Little Neck, New York’s Allan ‘Treeoflife’ Cheung became the latest player to strike gold at the 2020 World Series of Poker after defeating the 1579-entry field in Event #22 ($500 NLHE Turbo Deepstack) to win the $120,082.95 first-place prize and his first career gold bracelet.

Cheung needed to fade a talented final table that included two-time World Poker Tour Champion Brian Altman, top-10 ranked U.S. online pro Daniel Buzgon, WSOP bracelet winner Terrell Cheatham and Myles Kotler, who just last week finished as the runner up in Event #18.

Kotler began the final table with the biggest stack and it took him just five minutes to use it to end another player’s tournament. Kotler raised to 800,000 from UTG+1 with and Robert ‘Nvrstsfied’ Natividad moved all-in for 2,717,020 from middle position with . Kotler improved to top pair on the flop and stayed in control through the turn and river to eliminate Natividad in ninth place for $9,308.20.

Two of the shortest stacks clashed five minutes later resulting in one of their tournaments ending. Down to 5.5 big blinds, ‘this1smyvice’ moved all-in for 2,246,920 holding . ‘theLMT90’ called off with less, putting their tournament on the line but holding a dominating . However, the flop came perfect for ‘this1smyvice’ giving them the straight and a stranglehold on the hand. The turn and river was of no help to ‘theLMT90’ who hit the rail in eighth place, taking home a five-figure payout of $12,079.35.

Five minutes later it was ‘this1smyvice’s turn to be put at risk. After Kotler opened to 800,000 with the , ‘this1smyvice’ three-bet shipped with . Kotler made the call and had ‘this1smyvice’ needing help. The flop brought the , extending Kotler’s lead and when the hit the turn, ‘this1smyvice’ was drawing dead to the river. ‘this1smyvice’ finished in seventh place, taking home $15,916.32.

Next, it was Daniel ‘juice’ Buzgon’s turn to make a move. He shipped his final 14 big blinds under the gun holding .  Once it had folded back around to  Louie “pongpong” Valderrama in the big blind, Valderrama called off his final five big blinds with his . Needing some help, Valderrama saw a flop of which gave him additional flush outs. However, it was not meant to be as the turn and the river showed Valderrama the door in sixth place which was good for $21,174.39.

Terrell ‘heezahustla’ Cheatham was in pursuit of becoming the first place to win multiple bracelets in 2020, having just won a gold bracelet late last week. Cheatham found the on the button and shipped his final 5,670,892 only to be looked up by Kotler holding in the small blind. The flop came effectively ending the hand as Cheatham was drawing dead as the and completed the board. Cheatham, who won over $116,000 in Event #16, which was also a Turbo, added another $28,493 for his fifth-place finish.

Brian ‘JackBogle’ Altman opened from under the gun with when Buzgon three-bet shipped his final fifteen big blinds holding . Altman, with the larger stack, made the call and the pair were flipping with Buzgon’s tournament life on the line. The had Buzgon looking for help but the on the turn and the on the river sent Buzgon out in fourth place for $38,725.

Roughly ten minutes later, the three-handed play came to an end with Kotler raised to 2 million on the button with and Altman in the big blind defended with the . The flop came , pairing both player’s deuces. Altman checked it over to Kotler, who put in a roughly quarter pot bet. Altman then check-raised for his 16.7 million and Kotler made the call, holding outkicking Altman. The turn fell the and the river ended Altman’s run at a bracelet, earning him $53,291 for third place.

After a short break, in heads-up play, Kotler at one point carved out a five-to-one chip lead. But the momentum shifted quickly as Cheung doubled thru Kotler and won a big pot in a subsequent hand to take the lead. In the final hand, Cheung opened  to 2,400,000 with the and Kotler shoved his stack of 23,370,202 with the . Cheong made the call and just needed to hold for the win. The flop appeared as the and when the hit the turn it was all over for Kotler, who for the second time in this WSOP, finished as the runner-up, this time earning $74,039.

Allan ‘Treeoflife’ Cheung walked away with the $120,083 first-place prize and his first career gold bracelet.

Final Table Payouts

1. Allan ‘Treeoflife’ Cheung – $120,082.95
2. Myles ‘Shipthemoney’ Kotler – $74,039.31
3. Brian ‘JackBogle’ Altman- $53,291.25
4. Daniel ‘juice’ Buzgon – $38,724.97
5. Terrell ‘heezahustla’ Cheatham – $28,493.05
6. Louie ‘pongpong’ Valderrama – $21,174.39
7. ‘this1smyvice’ – $15,916.32
8. ‘theLMT90’ – $12,079.35
9. Robert ‘Nvrstsfied’ Natividad – $9,308.20

Faces in the Crowd

Mike ‘mouth123’ Matusow was the final table bubble boy finishing in 10th place for $7,247.61. Other notable names to finish in the money included former #1-ranked PocketFiver Calvin ‘projector52’ Anderson (13th – $5,684.40), Pat ‘ichiikawawa’ Lyons (28th – $2,913.25), Ryan ‘protential’ Laplante (31st – $2,913.25), Daniel Negreanu (32nd – $2,913.25), Brian ‘tsarrast’ Rast (33rd – $2,913.25), Robert ‘bustinballs’ Kuhn (40th – $2,415.87) and David ‘dehhhhh’ Coleman (44th – $2,415.87).