Tournaments

Michael Wang Wins WPT Playground Championship

By Conrad Castleton

31 Oct 2024

Conrad Castleton 31 Oct 2024

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Michael Wang wins first World Poker Tour title by winning the WPT Playground
Win sees him take home CAD $412,300 and a seat to the 2024 WPT World Championship

Michael Wang has claimed his first World Poker Tour title by winning the WPT Playground Championship for CAD $412,300, which includes a seat to the 2024 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.

The championship tournament was one of three events that highlighted the WPT Playground festival.

"Right now, it still feels a little surreal. I’m sure it will hit me a little more when I go home or take in in a little more," he said after his victory.

"I’ve been coming to WPTs for so many years and haven’t had a final table… so it means the world to me. I can’t believe it happened."

The WPT Playground Championship, with a buy-in of CAD $3,500, attracted a field of 840 entrants through three starting flights. A total of CAD $2,688,000 (US $1,934,857), which awarded a cash to the top 105 finishers.

WPT CEO Adam Pliska said: "Congratulations to Michael for cementing his name in the WPT Champions Club, and good luck to him at Wynn Las Vegas in December."

Santiago Plante finished as the runner-up, earning CAD $265,000, ahead of Baron Ma (CAD $196,000), Jordan Grant (CAD $146,000), Zachary Fischer (CAD $111,000) and Amirpasha Emami (CAD $84,000).

"We are incredibly grateful and thrilled to see the WPT and Playground collaboration deliver yet another exceptional series this year,” said Ryan Bevens, VP of Gaming Operations at Playground.

"This partnership continues to grow stronger, and we eagerly anticipate building on this success together in 2025."

Other notable players claiming a cash in the WPT Playground Championship were four-time WPT Champion Darren Elias (31st place), Dan Stavila (76th place), who finished as the runner-up in the WPT Montreal Championship back in May, and WPT Global Ambassador Patrick Tardif (101st place).

Two other WPT victors shined during the festival. The WPT 500 Playground event, which produced 1,598 total entries, saw Travis Macmillan score the CAD $100,860 cash prize for first place. WPT Prime Playground ran from October 20-25 and drew another massive field – 1,587 entrants. In the end, Yunkyu Song walked away with the top prize of CAD $227,270.

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