Born Justin Cuong Van Tran on January 20, 1977, J.C.’s family moved to Sacramento, California when he was just two years old. He would later attend California State University where he picked up poker in home games around campus. Before long, Tran was obsessed with the game and was regularly plying his trade at the $9-$18 game at Capitol Casino in Sacramento.
Since then, J.C. Tran has been nothing short of a tournament poker phenom. His first notable cash came at the 2004 World Poker Tour World Poker Finals, where he finished fifth for $354K. In 2005, he took fifth in the World Series of Poker $2000 No Limit Hold’em for $118K. A few months later, he recorded two more big final tables; a seventh at the WPT Borgata Poker Open for $200K and second at the $10K WSOP Circuit event at Bally’s Las Vegas for $252K. At the 2006 World Poker Finals in Mashantucket, Tran shipped a $2800 No Limit event for $312K and followed it up with a $266K score for winning a $2000 tournament at the Fifth Annual Five Diamond World Poker Classic.
Tran’s biggest tournament score to date came at the 2007 WPT L.A. Poker Classic where he finished second for $1.1 million. He won the very next WPT event he entered, the World Poker Challenge in Reno, for $683K. In 2008, he won his first WSOP bracelet and $631K in a $1500 No Limit Hold’em affair. He added a second bracelt in 2009 when he claimed victory in $2500 Pot Limit Omaha for $235K. J.C. Tran’s live poker winnings are in excess of $8 million, which includes 28 WSOP cashes for $1.6 million.
Also the owner of a PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker Main Event title, Tran has an incredibly balanced mix of live and online success. He is widely regarded by his peers as one of the greatest tournament players of this era and will continue to be a force on the live circuit for years to come.
