A piece of interesting – and actually useful – poker memorabilia is available for the next few days, provided you want to pony up at least four figures for it. The Corum Admiral’s Cup Competition watch awarded to Jerry Yang for winning the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event has been put up for sale on eBay; the auction is scheduled to conclude at 8:14pm EST Thursday.
The reason the watch is being auctioned off on eBay dates back to last March. A Notice of Encumbrances posted on the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s website indicated that Yang owed the California Franchise Tax Board $3,860.60, but more amazingly, had amassed $571,894.54 in delinquent taxes to the federal government. As such, the IRS seized some of Yang’s property, including sixteen pieces of jewelry. Amongst those items were the Corum watch, the treasured bracelet he received for winning the 2007 WSOP Main Event, as well as another WSOP bracelet engraved “WSOP Champ.” It is unknown where that second bracelet came from, as Yang’s only WSOP win was in the Main Event; he likely bought the other bracelet or received it as a gift.
It turns out that Jerry Yang simply put his money in the wrong places and consulted with the wrong people after winning $8.25 million in the Main Event. Nothing nefarious such as intentional tax evasion was going on. Yang spoke with Fifth Street Radio at the time to explain what happened:
I did pay my state taxes, over $900,000. Unfortunately, I’m not going to blame anybody but myself, but I encountered people that I thought I could trust and would give me good advice, but unfortunately some of the people that I hired or got on my team were advising me in the wrong way, if you will. So I did make some mistakes, and what made the matter worse was that in April of 2008, when it was time to pay the federal tax, there was a financial crisis with the Bank of America, and that’s where I put my money in. Unfortunately, all my funds were locked away, were frozen if you will, and so I wasn’t able to pay my federal taxes on time. Due to penalties the amount that I owed at that point, after I paid everything, I owed roughly between $150,000-$170,000 due to penalties and things like that. That’s why I owe the IRS a little bit more than that today. That is basically the story. Again, I don’t have anybody to blame but myself.
It is unknown what happened to his Main Event bracelet, but that was sold at auction along with the watch. Yang was hoping to somehow get it back, telling Fifth Street Radio:
The possibility is always there, but if I lose them I lose them. I hope not, hopefully my CPA can maybe talk them into holding on to it until we can come up with some sort of agreement. That is my hope and my prayer, especially the bracelet. It has a sentimental value, and it means a lot to me, but again, I’m in this mess so I’m just going to do my best. That’s all I can do.
The eBay seller was the person who bought the watch at the IRS auction and has provided a picture of the paperwork to prove that the item is the genuine article. The highest of the 38 bids on the watch is currently $1,500.
Yang used $540,000 of his WSOP winnings to open a restaurant, Pocket 8’s Sushi and Grill in Merced, California, in 2009. Considering it has been open for five years, it has obviously been a success, although it is only rated at two and a half stars out of five on Yelp. Yang told Fifth Street Radio last year that the restaurant was doing well, so he wasn’t overly concerned with his financial well-being on-going.
He also split up ten percent of his Main Event winnings to donate to three charities: the Make-a-Wish Foundation, Feed the Children, and the Ronald McDonald House. He did say, though, that he should have made sure his taxes were paid before giving away the money.