Cliff Josephy Poker Player Biography
Who is JohnnyBax?
The online poker player we know as JohnnyBax is really Cliff Josephy. His real name is not Johnny Bax like many assume it would be. For the purpose of this biography we’ll refer to him as JohnnyBax because that is what he prefers. JohnnyBax was born in Long Island New York and attended the University of Michigan.
He later became a successful stock broker and formed a family in Syosset New York. After living the stressful life of a broker he decided to give poker a try and has not looked back since. He has been rated as the best tournament poker player on the internet by various player rating sites.
How JohnnyBax Started With Online Poker
It turns out that JohnnyBax started playing online after watching his father play at PokerStars. Within one year JohnnyBax was considered the best multi-table tournament player. JohnnyBax was taught the ropes of online poker by a member of The Crew, Scott Fischman, a multiple WSOP bracelet owner. He also learned poker methods from a well known online pro called “Sheets”. This guy named Sheets is rated in the top 10 online players by PocketFives. At the time JohnnyBax was Sheets stock broker and friend. JohnnyBax asked as many questions as he could to learn how his friend was building his wealthy empire from online poker.
BetOnline.com is still accepting real money USA players.
How He Became Famous
JohnnyBax was already famous because of his online play but was a subject to instant worldwide fame when he won a WSOP Seven Card Stud World Series event. Before the tournament began JohnnyBax didn’t even know how to play Seven Card Stud. After getting some pre-game advice from friend Scott Fischman he entered the $1,500 event and turned it into a World Series of Poker bracelet.
JohnnyBax Get’s Busted Up By Johnny Chan
Bax’s first encounter with Chan at the World Poker Tour event at the Bellagio turned out to be degrading. Bax found himself heads up with Johnny Chan. Bax held pocket Kings while Chan held pocket Aces. Bax decided to slow roll his Kings until the turn when Chan miss bet the pot wanting to put 4,000 in as a bet but instead bet 13,000. Chan said, “I misread the suit of fourth street.” After the floor decided that the bet must stand JohnnyBax said he was all-in. Chan called immediately and almost had his chips in before the words “all-in” finished rolling off Bax’s tongue. The river card was a blank and Johnny Bax was knocked out of the tournament.
Accomplishments
JohnnyBax has won over $400k playing in live tournaments and even more playing online. He is a Triple Crown winner of the PocketFives tournament ranking and is holding his ground every month. The most notable win was at the WSOP Seven Card Stud event where his true name of Cliff Josephy was finally revealed. According to a FoxSports.com interview JohnnyBax doesn’t play in as many big weekend events because he likes to spend time with his family.
| Tournament Event – Buyin | Date | Placed | Winnings |
| No Limit Hold’em 5k | 12/8/11 | 5th | $25,906 |
| No Limit Hold’em – Championship Event 2.5k | 11/20/11 | 6th | $73,653 |
| WSOP Triple Chance 1.5k | 6/7/11 | 37th | $7,453 |
| WSOP Six Handed 1.5k | 6/6/11 | 172nd | $2,954 |
| WSOP H.O.R.S.E. 1.5k | 6/16/10 | 19th | $6,877 |
| WSOP No Limit Hold’em 1.5k | 6/2/10 | 85th | $4,866 |
| WPT Championship Event 25k | 4/18/10 | 10th | $56,439 |
| NAPT No Limit Hold’em 4.7k | 4/7/10 | 7th | $85,000 |
| WSOP Pot Limit Omaha 5k | 6/17/09 | 3rd | $166,771 |
| EPT No Limit Hold’em 9.7k | 1/5/09 | 86th | $17,500 |
| WSOP World Championship 10k | 7/3/08 | 386th | $28,950 |
| No Limit Hold’em 5k | 12/8/07 | 10th | $16,395 |
| WSOP World Championship 10k | 7/6/07 | 446th | $29,883 |
| WSOP No Limit Hold’em 5k | 6/13/07 | 46th | $12,653 |
| WPT Doyle Brunson Classic 15k | 12/14/06 | 20th | $67,655 |
| World Poker Finals 4.8k | 11/10/06 | 2nd | $187,132 |
| UltimateBet Championship 5k | 9/27/06 | 2nd | $446,975 |
| WPT No Limit Hold’em 5k | 9/13/06 | 3rd | $86,500 |
| WSOP 7 Card Razz 1.5k | 7/22/06 | 4th | $39,080 |
| NL Holdem WPT Championship 25k | 4/18/06 | 12th | $146,460 |
| NL Holdem WPT Championship 9.7k | 1/29/06 | 11th | $22,174 |
| NL Holdem WPT Main Event 15k | 12/12/05 | 81st | $24,150 |
| NL Holdem WPT Championship 5k | 9/26/05 | 65th | $6,000 |
| NL Holdem Borgata Open 1.5K | 9/14/05 | 20th | $2,025 |
| Seven Card Stud WSOP 1.5K | 6/09/05 | WIN | $192,150 |
| NL Holdem WPT Main Event 7.8K | 1/05/05 | 53rd | $11,600 |
| NL Holdem World Poker Finals 2k | 11/05/04 | 18th | $4,065 |
Last Updated: January 24, 2012
If any information in this biography is incorrect please email us at info@compatiblepoker.com and we will correct it immediately. Information is collected through web research and sometimes interviews. We try to keep the info as accurate as possible but sometimes rumors take the place of facts by accident.
