The WPT National Korea has finally ended with Junhui Cheng from China bringing home the first prize payout of KRW80,310,000 ($71,265).
The WPT National Korea had a buy-in of KRW2,000,000 and guaranteed a prize pool of KRW300,000,000. At the beginning of the tournament, organizers were a bit anxious about the guarantee as circumstances – from bad weather to simultaneous tournaments happening around Asia – were not as ideal as they would want it to be. In the end, players couldn’t miss out on such a prestigious tournament as 152 entries, which were enough to make the guarantee, were eventually garnered.
Junhui Cheng, who could be considered as the greenest of all the players on the final table, started ahead of the others as chip leader entering Day 4. He kept his chip lead and eventually took the event down and won the coveted trophy as well as the whopping first prize.
Coming in at 2nd place is Russell Thomas, a veteran poker player and a November Niner in the WSOP 2012 Main Event. He will be adding his WPT National Korea cash prize of KRW ₩52,400,000 ($46,498) to his already significant total live earnings.
Main Event Payouts
| Place | Name | Prize | Country | ||
| 1 | Cheng, Junhui | ₩80,310,000 | China | ||
| 2 | Thomas Russell | ₩52,400,000 | USA | ||
| 3 | Bi, Tao | ₩33,320,000 | China | ||
| 4 | Noda, Horoyuki | ₩23,960,000 | Japan | ||
| 5 | Li, Xiao Ling | ₩18,300,000 | China | ||
| 6 | Noda, Hiroyuki | ₩14,540,000 | Japan | ||
| 7 | Akiba, Yusuke | ₩11,850,000 | Japan | ||
| 8 | Liu, Yin | ₩9,330,000 | China | ||
| 9 | Tang, Yuefeng | ₩8,030,000 | China | ||
| 10 | Lee, James | ₩4,850,000 | USA | ||
| 11 | Ye, Bi Lian | ₩4,850,000 | China | ||
| 12 | Kozo, Yamada | ₩4,850,000 | Japan | ||
| 13 | Chen, XiQiang | ₩3,830,000 | China | ||
| 14 | Brion, Ian | ₩3,830,000 | Philippines | ||
| 15 | Li, Cha | ₩3,830,000 | China | ||
| 16 | Han, Liwei | ₩3,350,000 | China | ||
| 17 | Masatoshi, Tanaka | ₩3,350,000 | Japan | ||
| 18 | Fu, Xiao | ₩3,350,000 | China | ||
| 19 | Christensen, JonHo | ₩2,870,000 | Norway | ||
Don Guo wins the High Roller event
The High Roller Event also ended on this day with Dong Guo being the last man standing. The 2-day Highroller Event that had a field of 26 players was able to accumulate a total prize pool of KRW 90,790,000.
The final 4 players was definitely star-studded as it included Daniel Tang, a veteran player that has played in tournaments all over the world including the WSOP and Poker King Club President Winfred Yu. In the end Dong Guo, a poker celebrity took home the trophy and a cash prize of KRW9,079,000. His biggest achievement so far is running deep into the 2014 WSOP Main Event where he finished in 29th place and cashed $230,487.
The final 4 for the High Roller Event are as follows:
| Place | Name | Prizepool (₩) |
| 1 | Guo, Dong | 90,790,000 |
| 2 | Daniel, Tang | 54,480,000 |
| 3 | Wang, Yong | 34,300,000 |
| 4 | Yu, Winfred | 22,190,000 |
Article by Gabrielle Barredo
Louis Hartwell
Graduated in Media Communication at the University of Lausanne, Louis Hartman is a co-founder of somuchpoker.com. He began his career in Cambodia as freelance journalist. In same time he was making his living by playing poker every night at that time. Intense learner, he read dozens of poker strategy books to improve his skills during many years. With a strong interest about poker "behind the scene" in Asia and his communication skills, Louis launched Somuchpoker in 2014.
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