He honed his game and figured out quickly that he could make money playing. As 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 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 games.

It wasn't until that Juanda got up his courage to enter his first major tournament. If that wasn't enough, the following few years made it crystal clear.

Then in he hit his stride. He cashed in five different WSOP events, with 3 final tables and one his first bracelet win.

Two more WSOP bracelets came in among his six cashes at the series. The list of Juanda's poker success goes on and on after that with cash after cash in tournament after tournament.

During this time Juanda was also a prominent face in the Team pro lineup at Full Tilt Poker and was often on televised cash game shows.

He was nowhere near stopping. 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.

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 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.

Johnson "John" Juanda [2] born July 8, [3] is an Indonesian [4] professional poker player of Chinese descent based in Tokyo , Japan.

He was a high school track star for the meter sprints to meters races. Juanda is fluent in both Mandarin Chinese and English. He currently resides in Tokyo , Japan.

Net Invitational Live from Monte Carlo. He has also finished 7th PartyPoker Cruise Season 2 and 8th Legends Season 5 , just missing two more opportunities at another final table.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Indonesian poker player. Born on the 8 th of July, , the 47 years old poker player was born in Medan, Indonesia.

As part of his academic pursuit, he attended Oklahoma State University and went on to earn his Masters in Business Administration from Seattle University.

He made the move to the United States in when he enrolled for a degree at the Oklahoma State University.

Suffice to mention that John was a high school track superstar for the meter sprints and meter races. Juanda is fluent in Madarin Chinese and English.

While studying for his MBA, he got involved in poker. He began to take the weekends off to learn how to play the game at some nearby casinos.

He grew his skills and developed his gaming strategy to the point that he was playing with some of the best shots at the poker tables.

Although he was rarely spoken about, there is no doubting the fact that John is one of the top players in the industry.

According to Daniel Negreanu , John Juanda is perhaps the most neglected and underrated superstar in the world of poker today.

He went ahead to reveal that Juanda is one of the most successful poker tournament players across the world and he has continued to sustain the momentum in his winnings.

In the course of his career as a professional poker player, John Juanda net worth has grown and he has made his impact felt in the industry.

As a matter of fact, his results at tables speak for him and prove that his place is indeed among the best players in the industry. These winnings have made him one of the biggest winning poker players of all time.

However, he has been involved in gambling from a very young age back then in Indonesia. John was the first of four siblings and he lived with his family in Medan, North Sumatra.

While growing up, he spent most of his early childhood with his grandparents because his parents were trying to work at starting up a business in a new city.

The father liked to gamble and drink, even though he had never made any winning while gambling. He was always telling John never to gamble because according to him, gambling is not good.

It is important to mention that gambling was not a big part of his growing up life, even though he tried his hands on a couple of gambling games, including marbles.

John had some things going for him in grade school. For one, he was a very popular child and knowledgeable. He was a track star during his time in high school.

Another thing that was in his favor was the fact that he was the first child of the family, which made him a favored child.

He understood his responsibilities as the first in the family and he took that job seriously. After high school, he proceeded to the United States for his college degree.

While on the flight to the United States to begin his college education, he had his first encounter with poker.

He met with a friend on flight who introduced him to the game. He taught John how to play the game and from there, his interest piqued. Although he barely spoke little English when he moved to America but he understood the game and began to gain mastery of the technicality involved in the game.

After his degree, he moved to Seattle to commence his MBA program, and from this point, he began to engage in the game of poker.

While going through his MBA classes, he took up a number of jobs to pay through school. He worked as a stock broker and at some point, he was selling Bibles.

Although he is a self-acclaimed lifelong Buddhist, John won awards for the sales of Bibles. When not studying or working, Juanda could be found at local casinos trying his hands at a couple of tables.

He regularly play poker on weekends and during this period he developed his skills in the game and quickly figured he could actually make good money while playing at poker tables.

According to Juanda, he would spend twelve hours playing poker and then go home to sleep. In , he completed his MBA and made up his mind to go into poker full time.

With the fund he had bankrolled during his weekend games, he decided to become a full time professional poker player. While playing, he continued to develop his games and skills at card rooms and casinos on the west coast.

Finally, he moved close to Los Angeles to play at some bigger stakes poker games.