PokerNews has learned that mixed games legend Roy Thung has passed away in Las Vegas.
The cause of death is unclear at this time, but it comes less than two weeks after the late poker player cashed in a World Series of Poker (WSOP) event. Thung was far more than just a beloved and respected poker player. He was the CEO for Independence Holding Co., an insurance company engaged in disability, supplemental health, and group life insurance.
Success in Business and Poker
Thung, who was 82 when he passed away, was successful in business as an executive, so much so that he was featured by Forbes in 2012. The late poker player was born in Indonesia but moved to the United States in 1969. He received a master’s degree from the University of Indonesia, but initially struggled to find work out of college.
“I persevered and landed a position with Lybrand, Ross Brothers & Montgomery in its international tax, accounting and consulting practice,” Thung told Forbes.
In 1976, using only a little cash he had saved up, Thung acquired a small mail-order company. That business, Nasco International, grew over the years and had more than $200 million in revenue after 35 years of his involvement. In the 1980s, he acquired a life and health insurance firm, which he also built up.
Thung’s specialty was acquiring businesses with potential inexpensively and building them into multi-million dollar operations. He acquired Southern Life & Health Insurance in 1980 from owners who were ready for retirement.
Thung also found great success as a poker player, mostly playing mixed cash games, but also in tournaments. He first attended the World Series of Poker in 1997, and his first WSOP cash that year was a fifth-place finish for $21,150 in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event.
The poker player from White Plains, New York had nearly $900,000 in live tournament cashes recorded by The Hendon Mob database. His final cash was at the 2026 WSOP in the $5,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em where he took 72nd place for $12,390 less than two weeks ago.
Thung also cashed in the biggest mixed games tournament in the world this summer, the WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship, finishing 13th place for $109,459.
