Chau Giang
Chau Giang was born on July 2, 1955. This Vietnamese-American made his way to the United States in the 1970s, fleeing Vietnam in a small boat. Chau Giang worked minimum wage jobs for a few years, including a job as a chef in Colorado, before he realized that poker “paid better.” He moved to Las Vegas and made more than $100,000 in his first year playing poker. Chau Giang also experimented with playing baccarat, but after he lost a lot of his early poker winnings he started to focus exclusively on poker.
Chau Giang has won three World Series of Poker bracelets, the first coming in 1993 at the $1500 Ace to Five Draw event. Chau Giang won his second WSOP bracelet in 1998 at the $2000 Omaha 8s or Better event, and his third WSOP bracelet came in 2004 at the $2000 Pot Limit Omaha event. Chau Giang’s highest finish in the World Series of Poker Main Event came in 1996, when he finished 13th.
Chau Giang and Poker Tournaments
Chau Giang is primarily a cash game poker player, playing at brick & mortar poker rooms on a regular basis. Chau actually quit playing poker tournaments for a long time, but because of his children he started playing poker tournaments again. One day Chau Giang’s children asked him why they never saw him playing poker on TV. Because of this question Chau began playing poker tournaments again so that his children could see him on TV.
Chau Giang made it to three final tables at the World Poker Tour, but has not yet won an event. To date, his poker tournament winnings surpass $2.5 million. Chau Giang’s poker philosophy is well summed up in a 1994 interview where he was quoted saying “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.”
Chau Giang is one of the least recognized poker players, but he is also one of the best. He regularly plays at the ultra high stakes poker cash games, playing against well known players such as Doyle Brunson, and many other top professionals.
