Chau Giang is similar to many poker players in the fact that he fled Vietnam in the 1970s in search of a better life. His decision landed him in Florida where he worked a few jobs for minimum wage. He soon moved westward. It was with this move that Giang found poker. Eventually, Chau would become good enough at the game that he decided to quit his job and play full time.
An avid cash game player, Giang quickly shot up the limits and began playing some of the biggest games around. Word has it that in his first year as a professional player, Giang made over six figures. His poker success reaches further than just cash games though.
Giang is the holder of three WSOP gold bracelets. He won his first in 1993 after taking down the $1,500 No-Limit Ace-to-Five Draw event. He earned over $80,000 for that win. His second bracelet came in 1998 after winnings an event of Omaha High-Low. In 2004, Giang claimed his third bracelet and nearly $190,000 by winning the $2,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event.
In 2005, Giang placed second in the WPT’s World Poker Open in Tunica for over $770,000. The final table was stacked with Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, Scotty Nguyen, Daniel Negreanu, and eventual winner John Stolzmann. A couple years down the road, Giang placed fifth at the L.A. Poker Classic for over $340,000.
Chau may not have the most jam-packed tournament resume around because he often prefers to stick to cash games instead of take hard to the tournament circuit. He is a regular of “The Big Game” in Las Vegas where he sits in the highest limit game around with some of the biggest professionals.
Just recently, Giang was picked up by Full Tilt Poker to be a sponsored professional on their site. He has nearly $3.3 million in career tournament earnings and is eighth on the list for all-time WSOP cashes.