PROFILE
Name: Patrick Chan
Age: 26
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
A young up and coming player who calls Brooklyn, NY, home, Patrick Chan is the epitome of someone who has paid his dues by playing his way through smaller events to find himself now sitting on the precipice of fame at the World Series of Poker Championship Event. The five years of play on the East Coast have given Chan the experience to earn the eighth place seat at the 2015 “November Nine” with 6.225 million in chips.
Chan’s first cash dates back only five years ago when he finished in 24th place at a $500 No Limit Hold’em at a WSOP-C event in Atlantic City that barely returned him double his buy-in. He would continuously work on his game throughout the smaller tournaments in Atlantic City with the occasional foray to Las Vegas, where he earned his then largest cash in 2011 at the Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza. Fast forward another year and Chan earned his first ever WSOP cash in one of the $1000 NLHE events on the schedule.
Since that time, Chan’s career has skyrocketed as the events have become bigger. In November 2012, Chan earned third place in a $2500 preliminary event on the Borgata Fall Poker Open schedule to pick up his largest cash to date, $131,895. Once month later, he would make the final table of the DeepStacks Poker Tour stop at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut and has gone on to add a deep cash in the 2013 World Poker Tour Borgata Winter Poker Open and four more cashes in the WSOP, including this year’s “Colossus.” His total career earnings in tournament poker are $524,263, which he has already doubled by collecting his ninth place payday in the 2015 WSOP Championship Event and can increase the further he drives in the tournament.
HOW HE GOT HERE
Day 1(C): 81,900
Day 2(B): 66,800
Day 3: 300,500
Day 4: 844,000
Day 5: 2.105 million
Day 6: 7.4 million
KEY HAND
Chan was in danger of exiting the tournament on Day 7 when he went to battle against Belgium’s Pierre Neuville late in the evening. After Neuville three-bet the action, Chan would push all-in for over six million chips and Neuville was more than happy to look him up. Chan’s A♥ Q♥ was in a race against Neuville’s pocket Jacks, with Chan catching lightning in a bottle on the 10♥ 4♥ 3♥ flop to storm ahead. Poker is a cruel mistress, however, as Neuville caught a Jack on the turn to give him a set and outs to besting Chan’s nut flush. With Neuville now looking for the case Jack or any ten, four or three, the river Queen kept Chan in front and gave him a stack of over 13 million chips.
Chan would ride that stack, not making any more noise, until the “November Nine” were determined. He will probably have to make some moves early if he is to drive any deeper in the tournament, however.
