Michael Liang Turns the Tables in Heads-Up to Win $777 Lucky 7's for $777,777
Table Of Contents
Action has concluded in Event #93: $777 Lucky 7's No-Limit Hold'em (7-Handed) here at the Horseshoe Las Vegas after three days of play. Michael Liang has emerged victorious, earning his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet, along with the $777,777 first-place prize.
After entering heads-up play with a 9:1 chip deficit, Liang completed the ultimate comeback story by defeating his opponent Duc Nguyen, in a back-and-forth battle. Liang navigated through an enormous field of 6,292 entries on his path to capture a majority of the $4,303,728 prize pool.
PokerNews caught up with Liang after the win to ask him how he was feeling after winning his first piece of gold. "It feels amazing. I've had a few close calls in the past. I've had a second place, a third place and a fifth place, so it feels good to finally break through."
When asked what the bracelet means to him, Liang explained, "It means a lot. It's one of those things that you dream about when you first start playing poker. And then coming so close in the past and not achieving it, it kind of makes you wonder if it's ever going to happen."
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Liang | United States | $777,777 |
| 2 | Duc Nguyen | United States | $300,777 |
| 3 | Rajesh Mehta | United States | $190,777 |
| 4 | Manoj Batavia | United States | $141,777 |
| 5 | Mitch Garshofsky | United States | $105,777 |
| 6 | Jorge Postigo | Peru | $80,777 |
| 7 | Lukas Hafner | Austria | $60,777 |
Day 3 Action
Only five players returned on the final day, all of whom were on the hunt for their first piece of WSOP hardware. The overwhelming chip leader entering the day was Nguyen, with 119,200,000, more than double that of Liang, who was second with 52,500,000.
Mitch Garshofsky was Nguyen's first victim of the day. The three-time WSOP circuit ring winner was down to just five big blinds and got it all in with ace-four versus Nguyen's ace-jack. Garshofsky couldn't find a four and was sent to the rail in fifth place.
Nguyen continued his momentum early on when he got it all in against the short-stacked Manoj Batavia, who was in good shape to double up with his ace-ten against Nguyen's king-ten. That was until Nguyen spiked a king on the turn, eliminating Batavia in fourth place.
Nguyen didn't show any signs of slowing down when he knocked out Rajesh Mehta in third place shortly after. Mehta, who was short on chips, moved all in preflop with jack-six suited and was called by Nguyen, who had queen-ten. A queen came on the flop, and Mehta couldn't catch up with his backdoor draws.
Heads-Up Play
After having eliminated all three opponents to start the day, it appeared that it was going to be the Nguyen show, who entered heads-up action with nearly a 9:1 chip lead over Liang.
Liang wasn't ready to exit without a fight and found an early double up with (lucky) trip sevens, a fitting hand to begin his comeback story. From there, Nguyen and Liang traded small pots back and forth until Liang got his second double up of the match when his top pair held against Nguyen's open-ended straight draw.
Shortly after, Liang won a handful of small pots to propel himself back to even in the duel. He kept his foot on the pedal and eventually pulled ahead in the match in a three-bet pot where he put Nguyen to the test with an all-in bet on the turn.
Liang continued to extend his lead, stringing together a number of hands where Nguyen was put in a tough spot. Nguyen fought back and found a double up with ace-six, besting Liang's ace-queen to stay alive in the match. Nguyen then doubled up again later on, this time with pocket queens against Liang's ace-three.
Nguyen's rebound was short-lived, and he ultimately ran into the two-pair of Liang on the final hand of the tournament. All of the money went in on the turn and Nguyen saw the bad news that his pocket jacks had been cracked. Nguyen couldn't find the two-outer on the river and his impressive tournament run came to an end, finishing in second place.
Despite entering heads-up play with a huge chip deficit, Liang relayed to PokerNews that he never counted himself out. "I feel confident in my heads-up game, so I know that anything can happen. I've been heads-up in a few different scenarios and you never really know, there's so much variance."
When asked about his plans for after the WSOP now that it's wrapping up, Liang mentioned, "I'm going to go to California and just relax and take a few weeks off."
