Each year, the eyes of the poker world fall upon a single story. That story is the main event of the
World Series of Poker, and like all great stories, it is a mixture of many elements. Characters emerge, both heroes and villains, smaller stories emerge within the context of the larger one, and even the fans themselves become a part of the larger tale.
At the beginning, the main event is most effectively told by the numbers involved. So, to tell this story, we first will turn to the numbers:
2003 entrants: 839
2006 entrants: 8,773
2007 entrants: 6,583
Just three years after the landmark win of Chris Moneymaker, the tournament field of the main event had grown tenfold. However, in 2007, for just the second time in history, the number of participants in the main event fell (the first time was in 1992, when 201 players entered versus 215 in 1991). The question on everyone's mind at the beginning of the 2007 edition was not whether or not the number of players would fall again, but how much. On Oct. 1, 2006, the U.S. government passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which curbed the booming online poker market. In 2006, online poker sites sent more than 4,400 players to the main event. This year, everyone expected this number to shrink. The topic had become the poker world's version of discussing the weather, and as the spectacle of four "first" days played out, everyone kept a watchful eye on the numbers.
Days One (A)-One (D): The Question on Everyone's Mind
Professional players and amateurs, women, professional athletes, and celebrities from countries all across the world flocked to the Amazon Room at the Rio for their first day of play, of which there would be four. Luke Staudenmaier was the first person knocked out of the field, when he got his chips in the middle with pocket aces and was up against A-K. Another player who busted out of the tournament early in the day lamented to his table, "That was the most expensive Jack and Coke ever," as he walked off with only an empty glass to his tournament name. During the course of 15-hour days and thousands upon thousands of poker hands, anything can happen in the main event. And, in the case of these examples, it did: At one point, a hand was won by a straight flush over an ace-high flush over a king-high flush. Ryan Daut met a particularly cruel end when his quad eights fell to another straight flush.
Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan are two legends who loomed large, even in a tournament with thousands of players, but neither survived his day-one flight. This ensured that Phil Hellmuth would hold on to his record of the most gold bracelets (11) for at least one year. Hellmuth also would not survive his first-day flight, but he almost didn't appear altogether. Hellmuth was not in his seat when the day began, which came as no surprise, due to his frequent disregard for the rules of punctuality. For once, he had an excuse, though; he had crashed a race car in the parking lot of his hotel the previous day in a promotion for UltimateBet. He ran into the concrete base of a light pole. The car was totaled, and Hellmuth suffered whiplash, but he showed up to fight the good fight. He even wore the racing suit from the prior day's mishap.
Amongst these stories, and many other bad beats, lucky draws, and both stellar and plain appalling poker play, the afternoon of day one (D) approached, and an important announcement was made. The final group of contestants had swelled the field to 6,583 players, representing a 25 percent decline from 2007. This meant that first-place prize money would be a robust $8.25 million. The final five players all would leave with at least a cool million, while every player at the final table would make more than half a million. The sky didn't fall, the professionals still came, the fans still flocked, and the cameras still rolled. Yes, it was less than last year, but $8.25 million is still the most impressive payday in sports for the year 2007.
Day Two (A) and Two (B): Fork in the Road
After all of the hoopla of the first four days came to a close, 2,340 players returned for two flights of day-two play. The circus was over, and attention turned to the serious play of poker.
These two days were especially harsh on the professionals who remained in the field, and they dropped like flies. Day two also set up the emerging cast for the 2007
WSOP main event. At the end of days two (A) and two (B), a familiar face was the leading man, Gus Hansen. He had amassed $622,300 to claim the title of "king of the mountain." There was also a familiar group of his colleagues at the top, in the form of Kenny Tran, Bill Edler, and Sorel Mizzi, who all held more than $450,000. There were also some who at the time were minor players. Hevad "Rain" Khan, Tuan Lam, Mikkel Madsen, Raymond Rahme, and Jerry Yang could have been written off as rich extras at the time (all of them held close to $400,000 or more), but by the end of the story, each of them would become an indispensable leading character.
Day Three: All Together Now
On "day three," which was actually the seventh day of play, 797 players united in a single field for the first time. Among them were six world champions: Berry Johnston ('86), Huck Seed ('96), Scotty Nguyen ('98), Chris Ferguson ('00), Carlos Mortensen ('01), and Robert Varkonyi ('02). Ferguson would end up bowing out early in the first hour of play when he pushed all in with the A
5
, but he could not catch up to his opponent's pocket queens.
Fifteen hands of hand-for-hand play at the money bubble were the order of the day early. Ted Forrest was lost on the first of these hands, while John Sigan of Strongsville, Ohio, was busted out on the 15th. He claimed the dubious distinction of this year's bubble boy, finishing in 622nd place. His pocket queens were cracked by Vandy Krouch's 6
5
. All 621 players who remained would walk away with at least $20,320.
