Champion of Poker

David “The Dragon” Pham was born in South Vietnam in 1967. He fled Vietnam when he was 17 on a boat of 145 people who were looking to make it to America. Only 46 of them survived to see the United States. Once Pham was in the US, he went to work for his cousin Men “The Master” Nguyen in his laundry business. On the side, Nguyen would also tutor Pham on poker. He would continue his training once he moved to Los Angeles, CA to open a nail salon with his wife.

Phan would start playing tournament poker in the early 1990’s while running his business. Through the 90’s he made numerous final table finishes in the L.A. area. He also took down a title at the 1998 National Championship of Poker. In 2000 he began to start winning more tournaments including wins at Winning ‘O’ The Green, America’s Poker Classic, and the Orleans Open. It was 2001 that would see Pham start to win on a bigger stage.

David Pham came into the 2001 World Series of Poker after finishing runner-up in tournaments at the L.A Poker Classic and World Poker Open. He was looking for his first major win for his career. It didn’t take long as he would take down the $2,000 S.H.O.E. Event to win his first gold bracelet and $140,455. Pham would also finish in the money at the Main Event that year.

Pham would not experience significant success at the WSOP again until 2006. That year he won his 2nd bracelet in the $2,000 No Limit Holdem Shootout Event to take home $240,222 in prize money. He would also finish in the money in the 2006 WSOP Main Event. Pham would also make a final table in 2007 in the $3,000 Limit Holdem Event, but would fall short of his third bracelet when he finished in 4th place.

Pham has also had great success on the World Poker Tour. Pham has cashed 11 times in the WPT with 6 final tables. He finished 3rd at the 2004 Doyle Brunson North America Poker Championship and the 2007 World Poker Challenge. His best overall finish was a 2nd place finish at the 2007 Legends of Poker. In total, Pham has won over $1.854 on the World Poker Tour.

Pham had his wife close down their business due to the fact that he could support his family from his poker winnings. Since then he has went on to become one of the most fearsome No Limit Holdem players in the world. To date, Pham has won over $7.49 Million in live tournaments. This makes him 15th on the all-time money list.

David Pham escaped communism to come to America for a better life. He risked it all to achieve the American dream. He first achieved that dream via hard work in the business world and then moved on to achieve great success in the poker world. At only 41, Pham will continue to live his dream at the poker tables for years to come.