poker players

The author shares her journey of becoming a gambler, including her big winnings and the lessons she learned about human nature and herself.

Kat is a tough, independent woman who makes her living as a professional poker player. She is single, childless, and happy about it. But when her best friend, Josie, commits suicide, Kat becomes the temporary guardian of Josie's ten-year-old son, David. As the days pass, Kat begins to realize that all the money and success in the world don't mean a thing unless you have someone to share it with.

An enigmatic man arrives in a small West Texas town, claiming he wants to join a high stakes poker game that has been going on every weekend for fifty years, but as he joins the players, they soon learn his more sinister motives for coming to town.

"In this intimate profile of an unlikely poker champion, the life story of Jerry Yang is laid out-from his difficult Hmong childhood to his success as a professional poker player. Born in the mountains of northern Laos, Jerry spent four and a half years in a Thai refugee camp after his family escaped the Communist forces. He endured horrific living conditions there and watched his family members die at gunpoint, but miraculously escaped and immigrated to the United States. From his first chance encounter with poker to winning the 2007 World Series of Poker, his struggles and achievements are chronicled here. It details Jerry's domination in the sport and how he uses his winnings to give back to the organizations that fed and clothed him during his childhood at the refugee camp. This autobiography is truly inspirational and is a reminder that the American dream is attainable for those with the courage and tenacity to pursue it"--.