Event #8
Pot-Limit Omaha (with re-buys)
Buy-In: $2,000
Number of Entries: 145

Number of Re-buys: 112

Number of Add-ons: 44
Prize Money: $569,440

Official Results:

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Against All Odds: Chau Giang Wins Third World Series of Poker Gold Bracelet

At the table I hear people say, ‘Poker is luck.’  That is 100 percent wrong.  If they are losing, it is because they're doing something wrong.  Poker is skill, it isn't luck.  In the long run, day after day after day, you cannot get lucky all the time.

                            -- Poker Champion Chau Giang (as told to Dana Smith in a 1994 interview)

If CHAU GIANG was named “John Smith” and was from Oklahoma instead Vietnam (by way of Florida and Colorado), he would probably be one of the most famous poker players in the world.  Instead, GIANG shuffles around casinos and cardrooms in relative anonymity.  Although GIANG routinely plays in poker games with the highest limits in the world – try playing $2,000-4,000 limit as your regular Thursday night poker game – he rarely gets recognized publicly for the immense poker talent he maintains and the bankroll management he exercises.  He sits down among, plays with, and often defeats the living legends every poker player will recognize – be it Brunson, Berman, Baldwin, or Reese.  His peers universally agree that GIANG possesses a brilliant poker mind and is one of the toughest players in the world to beat – whatever the game, whatever the limit, and whatever the decision.

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The story of how this former cook making $160 a week evolved into a high stakes poker player is astounding, but also secondary to the more remarkable story of how GIANG departed his native Vietnam to come to the United States.  GIANG, who’s parents were Chinese, fled Vietnam in a small boat – risking everything he owned to taste freedom in America.  In a sense, it was an “all in” bet GIANG was willing to make.  When his ultimate gamble paid off with his arrival in the United States in 1978, GIANG began working laborious, minimum wage jobs to support himself and build a better life. 

GIANG later moved to Colorado and took a job as a cook in a Chinese restaurant.  Barely making ends meet, GAING started playing in a low-limit poker game and eventually discovered he could make a better living at the green felt table rather than frying rice inside a steamy kitchen.  Convinced he could succeed, GIANG took another gamble when he came to Las Vegas.  He started in low limit games, then moved up to higher levels as his bankroll and confidence increased.  Within the first year, GIANG made $100,000 at the poker tables in Las Vegas.  When the Mirage opened a few years later, GIANG was regularly seen in the biggest game in the room – often playing $500-1,000 limit and higher.    

“Poker is poker, whether the player is English, Chinese, or American,” GIANG said ten-years ago in an interview with Card Player’s Dana Smith.  “A smart player always stays in action; he knows how to preserve his bankroll and he stays off the rail.“

Unfortunately, GIANG had to learn that lesson the hard way, as he gambled away most of his early poker winnings on baccarat.  That meant he had to get back to playing poker and stick with it, and at the same time – eliminate the “leaks” that are so self-destructive to a poker bankroll.

GIANG began playing tournaments in the early 90s and won two gold bracelets at the World Series of Poker – for Ace-to-Five Lowball in 1993 and Omaha High-Low Split in 1998.  Despite his success, GIANG quit the tournament circuit for many years – choosing instead to focus on high-limit cash games.  He didn’t play at the World Series of Poker for a number of years and only recently decided to return to the Horseshoe, because – he says – “tournaments are the only place to find a big game.”

GIANG came to the final table of the $2,000 buy-in event at this year’s World Series of Poker low on chips, with only $64K against chip-leader ROBERT WILLIAMSON III ($129K), the popular Dallas-based pro who was seeking his second win at the World Series.  In an incredible turn of events, six of the nine finalists busted out within the first hour of play – leaving just three players.  When Australian-born Jeffrey Lisandro, who now lives in Italy, busted out in third place, it looked as if the final table might end in record time – less than two hours.  But then, the real battle began.

WILLIAMSON and GIANG battled it out for three hours, with WILLIAMSON holding a decisive chip lead most of the way.  WILLIAMSON played brilliantly, giving the utmost respect to his opponent, while at the same time trying to capitalize on his chip advantage – which endured around the 2 to 1 mark (favoring WILLIAMSON).  During the clash, GIANG almost faltered and went down to just $60K at one point, versus WILLIAMSON’s $642K.  Out-chipped by a massive 10 to 1 margain, GIANG never showed any loss of confidence and retained his composure throughout.  GIANG wavered and forth between $60K and $250K in chips for most of the final hour, before winning two big pots which put him into the chip lead for the first time.

GIANG won the final hand of the night on a flush draw that got there on the river:

GIANG:                       K-10-8-6 (two diamonds)

WILLIAMSON:        9-7-x-x

The flop came 9-7-3, with two diamonds.  GIANG had a diamond flush draw.  WILLIAMSON had two-pair.  WILLIAMSON was “all in.”  WILLIAMSON picked up a straight-draw on the turn, but a king of diamonds on the river completed GIANG’s flush.

Chau Giang rallied at the final table with less chips than others. (AP Images)

Afterward, ROBERT WILLIAMSON, 33, admitted he was extremely disappointed with the defeat.  “I would have given Chau all the money – I just wanted the bracelet,” he said.  “I wanted to give the gold bracelet to my father.”  For the time being, WILLIAMSON will have to settle for the gold bracelet he won in Pot-Limit Omaha in 2002.

            CHAU GIANG, age 49, once again defied the odds.  The man who started with nothing, evolved into a success, and became a millionaire playing poker, is married and has three children (ages 8, 5 and 3).  In a sense, this World Series of Poker win was emblematic of a life that began with serious disadvantages, yet which ultimately yielded immense personal and financial awards and achievement.

            “I wanted to win this tournament so bad for my children,” GIANG said after his win.  “My children asked me – why don’t we ever see you on TV?  So, I played this one for my children.”

            When ESPN shows GIANG’s performance at this final table to a national audience, GIANG’s three children will surely be watching and smiling.  They will have good reason to be proud of their father.  And we, as poker players, all have good reason to be proud of CHAU GIANG.