Capture the Flag - Kenny Tran

Cash-game professional Kenny Tran has been playing live poker in California for more than a decade, and has been through the gauntlet, both on and off the tables.

The 36-year-old pro grew up in Vietnam before coming to the United States and finding a low-paying job at McDonald’s. Tran, who owns a bracelet from the 2008 World Series of Poker heads-up championship, learned the game under the most modest of circumstances and eventually made his way up to playing in some of the highest-stakes games in the world.

Card Player caught up with the Full Tilt Red Pro to talk about how his childhood helped him develop the skill set to succeed at poker, how he fared at the tables in 2010, and what the live cash games are like in the current economic recession.

Brian Pempus: Can you talk about learning the game while you were working at McDonald’s, and describe your progression up in stakes over the course of your career?

Kenny Tran: I started my poker game on the Fourth of July, 1992. It was after work at McDonald’s in a small poker room with a bunch of my friends. I realized that I didn’t understand the game very well after losing six paychecks. So, to improve my game, I bought a deck of cards and started to deal out a 10-handed game — just playing by myself. My McDonald’s position was like heaven, the American dream [laughing]. I earned $4.25 an hour. My job at McDonald’s ended after six months, although I had jobs here and there afterward. Playing poker full time began when I moved to California in 1998.

My starting point was in $1-$2 limit hold’em with a minimum buy-in of $20 in 1992. I progressed all the way up to $4,000-$8,000 with $1 million in front of me. I remember my adrenaline being so high, and always chasing that. It’s really a priceless feeling as you move up in stakes.

BP: What was your childhood like? What was it about your upbringing that gave you a competitive nature?

KT: Let’s put it this way: You wouldn’t want to have been me growing up in Vietnam. It was cruel and brutal, being deprived of food and feeling hungry constantly. My life growing up was a battle for survival. Given the situation, my education reached the fifth grade before I chose to quit, because there was no purpose for that. The streets of Vietnam taught me well, and that’s where I improved my intellect.

I definitely think it’s a must to have a competitive nature; you have to do what you have to do to survive. What do you really expect from a boy living in the streets? If I don’t kill you, you will kill me — that was my childhood. While all of the boys and girls growing up in the USA were learning and being picked up from school, I was on the streets making a living at the age of 11. That’s how I developed my intuition, and it has helped my poker game to this day.

BP: One of your nicknames is “Sick Call Kenny.” Can you explain how that started, and how you developed your reading ability?

KT: The “sick” part about it was the stakes being so high in a big event, and I was willing to live or die with my intuition. Unlike most people who don’t take chances, I make those calls to pay the bills. Pride at the poker table doesn’t pay the bills. All of my “reads” at the table revert back to my childhood. I played this game of who’s a better liar every day of my life from the age of 11 to 18. I knew what I looked like as a liar, and I saw it in my opponent. It was like looking at myself in the mirror, and I’ve seen it before. That’s how I knew whether my opponent was being honest or lying to me.

BP: How do you handle the downswings? Have you ever been close to going broke? Can you talk about some of your best and worst moments?

KT: I handle my downswings by slowing down, accepting that the cards aren’t going my way, minimizing my losses, and just waiting for a better opportunity. I have been broke many times, because that’s what it takes to be a great poker player — the willingness to go broke so that you can learn from it. My worst sessions were of different degrees, whether it was losing lots of money or constantly getting bad cards. Actually, when Manny Pacquiao fought Oscar De La Hoya, that was a bad weekend, because I lost more than $1 million combined, from betting on the fight and playing poker. That was definitely bad, but it wasn’t the worst, because there were times when I couldn’t afford to lose $1,000, but did. It depends on my situation at the time. Having said that, my best session was in a $40-$80 limit hold’em game at Commerce Casino on Sept. 18, 2004, when I won $2,800, because I was flat broke and needed it to pay my bills. I’m probably the wrong guy to ask for bankroll-management advice, because I’ve been broke so many times [laughing]; but I guess I would say that you should stay with the game that you can beat consistently.

BP: How have the live games at Commerce Casino been during this economic recession? What kind of style do you employ in these games? What stakes do you play? What makes you so good at these live games? Do you have any advice for up-and-coming players?

KT: Live games at the Commerce depend on the economy. If the economy is good, the games are good, and vice versa. I don’t particularly employ any style; I just go with the flow in these games. On any given day of the week, I don’t wake up and decide that I’m going to play a mixed game or no-limit. Instead, I go in there and pick the game that has a live player; that’s the benefit of being an all-around player. My stakes are whatever the live player is playing at that moment. I’m good at live games due to my reading ability and nonstop learning process that I adopt for myself. I have an awareness of what’s going on at the table.

The games are slow at the moment, because the economy is pretty bad and many players have improved a lot. There are many good, young online players, and too much learning equipment. My advice for no-limit hold’em players is to shop around for the best game in town and manage your bankroll.

BP: What is your poker career like now? What is your best game? What games are you trying to learn? How did you fare at the cash-game tables in 2010? Any specific things you want to work on for 2011? Can you talk about your experiences in online cash games?

KT: My poker career is very good; I’m very happy with where I am at the moment. My schedule revolves around whenever my wife and three kids let me out of the house [laughing]. I like the game where the loser can write a check for an unlimited amount. My best game is my opponent’s worst game. I’m constantly trying to learn my opponents’ weaknesses. I didn’t play cash games much in 2010, because I took a long break after my friend Bruce Parker passed away. In terms of poker, it wasn’t a significant year for me. In 2011, I will try my best to travel and play some of the big cash games around the world. Online poker is definitely not my best game, because to me, it’s just like a video game with numbers. I can’t use my reading ability or the feeling I get against my opponent; I don’t have any idea who I’m playing with. However, I continue to play because I love Full Tilt, and I love the game; Full Tilt is the place to play. You can actually find me playing 5¢-10¢ limit up to $25-$50 pot-limit Omaha.

BP: Can you describe what it’s like playing professionally and providing for a family? What are your goals for the future?

KT: It’s relatively easy if you’re single with no responsibilities, but having a family and others who are depending on you can add pressure when you’re hitting a bad streak. I’ve been there and done that many times, so now it’s a normal feeling. I don’t exhibit that emotion anymore, because it happens regularly. My goal is to wake up to a happy family every day, whereas my passion in the next five years is to be able to purchase a three-bedroom house in Hawaii, next to a golf course by the waterfront. I actually looked it up just a couple of days ago, and it costs about $8 million-$12 million [laughing]. Some of my winnings from poker go to help the poor and needy in Vietnam. Recently, my wife and I chose to sponsor 30 kids at childfund.org, and we send them money monthly. Hopefully, we’ll be able to sponsor more and more in the future. After all of my three kids grow up, I would love to travel a lot with my wife to third-world countries to help build as many houses, schools, and water wells as possible. It will have to be within my power, so don’t give me a lot of bad beats, guys, or else God will punish you [laughing]. ♠