Asian Poker Tour completes first ever Korea domestic event; In Ho Song wins the Main Event

The Asian Poker Tour, one of the region’s premier poker brands, recently held its first live Korea event of 2021. In partnership with local brand operator It’s Holdings, the highly anticipated event took place from September 9 through 12 at Boryeong Base Golf and Resort. This marked the first APT festival catered solely to the domestic market. The weekend concluded with In Ho Song taking down the Main Event for his first ever APT title. Other winners were Gyu Hyuk Lee, Jeong Hyun Kim, Jae Hyung Park, Kwang Min Ko, and Hwan Hee Lee. 

Main Event: IN HO SONG – KR₩ 70,000,000  (~US$ 59,700)

Qualifiers to the Main Event started on June 27 with entry flights held every weekend at various pubs across the country. Due to changes in government regulations regarding Covid, the event was postponed for over a month and resumed in early September. Despite being compromised, it pulled in 540 total entries with 61 players earning a piece of the KR₩ 250,000,000 (~US$ 213,300) prize pool. In Ho Song defeated well known APT regular Seongsu Kong at heads up to capture his first ever APT win and largest career score of KR₩ 70,000,000 (~US$ 59,700). Other players cashing in were Daewoong Song (4th), Jeonggyu Cho (27th), and Seungmook Jung (60th). Among the fallen were Soo Jo Kim, Yohwan Lim, and WSOP bracelet winner Jiyoung Kim.

Based on Song’s tracked earnings on The Hendon Mob, he is one of Korea’s fastest rising tournament players with nine prior cashes this year alone amounting to US$ 122K. His deep runs consist of two wins and three runner-ups. In late March, he placed second at the World Class of Poker (WCOP) Changwon High Roller event for KR₩ 35,000,000 (~US$ 31,026) then followed it up with a victory at the J88PT Korea Cheong-ju Super High Roller event for KR₩ 50,000,000 (~US$ 44,917). In late August, he came in second at the Masters League Daegu Super High Roller event for KR₩ 30,000,000 (~US$ 25,835). With his recent APT win, Song climbed to US$ 220K in earnings. 

Entries: 540
Prize pool: KR₩ 250,000,000 (~US$ 213,300)
ITM: 61 places

Final table payouts

1st In Ho Song – KR₩ 70,000,000 
2nd Seongsu Kong – KR₩ 45,000,000
3rd Jiwoo Lee – KR₩ 30,000,000
4th Daewoong Song – 20,000,000
5th Boonlil Koo – KR₩ 7,000,000
6th Soomin Jang – KR₩ 5,000,000
7th Jae-ryeon Kim –  KR₩ 4,000,000
8th Min Jin Nam – KR₩ 3,000,000
9th Jae Hyun Bae – KR₩ 2,600,000

Championships Event: GYU HYUK LEE – KR₩ 37,000,000 (~US$ 31,560)

Another first time APT winner was Gyu Hyuk Lee who triumphed at the Championships Event. Lee overcame the 148 entry field to pocket KR₩ 37,000,000 (~US$ 31,560). According to the recap on the APT website, Lee ruled the final table, eliminating four players to capture the win. With no prior stats on THM, this could well be Lee’s first live event cash. 

Entries: 148
Prize pool: KR₩ 150,000,000  (~US$ 127,970)
ITM: 15 places

Final table payouts

1st Gyu Hyuk Lee – KR₩ 37,000,000 
2nd Yoonkwon Woo – KR₩ 29,000,000
3rd Hyun Jung Kim –  KR₩ 22,500,000
4th Young-ran Gong – KR₩ 13,500,000
5th Ayoung Na – KR₩ 10,500,000
6th Jimmy Minsoo Cha – KR₩ 7,500,000
7th Ji Yeon Park – KR₩ 6,750,000
8th Taeho Kang – KR₩ 4,500,000
9th Sun Ho Yoo -KR₩ 3,750,000

Other results

Deep Stack Hyper Turbo
Entries: 40
Prize pool: KR₩ 15,000,000 (~US$ 12,800)
ITM: 7 places
Winner: Jeong Hyun Kim – KR₩ 4,275,000 (~US$ 3,600)* 
2nd Jae Jin Lee – KR₩ 4,275,000*
*Heads up deal

Monster Stack 
Entries: 127
Prize pool: KR₩ 45,100,000 (~US$ 38,470)
ITM: 15 places
Winner: Jae Hyun Park – KR₩ 10,726,000 (~US$ 9,150)

Deep Stack Turbo
Entries: 90
Prize pool: KR₩ 25,000,000 (~US$ 21,330)
ITM: 15 places 
Winner: Kwang Min Ko – KR₩ 6,500,000 (~US$ 5,500)

NLH Single Day 
Entries: 72
Prize pool: KR₩ 19,000,000 (~US$ 16,200)
ITM: 15 places
Winner: Hwan Hee Lee – KR₩ 4,940,000 (~US$ 4,215)