WSOPE Update: Anson Tsang wins first-ever bracelet; Timur Margolin gives Israel series gold #3; Shaun Deeb widens lead in POY race

The past week saw more bracelets awarded at the 2018 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE). The annual event has been ongoing at King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic running from October 9 to November 2. Among the hottest news were Asian players standing out. Hong Kong pro Anson Yan Shing Tsang ran deep in four events and landed his first-ever gold; and Israeli pro Timur Margolin won his second career WSOP bracelet. Another top story, Shaun Deeb pulling away at the WSOP Player of the Year race.

Anson Tsang wins first-ever WSOP bracelet

Anson Tsang etched his name in history by becoming the first Hong Kong player to ship in a WSOP bracelet. Tsang overcame the 187 entries of the €2,200 Pot Limit Omaha 8-handed event defeating Russia’s Ilya Bulychev at heads up.  

According to the live reports, Tsang was in prime form from the get-go. He closed Day 1 as the chip leader, bagged up second-in-chips at the end of Day 2, and on the final day he dominated at three-handed to seize his first-ever WSOP gold and the €91,730 (~US$105,400) top prize. This was Tsang’s fourth cash of the series. His other cashes were:

• 19th out of 666 entries at the Monster Stack event for €3,669
• 67th out of 572 at the €550 Pot Limit Omaha 8-max (won by Hanh Tran) for €859
• 296th out of 2,992 at the Colossus Event for €2,087

This recent victory is testament to how fantastic Tsang has been performing not just at the WSOPE but pretty much all year. Prior to the ongoing series, Tsang cashed in various big tournaments worldwide that included the Aussie Millions, EPT Monte Carlo, and at the WSOP where he claimed $67,210 for finishing 10th at the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship.

PLO seems to be bringing him some of the heftiest earnings. After the WSOP, he took 2nd at the EPT Barcelona €10,300 Pot Limit Omaha event for €151,700 (~US$176,680). Tsang currently runs second to Daniel Tang at the 2018 GPI Hong Kong and 44th worldwide.

Other notable players also earning some pay were Quan Zhou (4th), Hok Yiu Lee (6th), Ryan Reiss (14th), Anthony Zinno (15th), Shaun Deeb (20th), Chris Ferguson (22nd), and Chin Wei Lim (28th).

Final table payouts
Prize pool: €358,853 – Buyin: €2,200 – Entries: 187 – ITM: 29 places

1st Anson Tsang – Hong Kong – €91,730 (~US$105,400)
2nd Ilya Bulychev – Russia – €56,684
3rd Jason Gray – England – €39,508
4th Quan Zhou – China – €28,100
5th Ludvig Sterner – Sweden – €20,405
6th Hok Yiu Lee – Hong Kong – €15,134
7th Gisle Olsen – Denmark – €11,469
8th Alexander Norden – Sweden – €8,886

Timur Margolin gives Israel its third series victory

The Israelis continue to dominate at the 2018 WSOPE securing a third series bracelet for the nation. Their latest victor was pro Timur Margolin who bested the 666 entry field of the €1,100 No Limit Hold’em – Monster Stack event. Margolin shipped in €134,407 (~US$155,400) and alike fellow countryman Asi Moshe (winner of the 6-handed Deepstack), he captured his second career WSOP bracelet. Margolin won his first in Las Vegas this past summer at the $2,500 No Limit Hold’em event.

To reach the crowning moment, Margolin staged an impressive final table run. With ten on the round, he rose from a short stack and amassed a monstrous lead after railing the most decorated player at the table, Czech Republic’s Michal Mrakes in 5th place. He proceeded to eliminate the next two players to enter heads up with an overwhelming 8 to 1 advantage that Chile’s Raul Villarroel could not overcome. According to Hendon Mob, this win bumped up Margolin two spots into 5th rank in the Israel All Time Money List.

Numerous notable players earned in this event, among them were: Yang Zhang (18th), Anson Tsang (19th), Quan Zhou (21st), Chin Wei Lim (30th), Casey Kastle (44th), Jeff Madsen (73rd), Chris Ferguson (74th), Pete Chen (75th), Xixiang Luo (83rd), Maria Lampropulos (86th), and Anatoly Filatov (91st).

Final table payouts
Prize pool: €639,027 – Buyin: €1,200 – Entries: 666 – ITM: 100 places

1st Timur Margolin – Israel – €134,407 (~US$155,400)
2nd Raul Villarroel – Chile – €83,042
3rd Sebastian Ulrich – Germany – €57,447
4th Henrik Brockmann – Germany – €40,388
5th Michal Mrakes- Czech Republic – €28,863
6th Mykhalio Gutyi – Ukraine – €20,974
7th Tamas Szunyoghy – Hungary – €15,502
8th Amar Begovic – Bosnia & Herzegovinia – €11,656
9th Mario Llapi – Italy – €8,920
10th Dhawal Lachhwani – India – €6,949

Shaun Deeb widens lead in WSOP POY race

On our earlier WSOPE news, Shaun Deeb had a 776 point lead over Ben Yu at the WSOP Player of the Year race. That lead has widened further to over 1,300 points with Deeb cashing in another two events making that a total of 4 out of 7 at the WSOPE. His latest deep runs were 20th at the €2,200 Pot Limit Omaha 8-max (won by Anson Tsang), and runner-up at Event #6: €1,650 Pot Limit Omaha / No Limit Hold’em Mixed championed by Norbert Szecsi.

As for the event winner Szecsi, he started the heads up round trailing Deeb then switched positions at the PLO round. His victory denied the American pro a fifth career WSOP bracelet while in turn awarding him his second career WSOP gold. Szecsi is one of Hungary’s leading pros; his first WSOP win was back in 2013 at the $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event.

Article by Tricia David