The Dragon
David "The Dragon" Pham was born in February 10, 1967, in South Vietnam. He came to the U.S. at 17 years old, one of 145 people on a boat fleeing Vietnam for a better life. Not one to forget his roots, Pham frequently donates to charities in Vietnam.
Pham is nicknamed "The Dragon" because he is always putting heat on his opponents at the poker table. This Vietnamese-American wonder was Card Player's 2002 Tournament Player of the Year.
David Pham suffered a tough defeat against John Clements and Chris Bjorin in the 2000 WSOP. It was in 2001 that he took home his first World Series of Poker bracelet for winning the mixed game S.H.O.E. event. S.H.O.E. is an acronym for four of the most popular poker games -- Seven-card stud, Texas Hold'em, Omaha high/low, and stud Eight-or-better. It is supposed to be a true test of a champion's poker prowess.
In 2003, David Pham went head-to-head against Ray Dehkharghani, when 415 players showed up for the $1,500 buy-in, $1 million-guaranteed limit hold’em event at Commerce Casino’s L.A. Poker Classic. Pham was crowned king of limit hold'em at that event. Pham made his way to the final table of the WSOP in 2005. He placed seventh in this event which paid him $65,740.
Pham finished in 4th place winning $600,000 at the European Poker Tour's (EPT) PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure in January 2008 after being eliminated at the final table by Bertrand Grospellier who called Pham all-in with an ace high flush draw on the turn which was made on the river.
Pham is currently residing in Bell Gardens, California. He is married and has four children.
Fun Facts:
- Pham is the cousin and mentee of Men "The Master" Nguyen, whom he worked for in a cleaning business that Nguyen owned.
- David Pham had also worked as a manicurist.