After ten days of thrilling poker action, the 12th annual China Poker Games – CPG Championship wrapped up at the Howard Johnson Resort Sanya in Hainan Island, China. Running from Agust 21 to 30, 2024, it was the largest edition put forth by the brand with 91 events (including satellites) from start to finish. Scroll down for the highlights.
The brand returns in October with the CPG Tour Hengqin taking place in Zhuhai, China at the Zhuhai Chimelong Hengqin Bay Hotel. Several reasons for this event’s popularity are its close proximity to Macao, and by demand, it is both a Tour stop and a Satellite event to the upcoming CPG Masters this December. CPG Masters is the brand’s high roller series held in Sanya at the Marriott Hotel every year for the past six years. Stay tuned for SMP’s upcoming article on these events.
2024 CPG Championship
The turnout at the 2024 CPG Championship once again reaffirmed its status as Asia’s largest and richest annual poker festival. With a lineup featuring only freezeout events, including satellites, it generated a festival prize pool of CNY 106.38 Million (~US$ 15 Million) with 3,058 unique players.
This year also witnessed an increase in international player attendance with contingents from Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, and Vietnam well represented. Also making an appearance was USA elite player Daniel Cates aka Jungleman, attending his first CPG event.
CPG Championship Finals aka Main Event
The 12th annual CPG Championship Finals also known as the CPG Championship Main Event drew 3,787 entries (2,685 uniques). China’s Cai Wenqing emerged victorious for his first ever major live title and a career high payout of CNY 3,800,000 (~US$ 535,966).
Date: August 24 to 30, 2024
Buy in: CNY 10,500 (~USD 1,480)
Entries: 3,787 (2,685 unique)
Prize pool (guaranteed after taxes): CNY 30,000,000 (~USD 4,230,000)
ITM: 405 players
Final Table payouts
| Rank | Player | Payout in CNY |
~USD equivalent
|
| 1 | Cai Wenqing | 3,800,000 | $535,966 |
| 2 | Wang Song | 2,400,000 | $338,505 |
| 3 | Hu Ruida | 1,770,000 | $249,647 |
| 4 | Zhang Chuan | 1,380,000 | $194,640 |
| 5 | Ren Haifeng | 1,110,000 | $156,559 |
| 6 | Pang Wei Ping | 900,000 | $126,939 |
| 7 | Jiang Zhou | 710,000 | $100,141 |
| 8 | Ji Chunhui | 580,000 | $81,805 |
| 9 | Feng Zhao | 470,000 | $66,291 |
Nguyen Ngoc Dai Brings Vietnam First CPG Win
Upon speaking to the Vietnam contingent, it was a tough adjustment with the festival offering only freezeout formats. Among those that cashed were Pham Tien Dung with three payouts including 38th at the Main Event and 4th at the final event NLH Turbo, and Ngoc Khoa Anh with a commendable 6th place finish at the Super High Roller.
At the very last event event to conclude, Nguyen Ngoc Dai dominated the final table of the Sanya Bay Cup to cruise to victory and bring the country its first CPG win. Nguyen outlasted the 283 player field to lift his first ever CPG trophy and a payout of CNY 300,000 (US$ 42,300).
Jingxuan Zhu Banks Super High Roller
The two-day Super High Roller Event drew 179 players with buy in at ~US$ 4,150 for a prize pool of ~US$ 742,850. Li Song delivered the bubble and shortly after, WSOP bracelet holder Weiran Pu was among the first to cash out. As it trimmed to the final table, Vietnam’s Ngoc Khoa Anh finished in 6th place with 
losing the flip against 
.
China’s decorated Jingxuan Zhu went on to victory to claim his first ever CPG title and a career high payout of CNY 800,000 (~US$ 112,800). Zhu has been seen at various Asian tours, running deep for numerous five-figure scores. This was his first six digit payout. Zhu has now accrued over US$ 850K in live tournament earnings.
Lucheng Cup Draws 1,002 Players
The most popular side event was the Lucheng Cup running from August 27 to 30, 2024. With the repechage format it allowed players only one bullet per starting day and no multiple stacks. This drew 1,002 entries for a prize pool of CNY 8.19 Million (~US$ 1.1 Million).
Quite a number of international players advanced to Day 2 led by Malaysian player Terry Sua. Going the farthest was Tom Henricus Verbruggen from the Netherlands with an 8th place finish. China’s Ye Chen closed it out to win his first ever CPG title.
Main Event Satellite Draws 403 Players
During the festival, multiple Main Event Satellite events were offered, giving players a chance to secure a seat at a discounted price. However, new government regulations meant that players who didn’t already have Main Event vouchers when the festival began could no longer obtain them through trade. This left satellites as their only option leading to a high turnout of 403 players in the final satellite, with 81 players securing a seat.
That concludes the Somuchpoker coverage on the 2024 CPG Championship. Stay tuned for information on the brand’s upcoming events.
Links:
2024 CPG Championship – News
2024 CPG Championship – Photo Gallery
2024 CPG Championship – Player Guide
Somuchpoker – Facebook
Tricia David
Tricia David has long experience as a recreational poker player and has been covering poker events since 2010 for numerous outfits in Asia. She spent one year working part time with Poker Portal Asia then became editor and lead writer for all event coverage of the Philippine Poker Tour (PPT). Under the PPT, she overlooked content for their website, and produced live updates on all their events. In addition, she served as the live and online events website content writer for the Asian Poker Tour. Currently, she does live events reporting in Asia for online news site Somuchpoker and is also one of their news contributors.
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