World Series Of Poker

LAST MAY, Jerry Yang was just a 39-year-old social worker from Temecula with six kids, a hefty mortgage and a wife who worked at night to make ends meet. Poker was a recently acquired, TV-inspired hobby he indulged in at the nearby Pechanga Casino. But as this year's 55-event, six-week World Series of Poker season kicks off Friday, Yang is a millionaire who is gunning to defend his title as 2007 winner of the $10,000 World Championship No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em, a.k.a. the Main Event.

When Temecula social worker Jerry Yang was a child, his father forbade him to gamble, prohibiting even checkers and dice. After Yang, 39, married, his wife disapproved of his burgeoning poker habit. But he was defiant, and it paid off -- big time. Yang won the Texas Hold'Em title and $8.25 million last week at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Now his wife, Sue, approves of his playing, a small victory in itself, Yang said.

Jeff Madsen approached his 21st birthday earlier this summer with a predictable sense of anticipation over the doors that would suddenly open for him. No, not barroom doors -- Las Vegas casino doors. It seems Madsen, of Brentwood, has been making the most of his legal transition to adulthood. Over the last three weeks, he's won nearly $760,000 in the World Series of Poker tournament at the Rio hotel.

With the nightclub Tao swathed in red and black, music pulsated and go-go dancers gyrated on raised platforms along the wall. The reserved signs, the felt on the billiard table and the models' Chinese-style dresses bore the same label: Bodog.com. The only thing missing was the online gambling site's flamboyant founder, 45-year-old Canadian Calvin Ayre, who was nowhere to be found.

When Jamie Gold made up his mind to conquer poker, he sought out one of his heroes, card-playing legend Johnny Chan, and pleaded for his help. Gold, a TV producer and former agent, told Chan he would represent him in Hollywood in exchange for the master's guidance. As Gold crushed player after player at the World Series of Poker's final table this week, he regularly broke away to huddle with Chan, who was watching from the sidelines after being eliminated from the tournament.

The young guns of poker elbowed their way onto most every table in the Mirage Hotel and Casino. On this day in May, their fresh faces and average-Joe looks stood out in the crowd of high-mileage regulars playing in a warm-up tournament before the World Series of Poker, where all of them planned to play in July. Raised on electronic games, this generation of the young and the ruthless has discovered America's oldest game and mastered it with almost frightening speed.

Tom Sartori was the classic struggling musician, complete with the creaky old van that carried his amps from his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y., to gigs in East Coast college towns. Then, a year and a half ago, the singer-songwriter learned to play poker. Then, more importantly, he learned how to win. Now, after winning $305,000 in the World Series of Poker, last summer in Las Vegas, he is attempting to make himself into his very own "American Idol."

Gerry Drehobl took a nice family vacation to Las Vegas recently and won $365,000 on a pair of kings at the poker table. Not bad for a guy who only took up the game at Thanksgiving. This weekend, Drehobl, 49, begins play in the finals of the World Series of Poker at Binion's Horseshoe Casino in the Nevada city. The $10,000 entry fee was no problem after he won the huge pot at an earlier tournament. "I'm still a novice. I don't pretend to be anything different," Drehobl said.

ESPN in January will debut its next dramatic series, set at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, replacing a drama that drew criticism from the National Football League. "Tilt" will run Thursday nights starting Jan. 13 with one-hour shows depicting high-stakes gambling through the eyes of players. It replaces "Playmakers," a football drama that was canceled after its first season because the NFL didn't like it.