The first player to cross the $1 million mark did so on day three, and it was none other than the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. fifth-place finisher, Kenny Tran. Tran scooped a monster pot while eliminating event No. 15 runner-up Andy Philachack. Both players checked the 9
8
7
flop. When the J
hit on the turn, Philachack bet $20,000, Tran raised to $60,000, Philachack reraised to $120,000, and Tran moved all in. After Philachack called, there was more than $1 million in the pot, and Philachack was drawing slim, as he held the K
10
to Tran's Q
10
. The river card was the J
and Tran surged to the top of the leader board.
Dario Minieri finished as the day-three chip leader. He began the day with $343,700, but was extremely busy in the early going. At times, he played multiple hands in a row, and just a few hours into play, the well-known Internet pro, who was the first player to rack up enough PokerStars frequent-player points to be awarded a free Porsche, held more than $600,000. He pressed on the accelerator during the money bubble, and his hyperaggressive style helped him become the first player to eclipse the $2 million mark.
Here were the chip leaders after day three:
Dario Minieri: $2,398,000
Jeff Weiss: $1,533,000
Jon Kalmar: $1,410,000
Hevad "Rain" Khan: $1,319,000
Kenny Tran: $1,175,000
Day Four: An International Affair
Day four started with 337 players remaining, and almost a quarter of them came from outside the borders of the United States. Twenty-seven different nations were still represented at this late stage of the tournament, which shows just how popular the game of poker continues to get worldwide, and just how diverse the game has become.
The diversity of the field broke not only international boundaries, but the boundaries of human perception, as well. Hal Lubarksy, who is legally blind, outlasted more than 6,000 people to finish in 193rd place on day four. Lubarsky's achievement was truly remarkable, and it was only fitting that he was introduced to the crowd and cheered loudly at the final table a few days later.
On the felt, the night played on and online players continued to do well. Khan and Minieri continued to hold large stacks, but many players had joined them in the millionaires club, most notably Dag Mikkelsen, who managed to build his large stack to more than $3 million.
Here were the chip leaders after day four:
Dag Mikkelsen: $3,740,000
Charis Anastasiou: $2,672,000
Richard Harris: $2,662,000
Avi Cohen: $2,392,000
Jeffrey Tunkel: $2,323,000
Day Five: The Pressure Builds
The 112 remaining players took their seats on day five, and those players included former world champions Huck Seed and Scotty Nguyen, as well as Humberto Brenes, Lee Watkinson, Kirk Morrison, Chad Brown, Daniel Alaei, Bill Edler, Jared Hamby, Dario Minieri, and Gus Hansen. Minieri, who not only held a large chip stack but also was the chip leader at certain points of the tournament, was eliminated.
Brenes was eliminated in 83rd place, and continued to prove his skills as a big-time tournament professional by finishing deep in the top 100 of the two largest poker tournaments in history, in back-to-back years (he finished 36th in 2006). Brenes was joined on the rail before the day ended by Hansen, Seed, Brandon Adams, and Julian Gardner, as well as the last woman standing, Maria Ho, who finished in 38th place.
Over the course of day five, Khan found lots of camera time as he celebrated each and every pot he won with rabid enthusiasm. His celebration dance, which was part running man, part rain dance, and part victory lap, worked, as he ended the day with more than $7.5 million.
Here were the chip leaders after day five:
David Tran: $10,280,000
Philip Hilm: $9,950,000
Ray Henson: $8,250,000
Hevad "Rain" Khan: $7,585,000
Kevin Farry: $7,400,000
Day Six: The Drive for Nine
Alex Kravchenko, Bill Edler, Kenny Tran, Lee Watkinson, Daniel Alaei, and former main-event winner Scotty Nguyen were all still alive among a field of 36 at the beginning of day six. Alaei was the first of these remaining names to go, in 25th place, when he moved all in preflop with the A
Q
and ran into Jon Kalmar's A
K
. Edler would fall a few hands later in 23rd place. This was the conclusion of a very strong
WSOP for Edler, who won a bracelet and more than $900,000 in this year's $5,000 sixhanded no-limit hold'em event. Tran was the next of these players to hit the rail in 16th place. He ran into the rivered club flush of John Kalmar, who used the profits from the hand to jump into the chip lead.
The next big elimination was the one that no one watching wanted to see. Nguyen, the "Prince of Poker," would soon ride into the darkness of night after a series of destructive hands. In the first, Tuan Lam raised from the small blind to $480,000 and Nguyen reraised to $1,480,000 from the big blind. Lam made the call, and the flop fell K
5
4
. Lam checked, and Nguyen bet $700,000. Lam elected to call, and the turn was the K
. Both players checked, and the river brought the J
. Lam led for $1 million and Nguyen promptly raised to $3.5 million. This sent Lam deep into the tank, and after almost five minutes, he made the call. Nguyen shook his head and showed down the 4
3
. Lam rolled over the 10
10
for a better two pair, which delivered him a pot worth $11,460,000.
