Chau Giang
Encyclopedia
Chau Tu Giang is an American
professional poker
player of Chinese
descent, who is a three time World Series of Poker bracelet
winner and a three time final tablist of the World Poker Tour
with over $3 million in live tournament winnings alone.
, working minimum wage
jobs. He moved to Colorado
soon after, taking a job as a chef
at $160 per week. It was then that he began to learn poker. His success in poker led him to move to Las Vegas
, where he made more than $100,000 in his first year as a professional player.
(WSOP) in 1993, where he finished 2nd in the $1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em event to John Bonetti
, and winning his first bracelet in the $1,500 Ace to Five Draw event the same year.
He first cashed in the WSOP Main Event in 1996
, finishing in 13th place. He won a second bracelet in the $2,000 Omaha 8 or Better event in 1998
, and a third bracelet in the $2,000 Pot Limit Omaha event in 2004, finishing ahead of Robert Williamson III
, Dave Colclough
and Chris Ferguson
.
. He returned to tournaments when his children asked him why he was not on the television. His first World Poker Tour
(WPT) cash was 9th place in the first WPT Championship. He would also cash in the second WPT Championship. However, his largest tournament prize to date was 2nd place in the 2005 $10,000 World Poker Open, which earned him $773,448.
, Giang was dealt K,K. He made a pre-flop
raise, and was re-raised by an opponent who had A,A. Giang went all in, and his opponent called. The flop came 3,6,A. Giang was essentially drawing dead. He said goodbye, and walked out to his car. Just before he was going to leave, a man ran up to him and said he had just hit K on the turn, and K on the river, for four of a kind kings.
Giang used to play online at Full Tilt Poker
under the user name "La Key U" and was signed as a Pro in January 2009. He earned 2.1 million playing online in 2008.
Giang is married and has three children.
As of 2009, his total live tournament winnings exceed $3,500,000. His 51 cashes as the WSOP account for $1,767,062 of those winnings. He is in 8th for most all time cashes at the WSOP.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
professional poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
player of Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
descent, who is a three time World Series of Poker bracelet
World Series of Poker bracelet
The World Series of Poker bracelet is considered the most coveted non-monetary prize a poker player can win. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP. Even if the victory occurred before 1976, WSOP championships are now counted as "bracelets". ...
winner and a three time final tablist of the World Poker Tour
World Poker Tour
The World Poker Tour is a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting the final table of each tournament. It was started in the United States by attorney/television producer Steven Lipscomb, who served as CEO of WPT Enterprises , the firm that...
with over $3 million in live tournament winnings alone.
Biography
Giang fled Vietnam in a small boat in the late 1970s and arrived in FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, working minimum wage
Minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
jobs. He moved to Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
soon after, taking a job as a chef
Chef
A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...
at $160 per week. It was then that he began to learn poker. His success in poker led him to move to Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, where he made more than $100,000 in his first year as a professional player.
Poker
He first had success at the World Series of PokerWorld Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker is a world-renowned series of poker tournaments held annually in Las Vegas and, since 2005, sponsored by Harrah's Entertainment...
(WSOP) in 1993, where he finished 2nd in the $1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em event to John Bonetti
John Bonetti
John Joseph Bonetti was an American professional poker player from Houston, Texas.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Bonetti began playing at the age of 54, and won three bracelets at the World Series of Poker ....
, and winning his first bracelet in the $1,500 Ace to Five Draw event the same year.
He first cashed in the WSOP Main Event in 1996
1996 World Series of Poker
-Preliminary events:-Final table:-Other High Finishes:NB: This list is restricted to top 30 finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry.-External Links:*...
, finishing in 13th place. He won a second bracelet in the $2,000 Omaha 8 or Better event in 1998
1998 World Series of Poker
-Preliminary events:-Final table:-Other High Finishes:NB: This list is restricted to top 30 finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry.-External Links:*...
, and a third bracelet in the $2,000 Pot Limit Omaha event in 2004, finishing ahead of Robert Williamson III
Robert Williamson III
Robert Williamson III is an American poker player from Dallas, Texas.Williamson grew up with three sisters and his best friend, Chris Caywood in Granbury, Texas and received B.B.A. degrees in finance and real estate from Angelo State University in San Angelo.He began playing aged 10 or 11, after...
