Main Event (1,300,000 KRW)

After six days of Main Event action, 34 levels and battling through a field of 1432, Chung Tang Lin is the new champion of the record breaking Korea Poker Cup Series 2 Main Event that saw its prize pool balloon to an astonishing KRW 1,616,799,600 (~$1,178,399) - almost doubling the guaranteed KRW 880 Million.

'I’m so so happy! I’m happy to say there is finally a champion photo in which I’m not in the back (as one of the champion’s friends).'

'It’s my first main event trophy. I’m so grateful that I didn’t have to wait like three to five years to have the first main event trophy, like other players on average. The trophy looks so nice, so I will figure out a way to put it on a display shelf in my room.'

'I just tried my best to enjoy the game and the event itself. I think the KPC Main Event’s blind structure is great. I had a lots of fun playing this Main Event.'

Right after reaching the heads up Chung Tang Lin and Cheng Huang agreed to an ICM deal that left the two with KRW 209,910,000 (~$151,081) for Huang as the massive chip leader at the time and KRW 174,990,000 (~$125,948) for Lin - by far the biggest cashes in both of their poker careers - which left KRW 9,000,000 (~$6,477) and the trophy to play for.

How we got here:

Chung Tang Lin started the day 7th out of 13 and it took him quite a while to get things going. The first big break came with 10 players left in the field when he picked up 9♦ 9♣ and went all-in pre against Zhiqiang Zhang with A♥ Q♦ and the board ran 4♦ 5♠ 4♥ 7♣ 2♥ for a double up that got him to 24 BB at the time. Which was good for 7th place when the Final 8 were determined.

'Since I didn’t have much chips as the final table started, I chose not to play junk or marginal hands. The strongest starting hand I played before I began to act was A9o, as I remember. And I folded that hand after someone 3-bet. So in general, I was waiting for the right hand and the right time.'

The right time came at Hand #21 of the Final 8, calling for his remaining chips with A♣ K♦ after Yifan Cao put him all-in with K♠ J♠ and the board ran 8♠ 9♣ K♥ 6♦ A♥ that got him back to 19 BB. This was followed by another A♦ K♣ that put a stop to Chen Yu Sung - chip leader at the time who was plowing through the table - with 9♥ 9♦ , getting to the brink of elimination on 5♣ 4♠ 3♣ T♦ before the K♥ kept him alive and catapulted him up the leaderboard into 2nd. After a rough patch that saw him drop almost half his stack he bounced back by eliminating Xiaqing Ji in 5th after his sixes held against ace-seven followed by a double up with kings in the small blind when then chip leader Cheng Huang jammed his massive stack from the button with threes. In the next few hands Cheng Huang knocked out the other two players that got them to a very lopsided heads-up.

After agreeing to the previously mentioned ICM deal, Lin was unstoppable, winning the first few hands of the heads-up that took him from a 2,5 to 1 underdog into the lead 5 hands later. He kept grinding down his opponent until it was 12M to 31M when Lin opened 1,2M with A♥ J♥ and Huang defended with T♣ 5♣ to see the 7♠ A♣ Q♣ flop where his 1,2M c-bet was check-raised to 3,000,000 by Huang who then shoved for 7,9M on the T♥ turn. Lin called and the Q♥ river made Lin's victory official.

That concludes the SMP Live Coverage of the Korean Poker Cup Series 2 that broke records left and right and a Main Event winner eager to join the next one.

'It’s my first KPC and I just love it! I like Jeju and I will definitely come back again!'

Thanks for checking in, congrats to all the winners and see you next time!

The Q♥ is none of Huang's outs, ending the tournament in 2nd, but with the bigger cash after making an ICM deal as massive chip leader.

Hand #74: After a break on stream we are jumping back in with Chung Tang Lin having even more chips, but Cheng Huang fights back right away. A limped flop is checked to the 9♦ A♥ 4♥ 3♠ 8♥ river where Huang leads 1,800,000 and Lin lets it go.

Hand #75: Huang raises 1,100,000 and scoops.

Hand #76: Lin opens 1,000,000 and Huang defends to see the 6♥ 7♦ K♠ flop where a 1,000,000 c-bet gets called before Huang folds to a 2,500,000 second barrel on the A♥ turn.

