By Sean Chaffin
It just didn’t seem possible. On Day 2 with 30 players left in the $5,000 WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble, Tony Tran’s exit from the tournament seemed inevitable. Down to only two big blinds, a rally was certainly needed.
After losing a big hand to Jessica Dawley, Tran was immediately on the big blind with his remaining two big blinds in front of him.
“I won that hand and from there caught a little heat,” he says. “We played down to 17 that day and I was one of the bottom three in chips coming into Day 3. I was pretty fortunate and just got a really good run of cards.”
After coming into the final table fifth in chips, by the end of the night, the comeback was complete. He overcame a tough final table to take home $341,486 in first-place cash and etches his name on the WPT Champions Cup. That prize total also includes a $15,000 buy-in for the season-ending Tournament of Champions.
“It feels really great,” Tran said after his victory. “I don’t consider myself a professional player, so to be able to win against all the great players who were in the field, it means a lot to me.”
The win seemed a bit unlikely at times, and Tran had doubts he could actually win the event. But the championship was his after battling poker pro Jake Schwartz heads-up for 27 hands. Schwartz had been chip leader coming into the final table, but Tran took the lead in a massive hand when both players were heads-up.
Both players got all the chips in preflop with Tran’s tournament life on the line. He held pocket queens against Schwartz’s pocket nines. The queens held and Tran took about a 3-to-1 chip advantage and then was able to close it out.
“I kind of thought that Jake was definitely going to be heads-up,” he says. “I just didn’t think it was going to be with me. But it happened and I was really fortunate. He actually took some coolers and he took it really well.”
With just his girlfriend there on his rail to cheer him on, Tran was all smiles after the tournament. As runner-up, Schwartz takes home $228,590 in his fourth WPT final table, and came up just short in his quest to finally earn a WPT title.
Along with his winnings, Tran notched one bounty for an extra $2,500. The 30-year-old was born in Port Arthur, Texas and grew up in Philadelphia, PA. Unlike many still in the field on Day 3, Tran isn’t a poker pro. He plays about three or four WPT events a year, but also plays several events at the World Series of Poker each summer in Las Vegas. The win in Jacksonville moves his career tournament winnings to more than $600,000.
A graduate of Temple University with a degree in biology, In his day job Tran has been investing in real estate for 12 years. He buys houses, fixes them up, and then flips them. He plans to use some of his winnings for more property investing.
Tran and his girlfriend have two boys, and he enjoys spending time with them when not playing cards – particularly watching them play soccer and compete in karate. Beyond poker, he also loves sports and to gamble in other casino games especially baccarat.
After his huge win, Tran plans to take a bit of time off and then return to the tables at the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open in November.
While he had some luck here or there, Tran also came in with a plan of action.
“I think I mixed it up a little bit, mixed it up a lot actually,” he says. “I just tried to keep everyone on their heels. I wasn’t really doing anything the same. I just basically played according to my table and according to the players. I had a strategy about how I would play each person.”
The plan certainly worked and now he’ll always be a WPT champion.
Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive
Looking to win your way to a World Poker Tour event for your shot at becoming a WPT champion? Play for your chance on ClubWPT.com, where eligible VIP Members can play for over $100,000 in cash and prizes each month, including seats to WPT events, no purchase necessary.