Is Yang any good ???

[Muahahahaha]

Ok maybe Hellmuth in disguise is going too far.

But when I was watching it, I thought he was poor, it was just the others were worse ( with the obvious exception )

The more I think about it, though, the better I think he played in those circumstances, given his own opinion of his limitations in that company.

( Especially interested in peoples opinions of things like the A9o call etc )

[Longy]

He is clearly inexperienced and called far too much with some quite weak holdings. Which as often happens in poker, if the loose player is hitting flops constantly it is bloody hard to play against.

I think he will prove to be the weakest WSOP main event winner since Robert Varkoni, but time will tell.

[Graham C]

I don't see how you can knock someone that's come out as the winner in a 6000+ runner event.  Sure he played a few lucky calls on the final table, but it took him 4 or 5 solid days (whatever it is) to get there.   

He was aggressive from the start of the FT and no one else stood up to it, so why not carry on.  Once he had a huge chip lead he could afford to gamble a bit.

I really can't understand people knocking him, even Gold last year must have had something about it, it's not like it's a single table tourney these guys have won.

[fergus8]

i got pelters on another tread saying he was a lucky fish

[fergus8]

he was lucky he got his money in good so many times, he was putting his chips in anyway, just so happens the table gave him gift after gift.

[fergus8]

one hand really proves what im saying

rahme kk v yang a5

yang R
rahme RR
yang calls (wtf?)

flop ace x x

rahme check
yang 10mill
rahme 27 mill allin
yang calls


i mean really is this world class play or dumb luck combined with a no fold attitude?

[MANTIS01]

For aspiring poker players the need to be good at the game should be a prominent goal. Why? Because the better you are the more chance you have of winning a big tournament. Any increase in skill level will negate the luck factor that little bit more...and the less you rely on luck the more realistic your chances of success actually become.

So for any of us on this journey, it is important not to become results orientated in order to keep our sanity in tact.

You read your opponent's re-raise as weak and call his all-in with 9-9. You find yourself up against 6-6 and get knocked-out to a rivered 6. You played perfect poker and lost. No matter how good you become you still remain a humble servant to the poker gods. But the quest to be a better player continues to burn bright and you take your seat at the next tournament with renewed enthusiasm.

However, when you do actually cash in a big one (e.g. Yang - $8.5m) everything I have just said would become complete and utter irrelevant piffle. Having achieved the ultimate goal you would quickly and clearly realise that poker is actually comprehensively results orientated. It matters not how you got there.....the important thing is you're there. It is only important to use the crutch of skill on the way up, it gives you hope, it gives you respect and it gives you the enthusiasm to plod onwards. Once there, I am sure you would quickly realise that any half-competent player is capable of winning any poker tournament and on that particular day the powers that be looked down kindly upon you. It was just your day.

When you have $8.5m it is inconsequential how "well" you performed....you have $8.5 MILLION!!!

For this sort of money you can call me a donkey if it makes you happy. I will just smile and adjust my bracelet slightly. In fact for $8.5m you can strap a saddle to my back and I will work the season on Blackpool Beach.

Stuart Fox recently folded his way to $450k in the $5k NLH and was criticised somewhat for his performance

He said...

Ive got a hang over from last night we nailed it in the voodo bar. Iwan told me he watched the final on the net and the guys were nailing me about playing tight, I did all the jiggy stuff to get in the final and dont care what some random guy thinks about how i play poker.

I think once you're there you're there and being good just doesn't matter any more. You will go promptly to the Voodo Bar and start your life!

So how good is Yang?....Very, Very rich indeed!

[TightEnd]

corking post, simply corking!

[waltypies]

I think he played ok IMO

He had nothing to lose entering that final table he got in cheaply and had the drive to win it.  I dont know what cards he had to start but he steamrolled that whole final table with constant aggression.  

Yes some calls were questionable but they were correct!  E.G A9 vs A6 i think it was.

The other players did not seem like they knew how to approach someone on the final table of the WSOP playing so aggressivly so they gifted him with free chips!  

This then gave him the power to gamble a little and get lucky.  

Like him or not he played the start to win and got the job done.

[AndrewT]

if the loose player is hitting flops constantly it is bloody hard to play against.

