All eyes may be on the Rio this month as the WSOP rolls on, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other major tournaments being won elsewhere. Malaysia’s Michael Soyza is one player who has been seeking his fortune elsewhere, having entered the Mid States Poker Tour Main Event at The Venetian for $1,600. He had plenty of company in the event, with 2,877 players registering for this huge event with a $3 million guaranteed prize pool.
As the tournament reached its latter stages there were a few Asian prospects still in with a chance, including Vietnamese player Ha Duong. He was ticking along nicely in this tournament before losing a huge pot when his opponent rivered a two outer to eliminate him in 88th place. He was one of several Vietnamese players who have made the trip to Las Vegas, and we can expect to see them in action during the coming days. Japanese player Takashi Ogura went even deeper in the event, eventually falling in 16th place.
Final Table action
The final table saw Soyza reach heads up play with French heads up sit n go specialist Jeremy Saderne. The two players paused to discuss a deal with their chip stacks being almost equal, but Saderne wanted to chop the money 60% to 40% such was his confidence that he had a skill edge in the format. Soyza quickly refused, and set about proving Saderne wrong, building a large lead before finishing the job. This $588,249 win was the largest of his career and boosted his lifetime cashes significantly, moving him up to 4th on Malaysia’s all-time money list.
This latest score is just one chapter in what is quickly turning into a great year for Michael Soyza, as he has already taken home three scores in the five-figure range from results in Macau, along with over $67,000 for 2nd place in a side event at the Aussie Millions and $148,629 for winning the APPT Korea Main Event back in April.
The final payouts for this event are as follows:
1st – Michael Soyza – $588,249
2nd – Jeremy Saderne – $364,573
3rd – Richard Alsup – $273,430
4th – Glen Nguyen – $215,430
5th – Hye Park – $165,715
6th – David Chen – $132,572
7th – Peter Vitantonio – $103,572
8th – Ivaylo Sivinov – $78,300
9th – Ryan Yu – $62,143
Article by Craig Bradshaw
