Anson Tsang Eyeing Fourth Bracelet as Day 1 of €2,000 8-Game Ends on Soft Bubble
Stud: 8,000-16,000 limits
No-Limit/Pot-Limit: 2,000-4,000, 6,000 ante
King's Resort in Rozvadodv is a familiar place for Anson Tsang. The Hong Kong native won two of his three bracelets during the World Series of Poker Europe in the Czech town, and has set himself up nicely today to pick up his fourth one.
Tsang leads 18 survivors after Day 1 of Event #10: €2,000 8-Game Mix and bagged 674,500 chips, more than twice the average and 30 big bets when play resumes tomorrow. All three of Tsang's bracelets have come in big bet games, but he is also a formidable mixed player, proving as much today by being among the top chip stacks throughout the day.
Following Tsang in the count is poker dealer turned poker professional Sami Bechahed. Bechahed went on a late-night surge to end up with a stack of 609,500, being the only other player to break the half-million mark.
Meanwhile, Greek regular Symeon Alexandridis sits in third with 410,000, while bracelet winners Ilija Savevski (281,000) and Dennis Weiss (210,000) also finished in the upper half of the field.
End of Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anson Tsang | Hong Kong | 674,500 | 34 |
| 2 | Sami Bechahed | France | 609,500 | 30 |
| 3 | Symeon Alexandridis | Greece | 410,000 | 21 |
| 4 | Martin Schamaun | Switzerland | 408,500 | 20 |
| 5 | Tomasz Gluszko | Poland | 323,000 | 16 |
| 6 | Patrick Bueno | France | 284,000 | 14 |
| 7 | Ilija Savevski | North Macedonia | 281,000 | 14 |
| 8 | Alessandro De Michele | Italy | 253,000 | 13 |
| 9 | Dennis Weiss | Germany | 210,000 | 11 |
| 10 | Dzmitry Urbanovich | Poland | 170,000 | 9 |
The €2,000 8-Game Mix saw a total of 90 entries throughout its nine levels of late registration, resulting in a prize pool of €156,510. The top 14 spots will be paid, meaning only four players will leave empty-handed tomorrow. The first concern of the shorter stacks will be getting to the min-cash of €4,045, but the likes of Tsang and Bechahed are surely looking at the top prize of €43,400 and the accompanying bracelet.
€2,000 8-Game Mix Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €43,400 | 6 | €7,290 |
| 2 | €28,000 | 7 | €5,830 |
| 3 | €18,750 | 8-9 | €4,895 |
| 4 | €13,100 | 10-11 | €4,330 |
| 5 | €9,555 | 12-14 | €4,045 |
Day 1 Action
As is usual for European mixed game events, the field was compact but highly decorated. Viktor Blom was one of the first players to exit, departing in Level 1 on his first attempt, while his second bullet featured no success either.
Many bracelet winners were attempting to increase their collection, but Jan-Peter Jachtmann, Michael Rodrigues, and Dario Alioto all faltered throughout the day, not being able to get a shot at capturing their second bracelet.
Defending WSOP Europe Main Event champion Max Neugebauer was playing his first-ever live mixed game event but exited halfway through the night. Joining him on the rail were two-time bracelet winners Oleksii Kovalchuk and Wing Po Liu, while Julien Martini also had to wait for his fifth one.
After 14 levels, 18 players remained, neatly redrawn across three tables. They bagged up and will return tomorrow at 1 p.m. local time for Day 2 of the tournament. The tournament will restart in Level 15, which features limits of 10,000/20,000 for limit games, while the big bet games are being played with blinds of 2,500/5,000.
All levels will remain 40 minutes in length, with a break after every two of them, and Day 2 will continue until a winner has been crowned.
Tune back in tomorrow to PokerNews to find out who will take home the only mixed game bracelet of WSOP Europe 2024.