John Juanda got his MBA at Seattle University, but his most useful education may have
actually come on the weekends🍇 when he was learning to play poker at nearby
casinos.
"Perhaps the most underrated and neglected superstar in our game today🍇 is John
Juanda," Daniel Negreanu wrote in a blog post years ago. "Without question, John has
been the most successful🍇 tournament player in the world over the last five years."
"His
consistency is unrivalled. If you had to pick one guy🍇 to make a final table, your best
bet would be John Juanda, hands down. Yet I'll often read the message🍇 boards on the
Internet and notice that John's name is rarely mentioned among the list of
greats."
John Juanda's results speak🍇 for themselves and prove his place among the
greats. He's earned more thanR$24.6 million playing in poker tournaments alone since
🍇 his entry into professional poker in the late ‘90s, making him one of the winningest
poker players of all time.
Marbles🍇 for Money
Though Juanda didn't learn to play poker
until he went to college his gambling roots run back much further,🍇 to his childhood in
Indonesia.
John Juanda was born the first of four children July 8, 1971, in Medan,
North Sumatra.🍇 He spent many years of his childhood living with his grandparents while
his parents worked to start up a business🍇 in another city.
Being apart from his parents
didn't keep him from being exposed to his father's vices. He liked to🍇 drink and gamble,
which never made for a winning combination, and in typical do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do
fashion, he kept telling Juanda not🍇 to gamble.
Juanda apparently didn't heed that
advice as he started playing marbles for money in grade school. Gambling wasn't a🍇 huge
part of his life growing up though. Instead he was a well-liked, yet well-grounded
child who was a track🍇 star in high school.
As the firstborn, John Juanda was favored.
He didn't let it go to his head, however, partially🍇 because of how his parents raised
him but also because the firstborn has the responsibility to help care for the🍇 family.
That duty led him to the United States for his college education.
It was on his flight
to the U.S.🍇 to start his college education at Oklahoma State in 1990 that he actually
got his first taste of poker. A🍇 friend taught him how to play poker during the flight,
so even though he spoke very little English when he🍇 stepped foot on American soil, he
knew a game that's practically interlaced with the country's history.
Poker is Juanda's
Next Career🍇 Move
It wasn't until John Juanda wrapped up his undergraduate degrees in
marketing and management at Oklahoma State and moved to🍇 Seattle to work on his Master's
that he got more involved in poker.
He worked a variety of jobs to pay🍇 for school,
including being a stock broker and selling Bibles. Though a self-proclaimed lifelong
Buddhist, Juanda won awards for his🍇 Bible sales.
On the weekends in Seattle he headed
to the local casinos to play poker. He honed his game and🍇 figured out quickly that he
could make money playing.
As John Juanda said in a Seattle University story, "I'd spend
12🍇 hours playing poker, then go home to sleep, and I couldn't wait to get up and play
again the next🍇 day."
After he completed his MBA in 1996 it was apparent to Juanda that
poker was going to be his next🍇 career move. With the money he'd bankrolled while
playing on weekends he embarked on becoming a full-time professional player.
He
continued🍇 to work on his game at casinos and card rooms on the west coast, eventually
settling near Los Angeles to🍇 find the bigger-stakes texas hold'em games.
John Juanda
Heads to WSOP
It wasn't until 1999 that John Juanda got up his courage🍇 to enter his
first major tournament. He'd been regularly cashing in low buy-in tournaments but this
was an event at🍇 the World Series of Poker - aR$1,500 Limit Hold'em event.
He placed
ninth in a field of 609 players and the🍇 following week came in seventh in theR$3,000
Limit Hold'em event. At a final table filled with the likes of Josh🍇 Arieh, Humberto
Brenes, Howard Lederer and "Captain" Tom Franklin, theR$3,000 event made it apparent
that Juanda was headed for greatness.
If🍇 that wasn't enough, the following few years
made it crystal clear. In 2000, he went back to the WSOP and🍇 took 10th place in
theR$3,000 Limit Hold'em event. In 2001 he returned to take third in theR$2,500
Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo🍇 Split Eight-or-Better and seventh once again in theR$3,000 Limit
Hold'em event.
