Does Jerry Yang stink as a poker player? Anyone who would seriously ask a question like that probably also thinks that Jurassic Park is a documentary. Jerry Yang is the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event champion. Questioning whether or not he is good at the game of poker would be like questioning the outcome of a fight between Godzilla and "Mr. Humphries" from the old British comedy "Are You Being Served?" Of course Yang is an excellent poker player: there are thousands of WSOP also-rans who would attest to this fact. This didn't stop someone from questioning Jerry's skill at the game during a recent tournament.
While playing a tournament in Reno, somebody at the table had told Jerry that he would need to win a second World Series of Poker title to prove that he is "really good". Whoever the bastion of poker wisdom was that uttered these words, he probably didn't notice the 6300 defeated players who became spectators while Yang graciously accepted his bracelet.
Jerry Yang may not win the WSOP Main Event again this year. He will be trying to go back to back against a field big enough to give even the group of 300 Spartans that defended Thermopylae a moment of worry. A loss this year takes nothing away from his accomplishment last year. Also the fact that he had to win his spot into the WSOP Main Event says something about the sort of skills that the man brings to the table.
Jerry Yang handled this attempt to marginalize his skill with his typical good humor and brushed off the offending comments as just another player joking around and the whole thing being "nothing serious". There are players out there who would have responded to the insult in a manner not unlike the Sioux responded to the General Custer.
Jerry is a great player, and has been an excellent ambassador for the sport of poker. Whether he wins again or not, nothing changes those facts.
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