AJPC Asian Circuit: Hirokazu Kobayashi wins the Main Event; Xing Biao Zhu takes down five + HR winners

From October 5 to 14, the All Japan Poker Championship (AJPC) Asian Circuit was back at Paradise City in Incheon for their third-ever visit to Korea. Throughout the ten days, a total of 26 events were lined up. As expected the Japanese dominated in numbers, however in individual titles, it was China’s Xing Biao Zhu who ruled the charts. Zhu took down a stunning five events and cashed in another five. One event he couldn’t grab though was the Main Event. Japan’s own Hirokazu Kobayashi seized the title defeating Eun Yul Yee at heads up. We’ve got those stories for you below plus the biggest earner and High Roller champions.

Hirokazu Kobayashi wins the Main Event

The ₩1,100,000 buy-in Main Event attracted 95 runners for a prize pool of ₩92,150,000 (~US$82,000). The final table of nine saw a nearly all-Japanese lineup with Eun Yul Yee as the only player waving a different flag. Impressively, Yee overcame the odds, reaching heads up against Hirokazu Kobayashi. However, just like the rest, ultimately Yee couldn’t get past the Japanese’s massive stack. Kobayashi captured the title and the ₩26,262,800 (~US$23,370) first prize.

In some ways this victory was redemption for Kobayashi who missed the final table by one spot at the first Incheon 2018 edition held in May. Adding to his series achievements, Kobayashi cashed at the ₩3,300,000 High Roller event for 5th place.

Final table payouts
Prize pool: ₩92,150,000 – Buyin: ₩1,100,000 – Entries: 95 – ITM: 15 places

1st Hirokazu Kobayashi – ₩26,262,800 (~US$23,370)
2nd Eun Yul Yee – ₩15,204,000
3rd Masato Shimizu – ₩9,215,000
4th Hayato Kitajima – ₩7,372,000
5th Akihide Shimizu – ₩6,358,000
6th Yuki Hirata – ₩5,436,900
7th Yusuke Kotake – ₩4,515,400
8th Satoshi Kohara – ₩3,133,100
9th Kenji Hamamoto – ₩2,488,100

Five titles for Xing Biao Zhu

Since the start of the year, China’s Xing Biao Zhu has been busy racking up deep runs all over Asia. By the end of the first quarter, he was well in the lead with the highest number of cashes that even after a five-month absence from May to September, he still held position in mid-October. Thanks of course to his stunning ten cashes at the AJPC. And if that’s not incredible enough, among those earnings, five were victories:

• ₩500,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Mini  
• ₩250,000 No Limit Hold’em Crazy KO Bounty
• ₩300,000 No Limit Hold’em – Deep Stack
• ₩550,000 No Limit Hold’em – Deep Stack
• ₩100,000 No Limit Hold’em

Kentaro Somekawa and Kazuhiko Yotsushika win High Roller events

Winning slightly bigger first place pots than the Main Event champion were Kentaro Somekawa and Kazuhiko Yotsushika. Both players won respective High Roller events. Somekawa bested a field of 29 at the ₩3,300,000 High Roller event to pocket the ₩33,756,000 (~US$30,000) first prize.

As for Yotsushika, he had a fantastic run at the AJPC. Yotsushika topped the 27 runners of the ₩3,000,000 High Roller event (second HR event) for a ₩28,285,200 payday. This was Yotsushika’s second victory at the series with a first title won at the ₩500,000 No Limit Hold’em event. Yotsushika also finished 4th at the HR event won by Somekawa. His combined winnings of ₩43,096,500 (~US$38,350) made him the biggest cash earner at the series.

Article by Tricia David