Hilm then doubled up his remaining $6,845,000 with a set of threes, courtesy of Nguyen. The 1998 world champion now held only $1.35 million, and made his exit one orbit later after Hilm raised to $480,000 from under the gun and Nguyen made the call from the big blind. The flop came K
7
3
, and Nguyen pushed all in for his remaining chips. Hilm called with the K
Q
and Nguyen showed down the 10
9
. The board did not bring a third club and Nguyen was eliminated just short of making his second final-table appearance.
One more player needed to fall, but no one was going down quietly, as play tightened. The final hand was dealt at 4:10 a.m., when the short stack, Steven Garfinkle, moved all in for his final $3,515,000 from middle position. He was called by Raymond Rahme from the small blind. Garfinkle turned over the A
3
, but Rahme rolled over pocket queens. The board brought the K
Q
J
6
2
, and Garfinkle was eliminated on the final-table bubble.
Final Table: The Main Event of the Main Event
The final table looked like a World Cup match at certain points, with the flags of Canada, Denmark, South Africa, and the United States flying high in the crowd. The countries of origin for the final nine players were just as varied as their chip counts heading into play:
Here were the seating assignments, chip counts, and domiciles for the players:
The action itself played out in a flurry of eliminations during the early going, as Jerry Yang won 30 of the first 80 hands and eliminated the first four players at the table. At one point, he held more than half of the chips in play, and it looked as if he might run away with the final table. Yang eliminated, in order, Hilm in ninth place, Watkinson in eighth place, Childs in seventh place, and Khan in sixth place. The majority of the time, Yang held the best hand when he and his opponent got all of the chips into the pot, but even when he did not, things went his way. The man who started the day second to the last in chips was now the favorite to win. He would have to pass his hardest test of the tournament if he hoped to win, though.
The chip leader going to the final table, Hilm, was first to go. On a board of K
J
5
2
, Yang bet $4 million and Hilm moved all in. Yang made the call and flipped over the A
K
. Hilm showed the 8
5
. The river brought the 6♣ and Yang was now the overwhelming chip leader with a third of the chips in play, more than $44 million.
Next, Watkinson was bounced in eighth place. Everyone folded to Yang in the small blind, and he made a $1 million raise. Watkinson pushed all in for $8,715,000 more. Yang made the call after an extended period of consideration, and Watkinson revealed the A
7
, which was dominated by Yang's A
9
. The board brought Watkinson no help and he won $585,699 for his finish.
Childs was Yang's next victim. In the small blind, Childs raised to $720,000 total and Yang moved all in. Childs called, and his K
J
had Yang's J
8
dominated. But, with the board dealt 6
4
4
8
9
, Childs was sent to the rail in seventh place, earning $705,229. Yang now held almost half of the chips in play.
Yang continued his hot streak, eliminating Khan shortly thereafter. Yang raised to $1.5 million from middle position and Khan reraised to $6 million from the small blind, leaving him with only $3.44 million. Yang called, Khan moved all in dark, and after the K
4
2
flop, Yang made the call with pocket jacks. Khan's A
Q
didn't connect, and he was eliminated in sixth place, earning $956,243.
The Final Four: The Never-Ending Story
After Kalmar was eliminated in fifth place by Rahme, all three of the remaining players doubled up through Yang. At one point, several hours into the fourhanded battle, the chip counts looked like this:
Raymond Rahme: $36,600,000
Alex Kravchenko: $20,325,000
Jerry Yang: $41,625,000
Tuan Lam: $28,925,000
A total of 107 hands were played between these four contestants over seven-and-a-half hours. That was until Kravchenko was eliminated in fourth place at 1 a.m. His A
K
did not hold up against the pocket eights of Yang, and the Russian was sent packing with a $1,852,721 consolation prize.
Rahme fell during the next half-hour. He reraised the initial $2.6 million bet of Yang to $8.6 million. Yang made the call, and the flop brought the A
J
8
. Rahme checked, and Yang fired out a $10 million bet. Rahme moved all in, and Yang went into the tank to consider his largest decision of the tournament. Yang made the call, and Rahme flipped over pocket kings. Yang pumped both of his fists and rolled over the A
5
. The final two cards brought no help to Rahme, and he was sent home in third place with $3,048,025.
