Radu Junc Rolling Through Day 2 and Representing the Deaf Poker Community

Throughout this Day 2, the PokerNews team has watched as a player continually won large pots and celebrated in silence. This player showed plenty of emotion, however, but his joy was expressed wordlessly through American Sign Language (ASL).

Radu Junc, who made his way to the Rio from California, is a deaf poker player making a deep run through Event # 45: No-Limit Hold’Em to put himself among the final 90 players still seeking a bracelet. With a few of his buddies signing their approval from the rail, Junc has had a seesaw session so far, but midway through the second day of play he has amassed over 170,000 chips.

His friends excitedly let us know that Junc had started at 53,000 chips to begin Day 1, climbed to 130,000 at one point and then plummeted to only 25,000 after a brutal beat. Junc then displayed the same perseverance he has shown throughout his life and battled back from the extreme short-stack. One huge hand that helped propel him back into contention saw his suited {A-} {K-} overcome the {J-} {J-} of an opponent. Junc now holds an above average stack and is poised to return on Day 3, as he tries to make a historic appearance at the final table.

Junc is no novice when it comes to tournament poker, having captured 1st place honors at the Fifth Annual Las Vegas World Deaf Poker Tournament held in 2009. This win came on the heels of his runner-up finish in the same event one year prior, and Junc has proven to be a formidable opponent on the felt in both deaf and open events.

Among his supporters on the rail are Brad Gibson and Patrick Burger, both of whom are founding fathers of the deaf poker community. Gibson’s name may be familiar to many poker fans, as he was the first deaf person to enter a WSOP event and is the founder of DeafRounders.com. His website is designed to connect the deaf community with the world of poker, and Gibson accomplishes this in part through the National Deaf Poker Tour.

With their friend Radu Junc going toe-to-toe with Phil Hellmuth, Antonio Esfandiari and many more of poker’s premiere players, Gibson, Burger and the rest of the deaf poker community certainly have something to be proud of. If Junc can complete his run to the final table here at the WSOP, the rest of the poker world will take notice of a player whose actions truly speak louder than words.