 Name: Tuan Le Date of Birth: unknown Place of Birth: Paris Profile
Tuan Le currently stands as the leading money winner of all time on the World Poker Tour, with two major victories over the past two years--$1.530,243 in the Foxwood’s World Poker Finals and his recent $2.856.150 win in the second WPT World Championship. Not bad for a guy who used money from his student loans to get started in professional poker. He’s paid them back and then some.Le, 26, is one of a crop of skilled young players who have taken to the game in the wake of their college days. Born in Paris, but raised in Los Angeles, he has always been at the head of the class. In 1995, at 16 years old, he left public high school after passing a proficiency test and began attending classes at Los Angeles Junior College. Three years later, he graduated from junior college and went on to attend California State University, Northridge, where he studied finance.It was at Cal State Northridge that Le stumbled upon his natural ability to play poker. He and friends would pass the time in the Student Union by playing the game. More often than not, Tuan dominated, which increased his confidence.Ready to try his hand in live action games with more serious competition, he headed to the Hustler Casino in Los Angeles. Using money from his college loan and financial aid package, Le would play upwards of 70 hours a week, but had very little success at first and lost money. With time Le honed his skills and soon felt confident enough to start playing tournaments.His first big win came in 2004 at a no-limit tournament at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. He followed that up in November by entering the Foxwood’s World Poker Open on the WPT Tour. An unknown to most of the poker world, the quiet young man wearing the stylish knit sweaters played superb poker to win the $1.5 million first prize.He capped that in April 2005 by outlasting a field of 452 competitors in the $25,000-buy-in WPT World Championship, stretched over five days, an event that attracted the best in the game. He surpassed such renowned players as Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey, Hasan Habib and more in the final home stretch.Even though Le left college 16 credit hours short of a degree, his education in finance has served him well at the poker table. He says lessons learned in class regarding mathematics and money management have assisted him. But he truly feels he has an innate feel for the game and follows his natural instincts more than anything else. He also credits a lot of his success to his mentors: Barry Greenstein and Daniel Negreanu.Le enjoys a little competition away from the poker table as well. He has a runningseries of friendly propositional wagers with Las Vegas poker pro Ted Forrest—whom he considers his personal “nemesis.” The two will bet on almost anything. Tuan admits he has challenged Forrest multiple times on various wagers, and has lost each and every one! Good thing his poker tournament record is considerably better. | 
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