Michael Wang Wins World Poker Tour Playground Championship Main Event

Michael Wang has managed at the least one marquee stay match victory in every of the previous three years on the circuit. His newest massive win noticed him come out on high of a subject of 840 entries within the 2024 World Poker Tour Playground Championship $3,500 CAD buy-in no-limit maintain’em principal occasion. The New Jersey native earned $276,634 and his first WPT title after popping out on high.

“Proper now, it nonetheless feels a bit of surreal. I’m positive it should hit me a bit of extra after I go residence or absorb a bit of extra,” Wang instructed WPT reporters after popping out on high. “I’ve been coming to WPTs for therefore a few years and haven’t had a closing desk… so it means the world to me. I can’t imagine it occurred.”

Wang’s most notable victory of 2023 noticed him take down a $10,300 buy-in occasion on the Wynn Hundreds of thousands for $308,016. In 2022, he earned his second profession World Sequence of Poker bracelet and $541,604 because the champion of the $5,000 eight-max occasion. His first bracelet had come again in 2015 in one other $5,000 buy-in affair. Wang now has almost $7 million in profession match earnings to his identify.

This was Wang’s first title and twelfth final-table end of 2024. The 1,368 Card Participant Participant of the Yr factors he secured with the win introduced his complete to three,467. That sum is at present good for forty sixth place within the 2024 POY standings offered by World Poker.

The sturdy turnout for this occasion noticed the $1.5 million CAD assure simply surpassed. The $2,688,000 CAD ($1,934,857 USD) closing prize pool was paid out amongst the highest 105 finishers. Large names that ran deep included current Moneymaker Tour Aruba principal occasion runner-up Duff Charette (forty eighth), four-time WPT champion Darren Elias (thirty first), and bracelet winner Tommy Nguyen (thirtieth).

The ultimate day started with six gamers remaining and Baron Ha within the lead. Amirpasha Emami was the shortest stack when play started, and was quickly all-in and in danger with pocket nines dealing with the pocket queens of Jordan Grant. Neither participant linked with a king-high runout and Emami was eradicated in sixth place ($60,464).

It took greater than 100 fingers of five-handed motion earlier than the subsequent elimination lastly happened. Zachary Fischer obtained his stack in preflop with AA main the ten10 of Grant. The board got here down J9875 and Grant turned a jack-high straight to crack Fischer’s aces. Fischer headed to the payout window to gather $79,899 for his fifth-place displaying.

Grant held the lead early in four-handed play, however misplaced a giant all-in with pocket kings in opposition to the highest pair or sixes and gutshot of Ha. The flip improved Ha to journeys sixes and he held from there to double by Grant.

The final 17 massive blinds in Grant’s stack went in as a three-bet shove with OkQ. Wang, who had min-raised from the button, referred to as with 99. The A55 flop gave Grant a flush draw to go along with his overcards, however the 9 flip left his drawing useless. The Q on the tip was a mere formality, as Grant was eradicated in fourth place ($105,093) by the hands of Wang and his nines full.

After a handful of three-handed orbits, Ha open-shoved from the button with Ok7 for 12 massive blinds. Wang shortly referred to as from the large blind with 77 and held by a queen-high runout. Ha was awarded $141,083 because the third-place finisher, whereas Wang entered heads-up play with 24,300,000 to Santiago Plante’s 17,400,000.

Particulars haven’t been launched, however WPT reporters indicated that Wang and Plante got here to a deal sooner or later to re-distribute the remaining prize cash a bit. As they performed on, Wang pulled even additional forward. Within the closing hand, Wan shoved from the button for simply over eight massive blinds efficient with QJ from the button. Plante referred to as with Ok2 from the large blind and the Q8643 board gave Wang a profitable pair of queens. Plante walked away with $210,417 because the runner-up. This was the second-largest rating but for Plante, trailing solely the $552,204 he earned because the fourth-place finisher in final 12 months’s European Poker Tour Barcelona principal occasion.

Here’s a take a look at the payouts and POY factors awarded on the closing desk:

Place
Participant
Earnings
POY Factors

1
Michael Wang
$276,634
1,368

2
Santiago Plante
$210,417
1,140

3
Baron Ha
$141,083
912

4
Jordan Grant
$105,093
684

5
Zachary Fischer
$79,899
570

6
Amirpasha Emami
$60,464
456

Photograph credit: World Poker Tour.