Yang became an instant multi-millionaire by winning $8.25 million.

It was a dream comes true for the 39 year old Laos native who bested 6,358 other players to win the event. He joins the top ranks of professional poker players who have won the most coveted tournament in the poker universe. Yang won the tournament shortly before 4am with a straight draw on the river, beating out Tuan Lam, a professional Internet poker player from Ontario, Canada.

"I study my opponents very carefully, and when I sensed something, when I sensed some weakness, I took a chance," Yang told the AP. "Even if I had nothing, I decided to raise, re-raise, push all-in or make a call. The only way I could win this tournament was by being aggressive from the very beginning," Yang said. "And thank God I was also able to pick up some good cards at the same time."

Yang got into the $10,000 per man tournament by winning a satellite tournament that cost him just $225. That’s a 36,444 percent return on his investment. Also, he is donating 10 percent of his winnings to charity; including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Feed the Children, the Ronald McDonald House and his alma mater, Loma Linda University.

Yang entered the final day in 8th place, and worked his way up during the brutal 15 hour final table. He amassed more than 100 million chips, a new record.

Unbelievably, Yang has been only playing poker for two years. "He was pretty inexperienced, but it's not unexpected for an amateur to win," said Bob Pajich, managing editor of Card Player Magazine. "The pros are out-numbered. Even amateurs play online all the time, so there's no dead money in the field anymore."

Now Yang is on top and will earn further millions from lucrative licensing and spokesperson deals.

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"Nobody's going to intimidate Jerry Yang," said Jim Carrizo, the assistant to the casino manager at Lake Elsinore Hotel & Casino and an occasional playing partner of Yang's. "Anybody can get lucky or be a one-shot wonder, but he played rock-solid. Whether luck was involved or not, he had faith in his decisions."

The 2007 edition drew the second-highest number of entrants in the event's history, but fell well short of the 8,773 who played last year. Former Hollywood talent agent Jamie Gold won $12 million for his first place finish in 2006.

This year’s $10,000 Main Event – $10,000 No-Limit Texas Hold'em World Championship -- was smaller than last year’s which was the largest of all time. Mostly attributed to a crackdown on online gaming in the United States, fewer players were able to qualify for the event. However, the 2007 World Series of Poker presented by Milwaukee's Best Light attracted 54,288 total registrants, the most in World Series of Poker history for its 55 event series held during the last month, although the Main Event attracted fewer participants.

In all, the 2007 WSOP generated a total prize pool of $159,796,918. The Main Event prize pool is $59,784,954, with the winner receiving $8.25 million. A total of 621 Main Event players will finish in the money and will receive at least $20,320, more than double their original buy-in.

Among the highlights of this year's World Series of Poker were record turnouts for the Ladies Championship, the Seniors Championship and the $50,000 HORSE Championship. This year also saw the single busiest day in World Series of Poker history, when 3,151 players participated in a $1,500 No-Limit Texas Hold'em Championship on June 30.

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