Henry Zou Goes the Extra Mile to Drive Nine Hours to Visit Ailing Mother and Play WPT Maryland

By Sean Chaffin

After driving more than nine hours from his home in Saginaw, Michigan, Henry Zou is now among the field in the WPT Maryland. A full-time poker player for the last few years, Zou normally sticks with tournaments about a five-mile drive of his home.

The drive to the Baltimore/Washington D.C. wasn’t just about poker unfortunately. His 94-year-old mother lives in the Washington D.C. area and has been battling cancer. The trip has allowed him to spend plenty of time with her and also allowed for some poker at Live! Casino. 

“I wouldn’t have driven so far to play, I just happened to be here,” says the 59-year-old, who’s married and has one grown son who works as an engineer in the D.C. area.

After making it through to the second day of action, it’s been a struggle to get any momentum today.

“Right now I’m very short stacked,” he said during the dinner break. “My cards are just dead right now. In two hours I had one good hand, Ace-King. I was all in and he had Ace-King too. After that, none of my hands have been playable.”

Born in China, Zou was stricken with polio at age 1. He moved to the U.S. in 2005 to be near family that had already emigrated. He found life in the U.S. much easier than living in China, where wheelchair accessibility can be a real problem.

“Here I can go by myself and travel almost anywhere,” he says. “But in China sometimes it can be a real problem. There are lots of steps and stairs. Hotels, airports, nothing is wheelchair accessible. Sometimes others have to carry you.”

After working for several years as a cashier, poker became his full-time profession a few years ago. The job had taken its toll on his back, shoulders, and arms, and playing poker fits better with his physical situation. It’s apparently been a nice transition and he’s found some success the last couple years with almost $357,000 in live tournament winnings.

His biggest score came in May 2018, when he finished third in a $1,100 MSPT event in Michigan for $99,751. Just a month earlier in April, when won the $1,000 Main Event at the Western New York Poker Challenge in Niagara Falls for $66,736.

This year, a few more big finished have come his way. The most recent was at the WSOP Circuit stop in Milwaukee, where he finished third for $62,298. In August, he also made the final table of an HPT event in Chicago, taking sixth for $29,640. His wife usually travels on the road with him for poker events, but recently took a new job where she can’t get away as easily.

Now in his first WPT, Zou has enjoyed himself and planning on jumping in more events when he can. He’s still hoping his fortunes turn around here at WPT Maryland. 

“I love the slow WPT structures, they’re very good,” he says. “I like the WPT, but never really had a chance to play before. It’s tough for me to fly because I have to get a taxi, which sometimes don’t work very well because of the wheelchair. Otherwise, I would fly more. Shuttle buses and taxis aren’t always wheelchair accessible or convenient. Those are very tough for me, that’s why I drive.”

A big comeback with a nice cash would certainly make for a nice drive back to Michigan.

Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas, and his work appears in numerous websites and publications. Follow him on Twitter @PokerTraditions.