Poker Stories: Danny Tang

Danny Tang was first introduced to poker by his older brother back in Wales, and dreamed of one day sitting head-to-head with the likes of Phil Ivey or Tom Dwan. Less than a decade later, Tang is now hopping from high roller-to-high roller stop on private jets with the very same Ivey and Dwan. The 28-year-old poker pro didn't start competing on the circuit regularly until 2016, but he quickly rose up the ranks and has now racked up more than $8.4 million in live tournament earnings.

Tang had a breakout victory at the PokerStars Championship Prague main event in December of 2017. The next summer, he went deep in the World Series of Poker main event, earning $230,475 for 31st place. Later that year, he very nearly repeated his win in Prague, ultimately settling for fourth place in back-to-back runs. In 2019, Tang picked up the three biggest scores of his career. The Hong Kong resident earned $1.83 million for his runner-up showing to Bryn Kenney at the Triton Montenegro Super High Roller, and then banked another $1.6 million and his first bracelet in Vegas. The Natural8 online poker ambassador followed that up with a third-place showing at the EPT Barcelona High Roller for another $940,803.

Highlights from this interview include quarantine days in Malaysia, being in Neymar's shadow, a helpful nudge from J.C. Alvarado, being the last man standing in the Uber to the Rio, jumping into the high rollers with Paul Phua, not realizing he won a WSOP bracelet, a $1.6 million pot in Macau, thinking in big blinds, dropping Tony G off in Lithuania, skiing with Tom Dwan, being snubbed at the airport, a 'not-ridiculous' six-figure baccarat bet, from James on Geordie Shore to Bob Lam on TVB, God Of Gamblers, a shout out to Michael Addamo, the appeal of short deck poker, lucky underwear, avoiding the shoulder tap, and 7-Eleven chicken teriyaki sandwiches.