With earnings of almost 12 million dollars, 30 career titles, 214 cashes, five gold
bracelets and three Best All-Around Player🏧 awards, John Juanda is one of the most
successful and respected professional poker players in the world.
Born the first of
🏧 four children on July 8, 1971 in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Johnson ‘John’ Juanda
was warned from an early age🏧 about the perils of gambling by his father, who was a
gambler and a drinker who always lost. In high🏧 school, he channeled his competitive
tendencies to sports and became a track star in 200 meter sprints to 5000 meter
🏧 races.
After high school he headed to the USA and enrolled at Oklahoma State University
where he played dorm room poker🏧 games. After graduation in 1994, he returned to
Indonesia where he lostR$15,000 gambling in the illegal Indonesian casinos. John then
🏧 came back to the US and attended Seattle University where he earned his MBA. In 1996 he
started playing poker🏧 withR$100 at Harrah’s casino outside of Seattle and has never
looked back or gone broke. He continued to win and🏧 build his bankroll from that first
buy-in which convinced him to make poker his career.
Success on the tournament trail
started🏧 in 1997. Just a year after he jumped into the tournament arena, Juanda placed
sixth in theR$100 Limit Hold ‘Em🏧 event at the Heavenly Hold ‘Em tournament in Los
Angeles forR$1,320. He would cash a total of 14 times that🏧 year – all of them by making
the final table.
Before making his first appearance on a WSOP winners list in🏧 1999,
John set the tournament trail on fire by cashing in 19 tournaments. In 1998 he moved to
Los Angeles🏧 where one of his two first place finishes was in theR$500 LH event at the
L.A. Poker Classic forR$31,800. His🏧 first score at a WSOP tournament came a year later
when he made the final table and came in ninth🏧 to winR$14,615 in theR$1,500 LH event. A
week later, he was at another WSOP final table, this time in theR$3,000🏧 LH event where
he finished seventh to winR$12,675. This was the beginning of what would be John’s
glory filled record🏧 of cashing at the WSOP every year through 2011.
In 2000, John
cashed 15 times and made 13 final tables including🏧 taking first in theR$300 H.O.R.S.E
California State Poker Championship forR$33,240 and winning theR$300 NLH at the Global
Pot Limit/No Limit🏧 Open in Los Angeles forR$14,760.
John would cash 31 times in 2001,
making 27 final table appearances and racking up five🏧 first place finishes. Another 30
cashes in 2002 included 23 final tables, six first place wins and four WSOP cashes
🏧 which earned him the Tournament Champion of the Year award. One of his first place
finishes was in theR$1,500 Limit🏧 Ace to Five Triple Draw event at the WSOP where John
would collectR$49,620 and his first gold bracelet. The same🏧 month he won second in
theR$10,000 NLH Final Five Diamond World Poker Classic and addedR$278,240 to his ever
growing bankroll.
From🏧 2003 through 2005 John continued his amazing tournament
performances with 53 cashes, eight first place wins and 34 final table🏧 appearances. At
the 2003 WSOP he cashed in six events, making the final table four times and collecting
his second🏧 gold bracelet in theR$2,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split event forR$130,200.
He won his third bracelet plusR$203,840 eleven days later🏧 in theR$2,500 in the Pot
Limit Omaha event. In 2004, he cashed in seven WPT events, six WSOP events and🏧 had
three first place finishes which included winning the PPT NLH Final Day World Poker
Finals in Mashantucket forR$225,000.
In 2005,🏧 John made eight final tables and cashed
six times at the WSOP before heading to Monte Carlo to win the🏧 Consolation Tournament
Monte Carlo Millions Gold in November. He started 2006 by winning the A$100,000 Speed
Poker Million Dollar Challenge🏧 Crown Australian Poker Championships in Melbourne to
bring back A$1,000,000 ($732,901). He would round out the year by placing in🏧 six WPT
tournaments and cashing in five WSOP events, adding up to a total of 15 cashes and six
final🏧 tables. He was back in 2007 at four final tables and cashing 10 times including
once at a WPT event,🏧 five times at the WSOP and once at the WSOPE.
In 2008 John cashed
10 times and made his first cash🏧 in an APPT event in Macau, Taipa. He also placed in
one WPT event and cashed five times at the🏧 WSOP. The most memorable of his five final
table appearances that year was winning the £10,000 World Championship NLH event🏧 at the
WSOPE in London for £868,800 ($1,580,096) and his fourth gold bracelet.
From 2009
through 2010 Juanda had 19 cashes🏧 and made 14 final tables. In 2009, he cashed in five
WSOP events, one EPT event, one WPT event and🏧 won theR$20,000 Week 6 International III
Poker After Dark V in Las Vegas forR$120,000. The next year he finished in🏧 the money in
five WSOP events making the final table in four of them, placed in another WPT
tournament and🏧 came in second in the 2010 EPT London.
By July 2011, John had placed in
five tournaments and cashed twice at🏧 the WSOP making the final table both times. It was
there that Juanda pocketedR$367,170 and stuck gold for the fifth🏧 time in theR$10,000 No
Limit Deuce To Seven Draw World Championship. In a classic heads-up match with Phil
Hellmuth, he🏧 proved why he is a force to be reckoned, with Hellmuth admitting he feared
John as an opponent.
Although he continues🏧 to excel at poker, John is an excellent
manager of his finances and invests his money in enterprises like the🏧 Indonesian-themed
restaurant called Java Spice he opened in Rowland Heights, a suburb of Los Angeles. He
is also generous with🏧 his winnings and has put his little sister and his girlfriend
through college at UCLA.