, Dave Colclough
Dave Colclough
David E. Colclough is a Welsh professional poker player, now living in Thailand.-Before poker:Prior to becoming a poker professional, Colclough worked as a computer programmer. Amongst the companies he worked for were the Post Office and the National Health Service...
and Chris Ferguson
Chris Ferguson
Christopher Philip Ferguson is an American professional poker player. He has won five World Series of Poker events, including the 2000 WSOP Main Event, and the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. On September 20, 2011, the U.S...
.
World Series of Poker bracelets
| Year | Tournament | Prize (US$) |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 1993 World Series of Poker -Preliminary events:-Main Event:There were 220 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter the tournament.-Final table:-Other High Finishes:NB: This list is restricted to top 30 finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry.... |
$1,500 No Limit Ace to Five Draw Draw (poker) A poker player is drawing if they have a hand that is incomplete and needs further cards to become valuable. The hand itself is called a draw or drawing hand. For example, in seven-card stud, if four of a player's first five cards are all spades, but the hand is otherwise weak, they are drawing to... |
$82,800 |
| 1998 1998 World Series of Poker -Preliminary events:-Final table:-Other High Finishes:NB: This list is restricted to top 30 finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry.-External Links:*... |
$2,000 Omaha 8 or Better Omaha hold 'em Omaha hold 'em is a community card poker game similar to Texas hold 'em, where each player is dealt four cards and must make his best hand using exactly two of them, plus exactly three of the five community cards... |
$150,960 |
| 2004 2004 World Series of Poker The 2004 World Series of Poker was held at Binion's Horseshoe after Harrah's Entertainment purchased the casino and the rights to the tournament in January... |
$2,000 Pot Limit Omaha | $187,920 |
The big game
Giang avoided playing tournaments other than the WSOP for many years, as he preferred to concentrate on his cash game play, where he plays $4,000/$8,000 limit regularly. Giang is a regular in "The Big Game" in Las Vegas, alongside his next-door neighbor Doyle BrunsonDoyle Brunson
Doyle F. Brunson is an American professional poker player who has played professionally for over 50 years. He is the first two-time World Series of Poker main event champion to win consecutively, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several books on poker.Brunson is the first player to...
. He returned to tournaments when his children asked him why he was not on the television. His first World Poker Tour
World Poker Tour
The World Poker Tour is a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting the final table of each tournament. It was started in the United States by attorney/television producer Steven Lipscomb, who served as CEO of WPT Enterprises , the firm that...
(WPT) cash was 9th place in the first WPT Championship. He would also cash in the second WPT Championship. However, his largest tournament prize to date was 2nd place in the 2005 $10,000 World Poker Open, which earned him $773,448.
Famous Hand at The World Series Main Event
At the 2003 World Series of PokerWorld Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker is a world-renowned series of poker tournaments held annually in Las Vegas and, since 2005, sponsored by Harrah's Entertainment...
, Giang was dealt K,K. He made a pre-flop
Flop
- Terms :*Flop, a box office bomb in the entertainment world*Flop, as verb or noun, referring to flophouse, cheap rooms in a transients' hotel*Flop , a poker term describing the first three cards dealt to the board...
raise, and was re-raised by an opponent who had A,A. Giang went all in, and his opponent called. The flop came 3,6,A. Giang was essentially drawing dead. He said goodbye, and walked out to his car. Just before he was going to leave, a man ran up to him and said he had just hit K on the turn, and K on the river, for four of a kind kings.
Poker philosophy
Giang has regularly stated that poker is not a game of chance, and is remembered for telling Dana Smith in a 1994 interview, "At the table I hear people say, ‘Poker is luck.’ That is 100 percent wrong. If they are losing, it is because they're doing something wrong. Poker is skill, it isn't luck. In the long run, day after day after day, you cannot get lucky all the time." In the book Deal Me In, Giang said "Poker is a game of skill with an element of luck, not a game of luck with an element of skill." He discusses how he lost his twenty million dollar bankroll playing craps, a game of luck. He says nowadays he gets a physical revulsion when he goes near a game of craps, or any game of dice. He believes that if he sticks to poker, he will always make money in the long run.Giang used to play online at Full Tilt Poker
Full Tilt Poker
Full Tilt Poker is an online poker card room that opened in June 2004 with the involvement of poker professionals Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Andy Bloch, Mike Matusow, Jennifer Harman and Chris Ferguson...
under the user name "La Key U" and was signed as a Pro in January 2009. He earned 2.1 million playing online in 2008.
Giang is married and has three children.
As of 2009, his total live tournament winnings exceed $3,500,000. His 51 cashes as the WSOP account for $1,767,062 of those winnings. He is in 8th for most all time cashes at the WSOP.