Tournament Accomplishents:

10 WSOP Braclets, tied with Doyle Brunson for the lead
3rd All-time money winner at WSOP $3,706,543
Won Back to Back WSOP Championships followed by a second!
27 Cashes at the WSOP
Only two cashes on the WPT
Total Tournament earnings: $3,858,505 (17th) compiled by www.pokerpages.com

Cash Game Accomplishments:

Johnny plays as high as the sky against the best players in the world. For years he was a fixture in the "Larry game," playing Stud with Larry Flynt and co. at the Hustler in California.
Johnny now plays in the big game at Bellagio as well and is a winning player.

Best game: No Limit Hold'em- He also plays a mean game of pot limit Omaha, but there is no question about it, Johnny's best game is no limit hold'em. He is arguably the best no limit player who ever lived, and his accomplishments at the WSOP over the years are unparalelled.

Worst Game: Limit Hold'em- Strangely, despite his profieciency in no limit, limit hold'em doesn't suit Johnny style quite as well. Johnny is a trapping type of player and that approach is ideal for no limit, but a little weak in a game like limit hold'em where it's important to be much more aggressive on the flop.
He doesn't suck at it obviously, but he would be an underdog against players like Jennifer Harman, Todd Brunson, or Phil Ivey in limit hold'em.

Strengths: Players often talk about seeing through a players soul, but Johnny's ability to recognize tells might just be the bet in the business. If he looks at your eyes, your fingers, your throat, or your body language in general... he will know. This is a strength that should be respected and feared. If you take him lightly, he will crush you.

Weaknesses: Johnny is a no limit and/or pot limit genius, but what makes him strong in those game hurts him a little bit in the limit games. He has a cautious approach to limit poker that costs him a little bit of value in certain situations.

Cash Games: 7.5
Tournaments: 10
Emotional Stability: 6
Heart: 9
Short Handed: 6.5
Ring Game: 8
No Limit Hold'em: 10

Other notes: While Johnny doesn't gloat, or look for much publicity on his own, he does take great pleasure in staying ahead of Phil Hellmuth. Johnny, along with most of the high limit players scoff at what they call, the "TV players" that claim they are the best in the world, but won't put their money where their mouth is.

Johnny has an ego just as any top player does, but he makes his claims by being one of the most dominant tournament players in the history of poker. His 10 bracelets have come despite the fact that Johnny hasn't been playing in all of the events regularly, choosing the big money cash games instead of the bling.

Recently, though, I think a fire was lit under his butt and he is out to prove that he is the best poker player in the world.

"TV players". I like this. Good job Negreanu, you're getting better man.

Emotional stability 6? I'm kinda curious because you rarely see Johnny chan ever explode like baby hellmuth on tv. Does he ever go on tilt in the 2k/4k ring games with you guys? Possibly make donkey plays while doing so? heh.


Seemed suprisingly low considering I thought you had to have some what of a high emotional stability to be a pretty good tournament player.

don't mean to seem annoying about it, but chan is behind raymer, hachem, and dannenman in wsop winnings, so I believe he's 4th, not 3rd

Very awesome Daniel. I'm a huge fan of Johnny's. Keep the profiles coming...they are very enjoyable.

Glad to see this one, Johnny is one of my favorites.

Good observations DN, from what I see on TV and what DN has written, I've noticed similar attributes in Johnny.

It's cool to hear and read about how DN sees each player he gambles with all the time. Notice the difference in how Greenstein describes Chan and how DN does it. This profile provides more insight shows that Chan is the real deal.

I remember reading a story of how Chan mentored or just staked Layne Flack, the guy is smart and also thinks like a snake. Good poker qualities. The only thing I can't stand about Chan is he always says the same thing in his interviews "I can be real dangerous if I get a hold of some ships early."

Good read! Thx Daniel!

IMHO, Johhny Chan is the best NLHE player on earth. This guy has no heart and will gut you for every last dime. He consistently wins against all types of opponents, tournament donks and headline cash game pros. Plus, the guy is a bona fide trap artist (PokerSuperstars2, anyone? Wow...) Only Phil Ivey has a better sense of awareness. I'd take Chan over (in order) Ivey, Juanda, Negreanu, Flack, or Seed anyday! My favorite player. Thanks for the insight, DN!

It should also be noted that if Hellmuths 9's hadn't held up against him at the Main Event. He would have won 3 main events braclets in row! The fact that he won back to back titles and then went on to place 2nd the third year is an accomplishment that will never be repeated.

Johnny Chan is the reason I started playing poker. Since that time I've grown more and more aware of his great play and some of the more subtle aspects of his game.

I enjoyed watching him on Poker Superstars, even though I wasn't a big fan of the tournament on the whole..and of course enjoyed watching him be the first to 10 WSOP bracelets.

"He's going all-in and Chan has him! Johnny Chan the master!"

Not much I could say about Johnny that hasn't already been said. He will always be one of the greats. I think he's got 3 more bracelets in him, but probably no more main events.

And considering how big the fields are, that's a BOLD statement. Haha.

exactly! lol

It seems to me that Hellmuth is happier that he is a self acclaimed celebrity, than a successful poker player. Ever read his blog? www.philhellmuth.com click on "ask phill" then click on his blog. All he does is talk about celebrity this, celebriy that. We're doing a celebrity function tonight at this club...yadda yadda yadda.

Ever see Negreanu or Matusow, or Chan say we're doing celebrity this or that? No. All you hear them talk about is how they're excited and geared up for the next tournament challenge. The right way to think.

You'd think if Hellmuth was "The King" of N/L Hold Em', then he would put up cash for "The big game", and school everyone. By looks of GSN's high stakes poker television show, Hellmuth plays cash games like tournaments, and loses all his money.

phil and ferguson both grinders, who cant play cash games

Lol. Ok.

Agreed ten times over. I think he believes he's above poker.

Please make a profile on Jamie Gold. He is the reason I KNOW I can make money playing poker

i hope i never face hellmuth at a table... i'd be prone to physically harming him

chan rules..... now im confused.. is it him or johnny nguyen that sucks down the budweiser like its going out of style?

and has that "beer" been analyzed by a lab ?

im curious to konw if DN thinks Ivey's quickly darting eyes indicate a tell of panic? i notice that when he's behind on a hand.. his eyes tend to move really quick.. like watching a super speeded "pong" game in his head lol

Who the hell is this?

would love to see him or doyle break hellmuths bracelets earned so he could stop thinking hes the best player in the world just because of it

There is nothing wrong with Phil Hellmuth having the most bracelets. He does deserve them because he is one of the top hold-em players out there. What sets Doyle, Johnny, and other players apart though is that they have done it in a variety of games, something Phil needs to overcome. So Johnny, Doyle, and others can surpass Phil easily, but you got to give Phil some credit, winning 11 bracelets is no easy feat.

Does anyone else LOVE reading top players assessments of other top players? I probably have Negreanu and Greenstein's assessments memorized. I just wish they would be more brutal

I'm also a huge fan of Johnny's! When is it coming the profile of moneymaker?

iam also a huge fan of jhonny