Busy Day at 2024 APT Jeju Crowns First Two-Time Champions of the Series

The 2024 Asian Poker Tour stop on Jeju island in South Korea is in full swing and another ten winners were crowned on the third day of the series. All of that unfolded one day prior to the start of the highly anticipated 2024 APT Jeju Main Event at the Landing Casino, Jeju Shinhwa World Resort. Two players won their second golden lion trophy, which was voted as the best trophy by the community during the 5th annual Global Poker Awards in Las Vegas earlier this year.

Zejun Liu Wins ROSE Event for Second APT Jeju Trophy

On the second day of the APT Jeju series, China’s Zejun Liu triumphed in a field of 26 entries to take down Event #13: Turbo High Roller. Liu followed it up with a victory in Event #20: Limit R-O-S-E (Razz, Omaha Hi-Lo, Stud, Stud Hi-Lo). This time, a field of 25 entries produced a prize pool of KR₩ 13,095,000 (~USD 9,500) of which Liu took home KR₩ 5,495,000 (~USD 3,400) after defeating Xixiang Luo in heads-up play. In turn, this was Luo’s second runner up finish.

Marc Rivera Wins Single Day High Roller for Second APT Jeju Trophy

Likewise, the very same day also brought the second victory for veteran Pinoy poker pro Marc Rivera. His first trophy came on opening day in Event #6 Hyper Turbo and he overcame a far bigger field of 92 entries in Event #18 Single Day High Roller this time. The tournament featured a buy-in of KR₩ 4,000,000 (~USD 2,911) and the first 13 finishers split KR₩ 321,264,000 (~USD 233,200) among them with Rivera earning the top prize of KR₩ 84,314,000 (~USD 61,244).

Other ITM Finishers

Former PCA champion Christian Harder, 2023 WSOP Europe bracelet winner Wing Po Liu, 2019 EPT Monte-Carlo Main Event winner Manig Loeser and Natural8 ambassador Yu Chung “Nevan” Chang all cashed. Thai poker pro Phachara Wongwichit finished in third place for KR₩ 39,030,000 (~USD 28,300) while three-time WSOP bracelet winner and PLO specialist Yan Shing “Anson” Tsang had to settle for a runner-up spot and received KR₩ 59,110,000 (~USD 42,937). This was Tsang’s second runner up having lost heads up at the All Star Showdown. For now, Tsang was denied a back to back after winning one of the Single Day High Roller events during the last APT stop in Taipei, in which he cashed in seven tournaments.

Two Wins for China in Mystery Bounty Hunter and Super High Roller

Two notable events played down to a winner after players had bagged up their chips the previous day at Event #8 Mystery Bounty Hunter and Event #9 APT Super High Roller, both providing thrills at different buy-in levels.

Zhiyuan Xu Wins Record Mystery Bounty; Hao Zhang Draws Biggest Bounty

The chase for the golden envelope was sponsored by Natural8, becoming the largest and richest Mystery Bounty style tournament in the history of South Korea thanks to 511 entries. That created a total prize pool of KR₩ 292,803,000 (~USD 212,640) and the top two finishers were both from China.

One day after reaching the final table in Event #1 Korea National Cup in which he finished eighth, Zhiyuan Xu this time posed for the winner shots. Xu defeated Junjie He in heads-up to claim a cash prize of KR₩ 42,355,000 (~USD 30,750) whereas He had to settle for KR₩ 39,205,000 (~USD 28,460). The cash prizes were very similar, as they cut a three-way ICM deal with Taiwan’s Che Chun Chu (KR₩ 37,561,000 / ~USD 27,270).

Seventh-place finisher Hao Zhang had the magic hands as he pulled the largest Mystery Bounty envelope worth KR₩ 30,000,000 (~USD 21,830) in his very first attempt. He then also added a cash prize of KR₩ 9,236,000 (~USD 6,700) on top as well. Other notables in the money with 73 spots paid were Hua-Wei Lin, Chao-Ting Cheng, Joshua Tan, Jingxiang Ong, Jereld Sam and Feng Zhao.

First Win for Zhengdong Li at the APT Jeju Super High Roller

The largest cash prize of the series so far was awarded to Zhendong Li, who collected a career-best score of KR₩ 229,452,000 (~USD 166,600). That came courtesy of his victory in the prestigious Super High Roller, which drew a total of 67 entries for a prize pool of KR₩ 831,872,000 (~USD 603,900). It was the most successful APT Super High Roller in the host country of South Korea and Li topped it all in his very first APT tournament!

Hong Kong’s Jeffrey Lo entered the final day with the second-shortest stack out of nine survivors, who had all locked up at least KR₩ 24,960,000 (~USD 18,120) for their efforts. Lo made it all the way to second place for a payday of KR₩ 187,730,000 (~USD 136,300) while overnight chip leader Anson Eng Siang Ewe bowed out in third place (KR₩ 113,550,000 / ~USD 82,430).

The list of the other remaining players in the money consists of several well-known Asian poker pros in Chih Wei Fan, WSOP bracelet winner Kevin Weiran Pu, Thanisorn Saelor, China’s Chongxian Yang finished in seventh place and has a massive score of ¥1,900,000 (~USD 307,800) from the 2013 China Poker Games in Sanya to his name, and fellow pro Xixiang Luo earned his fourth final table cash. First casualty was fellow Chinese player Yuzhu Wang, who won an APT Single Day High Roller during the 2023 APT Hanoi Billions.

Further Winners on Day 3

Event #17 Sunday Super Stack featured a guarantee of KR₩ 200,000,000 (~USD 145,180) and 270 entries created a slightly larger prize pool of KR₩ 259,281,000 (~USD 188,200). Once more, it was a player from China who earned the biggest piece of the pie as Yanfeng Wang after defeating fellow countryman Hui Tang for the top prize of KR₩ 51,981,000 (~USD 37,700). Notable finalists included Zong Chi He, Jie Wu and Jereld Sam.

Malaysia’s Triton and Poker Dream participant Anson Eng Siang Ewe denied Hong Kong superstar Danny Tang a second victory of the series in Event #19 PL Omaha High 5 Card. The event gathered 51 entries for a prize pool of KR₩ 26,713,800 (~USD 19,400) of which Ewe collected KR₩ 8,413,800 (~USD 6,110).

The Taiwanese duo of Tsu Lin Tsao and Teng Kuei Hsu took down Event #21 Teams Event for KR₩ 12,857,000 (~USD 9,330) each and fellow countryman Yu Sheng Lin added to the country’s early success by emerging victorious in Event #24 Hyper Turbo NL R-O-S-E in a field of 47 entries.

With Taiwan bringing their tally to two wins in the first three days, Hong Kong followed suit. Chak Pan Yiu came out on top of a 70-entry strong field in Event #22 Turbo PL Omaha High whereas the first winner from a country outside of Asia was crowned as well.

Listed from Canada with roots in South Korea, Hyo Joon Ko beat the speed in Event #25 Tick Tock Boom, in which the levels decreased every hour from 15 minutes all the way to two minutes only. The event drew 77 runners for a KR₩ 33,237,050 (~USD 24,125) prize pool and Ko earned KR₩ 9,142,050 (~USD 6,635).

The fourth day in Jeju not only features the first flight of the highly-anticipated Main Event but also another eleven other tournaments as well including one satellite and the N8TW X APT Jeju 2024 six-handed final table as well. Two high-stakes competitions await with Day 1 of the KR₩ 30,000,000 (~USD 21,834) Superstar Challenge and Event #29 Single Day High Roller Mystery Bounty (KR₩ 4,500,000 / ~USD 3,275).

*Article by Christian Zetzsche