The final table at the World Series of Poker main event at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas started at noon yesterday and didn’t finish until 4a.m. this morning. Amateur player Jerry Yang, a 39-year old psychologist with six children, began from behind but quickly took over chip lead. He has only been playing poker for two years.

Yang, originally from Laos and now living in Temecula, California, has promised 10% of his US$8.25 million to charity, including Make-A-Wish Foundation and Feed the Children. There were 6,358 players that started on 6 July with the goal of reaching the final table of nine. The nine who made it through came from the US, Canada, Russia, England and South Africa. They all won at least US$500,000 for their original US$10,000 stake.

Tuan Lam, from Ontario in Canada, was runner-up and won US$4.84 million. The top five contenders all went home millionaires, the sixth just missing by a few thousand dollars. Jerry Yang won with a straight over a pair of queens and said he had done a lot of bluffing and seen some miracles. (E-07.18.07)

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