WPT Korea early winners: Bryan Huang for the High Rollers and Kazuki Ikeuchi wins two

Poker in Asia shifts to one of the most beautiful destinations in the region, Jeju Island, where the World Poker Tour is currently hosting its latest event, the WPT Korea 2017. This marks the third year the WPT has visited the island, drawing in players to enjoy both the games indoors and the lush beauty of the outdoors.

WPT Korea 2017 took off running on Sunday, September 24^th at the Grand Jeju Paradise Casino and since then has awarded several players for their early victories. The Main Event is now underway and while we await the emergence of the champion, here’s a brief look at the event’s opening winners.

High Roller victory for Singaporean pro Bryan Huang

The High Roller event attracted 25 heavy hitters to the felt with many high ranking Asian pros on the roster. With each one shelling out the KRW 6 million entry fee, this created quite the hefty pot of KRW 138,225,000 (US$121,000 approx). Among those in attendance were Hong Kong pro Winfred Yu, President of Poker King Club, Tilt King Pro Daniel Tang, and Day 1 leader, Hong Kong pro Peter Chan.

After two days of action, all three would miss the mark on one of the top five places needed for a piece of the pie. The bottom cut of around US$9K (which was just under double the buy-in) went to Taiwan’s top pro Pete Yen Han Chen, adding yet another cash to his growing list of accomplishments this year. On the highest end of the money ladder hailing as the champion, was Singapore’s  #1 ranked pro, Bryan Diwei Huang. Huang shipped in the big kahuna first prize KRW 55,290,000 (US$48,000 approx) and his first victory of the year.

Since Huang’s departure from PokerStars at the end of 2016, it has been business as usual, attending various poker events all over the region. His largest payday this year was at the WPT Beijing Main Event in April, placing 6^th out of 400 players to clear over US$54K. Combine that with his other cashes and latest High Roller victory, Huang has exceeded over US$135K in winnings this year alone. He now has over US$1.3M in total live tournament earnings.

Payouts
1^st Bryan Huang Diwei – Singapore – KRW 55,290,000 (US$48K approx)
2^nd Benjamin Wu – China – KRW 34,560,000
3^rd Wang Zhong – China – KRW 22,120,000
4^th Yet Wai Cheng – China – KRW 15,200,000
5^th Pete Yen Han Chen – Taiwan – KRW 11,055,000

 Two titles for Japan’s Kazuki Ikeuchi

One month after topping an enormous field of 778 entries at the WPT Legends of Poker US$240 No Limit Hold’em event in Los Angeles, California, Japan’s Kazuki Ikeuchi is back in the WPT spotlight. Ikeuchi won two events at WPT Korea 2017, riding high at both the Head Hunter event and the Shot Clock event.

Ikeuchi’s first takedown was the event opener bounty event. Although we aren’t sure how many heads he chopped in total, he did triumph a field of 36 entries to claim the KRW 3,732,200 (US$3.2K approx) champion prize. On the following day, Ikeuchi continued his victory dance, finishing at the top of the 25-entry field Shot Clock event for an even larger payout of KRW 4,190,000 (US$3.6K approx).

Article by Triccia David

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More: WPT Korea 2017 Official Results

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