David Pham

David “The Dragon” Pham fled Vietnam for America at the age of 17 in a boat carrying 145 people (9 of whom died on the journey.) He is the cousin of Men “The Master” Nguyen. After Nguyen’s early success in professional poker, he opened up a cleaning business that David worked for. Like many of Nguyen’s workers, David would eventually take poker lessons from him and would later be active in the tournament circuit.

In 2000 David was named “Player of the Year” by Card Player, and then in 2001 he won is first WSOP bracelet, for the $2,000 S.H.O.E. Event. 2001 was also the only year he finished in the money for the WSOP Main Event, where he finished in 44th place. Since the inception of the WPT David has made 3 final tables, but is yet to win an event.

As of 2005, his total live tournament winnings exceed $3,600,000.

In his own words:

“Asians gamble a lot you know, I think the Asians are more tricky than the Americans, tricky. They read the hand, but sometimes they don’t play the cards, they play the player.”