Tommy Tran
Points Leader
Most Wins In One Season
Winter Season ’11
Tommy Tran has played with the Atlanta Poker Club since Red Carpet Lanes in Fall Season ’08. In Winter Season ’11, Tommy surpassed the previous record held by Daniel Petty of 17 wins in one season by getting a total of 20 wins! That gave him the largest number of wins by any player in any season of the APC. Tommy has won a total of 39 tournaments. He was Points Leader in Winter Season ’11 with an amazing 13622.38 in points!
From Santa Jose, CA, Tommy moved to Atlanta in 1997. He wanted to learn hold’em so he played with his cousins and then online. Tommy played occasionally with the APC, and his first full season to play was Winter Season ’11.
How many times a week did you play in Winter Season ’11?
The very first month of the season I was running good, and then I set the goal to make 10,000 points, and get 20 wins, and beat the current record, and I didn’t want to stop until I achieved it. So I played 10 to 12 tournaments a week. At least one a day and two to three times on Saturday and Sunday.
Players want to know what is your winning strategy?
The most important thing is your attitude. Attitude is everything! If you don’t go in expecting to win you will not win. Set a goal and expect to achieve it. If I place 7th in a game, I will take apart the game I played and what I did wrong and how to improve it to be better and learn from my mistakes, and next time finish higher. I pay close attention to detail and make mental notes about the players on how they play, and what hands they will play, and how they react…and how to win the next time against them.
How has your play changed when you started playing seriously?
It changed dramatically. I play a wider range of hands. My playing style is different. I play in a lot of hands. Some times I’m in a hand just to play the player. I had to learn the dynamic to tournament poker and to build chip stack and chip stack management, and to control tilt and maintain a good attitude at the table.
Also, I learned there is a final table dynamic. In Winter Season ’11, I played a total of 113 tournaments. Out of those tournaments, I made the final table 94 times. Playing in so many final tables is when I learned the dynamics and how the play is totally different and you have to switch gears. The playing style is different and is very crucial for you as each position eliminated you then climb higher, which is of course the goal. I changed my betting style in a number of ways including leading out when I have the nuts. I was involved in so many hands I ended up getting paid off.
Any advice to new players?
Be open and willing to learn and to improve your game. You can play five or six years and not learn or improve, so you need to learn and take criticism constructively. Be open and be willing to learn and talk to players and see where there is room for improvement and what works and what doesn’t work.
Has any major player influenced your play?
I don’t really watch professional poker. I have seen Daniel Negreanu and Tony G, so
Daniel Negreanu because of his wide range of hands and ability to put players on a hand, and he plays the player and he does not necessarily have the best hand all the time. Tony G, because he puts a lots of pressure on players and tests their abilities to play hands and he puts other players to the test and is agressive. I’ve asked Tournament Director Travis Hart how he might have played my hand differently, and being willing to learn is how to win the games. Travis taught me to play to win.
Do you have a favorite hand?
My all time favorite hand is 9, 10 suited. I love pocket pairs and any pocket pair is fun to play. Low suited connectors can really pay off if they hit.
How did it feel to have the most wins of any player in any season?
Very accomplished. Very, very excited and relieved that I accomplished the goal I set in the beginning of the season. I learned from my mistakes and improved my game which enabled me to win tournaments.
What do you think when players say it is just free poker and doesn’t matter?
Attitude thing…I personally think it is an excuse for bad play. It does matter and just because it is free you are learning from it to take to a money game. How are you going to go to a real casino and play well unless you have learned by trying to play good poker? You can apply what you have learned, whether free or not, and apply it to the WSOP or other cash games.
Anything else you want to share?
I’ve played with several different clubs in Atlanta, but the APC is the best club to play with as it has a better poker game. It is more structured. There are players that will help you learn if you just ask. Go with a positive attitude and maintain that good attitude. A bad beat from a bad player doesn’t mean that later on you won’t be able to win and get your chips back from that player.
What goals have you set for yourself this season?
No particular goals but mainly want to go out and put everything learned to the test and see if I can continue to do well. I want to be a strong and solid player.
Winter Season ’11 taught me a life lesson that I can set a goal and achieve my goal if I put my heart out to do it. I always hold my head up whether a good night or a bad night…good game or bad game and not give up.
Tommy Tran is in the Atlanta Poker Club Hall of Fame for the most wins in any season and also for leading in points. Congratulations, Tommy!
Tommy took the knowledge he learned playing free poker to the best of his ability with the Atlanta Poker Club, and went to his first casino in Florida to play in a tournament. He won!
