Talk about the American dream; how about 39-year-old Jerry Yang? He and his family show up in the U.S. from Laos almost 30 years ago. Growing up, his parents couldn't even afford to buy him toys when he was a kid. He becomes moderately successful and donates tons of his time to charities. A few months back, he entered a $225 buy-in satellite at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Southern California, with first prize being a seat in the 2007
World Series of Poker main event. Fast-forward to the
WSOP final table, and lo and behold, Yang wins the main event and a staggering $8.25 million at the most international final table ever. Players were from the U.S. (Yang by way of Laos), Canada, Russia, England, South Africa, and Denmark.
Unbelievably, the chip leader - 32-year-old Dane Philip Hilm - going to the final table, with more than $25 million in chips, was the first player eilminated. Of course it is easy for me to say this, but I do not believe that Hilm should have finished any worse than fourth. With the blinds and antes extremely small in comparison to Hilm's massive chip stack, there is no way that he should have exited before midnight (the final table started at noon), unless he suffered a series of bad beats. This was not the case, as Hilm busted himself by 1 p.m., making a massive blunder that will go down in the annals of poker history as one of the biggest "blowups" ever.
With the blinds at $120,000-$240,000, Yang opened for $1 million with A-K, and Hilm called from the small blind with the 8
5
. The flop came K
J
5
, Hilm checked, Yang bet $2 million, and Hilm called. After the 6
hit the turn, Hilm checked, Yang bet $4 million, and Hilm moved all in for about $18 million. Yang called fairly quickly, and when the last card was the 4
, Hilm had blown his chance to become a world champion of poker and take home the $8.25 million first-place prize.
Let's take a closer look at this hand. I like Yang's raise to $1 million with A-K before the flop. I hate Hilm's call with the 8
5
. First of all, he was out of position, meaning that he was first to act the entire hand. Secondly, why play the 8
5
for a raise against anyone, never mind against Yang, who was very aggressive and raising tons of pots. Against Yang, you know he's going to put pressure on you after the flop (by making a big bet), and it is hard to call his bet when the flop comes down 10-5-3, or something similar. Thirdly, you can get yourself into a lot of trouble with a hand like this. Hilm made a good check on the flop, even though he flopped a big hand - a pair and a flush draw. Why bet out? Why not let Yang make a bluff at the $2.3 million pot, or take a free card if Yang checks behind? Yang's $2 million bet was just about perfect. Hilm's call here was a good one, with his big drawing hand.
On the turn, I like Hilm's check. I mean, he has a hand that most of us cannot fold for a decent-sized bet, so why bet out, get raised, and be forced to fold his big drawing hand? I like Yang's $4 million bet - into a $6.3 million pot. Yang is protecting his hand against Hilm calling with a pair of jacks, a straight draw, or a flush draw. I hate Hilm's all-in raise! This was a huge blunder. Why not call Yang's $4 million bet, or even fold? I admit that a fold would have been difficult, but consider this: If he folds, he still has $18 million in chips and a great chance to win the tournament. Or, short of winning, he has a great chance to finish in the top three, and make $3 million for his efforts. By moving all in, if he gets called and loses the pot, he receives only $526,000. Why risk it all on a drawing hand? A call would have been right for most of the world, a fold for a few of us (who can win the tournament without playing that drawing hand), and moving all in was a "donkey" move that we'll be talking about 20 years from now.
The last move in this hand was as impressive as the second-to-last move was awful: I'm speaking of Yang's $14 million call. That call was amazing! Yang could beat only a bluff or a drawing hand, and he risked his whole tournament on that one $14 million call. If Yang had been wrong, he would have suffered some ridicule, but since he was right, a pile of credit should be given to him. Congrats, Jerry, on both an amazing call and for finishing the job and winning the 2007
WSOP.
