Profile of Tuan Le

Published on May 31st, 2005, 8:58 pm EST

Tuan Le has burst onto the poker scene, winning first place and 2.85 million dollars in the $25,000 World Poker Tour Main Event (just last month), which followed a first place finish at the $10k No Limit Hold'em event in Maskantucket, where he netted an impressive 1.55 million. Where did he come from? How could someone who just entered the scene last year all of a sudden be just shy of $5 million dollars in lifetime earnings?

Tuan gets to the final tables through his ultra-aggressive play (he plays a style similar to Gus Hansen; controlled aggression.) These players get a bad rap; some say that they are too aggressive, but they know when to be aggressive, and when to pull back. When to go for it, and when to sit back. Tuan has hit some lucky river cards in TV events, no doubt, but he also has the skills to complement this luck. People say that Negreanu is one of the luckier poker players around; I say both Tuan and Daniel Negreanu create their own luck, through reads of their opponents and a willingness to take risks.

In my opinion, Tuan Le is one of the best young poker players in the game; I would put him just behind Phil Ivey and just ahead of Michael Mizrachi in terms of the top young poker players. However, if Tuan continues his current tear, I would fully expect he'll be known as the best poker player in the world, period, soon.

Tuan's Career Earnings:

April 18th, 2005 $ 25,000 Main Event (WPT) - No Limit Hold'em Championship
Third Annual Five-Star World Poker Classic, Las Vegas 1st $ 2,856,150

November 13th, 2004 $ 10,000 No Limit Hold'em Final Day - WPT
2004 World Poker Finals, Mashantucket 1st $ 1,549,588


October 19th, 2004 $ 10,000 The Doyle Brunson North American No Limit Hold'em Poker Championship
2004 Festa al Lago III Poker Tournament, Las Vegas 45th $ 12,000