Wily, veteran poker pro Chau Giang features in Cardplayer.com’s weekly excerpt from Phil Hellmuth’s book ‘Deal me in’. The book details the trials and tribulations of 20 poker players.
55 year old Giang, who heralds from Vietnam, is one of the most respected poker players in Vegas. A regular in the $4000/$8000 limit games in Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio, and neighbour to the legendary Doyle Brunson, Giang didn’t enter the tournament circuit until the 1990s.
When his children asked him why he wasn’t on television, Giang became a regular at the World Series. He has since secured 3 bracelets and accumulated over $3.5 million in live tournament winnings, with his most recent cash coming in the prestigious $50k H.O.R.S.E event.
Giang is considered one of the most versatile players, having endured great success online at Full Tilt Poker. He racked up over $2.5 million online in 2008, and achieved red pro status. Chau hasn’t always had it easy, however. He documents his torrid struggle to leave his native Vietnam for greener pastures in America, following the aftermath of war.
Giang describes how his initial attempt to leave Vietnam by boat was foiled by the authorities, and he was thrown in prison for 5 months. He wasn’t deterred however, and once he had earned, ‘seven ounces of gold’, set about escaping. Giang alludes to a tumultuous journey, where his boat was robbed by pirates on the coast of Thailand; ‘We were boarded and robbed five times by people whom Americans would call pirates, although these raiders had guns instead of eye patches and swords. Not enough that we were robbed of all our money, our boat was robbed of all its food and water. I don’t remember how long that voyage took, but it seemed as if we were sailing many days without food or water—a miserable experience’.
With his savings gone, Giang had to wait 5 weeks in a refugee camp, before someone sponsored his trip to America. To read more about Giang’s story, delve into Phil Hellmuth’s new book ‘Deal me in’. You can read the full excerpt from Cardplayer.com here.