $2,500 Pot-limit Omaha event and cashed $235K.
J.C. not only dominated the live tournament but also conquered the online casino world when he won the 2006 PokerStars’ World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event, taking home more than $670K.
What’s make him different with his contemporaries is his love for his family. JC tags along his family to his tournaments and rent a house for them to stay. He recently decided to cut down on playing tournament to spend more time with his family. However, the skills will never rust as J.C. Tran continues to amaze and dazzle everyone with game with the numbers.