Yep, I'd agree with that. If this was a standard 15BB-average-stack final table, then you could understand some of the other players' moves, because in that situation you simply have to take a stand sooner or later.

But some of these players had 50BB in their stack. They could have, and should have, waited things out. Ace-seven pre-flop, a flush draw on the turn - the situation was not so desperate that these were the hands to make a stand with.

Yes, he was lucky. Yes, I don't even think he's as good a player as me (and I'm certainly no world champion). But most of the other players didn't play correctly against him.

[BigTomatoes]

 i think maybe excepting Kravchenko , he was the only one who played to win , he showed real balls when others were happy to play tight and take the money he was in the thick of the action all the time.

 sometimes the guy who has the heart and is willing to risk more deserves the victory.

 also , Jerry Yang is a Psychology Graduate so maybe he had great reads and tells on his fello players after playing with them for days.

 he also moved to America from Laos where he said he couldnt afford a marble , he couldnt speak English.

 he also couldnt play poker 2 years ago.

 now the guy is a Doctor has a wife and 6 children and has beaten 6400 players to win the WSOP and $8 million plus change.

 i think a little credit where credit is due should be given , well done that man

[Longy]

i think maybe excepting Kravchenko , he was the only one who played to win , he showed real balls when others were happy to play tight and take the money he was in the thick of the action all the time.

 sometimes the guy who has the heart and is willing to risk more deserves the victory.

 also , Jerry Yang is a Psychology Graduate so maybe he had great reads and tells on his fello players after playing with them for days.

 he also moved to America from Laos where he said he couldnt afford a marble , he couldnt speak English.

 he also couldnt play poker 2 years ago.

 now the guy is a Doctor has a wife and 6 children and has beaten 6400 players to win the WSOP and $8 million plus change.

 i think a little credit where credit is due should be given , well done that man

Fair point and he seems like a geniune guy, i don't dislike him at all. The question though is about his poker ability and based on the limited evidence we have, I would be surprised if he proves to be a winner at the top level.

[waltypies]

i think maybe excepting Kravchenko , he was the only one who played to win , he showed real balls when others were happy to play tight and take the money he was in the thick of the action all the time.

 sometimes the guy who has the heart and is willing to risk more deserves the victory.

 also , Jerry Yang is a Psychology Graduate so maybe he had great reads and tells on his fello players after playing with them for days.

 he also moved to America from Laos where he said he couldnt afford a marble , he couldnt speak English.

 he also couldnt play poker 2 years ago.

 now the guy is a Doctor has a wife and 6 children and has beaten 6400 players to win the WSOP and $8 million plus change.

 i think a little credit where credit is due should be given , well done that man

Fair point and he seems like a geniune guy, i don't dislike him at all. The question though is about his poker ability and based on the limited evidence we have, I would be surprised if he proves to be a winner at the top level.

Does he have to again though with that money??  Am i right in thinking he also gets an extra 10mil from Fulltilt as he quliafied through there?  I believe the deal was any player who qualified through fulltilt and won got 10mil

[AndrewT]

Does he have to again though with that money??  Am i right in thinking he also gets an extra 10mil from Fulltilt as he quliafied through there?  I believe the deal was any player who qualified through fulltilt and won got 10mil

The deal with Full Tilt is 'win the WSOP and become our bitch for ten years and we'll give you $1m a year'.

In any case, he didn't qualify through them, he merely took their shilling to wear their hat at the FT.

[Muahahahaha]

i think maybe excepting Kravchenko , he was the only one who played to win , he showed real balls when others were happy to play tight and take the money he was in the thick of the action all the time.

 sometimes the guy who has the heart and is willing to risk more deserves the victory.

 also , Jerry Yang is a Psychology Graduate so maybe he had great reads and tells on his fello players after playing with them for days.

 he also moved to America from Laos where he said he couldnt afford a marble , he couldnt speak English.

 he also couldnt play poker 2 years ago.

 now the guy is a Doctor has a wife and 6 children and has beaten 6400 players to win the WSOP and $8 million plus change.

 i think a little credit where credit is due should be given , well done that man

Fair point and he seems like a geniune guy, i don't dislike him at all. The question though is about his poker ability and based on the limited evidence we have, I would be surprised if he proves to be a winner at the top level.

Ummm.....

Ahhhhhhh.......

would you like to rephrase that