Hand #69: An 850,000 raise from Cheng Huang gets called to the 7♦ 5♥ Q♦ flop where an 800,000 continuation gets met again before the T♣ turn is rejected and a free J♣ river hits the felt. Huang lays out 2,200,000 with 9♠ 5♠ and Chung Tang Lin has an easy call with J♦ 5♣ two pair.

Hand #70: On the 8♥ A♣ 3♣ limped flop Huang's 900,000 get called before Lin folds to a 3,500,000 second barrel.

Hand #71: Huang folds after his 800,000 open gets countered by a 3,800,000 three-bet.

Hand #72: Another limped hand goes to the 4♦ 6♦ 9♠ 6♣ turn before a 500,000 bet from Huang takes it down.

Hand #73: Huang limp-calls 1,100,000, but surrenders against a 1,000,000 c-bet on the 8♦ J♥ 4♥ flop.

Hand #65: After limping once more, Cheng Huang fires 300,000 on 5♣ 2♠ Q♣ and 900,000 on the 9♦ turn that get both check-called by Lin before the 6♦ river is checked down for Huang to scoop with 8♥ 8♦ against Lin's A♦ 3♣ .

Hand #66: Lin raises to 825,000, Huang defends and the 9♥ T♦ 7♦ flop gets checked to the Q♥ turn where Lin's 1,500,000 gets check-raised to 4,200,000 and Huang scoops.

Hand #67: Limped again, the 5♥ 8♥ A♣ flop has Huang bet 400,000 to collect the chips.

Hand #68: Another limped Q♥ 3♥ 4♥ flop makes Lin triple barrel 300,000, 800,000 and 2,000,000 to the turn J♦ and A♥ river with Huang calling all the way holding Q♠ 5♦ against Lin's J♥ 6♣ flush.

Hand #61: Another limped flop comes 3♥ K♦ 4♠ with Cheng Huang's 350,000 being called, the J♦ turn gets checked and Huang tries to steal for 800,000 with 7♣ 6♦ but gets called by Lin with Q♠ 4♥ .

Hand #62: limped pot number 3 is checked all the way to the river T♣ 3♦ 3♣ 6♣ 6♥ and Lin's J♣ 9♦ wins over 7♠ 2♣ from Huang

Hand #63: Lim raises 900,000 into Huang's limp who calls to see the 5♠ A♠ 2♠ flop where another 1,000,000 from Lin is called before his 2,200,000 on the Q♦ turn goes unanswered.

Hand #64: Lin makes it 750,000 and Huang defends before surrendering to an 800,000 c-bet on the 3♦ K♥ J♦ flop.

With the chips heavily in favor of Cheng Huang he gets KRW 209,910,000 (~$151,081) and Chung Tang Lin secures a KRW 174,990,000 (~$125,948) payday - by far the biggest cashes in both of their poker careers - and leave KRW 9,000,000 (~$6,477) and the trophy to play for.

The dealer flips over A♠ 3♥ Q♦ 2♥ 3♦ and sends Sung home for back to back 3rd places in the KPC Main Event. It might not feel that way for him right now, but what a great accomplishment!

The dealer makes it a bit of a sweat on 5♥ K♣ 4♣ J♠ 3♠ but sends Zhang home all the same and puts Huang back in a commanding lead.

The 3♣ 2♥ 9♣ T♦ T♣ board keeps Lin ahead and sends last month's TLPT Circuit Opening champ for $100,000 home in 5th place, adding another deep run in a massive event to his accomplishments.

Hand #43: Hijack Chung Tang Lin leads 500,000 and big blind Cheng Huang defends to lay eyes on the T♠ K♦ 7♦ flop where Lin's 525,000 c-bet gets met and the T♣ turn is rejected for a free 7♠ river. Huang forks out 900,000 and Lin lets it go.

Hand #44: Chen Yu Sung opens 525,000 from the cutoff and picks up the blinds.

