WSOP 2007 - Alles über die World Series of Poker 2007
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von Cashmandt » Donnerstag 19. Juli 2007, 09:17
He left Vietnam penniless, but poker made him a millionaire
ALEX DOBROTA
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
July 19, 2007 at 1:46 AM EDT
Tuan Lam threw all his chips on the table when he decided to board the boat that took him away from his native Vietnam village 20 years ago.
A penniless teenager, Mr. Lam left all his relatives behind and arrived in Canada with no postsecondary education, one of thousands of “boat people” who fled the Vietnamese Communist regime.
Wednesday morning, Mr. Lam again threw all his chips on the table – this time in a Las Vegas hotel.
And although he lost them all at 7 a.m. on the last card of a hand that could have gone either way, he came in second at the World Series of Poker and left the table $4.84-million (U.S.) richer.
“I've been through a rough life,” he told The Globe and Mail Wednesday in an interview from Las Vegas.
“I feel very happy to have won this kind of money.”
A proud Canadian, Mr. Lam waved the Maple Leaf after he rose above more than 6,358 contestants from around the world, who paid $10,000 each to compete in the world's largest poker tournament.
In the end, he was beaten by Jerry Yang, a 39-year-old U.S. psychologist who grew up in Laos, and who won $8.25-million.
But Mr. Lam doesn't regret the extra money, nor does he begrudge his opponent, he said. The 41-year-old professional poker player only regrets not being the first Canadian to win the coveted title.
“I was so happy to represent Canada,” he said. “My goal was to do something for Canada.”
Mr. Lam was born in Vietnam in 1966. He left his country in 1985 on the waters of the South China Sea, boarding a boat for Indonesia. He landed in Canada in 1987 as a refugee, part of a contingent of the so-called “boat people.”
He said Canadian government agents told him to settle in Prince Albert, Sask. But jobs were scarce in the small town, and Mr. Lam failed to land even a position as a dishwasher.
Disillusioned, he moved to Vancouver that same year, where he mowed lawns for $5 an hour. Over the following years, he shifted through various menial jobs, including a lumberjack and a worker in a plastic factory.
In search of a more lucrative position, Mr. Lam settled in Barrie, Ont., in the early 1990s. A few years later, he walked into a poker saloon to deal cards for a private clientele, a night job he took up to supplement his meagre salary as a metal-factory worker.
He quickly took a liking to the game and he rose to the ranks of professional player, distinguishing himself through an aggressive style of betting.
“The first year I played, I didn't know anything about poker because I didn't gamble before,” he said. “I had a very rough time. I kept losing all my money.”
That changed at the turn of the millennium, as the phenomenon of Internet poker started to mushroom. Mr. Lam honed his skills on the online poker circuit and made a name for himself on Pokerstars.com, one of the world's largest poker gaming sites. He made enough money playing online to afford a house in Mississauga for his wife and his two children.
Mr. Lam said he plans to return to his native village of Bao Trinh and build a Buddhist temple with the money he won Wednesday.
No Canadian player ever rose past the runner-up position in the World Series of Poker. Howard Goldfarb from Toronto came in second in 1995 and won about $519,000, after fighting off roughly 280 contestants.
The increase in contestants and in the amount of the prize reflect the game's growing popularity, due mainly to the Internet and sports channels, Mr. Goldfarb said Wednesday.
Before facing off in real-life championships, many players improve their skills on the Internet, where the absence of physical cards makes the game faster, said Mr. Goldfarb. This has reinvigorated the game, but it has also made for tougher competition, said Mr. Goldfarb, who opened a restaurant in Toronto with the money he won in 1995.
“His accomplishment was a lot greater than mine,” Mr. Goldfarb said of Mr. Lam. “He had to fight his way through a lot more people.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... oker19-GTA
ALEX DOBROTA
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
July 19, 2007 at 1:46 AM EDT
Tuan Lam threw all his chips on the table when he decided to board the boat that took him away from his native Vietnam village 20 years ago.
A penniless teenager, Mr. Lam left all his relatives behind and arrived in Canada with no postsecondary education, one of thousands of “boat people” who fled the Vietnamese Communist regime.
Wednesday morning, Mr. Lam again threw all his chips on the table – this time in a Las Vegas hotel.
And although he lost them all at 7 a.m. on the last card of a hand that could have gone either way, he came in second at the World Series of Poker and left the table $4.84-million (U.S.) richer.
“I've been through a rough life,” he told The Globe and Mail Wednesday in an interview from Las Vegas.
“I feel very happy to have won this kind of money.”
A proud Canadian, Mr. Lam waved the Maple Leaf after he rose above more than 6,358 contestants from around the world, who paid $10,000 each to compete in the world's largest poker tournament.
In the end, he was beaten by Jerry Yang, a 39-year-old U.S. psychologist who grew up in Laos, and who won $8.25-million.
But Mr. Lam doesn't regret the extra money, nor does he begrudge his opponent, he said. The 41-year-old professional poker player only regrets not being the first Canadian to win the coveted title.
“I was so happy to represent Canada,” he said. “My goal was to do something for Canada.”
Mr. Lam was born in Vietnam in 1966. He left his country in 1985 on the waters of the South China Sea, boarding a boat for Indonesia. He landed in Canada in 1987 as a refugee, part of a contingent of the so-called “boat people.”
He said Canadian government agents told him to settle in Prince Albert, Sask. But jobs were scarce in the small town, and Mr. Lam failed to land even a position as a dishwasher.
Disillusioned, he moved to Vancouver that same year, where he mowed lawns for $5 an hour. Over the following years, he shifted through various menial jobs, including a lumberjack and a worker in a plastic factory.
In search of a more lucrative position, Mr. Lam settled in Barrie, Ont., in the early 1990s. A few years later, he walked into a poker saloon to deal cards for a private clientele, a night job he took up to supplement his meagre salary as a metal-factory worker.
He quickly took a liking to the game and he rose to the ranks of professional player, distinguishing himself through an aggressive style of betting.
“The first year I played, I didn't know anything about poker because I didn't gamble before,” he said. “I had a very rough time. I kept losing all my money.”
That changed at the turn of the millennium, as the phenomenon of Internet poker started to mushroom. Mr. Lam honed his skills on the online poker circuit and made a name for himself on Pokerstars.com, one of the world's largest poker gaming sites. He made enough money playing online to afford a house in Mississauga for his wife and his two children.
Mr. Lam said he plans to return to his native village of Bao Trinh and build a Buddhist temple with the money he won Wednesday.
No Canadian player ever rose past the runner-up position in the World Series of Poker. Howard Goldfarb from Toronto came in second in 1995 and won about $519,000, after fighting off roughly 280 contestants.
The increase in contestants and in the amount of the prize reflect the game's growing popularity, due mainly to the Internet and sports channels, Mr. Goldfarb said Wednesday.
Before facing off in real-life championships, many players improve their skills on the Internet, where the absence of physical cards makes the game faster, said Mr. Goldfarb. This has reinvigorated the game, but it has also made for tougher competition, said Mr. Goldfarb, who opened a restaurant in Toronto with the money he won in 1995.
“His accomplishment was a lot greater than mine,” Mr. Goldfarb said of Mr. Lam. “He had to fight his way through a lot more people.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... oker19-GTA
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