The poker world is reeling from the lack of Hank Yang, a member of the high-stakes neighborhood for greater than a decade. His loss of life was introduced on Twitter on Wednesday by fellow poker professional Jesse Segall, who known as Yang “Essentially the most beneficiant/pleasant participant round.”
Hank Yang is pictured the place he was happiest, on the poker felt in a Las Vegas money recreation. (Picture: Katerina Lukina)
“His love for poker was apparent, however his love for folks was second to none,” Segall wrote. “The void left behind in his wake will probably be unattainable to fill.”
In a remark beneath Segall’s Tweet, fellow poker professional Felipe Ramos wrote that Yang “must be high 0.00001% folks within the historical past of humanity.”
Extraordinarily Huge Blinds
Yang, who hailed from Virginia, wasn’t massive on poker tournaments. Although he logged a formidable $178,492 in profession tourney cashes, in keeping with PokerNews.com, he was extra more likely to be discovered taking part in money video games on the Aria poker site or in non-public video games organized for gamers who take pleasure in betting unusually massive sums of cash.
On a 2018 episode of PokerGo’s “Poker After Darkish” sequence, Yang competed in a $20K minimal buy-in recreation towards felt legends that included Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth. Not solely did Yang survive, he walked away with a table-leading revenue of greater than $100K.
“He was such a sick gambler – in each the very best and worst form of methods,” poker professional Matt Berkey mentioned on his “Solely Buddies” podcast. “What a pleasure to be round at any time when it got here to be in a aggressive setting … He made video games nice.”
Yang’s Hendon Mob outcomes present simply three whole cashes, his ultimate one a Fortieth-place end for $12,496 in a $3K occasion on the WPT World Championships final month at Wynn Las Vegas.
Verify within the Darkish
Although Yang’s reason behind loss of life has but to be revealed, Berkey alluded to a deep darkness which will have come into play.
“I’m not going to fake he lived an ideal life and didn’t have his points,” Berkey mentioned. “It’s significantly unlucky to have any individual who I believe is a internet optimistic to the neighborhood, which will have been struggling a little bit bit behind the scenes and struggling quietly. It makes you are feeling very powerless as an onlooker and a peer.”
