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Here's Johnny! Tourney A Hit
by Karl Yu
16 May 07
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It's not a stretch to call Johnny Chan one of the better-known poker pros. He had a cameo in the movie Rounders and he even mentored 2006 WSOP champ Jamie Gold.
Chan’s fame isn’t unwarranted either; he is the last player to take the World Series of Poker’s Main Event two consecutive years after all. More recently, he won NBC’s Poker After Dark WSOP champions tournament, beating off the likes of Doyle Brunson, Chris Ferguson and even former disciple Gold. Not surprisingly, Chan has a spot in the Poker Hall of Fame.
The name Johnny Chan is synonymous with poker and as such, is marketed a lot on the poker front. Chan recently launched a poker site (chanpoker.com) and he helped the British Columbia Lottery Corporation launch the inaugural Johnny Chan Poker Classic from the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, British Columbia in Canada.
When you think of the province of British Columbia, a number of things normally come to mind. The scenery, the mountains, the rain, Pamela Anderson but poker really doesn’t register. That didn’t matter to Chan.
“British Columbia is one of my favorite destinations and poker is my favorite game,” Chan said.
“I’m thrilled to combine the two and host the [tournament] in British Columbia.”
While not exactly the World Series of Poker, the tournament does follow a similar format, albeit on a tighter time frame. The tournament started on May 6, 2007 and featured a number of events, culminating with the $1,250,000 No Limit Texas Hold'em event from May 11-13.
The event was open to people who qualified through satellite events or those who could foot the buy-in fees and it even managed to attract some notable poker pros such as Lacey Jones and Gavin Smith.
Smith, who won the World Poker Tour’s Mirage Poker Showdown in 2005, was in attendance for the poker and as a favor to the tournament’s patron.
“Johnny asked me if I would come up to the tournament and Alice Lee, who’s with the BCLC, is someone who I’m friends with and I was up here in the fall and I look for opportunities to come back here, it’s a nice place to come.”
Poker pro/model Lacey Jones also knows Johnny Chan and was alerted to the Classic through the poker legend.
“Johnny’s been really good to me and he got me up here last year, right before the B.C. Open. We did a seminar together and I taught and he’s really supportive. He knew that I could do well in this tournament and brought me up,” explained Jones.
Though it was the tournaments first go, many of the players were impressed with tournament as a whole, including Brad “Yukon” Booth protégé Derrick Law.
“It’s fantastic,” exclaimed Law. “It’s a top flight event, the dealing staff is great, the BC Lottery Corporation is always interested in making sure that it’s a flawless event.”
“They contract it out to the best facility [River Rock Casino Resort] and the theatre where it’s being held is a fantastic venue and everyone’s been having a blast.”
At the end of the NL Texas Hold’em event Henry Tran of Toronto emerged as the winner and pocketed $325,000. It wasn’t his first win—Tran also finished first in Atlantic City’s World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event in 2005—and hopefully, it won’t be his last.
“This was my first tournament in British Columbia and I plan to come back,” said a jubilant Tran.
When all was said and done, The Johnny Chan Poker Classic’s maiden voyage was a hit.
“The first ever Johnny Chan Poker Classic was very successful, and one of the largest poker tournaments held to date in British Columbia,” said Angela Koulyras, the BCLC’s Corporate Communications Officer.
“Having Johnny Chan, Brad ‘Yukon’ Booth, Gavin Smith, Lacey Jones and other poker pros increased the caliber and prestige of our tournament at a national and international level.”
“The fact that people traveled across the continent to be at the Johnny Chan Poker Classic is recognition of British Columbia’s world class facilities and what we have to offer,” Koulyras said.
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