From $225 to $8.25 Million: Jerry Yang Wins 2007 WSOP Main Event
The final table of the 2007 WSOP Main Event was truly a worldwide affair, as players from Denmark, Russia, Canada, England, South Africa and the U.S. all gathered to play for a place in poker history.
In the end, after nearly 16 hours, it was Jerry Yang who emerged triumphant, winning a first prize of $8.25 million, the most coveted of WSOP bracelets, and a place in poker history.
Yang qualified for the Main Event in a live $225 satellite at the Pechanga casino, and promised to donate 10% of his winnings to the Make a Wish Foundation, Feed the Children, and the Ronald McDonald House.
2007 WSOP Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Payout (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jerry Yang | United States | $8,250,000 |
| 2 | Tuan Lam | Canada | $4,840,981 |
| 3 | Raymond Rahme | South Africa | $3,048,025 |
| 4 | Alexander Kravchenko | Russia | $1,852,721 |
| 5 | Jon Kalmar | England | $1,255,069 |
| 6 | Hevad Khan | United States | $956,243 |
| 7 | Lee Childs | United States | $705,229 |
| 8 | Lee Watkinson | United States | $585,699 |
| 9 | Philip Hilm | Denmark | $525,934 |
Final Day Action
Philip Hilm started the day as the chip leader, with Yang well back in the pack, but Yang started off the day very aggressively, taking the chip lead in the first dozen or so hands, then taking on Hilm in the first big moment of the day.
Having raised pre-flop, Yang bet the K♦J♦5♣ flop and Hilm check-called. The turn brought the 2♥, and this time Hilm check-raised all-in. After a short time to think, Yang called with A♦K♠ for top pair, top kicker. Hilm showed 8♦5♦ for a pair of fives with a flush draw, and the river brought the 6♣. Hilm took only 15 hands to go from chip leader to first bustout at the Main Event Final Table, earning $525,934 for his ninth-place finish.
Nine hands later, Lee Watkinson also fell victim to Yang. All the money went in preflop, with Watkinson dominated with A♣7♥ against the A♠9♦ of Yang.
The board ran out 6♦4♥2♣K♦J♠ and Watkinson, who won a maiden bracelet in 2006, was eliminated.
Less than an orbit later, Lee Childs found himself the latest player battling with Yang. In another battle of the blinds, Childs raised from the small blind and called Yang's all-in from the big blind.
Lee Childs: K♥J♣
Jerry Yang: J♠8♠
The 4♣4♦6♣ flop didn’t help either player, but the 8♣ turn saw Yang hit his three-outer to move into the lead. It did give Childs a flush draw, but the river 9♦ bricked, and Childs was eliminated.
Online superstar Hevad 'Rain' Khan spent the entire tournament hovering around the chip lead and providing entertainment to the railbirds with his almost made-for-TV antics, but he reined in his histrionics on the last two days as the final table neared.
Over the course of the Main Event, Khan proved that he was much more than an online guru who can play 30 tables at once, also showing excellent live poker skills as he marched to his first WSOP final table. The 22-year-old from New York became the fourth player in succession to fall to Jerry Yang at the final table.
Yang raised from middle position to 1,500,000 and Khan reraised from the small blind to 6,000,000. Yang called and watched Khan push his last 3.44 million into the pot in the dark, before the flop came out.
The flop brought the K♣4♣2♦ and Yang called.
Hevad Khan: A♠Q♠
Jerry Yang: J♥J♠
The turn and river brought the 3♣3♠, and Khan was eliminated in sixth place.
2One of the stories of the2007 World Series of Poker Main Event was Jon Kalmar, who almost skipped the Main Event and flew back home to England. However, his decision to play the last mega-satellite at the Rio paid off, and he rode that all the way to the final table.
Kalmar earned the distinction of being the only player on the final table not eliminated by Yang, as South African Raymond Rahme sent him to the rail. Kalmar held A♠K♥ but lost out to the pocket jacks J♦J♥ of Rahme to take home $1,255,069, becoming the first million-dollar man of this year’s Main Event.
Action Slows
After a whirlwind first 60 hands where over half the table was eliminated, play slowed considerably as the remaining four player settled in for the long haul.
Over 100 hands passed between the elimination of Kalmar and the eventual fourth-place finisher, Alex Kravchenko.
Kravchenko became the first Russian citizen to win a WSOP bracelet when he won Event #9 earlier this summer, and with his final table finish at the Main Event, Kravchenko passed Kirill Gerasimov on the all-time Russian money list.
Kravchenko started the final table with the short stack, but doubled up several times over the day to put himself into contention, before running into Yang.
In another pre-flop all-in, Kravchenko raised and called an all-in with A♠K♦ but could only watch as Yang’s 8♣8♥ flopped a set on the Q♦9♥8♠4♣3♠ board.
Kravchenko hadn't even finished his paperwork when he was joined in the cashier's cage by Rahme, another elimination from the unstoppable Yang.
Rahme had already become the first person from Africa to make the WSOP Main Event final table, wishing Nelson Mandela a happy birthday from the table. He had three-bet pre-flop before Rahme check-raised Yang’s bet of 10,000,000 on the A♦J♥8♥ flop, shoving for 27,350,000.
Yang thought for several minutes before calling, although he didn’t seem happy. That was until Rahme flipped over K♥K♠, with kings cracked by Yang’s A♣5♠.
The 3♠2♦ river saw Rahme’s elimination, with Yang holding a commanding lead heads-up.
Heads-up Play
Heads-up play between Jerry Yang and Tuan Lam lasted for 35 hands, more than the last three Main Event heads-ups combined. For the record, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem and Jamie Gold dispatched their opponents in a total of 16 hands.
In the final hand, with Yang holding a nearly 5-1 chip lead, he called Lam's all-in all the money went in preflop. Yang found himself in another coin flip situation, with 8♣8♦ against to Tuan Lam's A♦Q♦.
Lam took the lead on the flop of Q♣9♣5♠, and Yang needed an eight or a runner-runner to win. The turn brought the 7♦, and was one of the runners Yang was looking for.
When the 6♥ came on the river, Yang pulled out a miracle last hand to river a straight and eliminate Lam in second place, earning $4,840,981. The elimination capped off a dominant final table performance from Yang, as he become the 2007 WSOP Main Event Champion taking home $8,250,000.
With thanks to original reporting from John Hartness. Pictures courtesy of The Hendon Mob and GGPoker
