World Poker Tour

Minh Ly

Birthplace
Vietnam

Hometown
Temple City, CA

Total Winnings
$1,081,670

Minh Ly was born in Vietnam but moved to America as a young adult in 1986 looking for new opportunities. After finding a home in Las Vegas, he took two jobs. He worked both as a poker dealer and as a Chinese restaurant cook. In his spare time, Ly started playing poker. Quickly, the passing interesting turned into a hobby and a source of profit. He did his best to eke out a better living with the occasional poker score. He started playing $2/$4 limit poker and began to move up in stakes as his bankroll grew.

Years later, that money-making hobby turned into a full-time career. The years of practice led him all the way to the richest game on the planet " the $4000-$8000 Big Game " with fellow pros like Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, and Jennifer Harman. He became friends with Brunson early on and got encouragement from Texas Dolly to begin playing tournaments. In Ly's travels between California and Nevada, the wins started accumulating. Still, the cash games were the main source of his income.

Ly has been well-respected as a calm, gracious player at the tables for years, and his consistent tournament success has him ranked as one of the top players in the world. Despite this, however, a World Series of Poker bracelet has eluded him. In 2005, he finished second in the $5000 short-handed no-limit hold'em event for more than $300,000. The most impressive win of his tournament life came on the set of the World Poker Tour. At the 2005 Festa al Lago main event in Las Vegas, Ly won the 2nd Annual Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship, and took home more than $1 million. When Minh isn't attempting a second WPT title, he can still be found at the Bellagio in the Big Game, playing for hundreds of thousands of dollars on a daily basis.