WSOP 2007 - Yang gets his ying

Author: Simon Dexter

The World Series of Poker (or WSOP) drew to its climax last month, but do you know who actually walked off with the near million prize pool?

With its myriad of tournaments encompassing virtually every type of poker game from Texas Hold’Em to Ohama (limit or no limit), it may have been difficult to actually find out who walked off with the coveted prize. Well, wait no longer the winner was Jerry Yang.

Now this is not the Jerry Yang who helped to create the second best search engine in the world (Yahoo), but rather a 39-year-old psychologist from California.

Yang, who reached the final table with one of the lowest chip stacks, blasted his way to victory using an aggressive style of play and his ability to ’smell’ weakness in his opponents. He also needed a lot of luck!

The road to the title began many months previously when Chang entered a local satellite tournament at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California. After battling through various stages, he joined the final table in Las Vegas lying in just eighth place from a field of ten. He quickly established a lead after some aggressive early play and once in front never relinquished his place as chip leader. He took the title when going heads up with Tuan Lam, with his pair of eights proving too strong for his opponents Ace-Queen.

So what was the secret of Yang’s success? Hear what he said after the tournament to the waiting press pack.

“I study my opponents very carefully, and when I sensed something, when I sensed some weakness, I took a chance. Even if I had nothing, I decided to raise, re-raise, push all-in or make a call,” he said.

“The only way that I could win this tournament was by being aggressive from the very beginning and that’s exactly what I did. And thank God I was also able to pick up some good cards at the same time.”

Father of six, Yang, planned to give 10 per cent of his winnings to charity but is not expected to give up his day job as a social worker.

His win was satisfying for many players who attempt to qualify for tournaments online considering he only had to pay just over £100 to take his first steps on the road to poker glory, before walking off with the first prize of near £5 million.