http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-poker24jul24,1,5497329...
He learned how to take 'em at Hold'Em
The Temecula social worker who won $8.25 million playing poker had
been forbidden from playing as a child.
By Tiffany Hsu, Times Staff Writer
July 24, 2007
Some study, some prayer
click to enlargeWhen Temecula social worker Jerry Yang was a child,
his father forbade him to gamble, prohibiting even checkers and dice.
After Yang, 39, married, his wife disapproved of his burgeoning poker
habit.
But he was defiant, and it paid off - big time. Yang won the Texas
Hold'Em title and $8.25 million last week at the World Series of Poker
in Las Vegas. Now his wife, Sue, approves of his playing, a small
victory in itself, Yang said.
The ethnic Hmong immigrant from Laos, a relative rookie, is getting
used to being the world's poker king. He's already bought his wife a
new Cadillac Escalade, set aside college funds for their six children
and pledged 10%% of his windfall to children's charities.
"It feels great. It hasn't sunk in yet, being the world champion,"
Yang said by phone from Central California, where he is vacationing
with his family. "It's like a dream come true."
Nicknamed "The Shadow" for his tendency to surge from the back of the
pack to win, Yang was eighth out of nine players when the final round
began at noon July 17.
After 14 hours, Yang beat Tuan Lam of Ontario, Canada, to win it all -
besting 6,358 players in the tournament.
In May, Yang qualified for his $10,000 World Series spot by buying
into a satellite tournament at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in
Temecula for $225 and winning. He enters tournaments occasionally and
only with small buy-ins, Yang said.
Two years ago, Yang had played only blackjack. He taught himself poker
by watching the World Series on ESPN and reading books before entering
small tournaments in Southern California once a week.
Poker, though, always took a backseat to Yang's children, ages 3 to
12. He said he practiced only by himself, setting up a table with
imaginary players so as not to disturb his family.
"When I have time, I'd rather spend it with my kids," Yang said. "I'd
only play when they went to bed or when my wife was at home watching
them."
Yang's low-key training included one DVD by poker legend Phil Hellmuth
and a handful of poker books, most of which Yang hasn't finished
reading.
Instead, Yang said he relies on his background as a social worker and
his master's degree in health psychology from Loma Linda University to
create a mental picture of each opponent, studying their betting
patterns, their voices and their faces.
When he qualified for the series in May, Yang, a Christian,
incorporated another tactic: praying, which he did visibly at the
final table.
"When we went down to the last two tables, I had the inclination that
I might win," Yang said.
"I knew that if I could just play my best I would have a good shot at
the title."
Once he landed in the finals, Yang was nervous, he said, and
especially afraid of professional player Lee Watkinson, who placed
eighth.
"I went heads up with him and knocked him out, and that relieved me
tremendously," said Yang, who stressed that the players were quiet but
friendly, "not bullies or anything."
