After the 2013 WSOP Main Event was trimmed down from 6,352 players to just 9 grinders, professional poker player J.C. Tran emerged from the smoke as the chip leader. The Vietnamese-American and 8 other professional poker players (listed below) will be competing on the 2013 WSOP Main Event final table on November 4th:
1. J.C. Tran – 38,000,000 chips
2. Amir Lehavot – 29,700,00
3. Marc McLaughlin – 26,525,000
4. Jay Farber – 25,975,000
5. Ryan Riess – 25,875,000
6. Sylvain Loosli – 19,600,000
7. Michiel Brummelhuis – 11,275,000
8. Mark Newhouse – 7,350,000
9. David Benefield – 6,375,000
J.C. Tran has already earned two WSOP bracelets throughout his illustrious career, including one in a 2008 WSOP $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event ($631,170) and one in a 2009 WSOP $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha tournament ($235,685). The 36-year-old has also made 5 WPT final tables including a victory at the 2007 World Poker Tour World Poker Challenge, where he bested a field of 475 players to capture the $683,473 first place prize.
J.C. Tran now has an impressive $9,041,483 in live earnings to his name, ranking him 24th on poker’s all-time money list. However, should Tran win the Main Event and the $8,359,531 first place prize, he would rise to number 7 on the list, just below Phil Ivey who’s earned $17,649,220.
The last couple of years may not have been great for J.C. Tran, but this year’s WSOP seems to have put an end to his dry spell. He earned six 2013 WSOP cashes and still has the prospect of capturing poker’s most prestigious prize.
Despite all of his poker success, Tran also spends much more of his time these days with his wife and children. He commented on the support his family has given him by stating, “It’s been really, really tough. My wife has been absolutely amazing. She’s pregnant at the moment so her body is exhausted. Plus we have a two year old so things can get pretty hectic.”
He continued glowing about his wife by saying, “She even wakes up to make me breakfast, prepare my coffee, drop me off, and meet me on dinner break. Right now she’s not feeling well but still trying to do things for me. I told her right now just rest and relax. Once this is over, it will be all family time for a long time. I might make one stop for that big $10 million guarantee (in Florida) but other than that I’m not going to Asia, not going to Europe, nothing. That will be it.”
The way it looks now, Tran is hoping to collect one more big tournament score before taking some time off to relax with his family. And based on the current chip stacks, he’s definitely going to get a nice payday!