The 2007 WSOP Jerry Yang Wins!!

Long gone are the days when the WSOP was an exclusive US poker tournament, and this years final table backed that up with a united nations of players represented. The countries of origin of the final 9 players were as follows:

Seat No. 1: Raymond Rahme: South Africa
Seat No. 2: Alex Kravchenko: Russia
Seat No. 3: Lee Childs: US
Seat No. 4: Jerry Yang: Laos (Current Residence: Temecula , CA )
Seat No. 5: Lee Watkinson: US
Seat No. 6: Tuan Lam: Vietnam (Current Residence: ( Ontario , Canada )
Seat No. 7: Phillip Hilm: Denmark (Current Residence: Cambridge , U.K. )
Seat No. 8: Jon Kalmar: U.K.
Seat No. 9: Hevad “Rain” Khan: U.S.

The action was fast and furious which resulted in a flurry of eliminations in the early going, as Jerry Yang won 30 of the first 80 hands, and built a huge lead with his chip stack. It looked as if he might run away with the final table in the way that Jamie Gold did in 2006. However Lady luck had other ideas. After Jon Kalmar was eliminated in fifth place, each of the three remaining players, Alex Kravchenko, Raymond Rahme, and Tuan Lam all doubled up via Yang. The final four battled it out for the next eight hours, and it looked like the final table might turn into the never-ending story. During those eight hours of poker, 107 hands were played between these four contestants. That was until Kravchenko was eliminated in fourth place on the 107th hand, at 1 in the morning. Raymond Rahme fell during the next half hour and a heads-up battle was set between Yang and Lam.

The heads-up match began with Yang holding a nearly 5-to-1 chip advantage. The two played into another break, and by that point Yang had applied constant pressure to possess a nearly 12-to-1 chip 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 anyone would double up through Yang for the rest of the night. The final hand came down in dramatic fashion, and it delivered a healthy, deserved dose of poker vindication:

Jerry Yang Wins the 2007 WSOP Main Event ($8,250,000)

After a 16-hour odyssey, Jerry Yang has emerged as the last man standing in the 2007 WSOP. On the final hand, Yang raised to $2.3 million and Lam moved all in. Yang called quickly and tabled 8 8, while Lam showed A Q. Both players cheered with their respective sections, celebrating their coin flip. Lam grabbed the Canadian flag and started waving it, while Yang's supporters chanted, " USA , USA , USA !" Their chants didn't change the flop, as it came Q 9 5. Lam's supporters exploded in triumph, but as every player knows, there are still two more cards to come. Yang picked up some outs when the turn brought the 7, and he could with any 8 or 6. The river brought the 6, giving Yang the straight and the WSOP title. He was embraced by his supporters as the rest of the crowd again chanted, " USA , USA , USA !" He took down $8.250 million and the world championship bracelet for his efforts. Lam won the second-place prize money of $4,840,981, and the envy of Canadians as well as poker players across the globe.

Yang was a gracious champion and he took time to thank God, the WSOP staff, all his sponsors, and everyone in attendance after his victory. “I just can’t explain the feelings inside me. I just thank my God,” said Yang. He then announced his intention to donate 10 percent of his winnings evenly 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.