Jerry Yang is not your average WSOP main event champion. He has shunned the spotlight since his win, which makes little sense to me. You don’t see him all over the poker shows like the other champions, and he has become known as the “Shadow” on the professional circuit.

Why this man has not taken advantage of his marketability is a surprise, but maybe he’s just quietly enjoying his newfound wealth. Yang’s appearances are random and unannounced, and he’s only had one cash since his big win. He finished 14th at the Binions Poker Open last October.

Yang remains dedicated to his family and has not let poker dominate his life since his win. Many in the industry think he has not been a good ambassador to the game since becoming champion. But he has shown the world that family comes before poker, even when you’re the champion.

Las Vegas has been blacklisting people since the 60’s. The original lists were not created to keep out card counters or advantage players, but were a method to keep mob-related criminals out of town. One of the most famous, Marshall Caifano, died last December after being blacklisted for 43 years. He was one of the original 11 people put on the list for theft and illegal bookmaking.

Today’s blacklisted individual is more likely to be an advantage player like Ricardo Sedan. He’s one of the most successful card counters. He attended M.I.T. in the 80’s and filed lawsuits against casinos in the past. He and two other card counters filed a $2.3M lawsuit against the MGM Grand Detroit following an incident in which they were beaten and detained by casino security in 2001.

Poker star Andy Bloch is also blacklisted from the blackjack tables because of his connection with the M.I.T. blackjack team.

The WSOP will honor the late Chip Reese this year by awarding the winner of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E event with the ‘David “Chip” Reese Award’ along with the bracelet and cash. Reese was the first winner of this event in 2006, the first year they made it the premier tournament amongst the game’s elite. That was his third WSOP bracelet in a poker career that rarely saw him in tournament play. He only went back to playing in tournaments because his children wanted him to do so.

Reese was considered one of the greatest high-limit mixed poker cash game players of all time. He was a fixture on the Vegas poker scene since the 70’s and was the youngest to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1991. Reese will be sorely missed in the poker community, and naming the tournament after him will hopefully continue beyond this year.

The 2008 edition of Poker After Dark will have a few new faces from previous years. Gavin Smith is one player who will make multiple appearances in Season 3. David Oppenheim is another newbie to the show. One of the best younger players will also be on the show this season. David Williams is slated for the week of March 24 and should make his presence felt at these highly-skilled single-player sit and go tournaments.

Hoyt Corkins will also make an appearance on the April 14 episode against Doyle Brunson, Chris Ferguson, Chau Giang, Andy Bloch, and Gabe Kaplan. Hoyt has done well since coming out of tournament poker retirement the last couple of years.

The show will also get a new hostess. Gone is the lovely Shana Hiatt and in her place is model/actress Marianela Pereyra. Marianela also does commentary for the WSOP and hails from Argentina.

The resolutions for poker players are the same every year. They always resolve to only play in games that are the right size for they’re bankroll. They want to have a year of not going broke, and stakes selection is the way to achieve that.

They also resolve to stop tilting out when it runs bad. Controlling negative emotions is something that every serious player tries to improve and conquer. I hear this one every year, but it’s the toughest one to achieve.

The other common resolution is to read more educational material that will make us better players. We resolve to study the game more so we can learn a new trick or gain a better understanding of the theory of the game. Many players try to improve their mathematical side of the game, as many players are lazy, and take years to finally learn the “math of poker”.