On June 12, 2014, The Stars Group, then known as Amaya Inc., agreed to buy PokerStars and its parent company for $4.9 billion in cash. The deal was completed on August 1, 2014. As of April 6, 2016 they have reached an agreement with Netent to add desktop and mobile gambling games to its poker lobby in New Jersey and other locations.
Whether they’ve been a poker darling, poker rogue, or even a reality show star, PokerNews takes a look at some of the players who have made news in the past and make us wonder, “Where are they now?”
Jerry Yang
Poker's Good Guy
Poker has been the last thing on Jerry Yang’s mind over the last two years. His life had been on an upswing since March 2015. The 2007 WSOP Main Event champion unveiled his second restaurant, Dynamite Grill, in Las Vegas. His eatery in Merced, California, Pocket 8's Sushi and Grill, had been open six years and was receiving nice reviews from customers. Most of his publicized financial troubles seemed behind him.
The 48-year-old Yang, who had earned $8.25 million for his victory, was working 14 hours a day managing his busy restaurants. He loved serving customers, helping out in the kitchen, and all the duties that come with being a restaurateur and small businessman.
The life had become his passion away from the poker table. The ever-positive Yang was having a great time. Poker was fun, but the restaurants had become a family business – with some of his six kids even pitching in to help.
Only months later, however, Yang’s whole world was shaken. His father was diagnosed with colon cancer. In Yang’s world, his father was anything but an ordinary man. He played not only a major role in Yang’s family and in his siblings’ family, but with his extended family as well. Yang’s father was a key figure in his village growing up, moving them out of Laos during the communist Vietnamese invasion in the 1970s.
Family has always been important and Yang had always wanted to open a restaurant. In his autobiography All In, he described life growing up in Laos when food was scarce before his father helped the Yangs flee to Thailand and eventually to the U.S.
“I grew up poor and very, very hungry, and it was always my dream to open a restaurant,” he said. “I love food.”
But now with a family crisis, poker and the restaurants became secondary.
“Last March I moved him into my home and became a caretaker for my father,” Yang said. “I had to close the restaurant in Las Vegas because I wasn’t there to manage it properly. And then, unfortunately, he passed away.”
Needless to say, poker has been on the back burner and Yang skipped the 2016 WSOP completely. The death made a deep impact on the deeply-religious Yang and his family, but he’s tried to focus his energy on other pursuits. The California restaurant continues to do well, and was named 'Best Japanese' and 'Best Restaurant' in Merced County for four years in a row. He also invests in real estate on the side.
Yang still loves poker and always saw it as fun – a way for a short guy with limited athletic ability to compete with others. As time passes, he is considering a return to the tables. If he makes it to the WSOP this summer, the champ is considering the Colossus, the Millionaire Maker, and maybe the Tag Team with a friend.
“And I can’t miss the Main Event if I’m there,” he added. “But it really depends on how mentally stable I am. Obviously I don't have my father anymore, and I'm still kind of emotional. I’m just taking it one day at a time.
'I love poker, I miss poker. But like everything else, your mind has to be totally clear.'
'I love poker, I miss poker. But like everything else, your mind has to be totally clear and you have to be mentally ready. If you’re not psychologically, mentally and spiritually ready, sometimes even the physical part of it can even hinder your ability or your stamina.”
As he continues to recover from his family’s loss, Yang is planning a way to give back to the area of the world that played such a major part of his early life. Now enrolled in a two-year missionary program, one day he hopes to help others in Laos, Thailand and Vietnam who may have experienced some of the same struggles and hardships he experienced growing up.
“I’m taking classes two days a week,” he said. “When you're working 14 hours a day in a restaurant, that's pretty much all you can do. I'm actually waiting for my kids to grow a little bit older, so maybe my wife and I can become missionaries. That's kind of my goal. That's what I think God wants me to do.”
No doubt, his father would be proud.
Anna Khait
Poker Survivor
It was an interesting 2016 for poker player Anna Khait. The 28-year-old poker-playing New Yorker, now living in New Jersey, was part of CBS’s Survivor: Kaoh Rong cast in spring 2016. The show was set in Cambodia and featured a “Brains vs. Beauty vs. Brawn” theme. She may not have won the $1 million, but this “Beauty” had a great time on her favorite show.
“Survivor has taken a good amount of my time since I got back from filming in May 2015,” she said. “It took some time to get back to normal mentally after Survivor. I’ve done some traveling and meet and greets after the show, which has finally slowed down.”
Over the last year, Khait has traveled to some places on her bucket list including South Africa, a trip she highly recommends.
Away from deserted islands and jungles, Khait says she is working on some projects that “may have something to do with film,” but that she can’t reveal quite yet. Charity has also become a major focus.
Since the show, Khait has also gotten involved with some reality personality charities that focus on children including an anti-bullying charity, Bullies Reality; an anti-drug abuse charity, the Warriors of Purpose Foundation; and Give Kids the World, which aides children with disabilities and illnesses. She was recently scheduled to be part of a high school tour in Nebraska with this last group.
As for poker, Khait is still playing, but it has taken a bit of a back seat. A former regular in the Northeast poker scene at casinos like the Borgata, she still hits the virtual poker felt when possible on PokerStars, Borgata and WSOP.
“I don’t play full time and all day as I used to,” she said. “I usually play poker after dinner, when there is more action anyway. I live in New Jersey, so thankfully I can play from home any time I wish.”
