Chau Giang

Chau Giang
Chau Giang at 2008 World Series of Poker
Hometown	Las Vegas, Nevada
Born	July 2, 1955 (1955-07-02)
World Series of Poker
Bracelet(s)	3
Money finish(es)	51
Highest ITM Main Event finish	13th, 1996
World Poker Tour
Title(s)	None
Final table(s)	3
Money finish(es)	13
Information accurate as of 2009-07-15.

Chau Tu Giang (born July 2, 1955 in Vietnam) 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.

Biography

Giang fled Vietnam in a small boat in the late 1970s and arrived in Florida, 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.

Poker

He first had success at the World Series of Poker (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.

World Series of Poker bracelets

Year	Tournament	Prize (US$)
1993	$1,500 No Limit Ace to Five Draw	$82,800
1998	$2,000 Omaha 8 or Better	$150,960
2004	$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 Brunson. 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.

Famous Hand at The World Series Main Event

At the 2003 World Series of Poker, 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.

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 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.

External links

• World Poker Tour profile
• Chau MySpace page