World Poker Tour

JC Alvarado “J.C.“

Birthplace
Mexico City, Mexico

Hometown
McAllen, TX and hotels across America

Birthday
May 6

Total Winnings
$482,658

Juan Carlos Alvarado was born in Mexico City until he was six years old. His parents divorced, and he moved with his mother to McAllen, Texas where he was raised, though he continued to spend summers with his father in Mexico. While J.C.'s mother ran a bakery and supported him through school, he had the itch to do more than work minimum wage jobs. While he gave school a fair chance, attending college in Santa Monica, California for more than a year, he didn't belong and found that he was making more money playing poker online than he could in any job.

J.C. learned poker as a teenager with his friends, but when he began playing online, he found that he had the skills to build a bankroll, and by the time he decided to quit school, his bankroll was sufficient to quit school and focus on his game. Though times were occasionally rough, his mother always supported him and allowed him to move home when the funds disappeared. However, he always recovered and after a year of playing poker professionally, he was a fixture on the tournament circuit.

When J.C. was only a few months into his 21st year, he made the final table at the 2006 World Series of Poker $1,500 no-limit hold'em tournament and finished in sixth place. And in 2007, he finished second in the L.A. Poker Classic's $2,500 no-limit hold'em event, then came in 15th at the WPT's main event only days later. His performance the following month at the WPT's World Poker Challenge solidified his place in today's poker world when he finished in second place. In less than two months, he made over $500,000, and he hadn't even reached the age of 22 yet. There's no telling how far J.C. can go with his poker skills and support of his mother and friends at his side.