David Chiu is a successful poker professional. He has had considerable tournament success winning four World Series of Poker bracelets (1996, 1998, 2000, and 2005) with 47 WSOP cashes. His most recent success was a 2nd in the 2010 Pot Limit Hold'em/Omaha WSOP event. Chiu's best WSOP Main Event finish was 10th in 1996. Chiu won the 2008 WPT Championship, overcoming Gus Hansen's more than 5:1 chip lead heads up to take the $3,389,140 first place prize. He also finished 3rd behind Layne Flack and Jerry Buss in the 2003 WPT Invitational. He has over $7 million in total live tournament earnings. Chiu was born August 23, 1960 in China and now lives in Rowland Heights, California.

Things you might not know:
  • Chiu's parents spent their entire lives in China and never would have approved of his career.
  • Chiu learned how to play poker in home games once he arrived in the United States.
  • Chiu is partially deaf in both ears due to a swimming accident. He considers it an advantage which allows him to concentrate more on reading his opponent at the table.
  • Chiu once owned a restaurant in Colorado.
  • Chiu was a poker dealer in his early days before his first major victory in 1996 when he won the U.S. Poker Championship.
  • Chiu defeated a tough final table to win the 2000 WSOP which included Scotty Nguyen, Mel Judah and Ken Flaton.
David Chiu is famous for his ability to read other players. When asked about what constitutes that ability, he revealed: "Concentration and it's a gift that God gave me. I pay attention to people's reactions, to the card they look at, or the way they put their chips in the pot. Sort of like Sherlock Holmes figured out murder mysteries, I use any and all the information that can give me a clue about what my opponents have. A lot of it is deductive reasoning. But I'm not 100 percent right all the time. If I was, I'd be a billionaire by now."

"When I was a child in China, I swam a lot. The water got inside my ears, damaging my eardrums. I lost about 35 percent of my hearing, so I've had to pay close attention to how people act to understand what they are saying. Also, I was a poker dealer at the Gilpin Hotel in Black Hawk, and I would see how people reacted to their hands, the way they looked at their cards. A lot of people squeeze their cards when they really like their hand. I paid attention. I tried to turn my hearing weakness into a strength."
Chiu video after a WPT win and a WSOP final table video:


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