Tuan Le

Tuan Le is a poker player that was initially thought to have had a lot of luck and fewer skills but proved to be a both talented and aggressive player. He hasn’t made much noise since 2005 but he is still considered a professional poker player and his total earnings from live tournaments certainly put him into this category. Despite his choice of education he claims to have problems managing his bank roll which in combination with his willingness to take risks hasn’t always proven to produce the best results.

Background

Tuan Le has his roots in Vietnam but he was born in Paris in 1978 and grew up in the USA. Growing up in Kansas City he went to John Burroughs Junior High School. He later moved to Los Angeles where he majored in Finance at the California State University at Northridge.

Accomplishments

Tuan Le’s most successful period was between 2004 and 2005. In this short time period he had six in the money finishes which included two first place finishes with huge money prizes. The victory that has given him the greatest attention is most likely when he won the final event of the third season of the World Poker Tour. At the final table he was facing Hasan Habib and Paul Maxfield with $100,000 as opposed to their collected $10 million. Against the odds he went on to win the stunning sum of $2,856,150. This was his second World Poker Tour victory within the same season.

The first time he won a World Poker Tour event in 2004 he scored more than $1.5 million and after defeating Eli Elezra in the final of the WPT Battle of Champions III event he became the all time leading money winner on the WPT. His total live tournament winnings were in 2008 estimated to be around $4,600,000. His best placement in the World Series of Poker is as number 75 in 2006 Event 2 No Limit Hold’em which earned him $7,578. He is yet to win a WSOP bracelet.

Learning from a Master

Tuan Le’s doesn’t make his source of inspiration a secret. He gives much credit to Barry Greenstein and his book Ace on the River. In fact he dubs Barry as his primary poker mentor. The book he received first hand from Barry Greenstein. While this helped him succeed greatly he still has a lot to learn from the book as he claims to have made every mistake of money management that is mention in it.

Tuan Le outside the Poker Room

While it is clear that poker is one of the greatest passions in Tuan Le’s life he does enjoy other talents as well. For the fun of it he plays both tennis and badminton. He also likes to listen to rap music. A special personality trait of Tuan is that he dislikes asking for favors of other people. This might just be a healthy expression of him being aware of his money management or simply part of his aggressive and high risk-style of play.