2007 WSOP Diary: Psyched Out

  It's all over: this is good news for a couple of reasons. First of all we have finally crowned a new World Series of Poker Champion and put an end to all the sleepless nights, bad food, arguments over bar tabs, and that pesky sense of anticipation that has persisted for over a week. Second, members of the media no longer have to suffer the embarrassment of being approached by women who are way out of our league only to be thrown back like undersized fish when they notice our press badges and realize we are not actually players. It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't vigorously apply salt to the wound by cackling and exclaiming, "You work for the press? You don't have any money!" They are right of course, but for the sake of our self-esteem they should just keep it to themselves.  Speaking of self-esteem and other issues that involve a comfy couch, the fetal position, and somebody making $120 an hour trying to get you to talk about your mother, the World Series of Poker Main Event Champion is 39-year-old psychologist Jerry Yang.  This Gen X poker playing machine approached the game in much the same way that the Galactic Empire approached the destruction of Alderaan: cold, professionally dispassionate, and completely devastating. Jerry took the skills that made him a good mental health professional and applied them to the game of poker.  While others pride themselves on their ability to "read" another player, Yang has made a living at breaking down the psyche of others, and used this ability to his advantage.  Jerry Yang started the day near the back of the pack, ranking only eighth out of nine players in regards to who had the most chips. As the owner of only 8.45 million chips, the only one who could look up him with anything that resembled chip envy was Alex Kravchenko who was only working with 6.57 million of the little plastic disks. This meant that Yang was way off the radar of the top three players at the table who all had over 20 million chips to their names.  In a comeback that gives hope to anybody who has uttered the words, "It's not the size that matters, but how you use it", Jerry Yang not only came from the back of the pack, but he ran over and through the entire table like an M1 Abrams tank through a Ritz Cracker. Before anyone knew what was going on he had personally eliminated seven other players and was head to head with Mississauga, Ontario's Tuan Lam.  Nobody had any illusions how this was going to turn out. After stomping through the other seven players, Yang now had 104.5 million in chips to Lam's 23.0 million. This was going to be like a battle between Goliath and a Prairie Dog.  Of course in a tournament where anything can happen, misplaced optimism is part of the game. The final hand featured Tuan Lam all in and literally waving the Canadian flag after the flop had come down as a queen, five and nine. The Queen on the board: ... matched the one in his hand: ... and gave him a pair of Queens that put him well ahead of Yang's pocket eights: ... As any fan of Canadian Hockey has learned, the Maple Leaf would not fly in victory for very long. A seven on the turn: ... and a six on the river: ... gave Yang a straight, and Laos native became the new World Series of Poker Main Event Champion.  His win is good news for more than he and his immediate family. He has pledged 10% of winnings to charity. Specifically he will be making very large donations to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Feed the Children, the Ronald McDonald House and his alma mater, Loma Linda University.  We congratulate Jerry Yang on his dramatic come from behind win and are grateful for his generosity in victory.