And as the WSOP approaches, Khait has plans to do a bit of bracelet hunting – betting and bluffing for a few weeks in June and then also playing the Ladies Event and the Main Event. Maybe she’ll make a deep run here or there, but she'll certainly need skills to survive.
Scott Tom
Poker Rogue
One of the founders of Absolute Poker returned to the U.S. to face charges in February after several years of self-exile in Antigua. In February, Scott Tom pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan federal courtroom to charges including violating federal Internet gambling laws and engaging in money laundering.
Tom is one of the last to face charges from the Absolute Poker case, and players were only recently able to get some of their money back. For several years, Tom had been living on the Caribbean island and has even been featured in sailing blogs for his business, a small oil tanker converted into a bar and restaurant called D Boat, complete with water slides.
'He was released on a $500,000 bond following a court hearing.'
Before being shut down by the feds in 2011, Absolute was the third largest internet poker site open to U.S. players and had taken in about $500 million from U.S. residents, according to the Wall Street Journal. Federal authorities charged 12 defendants in the case, including Tom's stepbrother, Brent Beckley, who pleaded guilty and received a 14-month sentence in 2012.
The entire affair was the subject of the 2013 book Straight Flush by Ben Mezrich. Many poker players charged that the book painted the founders in too much of a positive light after Black Friday and that that they played a major role in misappropriating player funds.
According to the Journal, “prosecutors say the companies tricked banks into processing billions of dollars of illegal internet gambling proceeds through shell companies that appeared legitimate. He was released on a $500,000 bond following a court hearing.”
Tom’s attorney James Henderson told the court he expected to reach a plea deal.
'There's going to be a resolution in this case quickly,” he said.
No deal has yet been announced.
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Jerry Yang
Poker Stars Where Are They Now Youtube
At this year’s World Series of Poker, the Canadian contingent made their presence known by winning 10 gold bracelets, second only to America. One proud Canadian who was in attendance, but didn’t capture a bracelet, was former Team PokerStars Pro Pat Pezzin.
Pezzin, who has $805,922 in live tournament earnings, has made numerous appearances on WSOP on ESPN broadcasts throughout the years but none were more memorable than the skit in which he accompanies his friend, Daniel Negreanu, around the Rio and was consistently asked by fans to take a picture of them with “Kid Poker.” Pezzin would always oblige, but he soon developed a reputation as Negreanu’s unofficial photographer.
While the skit was all good fun, Pezzin’s own poker accomplishments cannot be overlooked. At the 2009 WSOP, Pezzin finished second to Greg “FBT” Mueller in the $10,000 World Championship Limit Hold’em for $285,195, which is his largest career score. His other notable accomplishments include fourth in the 2007 WSOP $5,000 World Championship Seven-Card Stud for $61,335; eighth in the 2008 WSOP $5,000 Limit/No-Limit Hold’em for $46,812; third in the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $5,000 Eight Game Championship for $43,455; and 22nd in the 2008 World Poker Tour North American Poker Championship for $38,724.
PokerNews recently spoke with Pezzin, who is married with a nine-and-a-half-year-old daughter, about what he’s been up to in the past couple of years.
PokerNews: What have you been up to as of late?
Pezzin: I’ve been taking some time off from poker. I’ve still been playing poker, but I don’t play as much anymore. I’ve been spending some time with the family and trying to find my passion to play the sport. I play bocce and I travel the world for that. I went to Argentina and Brazil to play for Team Canada and having a little fun with that.
Have you been able to pinpoint why you lost your passion for poker in the first place?
Not so sure. Last year I had a pretty bad World Series, and over time — I’m in my forties — I don’t know, you just start looking at life a little differently. I’ve lost the passion, but I’m sure I can come back with a final table or bracelet, stuff like that.
How did you get into bocce?
I’m Canadian and I’m also Italian, so it’s an Italian sport. My dad was a player and ever since I was a kid I was passionate about watching him play. Growing up I started playing and I’ve done pretty well at it.
Canadians had quite a bit of success at this year’s WSOP. What are your feelings on that?
I think they were overdue. Canadians in the past — well Jonathan Duhamel won the Main Event — Canadian players are very good players. They’re controlled players, they maintain their discipline and they’re running good.
Do you still play online?
Definitely. I play online. I played a SCOOP recently, and I play some cash games online. I focus more of my energy on cash games even when I’m in Vegas. I’ve been playing more cash games than tournaments.
Years ago there was an ESPN feature that billed you as Daniel Negreanu’s unofficial photographer. It was a funny piece and showed that you two were actually good friends. Is that still the case today?
Of course! Earlier this summer I busted him in the limit hold’em tournament [laughs]. I had kings and I’m not even sure what he had. I had an overpair and he had no pair.
Do you ever get any recognition for that TV appearance, or any others that you may have had?
Yes, I do. After I busted Daniel in the hand, a reporter came up to me and asked me what my name was [laughs].
At one point you were a Team PokerStars Pro. Looking back, was that a good experience for you?
I enjoyed the experience. It was a two-year deal that I had. I thought I put a strong effort in. It was a good experience to play amongst the pros.
What are your plans moving forward?
Actors Where Are They Now
Canada doesn’t get much of a summer, so once I get back we’ll spend a few weeks doing summer things and then September is usually WCOOP time, so we’ll focus back on poker then.
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