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WSOP 2018: Longsheng Tan Wins Event #66 – $1,500 NLHE For $323,472

PG News July 9, 2018
8 mins Read

The four-day long Event #66: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em at the 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP) had opened with a playing field of 1,351 runners and six among them came back on the final day. Topping them all was China-born, Las Vegas resident Longsheng Tan (cover image), who not only claimed his maiden WSOP gold bracelet, but also picked up his career-best score of $323,472.

The real estate agent is a newcomer to the WSOP and picked up his first-ever score at the series last year in Event #5: THE COLOSSUS III – $565 No-Limit Hold’em where he finished 359^th for $3,780. Since then he has scored five more times in the tournament series for an accumulated $13,459.

Having dominating the leaderboard from Day 2, Tan spoke about his game plan in the post-event interview. “I just tried my best. As long as I played my best, I’ll take whatever result. I had to stay calm. At one point, my chips went down to where almost everyone had almost the same stacks. I told myself to calm down, play my hands, and play my best. I was a little bit tilted but still I calmed down and got it in the end. I feel good right now.”

From the Indian contingent, Kunal Patni, Raghav Bansal and Aditya Sushant were seen in action. Patni was eliminated on Day 1, however Bansal and Sushant both made it to Day 2 but eventually finished 121^st for $2,658 (~₹1.82 Lakhs) and 161^st for $2,343 (~₹1.61 Lakhs) respectively.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Longsheng Tan – 2,100,000

2. Jayaram Kovoorchathoth – 1,700,000

3. John Pannucci – 1,300,000

4. Shyam Srinivasan – 916,000

5. Trey Brabham – 904,000

6. Lanny Levine – 775,000

7. Jason Paradis – 668,000

8. Stephen Bierman – 550,000

9. Georgios Tavoularis – 530,000

10. Adam Laskey – 393,000

Indian origin player Shyam Srinivasan finished 10^th for $18,988 (~₹13.04 Lakhs) and bubbled the official final table.

Final Table Recap

On the fifth hand on the final table, Jayaram Kovoorchathoth raised to 70,000, Jason Paradis called from the small blind and Longsheng Tan repeated the action from the big blind. Paradis checked the flop while Tan bet 105,000 and Kovoorchathoth folded. Paradis tanked for a while before announcing all-in and Tan called. Both players tabled their cards with Paradis holding and Tan . The turn put Paradis in the lead with a diamond flush, but the river brought a king-high one card flush for Tan who took down the pot eliminating Paradis in ninth place.

Soon thereafter, Georgios Tavoularis moved all-in from the cutoff with against Adam Laskey who called off from the small blind with . The board gave Laskey two pairs of sevens and tens, while Tavoularis had to greet his rail in eighth place.

The last elimination of Day 3 was John Pannucci in seventh place. He moved all-in from middle position and everyone on the table moved out of the way except Laskey who called from the big blind. The showdown revealed Pannucci’s pocket fours against Laskey’s . The community favoured Laskey with top pair of kings resulting in Pannucci’s departure.

Six-Handed Chip Counts

1. Longsheng Tan – 3,260,000

2. Adam Laskey – 2,345,000

3. Jayaram Kovoorchathoth – 1,660,000

4. Lanny Levine – 1,175,000

5. Stephen Bierman – 1,035,000

6. Trey Brabham – 590,000

Final Day Recap

The first to be eliminated from the all-American six-player final table was Stephen Bierman. He shoved from the button and was called by Kovoorchathoth from the small blind. With the community cards opening , Kovoorchathoth’s overpowered Bierman’s and confirmed his sixth-place finish.

On the 72^nd hand, Tan completed his small blind and Adam Laskey checked to see the flop . Tan bet 50,000 which was raised by Laskey to 150,000 and re-raised by Tan to 400,000 prompting Laskey to call. Following the turn , Tan bet 550,000 and Laskey called yet again. After the river was dealt, Tan shoved all-in for 985,000 and Laskey called with his remaining 550,000. Tan flipped his hole cards for a rivered fullhouse, while Laskey’s for a pair of nines resulted in his fifth place finish.

25 hands later, Trey Brabham moved all-in from under-the-gun and received calls from Tan and Kovoorchathoth in the blinds. Both players checked through the rundown . Tan check-folded when Kovoorchathoth bet 100,000 on the river and the two players tabled their cards. Brabham’s lost out to Kovoorchathoth’s , who turned a flush and the former was busted in fourth place.

Play carried on for another hour before Jayaram Kovoorchathoth had to vacate his seat at third place. Lanny Levine raised the button and Kovoorchathoth called from the big blind. The flop saw Kovoorchathoth check-shove with . Levine snap-called with . The remaining streets brought and and Levine`s top pair sent Kovoorchathoth packing.

Kovoorchathoth’s elimination commenced the heads-up play between Lanny Levine and Longsheng Tan with the latter starting with a 3:2 lead.

The 159^th hand became the last one for the event as Tan raised the pot to 200,000 from the button and Levine called to see the flop . Both players checked to see the turn . Tan bet 175,000 and Levine check-called. The final street brought . Levine bet 400,000 and Tan raised to 1,400,000. Levine tanked for a few seconds and then shoved for 2,930,000. Tan called immediately and showed for a rivered full house against Levine’s to win the bracelet!