Winfred Yu Gives Insight into Big Game
August 1, 2017 10:48 amTwo Asian businessmen who are well-known for having made their fortunes from the gambling industry are Winfred Yu, the President of the Poker King Club in Macau, and Paul Phua, a self-confessed investor, gambler, and risk taker. In 2009, the junket operator Suncity Group opened the Poker King Club in Macau, and ever since the two men have been instrumental in setting up the Macau Big Game in which wealthy businessmen and a select number of world-class poker professionals play the highest stakes cash games on the planet.
Both men are avid poker players themselves, with Winfred Yu (photo) having amassed $2,160,854 in live tournament earnings since his first cash back in 2004, and Paul Phua currently sitting on $4,531,059 in winnings since 2012. Nevertheless, the two men enjoy nothing more than taking part in high roller cash games, and the psychology and high pressure tactics that form an integral part of the nose bleed stakes.
In a revealing interview with Paul Phua lately, Winfred Yu then gave us a unique behind the scenes look into the very private Big Game, stating that one of the advantages that Western pros currently enjoy over their Asian competitors is a greater level of aggression, albeit only against the weaker players.
“I think they come here more aggressive, in general, that l see, than Asian players. They’re using their aggressiveness, their calm and power of betting.”
The Asian players who have learned from playing against the best and play without fear, though, have now become more adept at using their stacks to attack back, causing a great deal of frustration for the pros. That said, the game’s elite players, such as Phil Ivey for instance, are in a different category all together, according to Yu, as they have the ability to switch up their game whenever necessary. As he subsequently explains:
“Phil Ivey, you hardly ever see him do something really crazy, you know, a very calm guy. When he’s not running good, you know, even when he’s short stacked, he’s just nursing it.. and when he feels his luck and his way to attack you back, then he puts in a lot of chips and puts you under pressure. I think the pros know how to put pressure on amateur or beginner players.”