Sports Gambling

The Jerry Yang story plays especially well in Las Vegas, not only because his life changed here, but it reinforces the very reason many still dream the dream.

“I had never thought poker was the right game for me until watching Phil Hellmuth and Joe Hasham on TV in 2005,” said Yang, who just two years later won the World Series of Poker main event – turning $225 into $8.2 million.

“I first discovered the game of poker when Chris Moneymaker became an icon of Internet gaming,” he told GamingToday in a recent interview from his California home. “When Hasham won the WSOP, I watched the way he played and his body gestures. I knew then I could play this game.”

Yang describes his humble beginnings in Laos in his upcoming book “All-In” to be released in late June shortly before this year’s World Series of Poker begins at the Rio in early July.

Yang writes in his book of his days growing up in Laos, a nation ravaged in poverty and political instability.

“Things were so bad in my life that at one point I was literally passed out in the streets of Thailand, homeless and sick,” he said. “God brought me back from the dead.”

Yang brought his family to Medera near Fresno, California and opened a restaurant. He has dedicated his life to helping others less fortunate through contributions to the Make A Wish Foundation, Ronald McDonald House and Feed The Children.

“You have to have to a good relationship with your spouse and family support,” he said of his success. “Both have to be on the same page. I told my wife I would never spend more than five percent of our money on poker.”

Even when he won the WSOP bracelet in 2007, he said in a post match interview, “Hey, you can come to America. That was the happiest day of my life.”

The fact Yang won poker’s most prestigious title two years after first taking the game up gives every person who plays inspiration that it could happen to them.

“I play live tournaments and I play on the Internet,” he said. “My favorite game is no limit and I’ll get on line when my kids are in bed. I’m a father of six.”

Self taught, Yang read Doyle Brunson books on poker to formulate his strategy, which comes from his background as a psychologist and social worker.

“I have a Masters degree in health psychology,” he said. “I’m known as The Shadow because I play more of a mental game like Chris Ferguson. I became The Shadow because Jesus was already taken.”

On current issues such as poker on the Internet and the WSOP creating a November Nine, Yang is an advocate of both.

“I totally support online gaming,” he said. “It has produced so many outstanding players and energized our sport. The November Nine was good marketing strategy. It gives people something to look forward to, like the buildup to a championship fight.”

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