Xai Vang

Xai Vang resides in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, and has a background in game design and technical service. He is currently pursuing a BS in Game Design from Lindenwood University remotely, and has over 14 years of experience in the gaming industry. As of June 2024, he works as a Field Service Engineer at Light & Wonder, where he performs preventative maintenance on electronic gaming machines and table games. Previously, he worked as a Field Service Technician at Aristocrat Gaming for over three years, handling installation, repair, and troubleshooting of slot machines.

Xai Vang has nine recorded cashes in WSOP events, with total earnings of $27,056 from the World Series of Poker. His best WSOP cash came in 2023 during Event #39: $1,500 MONSTER STACK, where he finished 327th out of 8,317 entrants for $5,982. He also cashed in the 2024 WSOP Event #5: $1,000 Mystery Millions (399th for $3,930) and the 2023 WSOP Event #53: $1,500 MILLIONAIRE MAKER (1,489th for $2,400).

On the World Poker Tour, Vang has three cashes totaling $6,575. His best result came in 2023 WPT Prime Championship at Wynn Las Vegas, where he finished 848th for $2,100. He also cashed in two WPTDeepStacks events at Thunder Valley Casino Resort: 70th for $1,975 in 2019 and 50th for $2,500 in 2018.

During the 2021 WPTDeepStacks Thunder Valley Main Event, Vang was involved in a dramatic hand against Joe Nguyen. Vang moved all-in from under the gun with pocket aces, and Nguyen called with pocket eights. The board ran out 10-7-7-8-A, giving Vang a better full house (aces full of sevens) to double up to 445,000 chips, while Nguyen was left with only 75,000.

Based on limited available information, Vang appears to play a solid, aggressive style. In the hand against Nguyen, he was willing to commit his stack with a premium hand (AA) from early position, indicating a straightforward, value-oriented approach. His tournament results show a mix of deep runs in large fields (e.g., 399th out of 18,409 in the Mystery Millions) and smaller cashes, suggesting adaptability across different structures.

Outside of poker, Vang works in the gaming industry, maintaining slot machines and electronic table games. He has a passion for game design and is studying for a BS in Game Design. He lists his location as St. Paul, Minnesota, on LinkedIn, and has over 300 connections in the gaming and technology sectors.