More on Yang

This guy is already one of my favorite poker players!

From Gary Wise's Blog at ESPN.com:

Poker is a lonely game. We come to the table, one player vs. an army and fend off the attacks of all comers. People may offer their services as single-serving friends as commonalities are discovered, but even they're eyeing your stack, and what's more, you know they are.

Today's final table would consist of nine lonely men if not for Jerry Yang's faith. "Am I playing for a higher purpose? Absolutely."

The father of six, with charity and missionary credits on his resume, is a Methodist of the most devout kind; a man who put his life, faith and belief in God, trusting the higher power will know better what to do with such things.

"If I win, I still won't be a full-time poker player," Yang told me on a break after notching his third elimination of the day, his Js-8s outlasting Lee Childs' K-J. "I'll donate 10 percent of my winnings to charity and accept the title with honor, but there are more important things than poker."

What could possibly be more important than poker? Family. His six kids are here cheering dad on. Charity. He'll be making donations to Ronald McDonald House, Make A Wish and other similar institutions. Missionary work. He plans on taking advantage of the WSOP bounty by using his time to help others. It's a noble idea from what seems like a noble man who could make for a most noble champion.

Of course, Yang's devotion is going to inspire some interesting debate about God's place in poker. In an industry built on mathematical logic, prayer has mostly been held off save for those desperate souls seeking help on hitting a two-outer or to those looking to blame the greater power that causes that two-outer to fell them. Jerry Yang, then, could be ushering in an entirely new era. It sure looks like he is thus far.

There are people who will criticize Yang. It's the nature of jealousy that we find reasons to hate those who have the things we want to have. Seasoned players will denounce Yang, refuting his spiritualism as silly. After all, these are people who have dedicated their lives to a pursuit of logic, deflecting the all-too-human longings for a belief that luck can be affected to constantly do the mathematically correct thing. They would tell you that there's no room in poker for spirituality.

Yang may now be showing us there's room for both poker and prayer in one life. He's Moneymaker with a PhD and a bible, an everyman who can't believe he's here and who has faith in his understanding as to why he is. Were we predicting Jerry Yang would be our champion a year ago? A month ago? A day ago? No, but that's the beauty of the game. Any two cards, any one man or woman, can win.

WSOP Champ: Jerry Yang

Text from PokerNews.com:

Well, that's all folks. The crowds have come and gone, the cards have fallen, and a Champion was crowned. Jerry Yang will make a fantastic poker ambassador. His dominance of the final table was reminiscent of Jamie Gold's performance last year, however his victory speech was a polar opposite. Jerry is a naturally humble guy, with a firm faith and a deep respect of his fellow man. He pledged to donate 10% of his winnings to charity, and said that he wanted to give something back to the community. He was very appreciative, and thanked Jeffrey Pollack and his staff for all their hard work throughout the Series. He thanked his wife, who he said worked very hard, but "does not have to work anymore!", and said he was going to ensure his six children received the best education.After all the cameras and bright lights subsided, we caught a glimpse of a real guy, with a solid foundation who loves his family - a true Champion.

I am MUCH happier than I was last year after the main event, because it seems as though a genuine class act, and perhaps a Christian, has won the main event. Watching his exit interview showed that this guy has his head on straight, and as it says above, will be a great ambassador of the next year!

The Final Table, My Two Picks

C'mon Brant - Pick two horses for Tuesday's final table.

I'll take Lee Watkinson and Jon Kalmar (I'll leave you the hottest player at that table- Kravchenko, who has five cashes and one bracelet this year.

Here are the chip counts for the final table:

1. Philip Hilm - 22,070,000
2. Tuan Lam - 21,315,000
3. Jon Kalmar - 20,320,000
4. Raymond Rahme - 16,320,000
5. Lee Childs - 13,240,000
6. Lee Watkinson - 9,925,000
7. Hevad "Rain" Khan - 9,205,000
8. Jerry Yang - 8,450,000
9. Alex Kravchenko - 6,570,000

Final Update: My Ten

I didn't do so bad, if I do say so myself

1. Scotty Nguyen - 11th
2. Kenny Tran - 16th
3. Bill Elder - 23rd
4. Gus Hansen - 61st
5. Humberto Brenes - 83rd
6. Dario Minieri - 96th
7. Chad Brown - 97th
8. Robert Varkoni - 177th
9. Sorel Mizzi - 208th
10. Carlos Mortensen - 217th

And others....

I'm also rooting for these notables still in the field:

1. Spiderman himself, Tobey Maguire
2. Sim Simon, one of the executive producers of the Simpsons
3. Mimi Tran (it would be cool for a woman to make the final table)
4. Hal Lubarsky - A blind man who, through the help of an assistant whispering his cards and the actions around the table into his ear, has survived more than 95% of the field.