Heads Up for $8.25 Million
The heads-up match began with Yang holding nearly a 5-to-1 chip advantage. After a half-hour of Yang applying constant pressure, his lead swelled to a 12-to-1 advantage. Lam would double up once, with 4-3 against Yang's A-9, when he flopped a 4. It would be the last time that he would double up through Yang for the rest of the night, though. The final hand came down in dramatic fashion, and it delivered a healthy, deserved dose of poker vindication:
Yang raised to $2.3 million and Lam moved all in. Yang called quickly and turned over pocket eights, while Lam showed the A
Q
. As it had countless times before in the tournament, a coin flip would determine the winner of a hand, this time for $8.25 million. If you watched only the crowd, it appeared that the U.S. and Canadian hockey teams were about to have a shootout for Olympic gold. Canadian flags waved throughout the crowd, while deafening chants of "USA, USA, USA" roared. The flop came Q
9
5
, and Lam's supporters exploded in triumph; he had scored the first goal of the shootout. Things got interesting when the turn brought the 7
, and Yang picked up some outs. He now could win with any 8 or 6. The river brought the 6
, which gave Yang a straight, and half the room exploded in pandemonium. Yang was embraced by his supporters and the crowd again broke into victorious chants of "USA, USA, USA!"
Yang was now the proud owner of a gold bracelet, $8.25 million, and the title of world champion. He had eliminated seven of his eight opponents at the final table to accomplish the feat in impressive fashion.
Equally impressive was the gracious nature of the new champion. He took time to thank God, the
WSOP staff, all of his sponsors, and everyone in attendance after his victory.
Yang was born in Laos and lived there until he attempted an escape from the Communist regime. He was captured on his first attempt, and feared for his life daily, as death threats and abuse became commonplace. His second escape attempt was successful, and he fled into Thailand successfully. He then spent time in a refugee camp before he came to America.
"The day I first came to America, I found freedom. That was the happiest day of my life."
Certainly, the day of his victory was his second. After the final table concluded, Yang announced his intention to donate 10 percent of his winnings to charities. "I know what it's like to be poor," said Yang. He will evenly distribute his money to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Feed the Children, and Ronald McDonald House charities. "I can use this money to do a lot of good for people out there," said Yang, the new reigning world champion.
Words of a World Series of Poker Champion: Jerry Yang
His Final-Table Strategy:
"In order to win, I need to have a strategy, and that strategy was to be aggressive at the beginning. I knew that some of my opponents were a little tight."
His Goals as Champion:
"I have some other goals that I want to accomplish by doing some charity work, and maybe some missionary work. That's what I plan to do, so I will probably be overseas, back and forth. I will still play poker, and I will still support poker. I would like to be a good ambassador for poker, that's my goal."
His Charity Donations:
"I graduated from Loma Linda University and I remember the Ronald McDonald House over there. They lack a lot of funds. People come to the university for chemo treatment. They have little kids who suffer from leukemia, and these families can't afford to stay in a motel or hotel, so the only place they can stay is a Ronald McDonald House. I want to donate some of these monies to help those families ease some of their pain while they're going through the recovery process."
"Children mean a lot to me; I have six kids of my own. … As a child myself … when I came through the refugee camp, I understand how bad it is to suffer physically and nutritionally. I used to have a big stomach when I was in Thailand in a refugee camp, because we didn't have good nutrition. I think children are our future, and we should do whatever we can to help him."
His Current Job (Psychologist and Social Worker for Foster Kids):
"My gut feeling at this point is … I think there are better preferences for me out there, and I want to use the money to do something. … I will be professional and will probably give my two weeks' notice."
His Heads-Up Opponent, Tuan Lam:
"I sensed that he was waiting for some good cards, and was trying to trap me. … I kind of knew when he had a good hand, and a bad hand. So, that's why when I sensed that he didn't have a good hand, even though I had four-deuce or ten-eight, when I had the button, I raised anyway, and he dropped a lot of blinds."
His Faith in God:
"I truly believe that God brought my family to Thailand and to America, and now we have a better life. I can't ask for more; this is the greatest country in the world. You can worship … you can go to some other country on the Asian continent and you can't even worship; you can't even read the Bible. The Communist people burn your Bible. My uncle, [whom] I just sponsored from Laos, came through the political asylum program. … He witnessed the soldiers [who] went to their villages and burned their Bibles right in front of them, tortured them, chased them, tried to kill them. They want them to worship their religion and not Christianity, so hopefully I can make a little difference."
His Faith and Poker:
"To be honest with you, my parents never really liked that I play poker; in fact, they're against it. My father said, 'God is against gambling.' But, in my mind, I think it's how you use the end results … especially the money I have [motioning to the $8.25 million in cash behind him]. If you use that for a good purpose, support your family, give to the needy people, do something good, that is my whole prayer. This whole time, this whole tournament, I said, 'Lord, you help me win and I will use the money wisely, fruitfully, and not only to benefit my family, but to benefit the people who need the help, also.'"
