In the last few months, Wai Kin Yong has become a prominent face in the Malaysian poker circles. He is only 28 years old, but becomes one of the most successful poker players in the country.
He started playing live poker in 2011 and before 2020, he has made $10 million. You will be surprised to know that there are only 4 players in Malaysia who have earned more than $10 million before 2020 and Yong is one of them.
Yong is basically a high-stakes cash player. In 2017, he took down the Triton Charity Tournament in Manila and the Triton Super High Roller Series Main Event. Next year, he secured the 6th position in Triton Super High Roller Series Main Event and in 2019, he wins Triton London £100,000 Main Event.
Secret of his success
In Paul Phua Poker School interview, he has been asked about the secret and biggest strength of his success. He said-
“I would think it’s my craziness, aggressiveness. I love to be aggressive, I love to be in control, I love to put pressure on other people.” Then he added –
“When I go back into the room I ask question myself: ‘did I do something wrong today?’, or ‘have I made any mistakes today?’ And then I ask around, I ask people that I know. I ask my mentor and see if I actually made mistakes, and try to improve on them and never make the same mistake ever again.”
Yong also gives a lot of credit for his success to his mentor Mikael Thuritz which is undoubtedly another good practice to become a successful poker player.
Career Summary
Yong has been playing live poker tournaments since 2011. At the beginning of October 2013, he reached the money ranks at the main event of the European Poker Tour (EPT) in London and secured 44th position.
In September 2016, Yong won a tournament in the Triton Super High Roller Series organized by his father Richard Yong in Manila and received $ 800,000 as prize money. Two months later, he took down the Triton Series Main Event in Parañaque, Philippines and received over $2 million as the main prize.
In August 2019, Yong won the main event of the Triton Series in London. In this tournament, Yong earned his career best prize money of more than three million U. S. dollars. From 2011 to 2019 Yong has earned more than $10 million in live poker tournaments.
Conclusion:
If you want to be a successful poker player, you have to do a lot of work and it is good to have someone teaching you. Participating in online tournaments, playing small stakes and reading poker blogs are also helpful to improve your poker skills.