Hand #45: Under the gun Sung lays out 525,000 again, Huang flats the button and small blind Xiaqing Ji squeezes to 1,500,000 with both opponents calling to see the Q♣ 9♥ 7♠ flop. Ji continues for 500,000, Sung makes it 1,000,000 and Huang fills up before Ji lays down his A♠ 9♦ . The J♣ flop has Sung lead 700,000, Huang raises to 2,000,000 and Sung needs a time bank before deciding to call. The 7♦ river is fireworks starting with a check from Huang who goes deep in the tank after Huang wagered his last 5,700,000. Contemplating for three time banks Sung decides to call with K♦ Q♥ , but has to surrender the biggest pot of the night against 9♠ 9♣ from Huang.

It's a sweat until the end on 3♠ T♠ 2♠ 6♣ 6♠ giving Zhang a flush in the end that sends Hao to the rail.

No miracle for Ji on K♠ 5♥ 3♥ 5♣ 7♦ leaves him as shortest stack and puts Huang back in contention.

Hand #29: Chen Yu Sung makes it 500,000 from the small blind and Jiajin Hao defends to see the 9♦ 5♦ Q♣ flop where Sung's 350,000 continuation gets called before the 5♣ turn and 4♣ river get checked down and Sung flips over another winner 7♣ 4♠ against A♦ J♥ from Hao.

Hand #30: Hao jams the small blind for 3,800,000 to scoop the pot.

Hand #31: Sung opens 500,000 from the cutoff and big blind Cheng Huang defends to see the 3♠ T♣ A♣ flop where he folds to a 350,000 continuation from Sung.

Hand #32: Hijack Sung min-raises and collects the blinds.

Hand #33: Button Cheng Huang slides 500,000 over the line, but lets it go after Chung Tang Lin woke up from his slumber to shove 3,000,000.

Hand #25: Zhiqiang Zhang puts 600,000 into the middle from the small blind and Cheng Huang folds.

Hand #26: Zhang declares all-in for 3,600,000 from the button to pick up blinds.

Hand #27: Hijack Jiajin Hao min-raises to scoop.

Hand #28: Huang lays out 400,000 from the cutoff and big blind Chen Yu Sung defends to see the T♦ K♠ 6♦ flop where Huang c-bets 350,000 and fills up after Sung check-raised to 900,000. The 8♣ turn sees Sung fire 1,900,000 with Huang calling before Sung forks out another 3,500,000 that sends Huang in the tank. He emerges with a call after consuming a time bank, but surrenders the pot with J♥ T♥ against K♥ Q♠ from Sung.

Bad news for Cao right away on the A♦ 6♣ 7♥ 8♦ 4♥ board, sending the table animator home, but not before signing some autographs I'm sure.

Hand #14: Xiaqing Ji picks up the blinds with a 425,000 raise from the button.

Hand #15: Under the gun Jiajin Hao min opens before folding to a 1,100,000 three-bet from hijack Cheng Huang.

Hand #16: Chen Yu Sung limps the small blind and folds after Hao raised to 3,200,000.

Hand #17: Sung leads 400,000 from the button, small blind Hao flats and big blind Zhiqiang Zhang pumps it to 1,700,000. Sung counters with a 6,100,000 jam that scares both opponents away.

Hand #10: Cheng Huang min-opens before folding to Chen Yu Sung's 970,000 three-bet.

Hand #11: Sung picks up blinds after making it 400,000 from the cutoff.

Hand #12: Huang limps the small blind, but lets it go after Xiaqing Ji forked out 750,000.

Hand #13: Jiajin Hao collects the blinds with a min-raise out of the hijack.

Hand #5: Cheng Huang limps the small blind and Xiaqing Ji checks for a free 8♠ A♦ K♦ flop that gets rejeted and the 2♦ turn is revealed. Ji's 250,000 feeler gets called and the 6♥ river is checked down again with Ji's Q♣ 8♦ good enough against Q♠ T♥ from Huang.

Hand #6: This time it is Ji open limping his small blind and Chung Tang Lin opts for a check to see the J♦ 4♣ 2♠ flop where Ji tries to steal for 250,000, but Lin calls and the K♦ turn and K♣ river are checked down with Lin's T♦ 4♦ beating Ji's 7♥ 6♣ air.

Hand #7: Ji makes it 400,000 from the button, but lets it go after Yifan Cao jammed 3,600,000.

Hand #8: Huang collects the blinds with a min raise from the hijack.

