Month: December 2020

Johnson “John” Juanda is an Indonesian professional Poker player of Chinese descent based in Tokyo, Japan. Born on the 8^th July 1971 in Medan, Indonesia, he began his gambling career in elementary school and was also a keen athlete in which he excelled and won many scholarships. During his time at elementary school, he would play gambling games with his friends at school for money.

John Juanda is one of the most successful poker players of all time. He has won 5 WOSP bracelets and more than $14 million in his poker career. Due to his unrelenting success, John got named Card Players Magazine’s player of the year several times.

Poker Career

John graduated with a double Bachelors in both Marketing and Management. He then went onto Seattle University to receive his Master’s in Business Administration. He then worked as a Stockbroker and a Bible Salesman until 1996, when he gathered enough money to play Poker.

It took him three years before he was able to play in major tournaments. He started by venturing into the $1500 Limit Hold ’em Tournament at the 1999 WOSP, where he placed ninth and won $15000. A few months later, he won the Limit Hold ’em Tournament in L.A. and walked away with a whopping $400 000. Juanda’s most significant stride was in 2008 where he won the WOSP Europe, where he won $1.5 million in prize money and his fourth WOSP bracelet.

Another milestone in John’s career was winning the 2006 Speed Poker Million Dollar Challenge beating world-class professional’s like Mike Sexton, Phil Ivey and Tony Bloom. He is fully sponsored by Full Tilt and often seen playing alongside other players in his team.

Final Thoughts

Juanda has capricious playing moves and an aggressive playing style contributing to his success. He plays by reading, mastering and predicting his opponent’s moves, making him one of the best poker players globally.