Aggressiveness: 6 Looseness: 4 Short-handed: 6 Limit: 6 No-limit: 8 Tournaments: 7 Side games: 7 Steam control: 8 Against weak players: 7 Against strong players: 7

Best game: Pot-limit Omaha
Weakness: Not focused as much as he once was

In the late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s, Johnny was the best no-limit hold’em tournament player in the world. Since then, he has used his tournament success as a vehicle to get himself involved in different business ventures. He is still a skilled player, but he plays very impatiently as if he is late for a meeting. He used to be very weak at limit poker, but he improved his limit game significantly in the late ‘90’s and early 00’s. It is probably surprising that I listed pot-limit Omaha as his best game, but I am going by results and his best results over the last few years in side games (and even in the WSOP) have been in pot-limit Omaha.

Amusing anecdote

Johnny is one of the few players whose superstitions seem to prevent him from steaming. If he loses a hand, he often asks for a deck change. If he loses with a certain dealer he often takes it personally, sometimes getting into it with him. If he keeps losing, he quits. Once he said to me, “I’ve never lost more than two hands with the same deck and I’ve never lost more than three hands with the same dealer.”

Johnny Chan's Website: www.chanpoker.com