WSOP Europe 2022: Anson Tsang Wins Event #4, Two More First-Time Winners

Three more WSOP bracelets have been won in Rozvadov as the World Series of Poker Europe festival’s fourth, fifth and sixth events have produced winners with very different lifetime records in the game.

While two new winners were crowned gold bracelet champions in Events #5 and #6, it was Anson Tang who took down Event #4 and in doing so, claimed his third WSOP bracelet of a superb professional career in the game.

Anson Tsang Wins Event #4 for €95,461

There were 57 players of the 221 entries who reached the final day of action, with just nine of them reaching the final table. The last day of action in the €2,000-entry Pot Limit Omaha Event #4 would take a mammoth 14 hours to conclude as players such as WSOP Main Event final table player Jorryt van Hoof, Colombian tournament regular Farid Jattin and 888poker ambassador Vivian Saliba.

The early levels saw little big movement but once the eliminations began, they came thick and fast. Jorryt van Hoof was unable to repeat his performance at the final table of the WSOP Main Event of 2014, finishing six places short of his third place on that final day eight years ago, this time busting in ninth for €7,168. Van Hoof wasn’t the only one to take an early ‘L’, as Belarussian player Pave Izotov (8^th for €8,893) fell to Jattin before he too busted next, crashing out in seventh place for €11,368. Jattin fell to the eventual winner as Tsang’s rivered two pair was good enough to seal an important pot for the chip leader.

Brazilian 888poker pro Vivian Saliba was the next to go as the in-form player’s luck ran out in sixth place for €14,959. Tsang was once again the conqueror, winning with a set of queens to further embolden his claim to the crown. After Austrian Oswin Ziegelbecker (5^th for €20,245) and Italian Dario Alioto (4^th for €28,162) left the event, three-handed play got under way and would prove the key period of the final table.

After four events of this year’s WSOPE, we don’t yet have an American winner and the closest ‘Old Glory’ has come to victory was when Shawn Stroke busted in third place for €40,232. Stroke was beaten by Tomasz Gluszko, who made a straight on the river to reduce play to a mano-a-mano duel for the gold. Gluszko began facing a deficit, but he managed to overcome that to lead. Anson Tsang is made of strong stuff, however, and he battled back into the lead.

After what had been an epic heads-up, Tsang took the advantage and put it to good use, dominating Gluszko pre-flop with ace-king Tsang’s highest two cards to Gluszko’s ace-jack. A king on the turn put Tsang into a commanding lead and that won him the top prize of €95,461, with Gluszko collecting the runner-up prize of €58,988.

Slovakian Lubos Laska Wins First Bracelet in Style

A dramatic conclusion to the fifth WSOPE event of the series saw Slovakian Lubos Laska take the gold bracelet in his first-ever ranking tournament victory. With 2,982 total entries, the eponymous Laska took the win after a dramatic final table concluded the action in his favor. Only nine made the final cut, with American Jason Wheeler the latest Stateside player to be eliminated short of glory, his unable to overtake Nino Pansier Junior’s . Wheeler took home €16,975 for his efforts – as well as a seat into the €10,350-entry Main Event – but missed the really big money.

As eight players battled on, the €550 buy-in event saw Turkish player Ismet Oral cash for €21,590. Oral moved all-in with over Demetrio Camanita’s raise with . Camanita made the call, however, and the board of saw Oral drawing dead to the river.

Hungarian player Andras Balogh was the next to bust, crashing out in seventh place for €27,647 when his shove from the cutoff with was met with a call in the form of a shove from Camanita again in the big blind with . The board was a cruel one, as the flop of that put Balogh ahead was followed by a meaningless but a devastating on the river.

Czech player Patrik Zidek busted in sixth place for €35,644 when his couldn’t catch Pansier Junior’s , then Romanian player Florin Bilan lost out in fifth for €46,262 when his all-in with was shot down by Lubos Laska’s , a ten on the flop followed by a queen on the river to reduce the field to four.

Laska was starting his ascent to the throne, and he took care of Camanita next. The Italian moved all-in with and ran into Laska’s which sailed home to send the entertaining Camanita home with €60,442.

South Korean De Han Kim had laddered all the way to third place but could go no further. He moved all-in with and was called by Laska with . Laska required a bit of luck for this elimination but got it immediately on the board, heading into heads-up with a lead of 48.8 million to 28.5 million.

Pansier Junior had a lot of catching up to do, but amazingly did so quickly, grabbing the chip lead. Laska, who had never won a ranking tournament before, was undeterred, however, and played fearless poker to wrestle back the initiative. On a flop of , Pansier check-raised all-in with and was called by Laska with . The turn of a and the river of a ended the event and led to wild celebrations on the Slovakian’s rail.

Roman Conquers Field for Famous Ukrainian Victory

There were 223 entries in Event #6, the €5,000-entry Pot Limit Omaha tournament that would see nine make the unofficial final table. Shaun Deeb was the man who missed that mark by one place, busting in 10^th for a very healthy €15,437. When he did so, it was the Israeli player Eran Dov Carmi who held an incredible chip lead. Roman Verenko was, at that point, some way back into the field but came roaring through for victory late in the night.

First to bust at the final table was Dimitrios Michailidis (9^th for €18,572), and he was followed by the man who has more cashes in WSOP events than anyone… without winning a bracelet. Roland Israelashvili came close yet again, this time busting in eighth place for €23,042. He was followed by Michael Magalashvili, who hails from Israel, his seventh-placed result worth a terrific €29,453.

Down to the final six, Verenko was rising and so too was Carmi, who took out Oleksii Kovalchuk in sixth for €38,756. Kovalchuk’s queens in the hole were no match for Carmi’s eventual two-pair and both flop and turn improved his hand, and Carmi was running over the table, taking out Thomer Pidun in fifth for €52,453. Pidun had pocket kings in his four cards pre-flop, but Carmi had aces and rocketed into an impressive lead.

Four-handed play saw Carmi suffer the reverse of that situation immediately, as Verenko’s aces got the better of his kings, and that pot was vital, evening up the scores on over 7 million chips for both men rather than giving Carmi a massive chip lead with 14 million of the 22 million chips in play.

Verenko took out American Gergo Nagy in fourth for €72,962 before Carmi slid out of contention himself, all-in with a wrap on a flop of with Verenko’s pair of tens on the flop good enough to hold through turn and river to give him a 4:1 chip lead heading into the final battle for the bracelet.

When Swedish player Omar Huang shoved with heads-up, Verenko called with and hit gin on the flop, the dealer displaying for a flopped wheel straight. Huang asked for a six several times, but it never came, the turn and river completing the board and creating another first-time champion.