Reflections on a year as world champ
By Jerry Yang

As this article goes to press, the Main Event of the 2008 World Series of Poker is about to begin, which causes me to reflect on the past year. I would like to take this opportunity to share a few words with my fellow poker players, poker fans and poker community about what a wonderful ­ex­perience it has been for me as world champion.

I have been able to do the things that I only dreamed about for years. Specifically, I have been able to spend more time with my family. As you may know, I am the father of six children (two boys and four girls).

Prior to winning the World Series, I was working as a psychologist and social worker for a foster family agency in Southern California. Before that, I was a corporate employee for a subacute care company, also located in Southern California. My wife and I would take turns watching the kids while the other was at work. We did that for many years. We struggled to make ends meet just like many other families around the country.

Winning the WSOP was certainly a life-changing experience for my family. However, I’d also like to think that it has been a life-changing experience for some families whom I’ve had the privilege and honor to help.

As you may remember, I made a pledge to God and the world that I would donate 10 percent of my winnings to charity. Today, I’m proud to announce that I’ve fulfilled that promise. So far, I’ve donated over $1 million to various charitable organizations.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation, Ronald McDonald House and Feed the Children all received a good chunk of the 10 percent. I’ve donated money to an overseas missionary program through my church and given money to other small charitable organizations. My goal is to donate at least 10 percent of all future poker winnings to charity.

In August of this year I will be traveling to the Palm Beach Kennel Club to host a charity poker tournament. Poker Talk America, the Palm Beach Kennel Club, and I have teamed up to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House of the Central Valley. I have met some parents who have watched their children go through some very difficult medical treatments. Many of their stories broke my heart.

I met a young boy who was very sick, but loved to play cards. I was able to play a few hands of no-limit Hold’em with him. To see his smile was a blessing. I look forward to doing more for these children and their families.

I’ve also toured some of the poorest cities in America and met families with very little food in their pantries and no running water and/or electricity. I’ve met kids with no shoes and torn clothes. These experiences reminded me of me. I used to have no shoes and torn clothes. I used to have a bloated stomach due to malnutrition and unclean water.

This is America, the land which I envisioned to be filled with milk and honey when I first heard about it in a Thai refugee camp. And yet we have some of the poorest children in the world in our backyards. I look forward to doing more for some of these children.

In 2009, I will be hosting a tournament with Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore, California. All of the proceeds will go to the Ronald McDonald House of the Central Valley and other non-profit organizations in the San Joaquin Valley.

Some of you may not know this, but I used to live in Fresno. I went to Hoover High School for one year and then transferred to a local Christian school. In 1986, I graduated from high school and went to a small college in the Napa Valley. From there, I went to Loma Linda University in Southern California for my graduate studies. Today, I’m back in the Central Valley where I first established my roots.

My goal in 2009 is to play more poker, but also to participate and host more charity poker tournaments for some underprivileged kids around the country. I think that this is the very least I can do as a world champion. For more information about what I will be doing in 2009, please go to my website: www.myspace.com/jerryyang poker. With your participation, we can achieve some wonderful things for the kids.

During the last few months, I’ve played in some WPT events around the country and have met some very wonderful people. I’ve met some great casino hosts, poker room managers, dealers, fans and fellow poker competitors. I thank many of you for your kind words, wishes, hospitality and words of encouragement. I’ve received a lot of fan mail and email messages from many of you. I thank you all for your support and ongoing friendship. Please know that I appreciate you and look forward to seeing many of you in the future.

As I traveled around the country and played poker, I was asked by many fans and fellow poker players if I’ve thought about writing a poker book and/or an autobiography. Today, I’m excited to announce that I have started writing an autobiography. It’s called, “From Tragedy to Triumph: One Man’s Journey from Poverty to Becoming a World Poker Champion.”

This book will tell about my life as a young boy growing up in communist Laos, the escape my family and fellow villagers attempted during the communist invasion of my country, surviving many harsh years in the refugee camps in Thailand, and coming to America to begin my new life. It will also contain a chapter or two on poker strategies that I used during the 2007 WSOP Main Event Championship.

Last year, I went to the WSOP with the intention of meeting some world class poker players and obtaining a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I met Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Doyle and Todd Brunson, Howard Lederer, and many other great players. I would have gone home a happy man even if I hadn’t won anything.

Yet, I won the championship. I won it for me, for my family and for America, the country I have come to love and cherish. I look forward to going back this year and defending my title. It doesn’t seem real sometimes, but it is. I’m happy to be where I am today.