News / nono / 16 June 2008 / Leave a comment

The 2008 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em World Champion is Kenny Tran, from Arcadia, CA. He is a professional poker player, who has specialized in high-limit cash games most of his career.

Tran collected $539,056 for first place. He also earned his first WSOP gold bracelet. This was his 12th WSOP career cash.

Tran has an amazing story. He was born in Vietnam. He once worked at McDonalds. When he turned 21, he worked as a poker dealer. Then, he played recreational poker, mostly in low-limit games. Tran gradually moved up through the ranks to the point where he now routinely plays for six-figure sums amongst the toughest competition in the world.

Kenny Tran's birth name is Phuong Tran.

Tran has a number of impressive tournament finishes over the past year. He finished 16th place in the 2007 WSOP Main Event. He finished 5th in the 2007 $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. championship. He took 16th place in the inaugural WSOP Europe championship held last year. Now, he has won the 2008 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em World Championship.

Trans victory occurred on Fathers Day. He is the father to three children.

"It means a lot to me to win, especially on Fathers Day," Tran said afterward. "The first time you win this is really great and it's just a great, great feeling. I have never really had this kind of feeling before."

"I definitely have a strategy," Tran stated after his final heads-up win. "I grind them all out. I like to grind people out and make them feel bored. I just torture them and let them finally make a mistake."

Tran cited fellow 2008 WSOP gold bracelet winner Erick Lindgren has his toughest opponent of the eight rivals he faced in heads-up play. "I got lucky on him," Tran admitted when asked about the match.