J.C. Tran Leads 2007 Poker Player of the Year Race - Tran Wins the WPT World Poker Challenge - World Poker Tour Reno Event

J.C. Tran has built an early lead in the 2007 Poker Player of the Year race. His 3,500+ points put him a full 700 points better than his next closest competitor.

With the year not even at The World Series of Poker yet, it's a little early to be crowning Mr. Tran the Player of the Year. But Tran has three World Poker Tour final tables to his credit, including first place finish in the WPT's World Poker Challenge which took place in Reno, Nevada. That win put J.C. over the $2 million mark for the year.

Second place is currently held by James Van Alstyne, who has six finishes in the money this year. Gavin Griffin, coming off his impressive win over a field of 700+ players at the EPT Championship, is in third place at the moment. Marc Karam and David "The Dragon" Pham round out the top five.

Those who watch broadcasts of the World Series of Poker on ESPN might know J.C. Tran. He has made the final table of three WSOP events. Tran has finished in the cash at the 2004 and 2005 World Series of Poker Main Events.

His tour wins include a 2003 Heavenly Holdem event, along with a 2005 Rio Las Vegas Poker Festival victory. He took home $74,000 and $97,000 apiece for those wins. Tran's biggest victory to date was the 2006 World Championship of Online Poker Main Event, which netted him $670,000. All in all, Tran has earned over $4 million in professional poker.

As you can see, Tran's career has been building up to 2007. He has had ever more impressive showings at tournaments from 2004 to the present. Approaching 30 years old now, J.C. Tran is coming into his prime as a poker player.

Of course, it's still early in the poker year. We are only one-fourth of the way through the schedule. Most of the poker is still left to be played. I imagine the Top 10 will look a lot different by the end of the year. But J.C. Tran is making a move to place himself among the elite players on the game.

J.C. Tran Leads 2007 Poker Player of the Year Race - Tran Wins the WPT World Poker Challenge - World Poker Tour Reno Event