In this Series
- 1 Dong Meng Wins Second Bracelet & $200,000 in WSOP Tournament of Champions
- 2 Jose Garcia Wins Event #2: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em for $79,134
- 3 Asher Conniff Wins First Bracelet in Event 1: $5,000 Champions Reunion for $408,468
- 4 Daniel Willis Wins First WSOP Bracelet in Event #3: $500 Kickoff NLHE
- 5 James Chen Wins WSOP Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo ($209,350)
- 6 Darius Samual's 50% Bankroll Risk Pays Off in WSOP $25K Heads-Up Championship
- 7 Mixed Game Legend John Hennigan Wins Seventh Bracelet at 2024 WSOP
- 8 Bryce Yockey BLASTS 25K Fantasy Draft Price After $5K PLO Bracelet Win
- 9 "I'm Only Here to Win Bracelets," says Nick Guagenti as He Captures His Second
- 10 Malcolm Trayner Made a Millionaire in WSOP Mystery Millions
- 11 Great Scott! Seiver Adds to Legacy with Fifth WSOP Bracelet
- 12 David Prociak Conquers The $1,500 Badugi for His Second Bracelet and $129,676
- 13 Simeon Spasov Wins $1,500 6-Max to Claim Second Bracelet for $439,815!
- 14 Robert Mizrachi Joins Brother on Five WSOP Bracelets After $10,000 Dealer's Choice Victory
- 15 20 Years in the Making: TJ Murphy Becomes a WSOP Champion
- 16 Caleb Furth Captures Maiden Bracelet in Event #15: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better for $265,361
- 17 Dylan Weisman Wins Second WSOP Bracelet in Event #18: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha
- 18 Brent Hart Rises From Pack to Win Event #16: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em
- 19 John Racener Spins Shortest Stack Up to WSOP Gold in LHE Championship
- 20 Aaron Cummings Wins His First Bracelet In Lowball Triple Draw Event
- 21 "Feeling Vindicated": Brek Schutten Wins WSOP $25,000 High Roller for $1,405,641
- 22 Sean Troha Completes Hat Trick in $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship
- 23 Huge Comeback Inspires Daniel Sepiol to First Bracelet in $1,500 Shootout
- 24 Daniel Vampan Claims First Bracelet and $148,635 in $3,000 Limit Hold'em 6-Max
- 25 Stephen Winters Defeats 20,647 Players to Win $300 Gladiators of Poker ($401,210)
- 26 Nick Schulman Wins Fifth WSOP Bracelet in $25K High Roller ($1,667,842)
- 27 Gruneberg & Bonnacci Capture First WSOP Pennsylvania Online Bracelets of the Summer
- 28 Evan Benton Goes From Poker Beginner to WSOP Bracelet Winner
- 29 Michael Christ "Gets Lucky" On His Way to Winning Event #27: $1,500 Big O
- 30 Alen Bakovic Laughs His Way to the WSOP Event #30 $600 PLO/NLH Mix Title
- 31 Nicholas Seward Wins His First WSOP Bracelet in $3,000 6-Handed for $516,135
- 32 Phil Ivey Wins His 11th WSOP Bracelet in $10K 2-7 Triple Draw Championship
- 33 Richard Ashby Wins Second WSOP Bracelet in Same Stud Event
- 34 Alex Manzano Ascends to Win Event #33: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha DeepStack
- 35 Antonio Galiana’s Big Bluff Propels Him To First Bracelet in Event #34
- 36 Another Comeback, Another Bracelet For Phillip Hui In $1.5k H.O.R.S.E.
- 37 Timur Margolin Wins Third Bracelet in Event #36: $800 NLHE Deepstack for $342,551
- 38 John Fauver Wins The First Ever $10k Big O Championship For $681,998
- 39 Sergio Aido Wins 2024 WSOP $50,000 NLHE High Roller ($2,026,506)
- 40 Two Bracelets in Two Weeks: Scott Seiver Wins Sixth WSOP Gold in $1,500 Razz
- 41 James Obst Captures Second WSOP Bracelet in $10K Stud
- 42 Xixiang Luo Wins First-Ever WSOP NLHE/PLO Bomb Pot Mix Event
- 43 Magnus Edengren Gets His Crowning Moment in $1,500 Mixed Omaha
- 44 Kingery's Ransom: Longshoreman Ships $2K No-Limit Hold’em for $410,359
- 45 "It Was My Time": Chris Hunichen Captures First Bracelet & $2.8M in $100K High Roller
- 46 Peter Park Wins First Bracelet and $240,724 in Event #51: $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty!
