Michael Wang has managed not less than one marquee reside match victory in every of the previous three years on the circuit. His newest massive win noticed him come out on prime of a subject of 840 entries within the 2024 World Poker Tour Playground Championship $3,500 CAD buy-in no-limit maintain’em essential occasion. The New Jersey native earned $276,634 and his first WPT title after popping out on prime.
“Right now, it still feels a little surreal. I’m sure it will hit me a little more when I go home or take in a little more,” Wang advised WPT reporters after popping out on prime. “I’ve been coming to WPTs for so many years and haven’t had a final table… so it means the world to me. I can’t believe it happened.”
Wang’s most notable victory of 2023 noticed him take down a $10,300 buy-in occasion on the Wynn Millions for $308,016. In 2022, he earned his second profession World Series 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 title.
This was Wang’s first title and twelfth final-table end of 2024. The 1,368 Card Player Player of the Year factors he secured with the win introduced his whole to three,467. That sum is at the moment good for forty sixth place within the 2024 POY standings offered by Global 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. Big names that ran deep included current Moneymaker Tour Aruba essential occasion runner-up Duff Charette (forty eighth), four-time WPT champion Darren Elias (thirty first), and bracelet winner Tommy Nguyen (thirtieth).
The closing 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 going through 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 palms of five-handed motion earlier than the subsequent elimination lastly came about. Zachary Fischer bought his stack in preflop with A
A
main the ten
10 of Grant. The board got here down J9
875 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 exhibiting.
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 way of Grant.
The final 17 massive blinds in Grant’s stack went in as a three-bet shove with OkayQ. Wang, who had min-raised from the button, known as with 99. The A55 flop gave Grant a flush draw to go along with his overcards, however the 9 flip left his drawing lifeless. The Q on the top 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 Okay7 for 12 massive blinds. Wang shortly known as from the massive blind with 77 and held by way of 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.
Details haven’t been launched, however WPT reporters indicated that Wang and Plante got here to a deal in some unspecified time in the future to re-distribute the remaining prize cash a bit. As they performed on, Wang pulled even additional forward. In the ultimate hand, Wan shoved from the button for simply over eight massive blinds efficient with QJ from the button. Plante known as with Okay2 from the massive 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 yr’s European Poker Tour Barcelona essential occasion.
Here is a take a look at the payouts and POY factors awarded on the closing desk:
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
| 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 |
Photo credit: World Poker Tour.
