John Juanda

Last Updated on August 27, 2026 by Bala Kumar

Quick Facts

Attribute	Detail
Full Name	John Juanda
Origin	Indonesian (Chinese-Indonesian descent)
Current Residence	Marina del Rey, California, USA
WSOP Bracelets	5
WPT Titles	0 (6 final tables, 19 cashes)
EPT Cashes	3
Notable Honor	Poker Hall of Fame Inductee (2015)
Career Live Earnings	$26.7 million+ (Hendon Mob)
Education	Oklahoma State University (undergrad); MBA, Seattle University
Former Team	Team Full Tilt (co-founder)

Who Is John Juanda?

Ask casual poker fans to name the game’s biggest legends, and John Juanda’s name doesn’t always come up first,  not because his résumé doesn’t deserve it, but because he’s simply never been one to chase the spotlight. Behind that low profile sits one of the most consistently dangerous tournament players of the last two decades, with five WSOP bracelets, a Poker Hall of Fame plaque, and career earnings north of $26 million to back it up.

Early Life and Path Into Poker

Juanda was born in Indonesia and moved to the United States in 1990 to attend Oklahoma State University, where he had also competed as a standout high school runner specializing in the 200-meter sprint and 5,000-meter distance events. After finishing his degree, he went on to earn an MBA from Seattle University — paying his way through school with a variety of side jobs, including, notably, selling bibles door-to-door.

It was during his student years that Juanda discovered poker, spending his free time at local casinos and quickly realizing the game suited him far better than any conventional career path. After completing his MBA in 1996, he relocated to the West Coast and later moved to California specifically to chase bigger stakes and tougher competition.

Rise Through the WSOP

Juanda cut his teeth in cash games and lower buy-in events before making his first real run at the World Series of Poker in 1999, cashing twice. He built on that in 2000 with another WSOP cash and a runner-up finish at the United States Poker Championships.

His breakthrough came in 2002, when he strung together five WSOP cashes in a single summer, one of which delivered his first career bracelet. He didn’t wait long to add more — 2003 brought two additional bracelets in the same year. In 2008, Juanda took his game overseas and captured the WSOP Europe Main Event in London, banking more than $1.5 million for the win.

John Juanda’s Top 5 WSOP Results

Year	Event	Place	Prize
2002	$1,500 Limit Ace to Five Triple Draw	1st	$49,620
2003	$2,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split	1st	$130,200
2003	$2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha	1st	$203,840
2008	WSOPE £10,000 Main Event	1st	£868,800 (~$1,580,096)
2011	$10,000 No-Limit Deuce to Seven Draw	1st	$367,170

World Poker Tour: Deep Runs, No Trophy — Yet

Juanda’s WPT résumé is a bit of an anomaly: six final tables and nineteen cashes, but zero titles. His closest brush with a WPT trophy came all the way back in 2002, when he made the heads-up match at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic’s $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em finale — only to fall to Gus Hansen, settling for a runner-up prize of roughly $280,000.

John Juanda’s Top 6 WPT Results

Year	Event	Place	Prize
2002	Five Diamond World Poker Classic $10K NLH Final	2nd	$278,240
2004	WPT Invitational Main Event	3rd	$18,000
2012	WPT World Championship $100K Super High Roller	3rd	$526,320
2004	Mirage Poker Showdown $10K NLH Final Day	4th	$162,012
2004	Ultimatebet.com Poker Classic $6K NLH Final Day	5th	$130,000
2006	North American Poker Championships C$10K	5th	C$217,320 (~$193,003)

European Poker Tour Résumé

Juanda’s EPT footprint is smaller — just three recorded cashes — but his signature result there is a big one. He first cashed on the tour in 2009, finishing 40th at EPT London. He returned to that same stop a year later and went all the way to the final heads-up battle, ultimately falling to then-rising Scottish talent David Vamplew and taking home £545,000 for second place — still one of the largest scores of his career.

John Juanda’s Top 3 EPT Results

Year	Event	Place	Prize
2010	London £5,000 Main Event	2nd	£545,000
2012	Barcelona €5,000 Main Event	8th	€76,100
2009	London £5,000 Main Event	40th	£14,200

Note: Juanda has since returned to EPT Barcelona repeatedly, including a run to the 2015 title (see below) and, as of August 2026, a deep run to Day 5 of that year’s Main Event — putting him in position for a second Barcelona title more than a decade later.

The 2015 EPT Barcelona Title

One of the true landmark moments of Juanda’s later career came in 2015, when he won the EPT Barcelona Main Event outright, agreeing to a three-way deal at the final table and collecting €1,022,593 (roughly $1,164,034). The win came at the expense of a stacked final table that included German high-stakes crusher Rainer Kempe. That same year, Juanda was formally inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame alongside Jennifer Harman, a fitting cap to one of his strongest seasons.

2015 EPT Barcelona Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	John Juanda	Indonesia	$1,164,034
2	Steven Warburton	England	$1,071,853
3	Frederik Rydahl Brink	Denmark	$922,371
4	Denis Shafikov	Ukraine	$461,132
5	Rainer Kempe	Germany	$364,716
6	Andreas Samuelsson	Sweden	$289,018
7	Amir Touma	Lebanon	$220,947
8	Mario Sánchez	Spain	$156,040
9	Victor Bogdanov	Russia	$119,295

Beyond the Big Three Tours

Juanda’s résumé isn’t limited to the WSOP, WPT, and EPT. He’s consistently produced deep runs and titles on the wider international circuit, including a first-place finish at the 2006 Crown Australian Poker Championship (worth over $700,000), a runner-up finish at the 2012 WSOPE Cannes €50,000 Majestic Roller for €600,000, and a fifth-place result at the 2012 Macau High Stakes Challenge $258,000 Super High Roller, worth $1,645,753.

Full Tilt Poker and Sponsorship

Juanda was one of the nine founding players behind Full Tilt Poker, one of the most prominent online poker rooms of its era, and represented Team Full Tilt in live tournaments until the site’s operations were shut down in 2011.

Fun Facts

• Before poker, Juanda was a standout high-school track athlete, competing in the 200-meter sprint and 5,000-meter distance events.
• He finished runner-up in the Card Player Player of the Year race back in 2002.

Recent Tournament Activity (2026 WSOP)

Event	Place	Prize
Event #89: $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship NLH	130th	$9,985
Event #79: $3,000 Freezeout NLH	18th	$24,950
Event #84: $5,000 Super Turbo Bounty NLH	106th	$7,111
Event #63: $1,000 Mystery Millions NLH	345th	$5,450
Event #67: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Championship	16th	$25,484

Why John Juanda Still Matters

Two decades after his first WSOP bracelet, Juanda remains a live threat at final tables across the globe, a rare mix of Poker Boom-era pedigree and modern-day relevance. His 2026 run deep into EPT Barcelona, more than a decade removed from his first title there, is a reminder that his game has aged remarkably well, even if his name doesn’t always headline the marketing.

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