Anson Tsang has joined the elite ranks of players that have won multiple World Series of Poker gold bracelets. The Hong Kong resident emerged victorious from a field of 2,315 total entries in the 2020 WSOP Online $500 buy-in no-limit hold’em deepstack event to earn his second piece of WSOP hardware and the top prize of $150,460. Tsang first bracelet win came at the 2018 WSOP Europe festival, where he took down the €2,200 buy-in pot-limit Omaha eight-max event for $105,489.
The strong turnout for this event resulted in a $1,099,625 final prize pool which was paid out among the top 332 finishers. A number of big names made deep runs in this event only to fall just short of the final table, including online tournament crusher Samuel Vousden (26th – $4,313), Thai Ha (20th – $4,313), and Justin Lapka (14th – $5,999).
Tsang held the chip lead when the nine-handed final table was set. He added to his chip advantage by scoring the first knockout at the final table. Tsang shoved from the small blind with the 109 and Eder Campana called all-in from the big blind with A4. Tsang flopped the nut straight and held from there to eliminate Campana in ninth place ($11,604).
Nobuaki Sasaki was the next to fall. Their AQ was unable to outrun the AK of Stephen Holford, who made the nut flush on the turn to leave Sasaki drawng dead. Sasaki was awarded $16,139 as the eighth-place finisher.
Marc Carola’s run in this event came to an end when his AJ came up against the AK of Mohaiman Ashrafee. While he ended up making aces and jacks by the river, his opponent hit aces and kings to lock up the pot. Carola earned $22m446 for his seventh-place showing.
Tsang’s second knockout of the day saw him win a preflop race with A9 up against the 88 of Malcoln Trayner. The pocket eights remained an overpair to the board on a seven-high flop, but Tsang spiked the A on the turn to make a superior pair. The river kept him ahead and Trayner was sent packing in sixth place ($31,219).
Wong Soon Heong got his last 10 or so big blind in preflop with 87 from the button and ended up facing Stephen Holford’s AK. Heong made a pair on the flop, but Holford turned a larger pair of kings to regain the lead and held from there. Soon Heong took home $43,419 as the fifth-place finisher.
Amir Dvir got the last of his stack in with 88 and was called by Tsang, who had picked up A4 in the small blind. Tsang flopped fours full of aces to take a huge lead in the hand which Dvir was unable to overcome. Instead he hit the rail in fourth place ($60,387), while Tsang extended his already sizable chip lead.
The two shorter stacks clashed in a hand that set up the final heads-up showdown. Holford was at risk with the A7 from the small blind and behind the AQ of Ashrafee. The board ran out A1039K and Holford was eliminated in third place ($83,986).
With that Tsang took roughly a 2:1 chip lead into heads-up play against Ashrafee. The two battled it out for a while, but Ashafree ultimately fell to below 15 big blinds by the time the final hand was dealt. He shoved from the button with QJ and Tsang called with KQ. The AJ10 flop gave Tsang the nut straight for a massive lead in the hand. The 9 turn and 10 river secured the pot and the title for Tsang, while Ashrafee earned $116,809 for his second-place showing.
Here is a look at the payouts awarded at the final table:
Place | Name | Earnings |
1 | Anson Tsang | $150,460 |
2 | Mohaiman Ashrafee | $116,809 |
3 | Stephen Holford | $83,986 |
4 | Amir Dvir | $60,387 |
5 | Wong Soon Heong | $43,419 |
6 | Malcolm Trayner | $31,219 |
7 | Marc Carola | $22,446 |
8 | Nobuaki Sasaki | $16,139 |
9 | Eder Campana | $11,604 |
Winner photo credit: WSOP.