Born as Justin Cuong Van Tran in Vietnam, Tran’s family moved to the United States when he was two years old.
Tran has a B.S. in business administration from California State University in Sacremento but decided to pursue poker full time.
The 36-year-old has cut a swath through the international poker circuit with notable victories on the World Poker Tour, WSOP and PartyPoker Premier League for $8.3 million in lifetime live tournament earnings.
Tran also has a massive online score to his name. In 2006 he outlasted 2,610 players in the PokerStars $2,500 World Championship of Online Poker to win $670,000.
One of his biggest accolades was winning WPT Player of the Year in 2007 when he made three final tables, finishing sixth, second and first for over $2 million in that year alone.
Tran is close with fellow poker players Nam Le, Danny Wong and Quinn Do and used to tour the circuit with them.
These days Tran spends most of his time with his wife and children, after having a rough couple years in poker. He bounced back in 2013 with five cashes at the WSOP and now stands to make at least $733,224 in the Main Event.
JC Tran will take 38,000,000 to the final table, which gives him the chip lead.
Nationality: US
Age: 36
Hometown: Sacramento, California
Online Nickname: area23JC
Career Live Earnings: $8.3 million
Biggest Previous Live Cash: LA Poker Classic 2007 – 2nd for $1,177,010
WSOP Bracelets: 2
WPT Titles: 1
WCOOP Titles: 1
Twitter Handle: @jctran23
Visit www.pokerlistings.com