Prior to
his run at the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event, JC Tranamassed roughly $8.3 million in live tournament
winnings with cashes dating back as far as 2003. A first-place finish at this
year’s final table could almost exactly double that number
Tran is the odds on favorite heading into the
final table as he holds the chip lead with 38 million (95 blinds), which is a
whopping 8.3 million ahead of Amir Lehavot,who sits in the second chip position.
“I’m in a very, very good spot with the chip
lead,” Tran commented toPokerNews. “But as far as chip count wise,
everyone is pretty close besides a couple of the short stacks, and everyone can
play. So I can’t count myself as a huge favorite or anything, I just feel like
I need to go out there and respect these guys and play some real, real serious
poker and bring my best to have a shot of winning. “
Playing serious poker seems to be one of Tran’s
strong suits, as he is clearly the most decorated player at the final table.
Tran is a two-time WSOP bracelet winner, winning jewelry in both 2008 in Event
#49: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em and 2009 in Event #30: $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha.
Bracelets aren't the only piece of WSOP-related jewelry that he owns, though,
as Tran also won a WSOP Circuit ring at the Rio Las Vegas Poker Festival back
in 2005.
While Tran has scored much success at the WSOP,
an even greater sum of his lifetime winnings come from his exploits on the World
Poker Tour. Tran
won his first WPT title at the World Poker Challenge in 2007. He also has two
second-place finishes on his résumé, one of which accounts for $1.17 million of
his lifetime tournament winnings.
In the time since the Main Event went on hiatus
in July, Tran continued to make his dominating presence known in the poker
world. In late August, Tran was one of the 21 entries into the inaugural WPT
Alpha8 Florida,
which is a $100,000 buy-in tournament that plays eight-handed. Tran battled
through a stacked field of his peers and fell just short of adding another
trophy to his name. Despite finishing runner-up to Steven
Silverman, Tran was
still able to pocket $526,890 for a very sound return on investment.
Other than his big splash at Alpha8, Tran spent
a solid majority of his time after the summer with his family. Tran, the
youngest of eight children in his own family, emphasized to PokerNews the
importance of family in his life.
“The next few months for me is going to be all,
all family time,” Tran said. “I want to go home. I want to be a father. I want
to be a husband and just enjoy life and relax."
Despite his calm and relaxed demeanor toward
the final table, Tran is a true competitor and desires nothing more than to
win. He will approach the final table searching to solidify his position as one
of the most successful tournament poker players in history.