Hong Kong’s Danny Tang wins staggering US$1.6 million in World Series of Poker event in Las Vegas
- Tang headed into the final table of the final day fourth out of seventh, but ended up winning
- The Hong Kong native is now ranked 31st in the world in terms of the Global Poker Index Ranking
Hong Kong native Danny Chi Tang knew he was a long shot heading into the final table of Event #90 at the 2019 WSOP, US$50,000 Final Fifty No-Limit Hold’em tournament this past week in Las Vegas.
“The final table was relatively tough, all of the guys were good poker players or high stake regulars,” said the 27-year-old Tang, who was born in Hong Kong but emigrated to the UK when he was young. “I wouldn’t say I was the weakest but definitely the least experienced when it comes to high stakes experience compared to the rest of them.”
Tang, who moved back to Hong Kong a few years ago, has only been playing professionally for five years, mostly low stakes cash games, but found himself sitting at a table with multiple World Series of Poker bracelet winners. Tang, who was a late addition to the tournament and was bunking in an Airbnb in Vegas during the event with friends, was fourth out of seventh heading in.
The tournament featured a US$50,000 buy in and started with 123 competitors on July 8 at the Rio Las Vegas.
Tang climbed up the rankings during the final day, eventually becoming chip leader following his elimination of Brandon Adams, who is a WSOP bracelet holder already and who started the day as the chip leader. This set up a final showdown between Tang and American Sam Soverel (also a bracelet holder) as the Hongkonger had a seven to one lead in chips as the duel began.
An ace of diamonds on the river in the final hand gave Tang the win, something he had to process in his mind before computing what had just happened.