The 2019 Poker Icon Award to be Presented to Johnny Chan

Replacing the Lifetime Achievement Award, the Poker ICON celebrates an iconic figure in the game

Las Vegas – March 5, 2020 — The Hendon Mob is proud to announce the debut presentation of the Poker ICON award to Poker Hall of Fame member Johnny Chan at the 2019 Global Poker Awards on March 6, 2019.

Forever ingrained in poker history, Chan was immortalized in the 1998 film ‘Rounders’. Chan had won back to back World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event titles in 1987 and 1988, the latter being featured in the film along with a hand involving protagonist Mike McDermott (Matt Damon) in which Chan is bluffed off of a pot.

Chan was the first non-American to win the prestigious title and incredibly, almost became the only player to ever win three straight WSOP Main Event titles losing heads-up to fellow Hall of Fame member Phil Hellmuth in 1989. Chan remains tied for the lead in WSOP Main Event cashes with 10, which is the same amount of WSOP bracelets collected over his career. Trailing only Hellmuth for the most all-time.

In 2002, Chan was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame and continued to find success on the felt long after amassing nearly $9 million in live recorded tournament earnings. Much of his results were won inside the United States but he has collected flags from Macau, South Korea, and most recently in the Bahamas. In total, Chan has earned a result in 150 events with his largest coming from a Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament in February of 2005 when he finished runner-up for $750,000.

“I’m at the Taj and it’s late and I see Johnny Chan walk in. He goes, he sits 300-600, and the whole place stops. Johnny Chan walks in, everybody puts an eye on it. After a while, there wasn’t a crap game going because all of the high rollers are over there watching.” – Mike McDermott

As iconic in the game as any poker player could ever be, the first Poker ICON is Johnny Chan.