Hand #9: Cutoff Lin lays out 400,000, but folds after Jiajin Hao increased to 1,100,000.

Hand #3: Just before the blinds went up, Jiajin Hao raised to 400,000 in the small blind and Zhiqiang Zhang pumped it to 1,500,000, prompting Hao to fold.

Hand #4: Hijack Yifan Cao attacks for 450,000, and big blind Cheng Huang defends to see the flop Q♠ 3♥ 4♣ where Cao's 500,000 c-bet gets met and the A♣ turn is revealed. Both players check to the J♣ river where Huang switches to a 1,500,000 lead with Q♣ 6♣ flush and Cao puts in the call before mucking.

Cao immediately gets up, firing up the room on every street when the dealer flips over J♠ 2♣ 6♥ 8♦ Q♦ where he does his soccer celebration with the crowd joining in to his chants.

Cheng Huang extended his lead by quite some margin, Chen Yu Sung makes back-to-back Final 8 being 3rd in chips and shortest stack Shanghao Xie with 10 BB can rest assured he will go home with at least KRW 23,000,000 (~$16,745).

The stage is being prepped for the walk in celebration, so tune into the stream and check it out if you want!

The dealer flips over a sea of blanks on 3♦ T♦ 5♣ 9♥ 5♦ and drowns Qingtao Kong's title hopes.

Cutoff Zhiqiang Zhang opens A♠ 7♥ for 300,000, but decides to let it go after button Cheng Huang pumped it to 850,000 with Q♦ J♦ for a 3rd consecutive win.

Chip leader Cheng Huang is in a great position, but just behind him is Xiaqing Ji with almost the same amount of chips and in position of all the big stacks at the table. This is going to be an interesting final table.

With one more elimination to be delivered before the official Final 8, it is shortest stack Qingtao Kong - Poker Dream 12 Main Event Champion - who has his work cut out for him.

And KPC 1 third place finisher Chen Yu Sung is still cruising with just a bit more than what he started the day with.

Like yesterday on the feature table, Oguri runs into kings with his jacks, this time the 9♥ 8♠ A♠ 8♦ 4♣ claims all of his chips, going into Hao's stack and sending the most aggressive player of today to the rail with final table preparations being made. The official Final 8 will still have to wait for one more bust.

Cutoff Xiaqing Ji gets the ball rolling for 250,000 again and takes the blinds to the 9♦ Q♦ 8♥ pitch where his 210,000 c-bet just bloats the pot. The 2♣ turn gets checked to the 3♣ river where small blind Huang takes over the reins with a 450,000 lead and only Ji calls before throwing it in the muck when Huang tables T♦ T♥ .

First to act Kosei Oguri slides 250,000 over the line, but let's it go after Shanghao Xie jammed for 1,960,000, winning his second pot with an all-in to get some breathing room again.

The 4♠ in the window is bad news for Huang, who can't find improvement on J♥ Q♥ 3♠ T♦ and hands another chunk of his stack to one of the shorties.

When the action folds to small blind Xiaqing Ji a limp is announced and Shanghao Xie opts to check for a free T♠ J♠ 4♥ flop where he starts a triple barrel sequence of 250,000, 500,000 and 500,000 to the turn 4♣ and K♦ river playing the board with 7♥ 6♥ and gets check-called all the way from Ji with J♥ 5♣ second pair.

Cutoff Xiaqing Ji opens yet another hand for 250,000 and both blinds tag along to the Q♥ 5♥ K♥ flop that gets checked to the 9♦ turn where Oguri finds the betting button again, making it 300,000 and both opponents call. The K♣ river is met with all checks again and Huang's A♥ 9♣ takes it down with Ji showing the 9♥ .

No more ducks arrive at the K♦ 7♦ 4♣ 9♠ 7♣ pond which catapults Huang into a close lead.

Cutoff Kosei Oguri raises to 250,000, small blind Xiaqing Ji ups it to 860,000, Oguri four-bets to 2,000,000, but snap folds with a smile after Ji jammed his massive stack.

Cutoff Shanghao Xie puts 250,000 in front and takes both blinds to the 5♣ 9♥ 2♣ flop that gets rejected for a free 9♦ turn. Small blind Kosei Oguri leads 300,000 and only initial raiser Xie tags along for the T♣ river that gets checked down again with Oguri's 4♦ 4♣ being enough to scoop the pot.

