Thang Pham, widely known as Kido Pham, was born in Vietnam on February 6th, 1972. When Kido Pham was at the age of eight he and his family ran away to Southeast Asia looking for a new life in the United States. The journey was tormenting, involving going through the South China Sea in a small wooden boat, but in the end the family made it to America and eventually settled in Dallas. There was where Kido Pham began playing poker. He was only in his 20s, but started developing his skills and was soon to become a very famous poker player. As his experience and talent became better and better, Kido Pham began participatin in higher and higher stake games, bit his family was not happy with his actions. After having played for 10 years and marked a steady improvement, Kido Pham decided it was time to take it to the professional. His wife although did not approve of that, so when it was time to fly to Las Vegas for the Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship in October 2004, Kido Pham told her he was taking a business trip.
Kido Pham walked away from the championship with a 2nd place finish in the main event, a prize of almost $500,000 and a very bad name for himself. If one mentions his name in front of poker fans one should be prepared for violence. Kido Pham has been dragged through the mud because of his win, as it was thanks to super-aggressive play and of highly questionable moves that have outraged millions spectators. The main reason for that was his final table play with the famous poker players Erik Seidel, Carlos Mortensen and John Juanda. On one memorable occasion, after having been forced out of a hand by a large re-raise from Pham Kido, "The Matador" asked him what he had. Instead of saying what his cards were, Kido Pham stretched his hand and drew a heart on Mortensen's chest with his finger. Kido Pham explained to “The Matador” that the cards did not matter, so long as you have heart. It was a courageous way to introduce oneself to the poker world, but that was not all. When the table was brought down to three-handed play, Kido Pham was prepared to set the poker world on fire with the first in a series of increasingly unbelievable plays. As the game had gone into the blind “The Dragon” decided to postpone the inevitable and opened his hand. “The Matador” took full advantage and raised all-in from the small blind. Kido Pham to everyones surprise made the call. Kido Pham's mystifying call inspired a long debate that is even now talked about.
Some of Kido Pham`s other tournament participations include the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge III on May 27th, 2007, where he walked away with $176,359 for 1st place. His latest entry was in the 39th World Series of Poker 2008 where he placed 41st and won $154,400 on November 9th, 2008.
Kido Pham has made his wacky play into his own trademark. Even though he has not been playing poker for a long time, the media attention to his play is a lot more than to the average poker player. The famous blog writer Negreanu says that "Kido Pham had raw talent and honed his skills playing in private games in Dallas. I had watched him earlier in the year at a final table against my good buddy Carlos Mortensen when Kido finished second, and I was wary of him - as he was very tricky."
Now-a-days Kido Pham continues his career as a professional poker player along with taking care of his wife and their two children, one of whom suffers from autism. Kido Pham credits his wife for his success. When he is away from the poker table, Kido Pham spends time with his family or managing his other career as an owner of several dental clinics in Dallas. His wife, who is a dentist, operates her practice in one of his clinics.