In the meantime John Juanda continued to play in lower-buy-in🍇 events,
only jumping up toR$1,000 events here and there. Then in 2002 he hit his stride. He
cashed in five🍇 different WSOP events, with 3 final tables and one his first bracelet
win.
Less than two weeks later he followed that🍇 win up with a second place finish at
the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic. It was his biggest cash🍇 to date,R$278,240,
and also started a streak of final tables that lasted through the end of the year. Two
more🍇 WSOP bracelets came in 2003 among his six cashes at the series.
A WSOP Europe Main
Event Championship to Come
The list🍇 of John Juanda's poker success goes on and on after
that with cash after cash in tournament after tournament. Perhaps🍇 his most renowned was
his epic win in the 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event.
Juanda battled it out at the final
🍇 table in London for over 19 hours before defeating Stanislav Alekhin heads-up to seal
his first WSOP Main Event crown🍇 and £868,800. His London success continued in 2010 when
he finished second in the EPT/UKIPT £5,000 Main Event for £868,800.
Related
🍇 Reading:
During this time John Juanda was also a prominent face in the Team pro lineup
at Full Tilt Poker and🍇 was often on televised cash game shows.
Another bracelet in the
2011 WSOP followed ($10k 2-7 Draw) along with a third🍇 in the 2012R$100k WPT Super High
Roller, a runner-up in the €50k High Roller at the 2012 WSOPE and a🍇 win at the 2013 WPT
South Korea.
He was nowhere near stopping. He won the EPT Barcelona Main Event in 2024
🍇 for €1,022,593, racked up huge results at the 2024 Triton High Roller Series and 2024
Aussie Millions before back-to-back 2nd🍇 and 3rd in €25k events at the 2024 PokerStars
Championship in Monaco.
In 2024 he won the HK$ 1m Triton Macau🍇 Main Event for
USDR$2,870,092 - to date his best live cash. With more final tables at EPT Barcelona in
2024🍇 and the 2024 Triton High Roller Series in Korea, the money just keeps coming in
for John Juanda as he🍇 continues with his poker career.
In 2024 Juanda was deservedly
inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. To this day, it's🍇 a safe bet to back him as
someone who will make a final table - and to win a huge🍇 prop bet.
Related Reading:
A
Buddhist in Life and Poker
There are several things that keep one of the nicest guys in
poker🍇 on the winning track. One is his friendly, level-headed demeanour at the poker
table, which can make people think he🍇 might be a pushover but is really just a manner
of self-control he's developed through Buddhism.
"I try my hardest to🍇 win, but I
respect everyone I play with, and when I lose, I don't get upset," Juanda said in a
🍇 Seattle University article. "One of the teachings of Buddhism is to have a sense of
balance. I take satisfaction in🍇 doing my best and don't have overly high
expectations."
That philosophy definitely helps Juanda keep from tilting his money away
and🍇 it also works well with his strategy of treating professional poker play like a
business. Always keeping a watchful eye🍇 on his money Juanda has been a successful
"winning" poker player every year since he started playing professionally.
He's also
responsible🍇 enough to invest some of his winning and put some away in savings for the
future.
Another key to his success🍇 is the fact that he spoke very little English when
he first came to the United States. When someone was🍇 talking to him and he couldn't
understand what he was saying, Juanda would watch their body language and facial
expressions🍇 and make an educated guess about what they were saying.
There are poker
players all over the world who can attest🍇 to how valuable a talent that is at the table
as they study each other's body language and actions looking🍇 for tells. Despite his
skills, it's not his own interest in the game that keeps Juanda playing poker; it's his
🍇 success in the game that keeps him interested.
In recent years Juanda has resided
Tokyo, Japan, where he is now based.🍇 His appearances in North America are limited but
he continues to rack up scores in Macau, Korea, the Philippines and🍇 Europe.
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Reading:
