Yang turned that $225 in $8.25 million, the 2008WSOP main-event bracelet, and the means to help the world. Yang has repeatedly said he will donate 10 percent of the money to charity, and will also use some of it to travel overseas as a Christian missionary.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation, Feed the Children, and the Ronald McDonald House will benefit from his generosity.

“I know what it’s like to be poor, I know,” he told Norman Chad in his post-match interview.

Yang wore his faith on his sleeve the entire final table, often praying aloud and thanking God whenever he won a hand, which was often. He became the aggressor right at the start of final-table play and went from being one of the shortest stacks to the chip leader before the final table was a dozen hands old.

Yang’s father believes that poker and gambling are against God’s wishes, but Yang doesn’t feel the same way.

“If you use (the money) for a good purpose, you know, support your family, give to the needy people, do something good, and that is my whole prayer,” he said. “This whole time, this whole tournament, I say, 'Lord, you help me win and I will use the money wisely, fruitfully, that will not only benefit my family, but benefit the people who need the help also.' I never lost faith in God. I knew in my heart he was going to be there for me. I never lost hope, this whole time I never lost hope.”

As a poker player, Yang is a novice. He says he started playing poker two years before he became the WSOP champion. Many poker players would say that winning the main event would be the best day in their lives, but that is not true for Yang.

“The day I first came to America, I found freedom. That was the happiest day of my life,” he said.

Yang will quit his job as a social worker for Foster Kids, but he won’t do it hastily. He said he will give them a two-week notice to maintain professionalism.