Another notable is Godsmack lead singer Sully Erna, who has cashed in the Main Event for the second straight year. Pretty impressive.

Update: Sam Simon, Tobey Maguire and Mimi Tran have all been eliminated (1:30 PST)

The Final Push

Here are my ten ponies for the end of the WSOP:

1. Dario Minieri
2. Gus Hansen
3. Bill Elder
4. Humberto Brenes
5. Sorel Mizzi
6. Chad Brown
7. Robert Varkoni
8. Scott Nguyen
9. Carlos Mortensen
10. Kenny Tran

I took three former world champs, is that wrong?

Day Two complete

After six days of poker, Day Two is complete in the WSOP Main Event. Daniel Negreanu went out towards the end of day 2B, leaving me with just Paul Wasicka making it to day three. Brant has lost all five of his guys, so I guess I win!

UPDATE: Oops. I missed Paul Wasicka's bust out hand. So it's a split pot for Brant and I.

I propose that we re-draw at the end of Day Three, each picking ten players? Who's in?

Day 1D Update

And I couldn't be happier...

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 21:37:33
2006 WSOP World Champion Jamie Gold Eliminated


Later, Luck Sack!

Main Event Update

Day 1B - Jeff Lisandro Eliminated

Day 1C - Phil Ivey Eliminated

Nick: 4 Left
Brant: 4 Left

Fantasy Main Event

Here are my five:

1. Daniel
2. Greg Raymer
3. Freddy Deeb
4. Paul Wasicka
5. Jeffrey Lisandro

The Main Event

The WSOP main event starts today. Lots of questions waiting to be answered:

How many people will be in the field? Some predict another record (upwards of 10,000 entrants). Some predict that with the online poker laws killing online satellites, the numbers will plummet (Full Tilt Poker alone send more than 1000 players to the tournament last year).

Who will Win? Will it be a professional? It hasn't been for five years. Will it be a good amateur who goes onto have a productive poker career (like Joe Hachem and Greg Raymer) or will it be a fluke player, who goes on to have a joke of a poker career (like Chris Moneymaker and Jamie Gold)?

Will my wife get down to the Rio and get any pictures of any recognizable poker players?!?!?

Will ANY of my favorite players cash?

Just who ARE my favorite players? I've thought about that one lately. I'll post my top-20 sometime during the 14-day long Main Event.

Texas Dolly Goes for #11

The final table of the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship began at 2:30 today. Doyle Brunson, arguably THE greatest player in the history of poker, and the true father of the modern poker boom, starts the day fifth in chips, looking for his 11th World Series of Poker Braclet, which will tie him with Phil Hellmuth for the most all-time.

Doyle is the author of Super-System and Super-System II, the former of which was featured in Rounders as one of the stashes of cash for Matt Damon. Needless to say, Doyle is among the top of my favorite poker players. I love watching him play more than anyone else, because of how amazingly and creatively he plays. There is a reason he was able to win TWO world championships with a 10-2 off-suit, the hand which is known as the Doyle Brunson.

Good Luck Dolly!

I'm a donkey

Call it rust, call it I'm dead money. Call it the luck-sack at my table...I didn't play very well tonight. Sure, I started out just fine. I had flopped a straight on the first hand and turned a full house on the second hand, quickly doubling up my original 3000 chips. Then I spent the next hour pissing away my chips. There was one player at the table (the type of player i hate to play with), a calling station that beat me in big pots twice with hands she had no business being in to begin with (out of position with 5-6 off-suit to hit a straight on the river, that was my favorite). I survived to the first break with just 1000 chips, with blinds at 100/200. The very first hand, i had my favorite hand, as mentioned previously, mullets (pocket 7s). I went all-in under the gun and had no callers, winning the blinds. I lost the blinds back in my blind, and survived to the end of the round with my same 1000.

With 2 minutes before the end of the round and two hands away from what would be 400 in the big blind, I knew I had to go all-in in the next three hands. I look down and see just one of my cards, an Ace. I go All in. Lady Luck-Sack calls me with pocket tens, I flip and see a jack, so my AJ vs. 10-10 is a race. I get a jack on flop, so I figure I'm doubling up, except the flop comes J-8-7, giving her a straight draw. The nine came on the river to give her the straight and bust me out of the tourney.

No matter what happened, it was nice to get out for some daddy time (although it was only for 1 1/2 hours), and actually play brick-and-mortar poker. Maybe I'll get a little cash for my birthday, so I can play again.