Seat 4: Steven Gee -- 16,860,000
Greg Merson isn't the only player at this World Series of Poker Main Event final table with a gold bracelet... enter Steven Gee. Gee is also the oldest player at the final table at age 57.
In 2010, Gee won his first gold bracelet for $472,479. He conquered a $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em event with 3,042 players, meaning his knows how to maneuver his way through large fields. Getting to this final table, Gee had to do just that, and he now has the experience of winning a WSOP event under his belt.
Outside of his bracelet win in 2010 and this final table appearance, Gee has never had a score over $4,500. He does, though, have a total of five WSOP cashes to his credit.
Gee was born in China, but resides in Sacramento, California. He considers himself a professional poker player, but formerly worked as a Formerly a Manager of Software Projects for the California Public Employees Retirement System.
When talking about his lengthy poker background, here's what Gee had to say:
"I’m from Sacramento, California but originally from China. I was a professional poker player in the 1970’s, back when I was in my 20’s playing draw lowball. At 22, I was playing the biggest games around. At that time, I was the only young guy at the table. Poker was not popular back in those days like it is today. Being a poker player was a lot like being a pool hustler. We played at the Oaks card club, $60/120 limit. I was the only 20-something year-old there. There were some guys in their 30’s, some in their 40’s. Everybody else was in their 50’s. But the world’s changed now. Look at a poker room in a casino today and the whole lineup is in their 20’s. I went back and got my college degree, got married, worked a corporate job, you know 8 to 5. Then, in 2008 I quit my job to play poker full time. Poker was so popular at the time, I wanted to win a WSOP bracelet and I wanted to do it now. I didn’t want to wait until I was 70."
If he's able to take down this title, Gee will become the second Chinese-born winner of the Main Event, alongside Johnny Chan. He can also become the oldest person to win the Main Event since Noel Furlong won at the age of 62 in 1999.