- 47 Dominant Performance: Pedro Neves Crushes On Way to WSOP Monster Stack Bracelet
- 48 Extra Special Day for Christopher Vitch As He Wins Event #48: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha
- 49 Mostafa Haidary Tears Through the Final Four to Win Event #52: $5,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em
- 50 Third Time's the Charm: Patrick Moulder Captures First Bracelet and $177,045 in $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw
- 51 Frank Funaro Wins Second WSOP Bracelet in $10k Super Turbo Bounty
- 52 Dario Sammartino Wins First Bracelet in Event #61: $2,500 Stud 8/Omaha 8 for $222,703
- 53 Sean Jazayeri Claims First Bracelet in Event #59: $1,000 Super Seniors No-Limit Hold'em
- 54 We Want the Funk! David Funkhouser Wins First Bracelet in $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball
- 55 Paolo Boi Stages Impressive Comeback to Win Event #60: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em ($676,900)
- 56 Daniel Negreanu Wins 7th WSOP Bracelet in $50,000 Poker Players Championship
- 57 Ben Collins' All Ins Were Unbeatable in Event #67: $500 Salute to Warriors
- 58 Heads-Up Masterclass Propels Elie Nakache to $10K PLO Championship Title
- 59 Determined Scott Seiver Captures 3rd 2024 Bracelet by Winning $10k No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw
- 60 Runner-Up No More: Shiina Okamoto Wins Ladies' Event With Fierce Determination and Confidence
- 61 WPT Announcer Tony Dunst Wins Third World Series of Poker Bracelet
- 62 David Eldridge Overcomes the Odds to Claim Second Bracelet in $25k PLO High Roller ($2,246,728)
- 63 VAMOS! Martin Alcaide Claims First Bracelet and $501,250 in Event #70: $400 Colossus
- 64 Matthew Lambrecht Wins $10,000 Mystery Bounty for First WSOP Bracelet
- 65 Team Setna is "On Cloud 9" as the Duo Take Down Event #75: $1,000 Tag Team No Limit Hold’em
- 66 Wing Po Liu Flies High To Win Second Bracelet for $209,942
- 67 Nine Years After Near Tragedy, Arash Ghaneian Wins Second Bracelet in $10,000 Stud Hi-Lo Championship
- 68 First Cash, First Bracelet as Daniel Perkusic Dominates $50,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha
- 69 Georgios Skarparis Wins Mini Main Event After a Promise to His Student ($554,925)
- 70 Francis Anderson Wins 2024 WSOP $800 Independence Day Celebration ($501,040)
- 71 Dominating Final Table Performance Sees Aditya Agarwal Take Down Event #82: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em ($189,661)
- 72 Chance Kornuth Flips His Way to Fourth Bracelet in Event #85: $1,000 Flip & Go No-Limit Hold'em
- 73 Matthew Alsante Triumphs Over the Pros in $5K 8-Handed No Limit Hold'em ($785,486)
- 74 It’s a Poker Fairytale For Carsten Heidemann, Winner of Event #84: $600 Ultra Stack No-Limit Hold’em
- 75 2024 WSOP Online: Watson Becomes Poker's 10th Triple Crown Winner; Prociak Claims Third Bracelet
- 76 Sascha Wilhelm Scores Biggest Career Win in $1k Mystery Bounty PLO
- 77 “This Bracelet is Worth Three”: Calvin Anderson Joins Five-Timer Club
- 78 Joseph Sanders Claims First Bracelet and $269,530 in $1.5k 6-Max PLO
- 79 Jared Bleznick Captures First Bracelet in $50k No-Limit Hold'em High Roller
- 80 Career-Best Score and First WSOP Bracelet for $3K HORSE Winner Gary Bolden
- 81 Inaugural $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship A Huge Success as Clement Richez Wins $1,041,989
- 82 Michael Rocco Caps Off Career Summer by Capturing First Bracelet
- 83 Xixiang Luo Doubles Up with Second Bracelet of the Summer in Event #96: $25,000 High Roller H.O.R.S.E.
- 84 Michael Liang Turns the Tables in Heads-Up to Win $777 Lucky 7's for $777,777
- 85 Summer Saved! Alex Livingston Claims Second Bracelet and $390,621 in Event #97: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed!
- 86 Jonathan Tamayo Wins Record-Breaking 2024 WSOP Main Event ($10,000,000)
- 87 Aneris Adomkevicius Wins First WSOP Bracelet in Event #99: $1,000 Super Turbo No-Limit Hold'em
- 88 Ching Da Wu Conquers The $1,500 Closer at the 2024 WSOP
- 89 Kyle “BluffNTuff” Lorenz & William “mortyc137” Nunley Win Final WSOP Pennsylvania Online Bracelets
