Song: "The money's insane. The WSOP summer is where you can make life-changing money"
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It's been a phenomenal year for 23-year-old Stephen Song.
With just over $1 million in live tournament earnings in his short career so far as a poker pro, the 'Young Wizard' has also earned himself two World Series of Poker Circuit rings in the 2018-2019 season.
Today, Song came in to the final table of Event #28: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em with a massive chip lead and after some ups and downs, he finished the job. Song eliminated a heavy hitter in Ryan Laplante in third place, thanks to a fortuitous turn card, and went on to seal the deal. You can read a full recap of the event here.
"My dad's the smartest guy I know. I just give it (the money) to him and he takes care of it for me."
Before today, Song's biggest career cash came in 2018 in the $3,500 World Poker Tour Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship where he finished in sixth place for $138,254. His top cash is now $341,854 after this win, with plenty of time to add to his growing resume this summer.
"The bracelet means a lot for sure. It's definitely a milestone that every poker player kind of dreams of." And the money is nice too. "The money's insane. The WSOP summer is where you can make life-changing money," Song told PokerNews.
Familial Support
Song's Dad, Ken Song, surprised him by coming out to watch the final table today, and was proudly stationed on the rail after his mom booked him a flight at the last minute. "My dad's the smartest guy I know. I just give it (the money) to him and he takes care of it for me," laughed Song. "They've already helped me buy my first house."
Now that Song has achieved his goal of winning a bracelet, he hopes to continue to pad his bankroll so he can keep it going. "I'll hopefully be playing [poker] for the rest of my life, but we'll see," laughed Song.
Ken was proudly watching on the rail as his son gave interviews to various media outlets, and had a huge smile on his face. "It's amazing. When he was young he was a chess prodigy," he told PokerNews. "In London, he was one of the top in the country for his age, and then we moved to America. When he got much older, he started playing poker."
Ken Song: "He puts the $35,000 cash on the table. He says, 'I'm paying you back for the freshman year tuition, and I wanna take the year off to play poker professionally.'"
Song went to play live poker for the first time at Turning Stone in Upstate New York two years ago when he turned 21, and immediately came home with a $35,000 win. "He comes to breakfast the next morning, and my wife and I are sitting at the table. He puts the $35,000 cash on the table. He says, 'I'm paying you back for the freshman year tuition, and I wanna take the year off to play poker professionally.'"
Ken and his wife were a little taken back, but not surprised at the drive his son had. "I just said look, it's his dream. Let's see what happens. Six months, I think he's probably going to be back and see it's not so easy and get it out of his system. If he goes back to college, he's just going to play online all the time and he's not going to study. It's been two years and he's been on a roll."
Ricky 'RatedGTO' Guan Mentors the 'Young Wizards'
A familiar face in the poker world this last year has been that of professional poker player and Team Run It Up's own Ricky 'RatedGTO' Guan. Aside from his own accomplishments on the live and online streets, Guan has also put together a group of players called the 'Young Wizards,' which he has taken under his wing.
Comprised of about seven young players, the group Guan has mentored has had some phenomenal results. "Oh man - I deserve no credit for this at all," said a humble Guan.
Ricky Guan: "It's been really fun to have each other as support - to review hands with each other, to study together, and to just be there for each other when we need each other the most."
In talking about what life has been like as a group of traveling poker professionals, Guan talks about the importance of suppport. "It's been really fun to have each other as support - to review hands with each other, to study together, and to just be there for each other when we need each other the most," Guan told PokerNews.
After Song's most recent win, Guan couldn't stop grinning from ear-to-ear. "We always said that [Song] is the biggest sun-runner out of everyone in the entire group. But he's also one of the best young talents in America that we've seen," explained Guan.
"We've all put in a lot of work into our games. A lot of studying. A lot of volume both live and online, and you know, just to perfect our craft over the last few years. We owe a lot of credit to each other for all that. None of us would have the success we've had the last few years if it weren't for everyone kinda coming together and being a part of the whole thing," said Guan.
When asked about how he feels about seeing one of his young wizards win a bracelet so early in his career, Guan smiled and said: "This gives me more motivation for me to go and try and win my first bracelet as well."
