Janice Kim

Birthplace
Corte Madera, CA

Birthday
October 21

Total Winnings
$11,125

Originally from Illinois but raised in New Mexico and having traveled frequently to Asia, Janice Kim has led a unique life. She currently lives in San Francisco where she is raising two young children under the age of six. What she has done for 21 years of her life, since graduating from New York University with specialties in mathematics and philosophy, is not something one hears about everyday; she is a professional Go player. Go is a two-person strategy game, along the lines of chess, and it is the oldest board game in the world. She has played in tournaments all over the world and made a living from the game.

It was only recently that Janice began playing poker. With only five years of experience under her belt, she continues to be drawn to the game for much the same reasons for her ongoing attraction to Go – it is a game that involves strategy, math, and philosophy. While cash poker games were her forte for quite some time where she plays at relatively high stakes, she began to show an interest in tournaments, which was spurred by watching the World Poker Tour on television.

Janice has only just begun her foray into the poker tournament world, but she already has one rather prestigious notch on her belt. She played in the WPT Ladies Championship at Bellagio in April of 2008. Not only did she survive a field full of pros as well as amateurs, but she made the final table of the event, which was filmed for television. She ended up finishing in fourth place for an $11,125 payday, and it gave her the confidence she needed to pursue more tournaments in addition to the cash games that she intends to continue playing.