This takes the Japanese back to over 5M after an early setback against chip leader Xiaqing Ji.

First to act Xiaqing Ji makes it 200,000 and calls after small blind Kosei Oguri upped it to 550,000 to see the T♦ J♦ A♥ flop. Oguri's 500,000 continuation gets called to reveal the A♦ turn where he fires another 800,000 that go unanswered.

No help for Zheng on A♦ 6♣ 5♣ 8♣ 9♥ and we are on the final table bubble.

Cutoff Kosei Oguri opens 225,000 and big blind Xiaqing Ji defends to see the 9♠ T♥ T♦ flop where Oguri's 300,000 c-bet gets called before a 600,000 second barrel on the 9♦ turn is enough to take it down for him.

The 7♠ and 7♦ has the table erupt in laughter while Gao gathers his things despite hitting a running full house.

After an early slumber, Xiaqing Ji woke up and started running over the table becoming the first to break into the 8-digits.

Ace-high for Zheng stays good enough when the board completes 9♥ and 5♦ .

No help for Ng on 6♠ K♣ J♥ 3♣ T♠ and we need a table balance.

With the board running 8♥ 5♦ 6♦ 5♥ Cao gets out of his chair with his eyes fixated on the board and the 4♥ river makes him start celebrating like he won the tournament, running and jumping around. Can't we all relate to that?

Cutoff Kosei Oguri lays out 200,000 and fills up after big blind Xiaqing pumped it to 600,000 for the 9♥ 8♠ 3♣ flop to drop. Ji continues for 350,000, Oguri raises to 850,000 and calls after a 1,500,000 three bet from Ji. The J♠ turn has the chip leader put the 2nd in chips all-in, who thinks better of it and lets it go.

Under the gun Shanghao Xie leads 200,000 and big blind Hiu Man Ng defends to see the Q♦ K♥ 3♣ flop where Xie c-bets 125,000 and fills up after Ng raised to 350,000. Ng takes over the reins with a 400,000 bet on the A♥ turn, but lets it go when Xie put him all-in, winning a second post flop pot early in the day.

Short stack Hiu Man Ng jams 1,160,000 from under the gun and picks up the dead money. Also for the second time this orbit.

Kosei Oguri raises to 200,000 on the button and collects the blinds for a 2nd time in just a few hands.

Shuffle up and deal!

The second stand alone Korea Poker Cup Series taking place at the Landing Casino inside the luxurious Jeju Shinhwa World Resort will be headlined by the Main Event one last time. Six opening flights with 1432 total entries resulted in a record breaking KRW 1,616,799,600 (~$1,178,399) prize pool - almost doubling the guaranteed KRW 880 Million.

The remaining 13 players have KRW 13,000,000 (~$9,465) secure, but all of them will be gunning for the KRW 240,500,000 (~$175,120) top prize and the golden trophy.

Xiaqing Ji came out on top yesterday with 8,215,000 (103 BB) to his name after starting Day 2 in the upper mid field. His meteoric rise started in level 20 with the elimination of Zi-En Huang with aces against ace-queen after an eight-bet preflop all-in that netted him around 90 BBs at the time and put him in the overall lead. The next highlight was the double elimination of You Kan Li and Day 1 chip leader Jieming Xu with J♦ J♠ against Li's A♦ K♣ and Xu's 9♣ 9♥ with the board running all blanks that catapulted him to 242 BBs at the time, more than three times of 2nd place with 80 BB. The rest of Day 2 was a breeze, adding more than 2M to his stack in the last levels.

A pack of three are quite some distance away with Zhiqiang Zhang 5,960,000 (75 BB), Huang Cheng 5,430,000 (68 BB) and Kosei Oguri 5,260,000 (66 BB) - the unlucky one of them who is currently sitting at the chip leader's table.

Chen Yu Sung - the only player with a Final 8 appearance in the KPC 1 Main Event left in the field - sits in 5th with 3,550,000 (44 BB) and will try to improve his 3rd place for $71,070 last time around.

Cards will be in the air at 12:00 noon and SMP is onsite to provide fresh updates until a new champion is crowned.