Tuan Anh Vu (Vietnamese: Vũ Tuấn Anh; born December 5, 1957),[1] better known as Tommy or Tom Vu, is a Vietnamese Americanpoker player, real estate investor and speaker best remembered as an infomercial personality in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Infomercial career
His late-night infomercial featured Vu surrounded by luxury items: mansions, yachts, and expensive cars. He was often shown accompanied by groups of young bikini-clad women. He promoted his free 90-minute seminar to learn the same secrets he used to make millions. As a Vietnamese immigrant, he presented himself as the classic "rags to riches" story. His infomercials promoted free seminars that served as advertisements for paid seminars, the most expensive of which was a week-long seminar held only in Orlando, Florida that cost as much as $16,000. Vu's investment theory involved finding what he characterized as "distressed" properties, such as homes mired in foreclosures, bankruptcies, divorces or tax liens, and selling them at a profit.[1]
In the early 1990s, Vu was sued by former students and investigated by government officials in Florida for alleged violations of securities laws, fraud and false advertising.[2] He was never formally charged with any crime.[3]
Vu continues his parallel career as a tournament poker player. As of 2017, he had won more than $1,975,000 in casino poker tournaments, including a second-place finish in a no limit Texas hold 'em event at the 2007 World Series of Poker[4] and a 22nd-place finish at the 2005 World Series of Poker championship event.[5] His 10 cashes at the WSOP account for over $850,000 of his lifetime tournament winnings.[4]
