JC Alvarado

Mexican poker pro Juan Carlos ‘JC’ Alvarado moved to the US as a child, where he and his mother made Texas their new home. A love of film led to him studying cinematography at college in California, and like millions of other students at campuses across the world, he was never too far from a poker game. After a few years spent playing against friends and reading every poker book he could get his hands on, JC had picked up enough skill and experience to move to Las Vegas and make the switch from amateur player to full-time poker pro. And he hasn’t looked back since.

JC has an impressive list of live tournament results, especially at events on the World Poker Tour. He finished 2nd in a $2,500 side event at the 2007 L.A. Poker Classic, cashing for $108,275. Just a few days later he then finished in 15th place in the $9,900 main event, winning a further $72,140. The following month he made the final table of the $5,000 WPT World Poker Challenge main event, eventually finishing in 2nd place for $366,798. JC then made another WPT final table the following May, this time winning $43,720 for an 8th place finish in the Mandalay Bay Poker Championship $9,700 main event. He’s also performed well in World Series of Poker* events, with five cashes worth a combined total of more than $195,000, including a 6th place finish in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event in 2006, and a 5th place in the $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em event in 2009. JC was also selected to act as captain for Team Mexico at the PokerStars World Cup of Poker V event, held in the Bahamas January 2009. In April 2009, he played in the medium-stakes Main Event of the PokerStars 2009 Spring Championship of Online Poker, and won, earning prize money of $502,086 - the biggest cash of his career so far.

When he isn’t playing poker, JC still takes a keen interest in all things cinematography related, and is an avid movie fan. The rest of his free time is taken up by reading poker books, proving that even in his downtime he’s serious about improving his game.

JC says he’s looking forward to being an ambassador for PokerStars, playing alongside qualifiers and the rest of our pro players online and at the biggest live events across Latin America and beyond. He is a member of Team PokerStars Pro and plays online using the screen name ‘JC Alvarado’.