During the1970s and '80s, I played a lot of poker tournaments in Las Vegas. While most of them involved low buy-ins, I played a couple of major tournaments after getting lucky at a lower cost qualifying tournament.
It was in one of those major tournaments that I found myself sitting across the table from Johnny Chan.
Can you imagine it? I was a young player who was basically learning the game, and here I was facing a poker legend!
As I took my seat and the dealer pushed me my stack of buy-in chips, I noticed that Chan had left an orange behind his chips. It was his good luck charm.
Tangerines and oranges are good luck symbols in China where Chan was born. The Chinese word for orange and gold sound similar.
I joked to the dealer, 'Wonder what he'd say if I took a bite out of it?'
The dealer smiled. 'I wouldn't do that if I were you.'
I lasted for a while in the tournament but eventually got knocked out by Chip Reese. When I left the table, Chan was still in action, wearing his traditional dark glasses, and he had a big pile of chips in front of him.
Born in Guangzhou, China, Chan and hiss family moved to Hong Kong in 1962 and then relocated to my old stomping grounds of Phoenix, AZ. in 1968. His family owned restaurants in Phoenix and later in Houston, TX. where the family moved.
Johnny enrolled at the University of Houston to study hotel and restaurant management, planning to take over the family business when his parents retired. But he caught the poker bug and dropped out of college to play poker full-time.
His poker playing talents were formidable.
In 1987, he won the main event at the World Series of Poker. In 1988, he followed up with another victory and a year later he finished second to Phil Hellmuth.
Chan became the first poker player in history to win 10 WSOP bracelets. Today he is tied with two other players, Doyle Brunson and Phil Ivey, for second place, ranking behind Hellmuth who has 14 WSOP diamond and gold bracelets.
With total poker tournament winnings at nearly $9 million, Chan has branched out into acting. He appeared as himself in the 1998 movie, 'The Rounders,' because his daughter was a Matt Damon fan and wanted to meet him.
He also played himself in a 2009 Hong Kong film, 'Poker King.'
Bob Stupak, who built Stupak's World (now the Las Vegas Stratosphere), nicknamed him 'The Oriental Express' after Chan won the 1981 American Cup Poker Tournament held at the casino.
Today Chan is a regular player at some of the biggest cash games in Las Vegas where he owns a fast food chain at the Stratosphere. He is also a consultant for casinos and game makers as well as an author on books about how to win at poker. He launched an on-line poker room that lasted a year.
Chan has appeared in 'Poker After Dark' and 'Poker Super Stars' where he beat Todd Brunson and won $400,000. In 'Dream Table 111' in March 2009 in heads-up play, he defeated Jennifer Tilley.
I think I'll get me a lucky orange.
Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.
(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).
