Player Spotlight: John Juanda

EPT Barcelona (Season 12) wrapped up just a few days ago with some major winnings being handed out at its conclusion. Although he did not win as much as Sylvain Loosli who sat at the high roller table, John Juanda still managed to walk away with over €1,000,000 (~$1,150,000) as he won the main event!

So fortunate to win #EPTBarcelona ME. Thank you for the support, everyone! It's an unbelievable feeling! Good night.

— John Juanda (@LuckBoxJuanda) August 30, 2015

Johnson “John” Juanda is an Indonesian born professional poker player with an impressive resume of successful tournament play. However, when John first came to the United States in 1990, he expected to do anything but play cards. Particularly because Juanda's father was a gambler with a significant losing streak. So in 1990, John was just a high school track star going to Going to Oklahoma State. It wasn't until just a few months before finishing his Masters at Seattle U that he wandered into his first game of Texas Hold'em a game that would change his life forever.

John Juanda invested $100 into that first game of Hold'em, and according to him,

"I just kept winning, so I just kept playing. The $100 bill was the only money, to this day, I ever invested for poker out of my pocket that wasn't a direct result of money won playing poker."

That would be pretty impressive for someone whose world winnings didn't exceed $17,000,000. As for John, I calculate that to be a 170,000% return on his investment.

John claims that for him, poker is a game of “Psychological warfare.” When he first came to the United States, he spoke very little English. In order to get accustomed to the language and people, he spoke very little instead choosing to listen and observe. Over time, he honed these skills of observation to the point where they have become extremely fined tuned and a very serious advantage at the poker table. John says,

"When you play poker at the highest level, it doesn't matter what the specific game is. If you have your opponents beaten psychologically, they cannot win."

For all of his winnings, John Juanda has only seen partial success at the top tables of competitive play. He currently has five World Series of Poker Bracelets, but has yet to earn a World Poker Tour title in spite of sitting at the final table on six different occasions. He has finished 2nd (Bellagio Season 1), 3rd (WPT Invitational Season 2), 4th (Mirage Season 3), 5th twice (Aruba Season 3 and Niagara Falls Season 5), and 6th (Bellagio Season 3). Still, he currently sits in 9th place on the All Time Money List (according to the Global Poker Index) so I would say he's doing alright!

Such a solid and consistent player is sure to make headlines again quite soon so keep your eyes peeled for John Juanda in the future. I look forward to the day he finally brings home that WPT title. Best of luck John.