He might not be the most vocal player in the world but John Juanda’s results speak volumes. He is a true tournament legend
Name: John Juanda
DOB: 8th July 1971
Nationality: Indonesian
Tournament winnings: $11.3m
Nickname: JJ
Greatest moment: 2008 Europe Main Event champion, 4 WSOP bracelets
For John Juanda, life before poker was spent selling Bibles door to door and running around the athletics track as a top notch student sprinter. He began playing poker for fun in 1990, while studying in Oklahoma for a masters, and by 1996 he’d moved on to live tournaments. Five years later he’d won the World Poker Open Championship.
Today he’s the fifth most successful poker player in the world, earning $1.65m in 2010 alone. In fact, to date Juanda’s poker career has been nothing short of stellar.
He’s made the money 55 times at WSOP events and has won The Professional Poker Tour, the Monte Carlo Millions and the Aussie Millions. But his most notable victory came during a memorable WSOPE main event in 2008.
Juanda survived a 22-hour final table the longest ever-recorded – pushing past the likes of Daniel Negreanu on his way to a heads-up battle with the young Russian Stanislav Alekhin before pocketing a whopping $1.5m.
Yet despite all his success Juanda has yet to claim a WTP title, making six final tables in the past eight years only to fall short of the top spot each time.
On the poker table, Juanda’s calm and collected demeanour has earned him a reputation as one of the nicest guys in poker.
He lives in the star-studded Marina del Rey in Southern California where he plays high stakes poker with Hollywood A-listers. It’s a far cry from Bible salesman.
