Jerry Yang

Has anyone ever won the World Series of Poker main event with pocket aces?

No. Well as far as we know because what Johnny Moss won with was not saved for posterity. But for the 35 winners we do know about, no one has won with pocket rockets.

Has anyone ever lost the WSOP main event with pocket aces?

Yes,in fact it has happened twice.

In 1979, Bobby Hoff had AA and lost to Hal Fowler's 7s6d.
In 2001, Dewey Tomko had AA and lost to Carlos Mortensen with KcQc.

Other notable final hands:

Greg Raymer (2004) and Jerry Yang (2007) both had pocket 8s on the final hand.

In both 1976 and 1977, Doyle Brunson's winning hand was 10-2.

Dan Harrington (1995) and Huck Seed (1996) won back-to-back with 9d8d.

In 1999, Noel Furlong held 55 and Alan Goehring had 66 but the fives won.

Bobby Baldwin (1978) and Tom McEvoy (1983) both won with pocket queens.

Sailor Roberts (1975) and Phil Hellmuth (1989) held 99 on their final hand.

And the worst starting hand to ever win?

Well we know a lot of the "final" hands involve big stacks calling with any two but that being acknowledged-in 1992, Hamid Dastmalchi held 8h4s and won the first prize of a million dollars.

[UPDATE November 21: Jerry ran into some visa problems leaving the US and was not able to play in Macau event]

Jerry Yang, poker’s reigning WSOP champion, will join PokerStars for the Asia Pacific Poker Tour event in Macau, which takes place from November 22-27 at the Grand Waldo Hotel and Casino on the Chinese island of Macau.

Jerry apparently has signed a deal with PokerStars, although details are not being released. He will be playing several events in Macau. This represents the first major tournament Jerry has participated in since winning the main event of the World Series of Poker, this past July. First place for that win was $8.25 million.

Jerry represents yet another "type" of WSOP Champion. Each year the definition of a WSOP Champion seems to expand beyond what we have had in the past. Jerry's interests seem to lay far outside the poker arena.

Some had speculated that he might actually retire after his WSOP win. What comes after Macau for Jerry Yang remains open to speculation. Whither goes the World Series Champion post Macau?

Asian Week magazine ran a featured story on World Series of Poker Champion, Jerry Yang. The article suggests that the refugee life and the psychological imprint that left on Jerry and on runner-up Tuan Lam, also a refugee, has had a major effect on how they play poker. The excerpt of the article below makes a compelling case that early life events will have an influence on how someone plays poker.

Here is the Asian Week story:

It’s 4 a.m. in a marathon 16-hour session on the seventh day of the biggest poker tournament in the world. Jerry Yang, 39, from Temecula, Calif., is about to make a decision that could change his life. Sitting across Yang is Toronto’s Tuan Lam, 40, who has put on maximum pressure by going all-in for 22.2 million chips, thus putting his own tournament life at risk.

Such actions might reduce a normal person to a gelatinous mess. For both Lam and Yang, it seems but a trifle considering the odds they have already beaten outside the casino. They both have a refugee’s nerve: Yang, of Hmong descent, is from Laos. Lam hails from South Vietnam.

The two cards they hold in their hand are nothing compared to the small boats they clung to as young boys, fleeing their homeland and crossing the ocean to find the safety of a refugee camp.

Little wonder then that Yang takes a scant ten seconds to make the call.

That courageous move helped Yang become king of the poker world, winning this year’s World Series of Poker main event and $8.25 million, the largest individual prize in all of sport.

To win, Yang outlasted 6,358 competitors, who paid $10,000 each to compete for a total prize pool worth $60 million. For second place, Lam received $4.84 million.

It was a staggering but fitting payout for two men who know how to beat high odds, and who turned this year’s final into the battle of the refugees.

In preparation for the WSOP Main Event Final Table last week, I wrote a short piece on each of the nine players. These are all to be found below. Now its time to see how Jerry Yang has faired in the press since he won the most coveted title in poker.

“Yang showed us in his interviews following his win that’s he’s humble and yet proud of his accomplishment,” said Lance Bradley, Editor of ThePokerBiz.com. “It’s a breath of fresh air for the industry to have an ambassador like Yang. Hopefully he carries the mantle better than his predecessor did.”
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"Yang is the anti-Gold!" This one has been heard in several variations throughout the industry.
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As various news agencies pick up the final table lineup, I am going to look at what poker and non-poker sources have to say about this year's Final Table Nine.

This from Business Wire:

Jerry Yang is a 39-year-old psychologist and social worker from Southern California. He holds a Masters Degree in health psychology. Yang was born in Laos; he is married and has six children. Yang started playing poker only two years ago. He won a seat into the main event via a satellite tournament. His total investment in this event is $225. The socially-conscious Yang is determined to give something back to charity. He is pledging 10 percent of his winnings from this tournament to three different charities – the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Feed the Children, and the Ronald McDonald House.