Malaysian business tycoon Paul Phua fell in love with poker following his entrepreneurial success, so much so that he was winning tournaments all over the world with 4 titles. Paul is also #1 on the Malaysian All-Time Money List with over $19million. His success in poker fueled another passion, to teach and build a poker community online.
Although Paul Phua is primarily known as a businessman, this 54-year-old Malaysian is the biggest winner of the Triton Cash Game recorded in Jeju. Recently, he won the unimaginable $2,353,500 potagainst Tom Dwan.
High stakes in Macau
Phua has been called 'a legend in the gambling world' and 'world's biggest bookie'. He used to organise high stakes gambling games in Macau. As a child, he really enjoyed sports, including badminton, table tennis, football, basketball, and bowling. He attended school in Singapore and then he moved to Macau to become involved in the gambling business. He allegedly built up a net worth of at least USD$400 million.
Paul Phua Son
Better late than never
- Paul Phua has come out on top of some of the world's biggest poker hands, winning millions of dollars. But his life story is just as interesting as his poker winnings. He was born to a humble family in Malaysia, where he learned to play cards by watching his mother play with her friends.
- (Paul) Phua Wei Seng was born in 1964 in Miri on the island of Borneo in eastern Malaysia. As a child, he enjoyed all sports and mathematics. As an adult, he moved to Kuala Lumpur and began working construction. However, Phua began associating with small-time Chinese gamblers from whom he learned how to set lines on soccer games.
He started playing poker late, in his 40s. After poker superstars like Ivey, Dwan, Antonius and others started to appear at high stakes tables in Macau, Paul Phua wanted to try these games. He also played at the highest level in Las Vegas. In 2012, he took part in the $1,000,000 The Big One for One Drop. His first significant success, and it was also his first cash, took place in London in 2012. The Malaysian took down £100,000 Aspers High Roller for £1 million. In next years, he captured many 6-digit scores, and his second biggest cash so far is equal to €752,700 for finishing in first place in the One Drop Extravaganza €100,000 High Roller (Monte Carlo, 2016). In total, during his career, he has won $5,116,041 at the live tables.
In 2016, Paul started his own poker strategy site. Such superstars like Phil Ivey, Daniel Cates, Sam Trickett, Tom Dwan, and Dan Colman have contributed videos and tips to the site.
Paul Phua is the biggest winner of the Triton Cash Game recorded in Jeju. He won there $1,384,000 after earning $2,044,000 in Season 1 (NLHE) and losing $660,000 in Season 2 (Short Deck).
At first glance, Paul Phua looks like a very friendly player, he often smiles. Unfortunately, there are people who do not have a good opinion about him. There have been rumors for a long time that he is running gambling businesses illegally, and even that he is active in an organised criminal group. In 2014, he became famous in the poker world after he was arrested during World Series of Poker.
I'm not an operator
Phua referred to these allegations in an interview with PokerNews. 'I am not what the media alleges me to be: A Triad and all that bullshit'. 'The truth is that I have not been involved in the sports betting industry for a long time,' he said. 'I'm just an investor, I'm a gambler, and I'm a risk taker, but I'm not an operator. I have invested in a lot of businesses, including online gambling businesses, in the past. But for the past seven or eight years, for me, it has been all about poker, family, and lot of real estate property investments.'
FBI Storm
How he got arrested? He had to return to Asia from Vegas for a while. He was caught in Macau, shortly after arriving there, just a few minutes after checking in the hotel. 'I had just landed and five minutes later the police came in my room. It will be proven in court, but there is no evidence of my involvement in any illegal gambling operations there.' After posting bail, his problems stopped only for a while. He was caught again, this time by FBI, who suddenly stormed a group of villas in Vegas, and started questioning Phua about World Cup betting line stats and data they found on his computer.
At one point, he was accused even of participating in the Premier League 'match-fixing'! 'It's absolute nonsense and without any basis in fact. It's some rumors. Being in the gambling circles you get these kinds of allegations, but it's nonsense.'
Ivey and Dwan tried to help Phua to solve his problems. Nine months later, U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon claimed that FBI's search was unconstitutional. The government decided not to appeal and withdrew all charges against Phua.
Paul Phua Birthday
Huge games
Paul Phua Net Worth
In 2006, the casino The Wynn Macau was opened and Paul Phua moved there his business, where he also met poker, which quickly became his main interest. A lot of Chinese businessmen willing to play quickly appeared. 'For the next two years all we did was sleep, eat, and play poker. Nothing else.'. Soon, famous poker players started to appear in these games, and the buy-ins were as high as $1 - $3 million!
Phua really loves playing poker. 'I am also a poker player, and yes, I love the game. For the past seven or eight years my life has been all about poker. For the first four years I did not even go on holiday with my family. So it has come at a cost, as I've spent a lot of time at the tables. Anything else the FBI or the media has said about me is simply ridiculous and baseless.', he said in 2016.
He stated that he learned a lot from Tom Dwan and he also cares for mental preparation for the game.
Hopefully just poker
Paul Phua Triad
Paul, we wish you to be known in the poker world for poker, and not because of scandals. You have provided us with a lot of excitement in the Triton Cash Games and we will be happy to see you in the next high stakes games. Good luck!