Lynette Chan

Lynette Chan - born in Vancouver, Canada, in the Spring of 1981 – is one of the most exciting female prospects in the world of poker. Whilst in British Columbia, Chan would watch her friends play and with the buzz surrounding televised poker events at the time she soon felt tempted to join in. She quickly found that she had a natural knack to win hands and the thrill of the game soon had her hooked.

She began playing the local casinos in Vancouver in 2003; Chan worked her way up through the stakes starting Pot Limit $6/12. Nowadays, she normally plays No Limit Hold ‘em games at either $10/20 or $25/50.

Unlike many newcomers to professional poker, Chan did not the online game to gain experience. Until the summer of 2006, she had never played on the internet, preferring to play by reading her opponents in a live situation. This changed when she was signed up to join the team at Full Tilt Poker. She now plays online on a regular basis and enjoys the opportunity to speak with fans whilst she performs.

Chan still owns a condo in Vancouver although she currently spends most of her time living 45 minutes south of Los Angeles in Newport Beach with her pet dog, Portia, a 2.5 pound Chihuahua. Chan has shown her maturity in raising a happy pup from two months old over the past three years and this sensibleness has been reflected in her poker life – her biggest win (£12,000) was banked rather than frittered away.

When at home she frequents the local Commerce Casino, on top of this she often travels to Las Vegas where she spends a lot of her time at the Bellagio. She has shown a preference for playing No Limit Hold ‘em but also spends time at the Pop-Limit Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo tables. Naturally, the talent of her opposition is much higher in these locations but she is not letting anything faze her, instead she is using it as an opportunity to learn as much as she can to help her game.

Chan, who is of Chinese heritage, feels that her previous career as a marketing executive – for some glamorous names such as Ferrari and Mercedes – has helped her perfect the control of her emotions and facial expressions even in high pressure situations. It wasn’t a conscious choice made by Chan to play poker professionally but with the ability to consistently make money from cards it seemed like the obvious progression to make. She doesn’t feel frightened at the table, no matter who she is up against, and unless a spider comes crawling by – the one fear that she will admit to – there’s no reason for this to change.

As well as playing poker several times a week, Chan works as an actress and a model and she has recently taken up a course in broadcasting. To relax, she enjoys playing a round of golf and dedicates time to helping animal humane societies. Despite having all these avenues to go down, Chan sees her future to be mainly rooted in poker. By the end of 2008, she hopes to move up to larger games, move further away from Commerce and rely solely on playing online.