Jerry Yang – WSOP Main Event Winner 2007
By Poker.com
Jerry Yang called himself a ‘true rookie’ before winning the 2007 World Series of Poker main event.
A virtual unknown before the event, he equalled Jamie Gold’s record of eliminating 7 of the 8 other players at the final table in a very agressive performance, calling virtually every all in against him.
After entering the final table as the 2nd shortest stack, Yang took the chip lead a few hours into play and never looked back. His final hand was one of the most exciting in recent memory, with Yang needing a 8 or a 6 on the river to win. A 6 hit, giving him the straight on a gutshot draw, defeating Tuan Lam’s pair of queens.
Yang first travelled America from Laos, as a refugee of the Vietnam war. Before even winning the main event he pledged 10% of his winnings to charity.
The father of six turned a $225 satellite entry into $US 8.25 million, and went into the history books as a WSOP champion.
Jerry played the 2007 WSOP as a member of Full Tilt Poker’s team of pros.
Yang famously mismanaged his finances, failing to pay taxes on his WSOP winnings. Subsequently the Inland Revenue Services seized his Corum main event bracelet along with other jewelry to be auctioned off to the public in order to pay Yang’s outstanding tax-bill of $571,894.54 !
Jerry Yang’s Poker Career Highlights
- 2007 WSOP main event winner- $8.25 million
- Originally from Laos and has 6 children
Jerry Yang Quotes:
“As a father of six, you don’t have a lot of money to play poker, So I played whenever I have a little chance here and there, and so far I have been successful.”
“The communists invaded my country back in the ’70s. My family immigrated to Thailand. In fact, we escaped. We got caught by the communists once. It was either be killed or try to escape again. We managed to escape to Thailand and I spent the next four years in a refugee camp.”
“I lived in the mountains, very, very poor,” he said. “I didn’t own a ball or marbles. Whenever my parents killed a pig, we would use the bladders and blow it up and use it as a ball to play. That’s how poor I was.”
“Coming into this country was a great opportunity. I love this country,”
Team Full Tilt Members
Poker.com Team
