Paul Phua

Phua did not start playing Texas hold 'em until he was in his 40s.

In 2010, when Las Vegas high stakes cash games began moving to Macau, players such as Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, Chau Giang, Patrik Antonius and John Juanda started playing there.

By 2011, other professional poker players had joined the games in Macau.[4] Phua played and learned from these players. In 2012, Phua entered the 2012 World Series of Poker $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop event.[5]

In 2012, Phua won the Aspers £100K High Roller in London after defeating Richard Yong in heads up play, earning him his largest cash of $1,621,297.[1] In 2016, he won One Drop Extravaganza €100,000 Super High Roller after defeating Mikita Badziakouski in heads-up play, earning $827,722 in the process.[6]

During a cash game at the 2014 Aussie Millions, Phua was involved in a AUD$991,000 pot against fellow Macau poker player, Lo Shing Fung. Fung (8♣ 7♣) put Phua (10♠ 10♣) all in on the turn with the board reading 2♦ 9♥ 10♦ 6♣. The two elected to run the board only once, the river came the A♥, giving Fung the pot with his turned straight.[7]

In September 2018, Phua was involved in what was the biggest televised cash game pot at the time, winning $2.35 million against Tom Dwan.[8]

On August 8, 2019, Paul Phua finished second at Triton Series 2019 £100,000 Tournament and won £2,558,305.[9]

As of March 2020, Paul Phua's total live tournament cashes exceed $19,330,992.[10]

In 2016, Phua started his own poker strategy website Paul Phua Poker. Players such as Phil Ivey, Timofey Kuznetsov, Dan Colman, Daniel Cates, Tom Dwan, Sam Trickett, Lauren Roberts and others have contributed videos and tips for the site.[11] The site also promotes six-plus hold 'em, a newer variation of Texas hold 'em where the cards valued 2 through 5 are removed.

Phua is close personal friends with many of these stars who often give interviews on his YouTube channel. He has the closest relationship with Tom Dwan.