John Racener began his poker career by playing online tournaments, and he was so passionate about the game that he played 10 to 15 tournaments a day. The lessons John Racener learnt through online poker games proved useful to him when he started playing live. He traveled to many places to participate in various tournaments and made more than $800,000 as prize money within just a year. Even though he lives in Florida, he won more than $500,000 from various events held in New Jersey.
On December 19, 2006, at the Harrah's Atlantic City Poker Tournament was held, John Racener finished third in Event 9 World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOP) No-Limit Hold'em Championship and walked away with $103,527. At the World Poker Open/World Poker Tour (WPT) - Season 5 - No-Limit Hold'em (Event 16) held on January 17, 2007, John Racener secured 8th rank and earned prize money of $13,320. On January 25, John Racener played in Event 23 - WPT No-Limit Hold'em Championship at the World Poker Open/WPT Event - Season 5, ranked 12th, and went home with $34,274. On January 30, 2007, he won $166,161 by finishing eighth in Event 10 No-Limit Hold'em event at the Borgata Poker Classic/WPT Event Season 5. The Wynn Classic Championship was conducted on March 1, the same year, and in the No-Limit Hold'em event, John Racener secured third-place and won $25,220. He took part in the Foxwoods Poker Classic/WPT Event Season V on March 26, 2007 and claimed $6,013 in prize money in the No-Limit Hold'em (Event 8). On the very next day, at the same tournament, he added another $9,169 to his bankroll by finishing 10th in Event 9 No-Limit Hold'em. The next money finish of John Racener was in Event 28 WSOP No-Limit Hold'em at the 38th Annual World Series of Poker, in which he made a total sum of $9, 169 on June 17, 2007. In Event 45 - No-Limit Hold'em Short Handed at the same tournament held on June 28, 2007, he took home $16,776. The 18th of December marks a historic moment in the poker life of John Racener, as he finished first at the Harrah's Atlantic City Poker Tournament with whopping prize money of $779,392 in Event 9 - WSOP Circuit No-Limit Hold'em.
The next significant victory for John Racener came on January 15, 2008, when he participated in Event 15 No-Limit Hold'em at the World Poker Open/WPT Season 6 tournament to secure sixth place and earn $10,025. He held second position and won $53,269 at the Grand Casino Tunica Poker Tournament in Event 18 WSOP Circuit No-Limit Hold'em, which was held on Jan 17, 2008. The Deep Stack Poker Tournament - Guaranteed $500,000 saw him finishing in fifth-place and winning a total amount of $89,125 in the No-Limit Hold'em event on May 6, 2008. As of June, 2008, John Racener has cashed in 19 events, and made $991,269 through tournament winnings.
John Racener claims he plays more aggressively when he is in the money, and he prefers to get into the final table with chips. He enjoys playing poker and expects bigger hits in the future.