John Juanda - Player Biography

[The Loner]

* Nicknamed "JJ"
* 3 WSOP Bracelets
* 3 Best All Around Player awards
* 5 WPT final tables

* Former door-to-door Bible salesman
* Someday wants to be known as Dr. Juanda


John Juanda plays online exclusively at Full Tilt Poker.

John Juanda http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...-8&sa=N&tab=wi

John started playing tournaments in 1996 and won the World Poker Open Championship in 2001. The following year, he won his first World Series of Poker bracelet (in the Ace to Five Triple Draw Lowball event), and then won two more WSOP events in 2003.

In 2002, John was named Tournament Champion of the Year, and was the 2001 and 2002 Runner-Up in the Card Player "Player of the Year" standings. He also has three Best All-Around Player awards.

John made 15 final tables in 2004, and placed fifth in both the 2005 Five-Star World Poker Classic and the 2005 National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Most recently, he earned nearly $500,000 in Monte Carlo, Monaco after winning the Monte Carlo Millions Consolation tournament, finishing sixth in the Monte Carlo Millions Main Event, and finishing second at "The FullTiltPoker.Net Invitational Live from Monte Carlo."

Recently, John beat out some of the best poker players in the world including Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein, Jason Gray, and Jeff Lisandro to win the 2006 Aussie Millions Speed Poker Million Dollar Challenge. He received $1,000,000 in Australian Dollars, which works out to around $732,000 in U.S. Dollars, and that suits him fine.

[The Loner]

I'm at Foxwoods playing the $2,000 No Limit Hold 'em event. We all started with $3,000 and now I've got $15,000. At my table is Richard Tatalovitch, a player whom I've competed against many times.

I raise pre-flop from middle position with K-J offsuit and Richard calls from the big blind. The flop comes 9-6-4 with two diamonds on the board.

Richard hesitates for a moment before checking, and I put in a pot-sized bet. Richard thinks for a while and calls. All of a sudden, I don't like my hand -- so much.

Imagine my relief when a non-diamond J hits the turn. Now I have top pair and a pretty good kicker. Then Richard comes out betting. Uh-oh.

Now, let me back up a moment and mention that when someone hesitates before checking, it's usually a huge tell. But Richard is the king of delayed action, so I ignored his tell and bet the flop anyway. And his bet on the turn just screams, "Raise me! I dare you!"

I go into the tank and my thoughts go something like this:

1. He flopped a set. That explains the smooth call on the flop - he's trying to trap me into staying, hoping I'll bet the turn, too.

2. No. If he had a set, he'd have checked the turn and waited for me to hang myself right then and there, or let me catch something on the river. He can't have a set.

3. The jack helped him. I don't have the jack of diamonds. Maybe he does, and he called the flop with a jack-high flush draw. If so, I like my kicker and my hand.

4. He's betting on the come with a flush or straight draw and is hoping to buy the pot right there.

I run through these possibilities and reach no conclusion.

Normally, I would just call here. We both have a lot of chips, and I don't want to put them all in with nothing but top pair. Then, I have the misfortune to remember a hand from a month earlier at Bellagio:

Richard had been running bad and was complaining about a string of horrific beats. I saw him check and call with top boat because he was afraid of quads! A guy that afraid of monsters under the bed isn't going to check-call top set on the flop with a flush draw out there.

"All in!" I declared.

Oops. This is now a Big Pot. And rest assured, top pair doesn't even resemble a Big Hand.

In the four years I've been playing with him, I've never seen him call so fast. I am drawing dead to his perfectly-played 9-9.

Sometimes, we all forget that big cards don't always equal a big hand and that the smart move can be to play conservatively instead of going for the quick kill. As for Richard - he had the good sense to be in a Big Pot with a Big Hand, and the patience to make it pay off.

John Juanda