The WSOP in 2006 was a historical event. The event saw 8,733 players, the highest number of players ever in a single event, and WSOP bracelets were won in the preliminary events by Jeff Madsen and Bill Chen.

Bill found very little time to play poker earlier on in his life. He was busy finishing his studies at the Berkeley Institute of the California University. He acquired his PhD in Mathematics in 1999. This started his career in the field of software design and quantitative analysis, but his desire to gain success in poker kept on burning inside him.

Bill came up with the “Chen Formula” in 2000. It helps, through simple arithmetic, to gauge a quick analysis of your pre flop hand’s strength. This, along with his ever-growing passion for poker, helped him reach the heights of the poker world.

Initially Bill had little success on the California circuit. However, he eventually demonstrated his expertise in the game and had a big win in 2000 at the ‘Legends of Poker’ event held in Los Angeles’s Bicycle Casino. In Vegas on the 4th of July, he defeated 415 players to win the $3,000 Limit Hold’em event. Eleven days later he beat 740 players in the $2,500 No Limit Six-Handed tournament. That is where he won his second bracelet.

Bill is considered to be the best mathematical mind in the game and has the respect of all his opponents.