ShareThe story of the Dang brothers, Hac(“Trex313”) and Di(“urindanger”), is an inspiring one that demonstrates the power of hard work, determination, and entrepreneurship.
Born in Vietnam, the brothers moved to the United States in the early 2000s to attend university. While studying at the University of Virginia, they discovered online poker, and quickly became adept at the game.
Over the next few years, they honed their skills and began to make a name for themselves in the online poker community, winning many millions of dollars in the process.
Full Tilt Poker Proving Ground
In 2006, the Dang brothers started playing on Full Tilt Poker, one of the biggest online poker sites at the time. They quickly became known for their aggressive playing style and their incredible win rates.
Hac, in particular, was a great player, and he quickly rose to the top of the online poker world, earning well into eight-figures.
Di once relayed a story of when he was playing in the biggest cash game in the world in a Macau casino. Used to buying in for $200,000, he was now faced with sitting with a minimum of $500,000 which was clearly a nervy prospect.
Eight hours later, after doing his utmost to entertain his amateur tablemates, he was a million dollars down and facing a depressing evening, wondering what had gone wrong.
As the pair approached their retirement from the game, they were ranked 5th and 6th in the online cash game rankings with a fortune in winnings from live games as well.
The Dang brothers’ success was not without its challenges, however. In 2011, the US Department of Justice shut down several major online poker sites, including Full Tilt Poker, and charged their owners with fraud and money laundering.
The incident sent shockwaves through the online poker community, and many players were left wondering what would happen next.
Despite the turmoil, the Dang brothers were able to weather the storm, and they continued to play poker on other sites. However, the incident did cause them to re-evaluate their priorities.
In a 2012 interview with PokerStrategy.com, Hac Dang explained why he and his brother decided to retire from online poker.
"We realized that poker was not something we wanted to do for the rest of our lives. We had made enough money to achieve financial freedom, and we wanted to explore other opportunities."
Busy Retirement
Since retiring from online poker, the Dang brothers have been involved in a number of business ventures, investing in a variety of projects that include a restaurant. They have also become advocates for entrepreneurship and financial literacy, sharing their experiences and insights with aspiring entrepreneurs around the world.
In a series of interviews over the years, we learned that the brothers might have initially upset their parents with their unconventional choice of career but once it became clear how successful they were the situation improved.
They bought their father a BMW M5 and mother a Lexus out of the blue. They also paid for their three sibling’s college loan debts, giving the rest of the family a treat that was the cherry on the cake after years of worry about possible losses from the outrageous sums they were gambling with.
Not long after that, Hac and Di bought a 7,585-square-foot compound in Fairfax Station for $1.35 million in cash so the family could all live together in comfort where they still live today.
