$20,000 NLH SuperStar Challenge (30,000,000 KRW)

After two days, 26 levels and outlasting all of his opponents in this 81 entry star studded field that reached a total prize pool of KRW2,262,330,000 (~$1,585,263), Christopher Park wins his first career trophy against some of the best players in the world and more than doubles his current live earnings.

"Well it was my first time ever winning a big tournament, so it feels pretty great and I'd like to win some more."

The final table alone included several WSOP bracelet and ring winners and had combined live earnings of over $135M. Park emerged as commanding chip leader entering the final 9 after winning a massive pot against then chip leader Ding Biao with A♣ A♥ against Q♥ 9♥ and knocking out Joseph Cheong - also a bracelet and three-time ring winner - on the final table bubble with 8♠ 8♦ against A♥ Q♥ . Asked about adjusting his game going into the final table he said:

"Honestly this the first time that I've gone deep in this kind of tournament so I was definitely confused in certain scenarios, I really don't know what I'm going to do."

With a big stack, a bright smile and love for the game he started getting to work by knocking out Tony Lin - current GPI leader - in 9th place, Yeu Wei Hsiang, that had just finished 3rd in the $15,000 Superstar Challenge three days earlier, in 8th, Stephen Chidwick - two time bracelet winner and #3 on the all time money list - with a gutsy call from the big blind with A♥ 4♠ when Chidwick was trying to steal the blinds with 7♥ 5♥ for 17BB in 7th.

Michael Jozoff - a young gun with two rings to his name finished 4th and Ding Biao - #3 on China's all time money list and 4th place finisher of the $15,000 Superstar Challenge three days earlier - where he made another gutsy call with A♠ 8♥ against Ding's 8♠ 8♦ , binking an ace on the flop.

"I was watching the stream during break time and I saw that he was raising me a lot with trash hands so I knew he didn't have a really good hand. I wasn't sure whether he had a hand worse than mine or a little better, he definitely tricked me but in the end I got lucky."

Further talking about Ding when asked who he felt his toughest opponents were:

"They were all tough, they are really really good players, but it was Ding Biao that stood out because he's so tough. He was really aggressive, he got it in with the best hand against me but i got lucky."

That leaves us with the heads-up against young Malaysian poker phenom Sean Ooi who is only on the scene for about two years and has already racked up a bunch of big results adding up to now over $1.6M in live earnings. It was a very lopsided 3 to 1 in favor of Christopher Park, going back and forth for a while until a flip with 9♠ 9♦ against Sean Ooi's A♥ J♦ made Park the champion.

Well done everyone! It was a feast for every poker fan and a very worthy conclusion to the Poker Dream 16 Festival here at the Jeju Shinhwa World in South Korea.

The flop comes K♥ 8♦ Q♣ , giving Ooi four more outs, the turn 8♠ is none of them and the river 7♦ seals the deal, granting Ooi his 2nd biggest win of his still short career.

After a few hands with nothing changing in the counts it is Sean Ooi again who opens 1,200,000 with 5♣ 4♥ and Chris Park defends with 8♠ 7♣ for a flop 6♥ 3♦ 9♣ where Ooi's 2,200,000 c-bet gets called. The turn 9♥ gets checked to the river 3♣ and we see Chris Park bluff 4,500,000 with the best hand, making Ooi fold.

Sean Ooi opens 1,000,000 with 5♠ 4♥ and Chris Park defends J♠ 7♥ to see the flop 5♦ K♣ 6♣ that gets checked to the turn 9♣ where Park tests the waters with a 1,200,000 bet that gets called by Ooi for the river 2♥ . Park fires another 1,700,000 with jack-high before Sean Ooi puts his cape on for the hero call, taking down a nice pot.

After starting the heads up with 6,400,000 in chips, Sean Ooi clawed his way back to over 10M in the last 4 hands without seeing a flop. This time around he opens 1,000,000 and Chris Park defends to see the flop 3♥ 6♦ 6♠ where Ooi's 600,000 c-bet gets answered for the turn Q♥ to be revealed and no more action takes us to the river 2♠ with Park's K♦ 9♣ coming out on top of Ooi's T♦ 9♥ .

With the A♣ in the window it is looking grim for Ding, being left with one out. The rest of the board runs J♦ 7♣ 3♠ J♥ and the #3 on China's all time money list is out in 3rd. Another great result after finishing 4th in the $15,000 Superstar Challenge on the weekend.

Chris Park kicks off the action with a button limp and calls Ding Biao's 1,800,000 raise from the big blind. The flop 6♦ 5♥ J♣ gets checked to the turn 5♦ that gets checked again to the river 4♥ . Ding has had enough of the checking, forks out 3,200,000 with top pair J♦ 8♦ and Chris Parks wants to see it and calls with king-high K♥ Q♦ , handing the lead back to Ding.

After banking a small pot against Ding Biao the hand before, Chris Park defends his big blind with J♠ 6♥ against Sean Ooi's 800,000 open from the button. The flop Q♦ J♣ 7♥ fails to connect with Sean Ooi's A♠ 9♣ but he continues for 575,000 and Park calls. The turn 7♠ gets checked to the river 3♣ and Park's 750,000 bet takes it down.

Eight hands with no flop and four walks have Sean Ooi chip up the most.

After picking up the blinds the hand before, Ding Biao opens 800,000 from the button with J♦ 9♦ and takes big blind Sean Ooi to the flop who has 9♠ 6♠ . The flop 2♥ 6♦ 4♥ has Sean Ooi check-call Ding's 1,200,000 c-bet for the turn 3♠ where a 2nd 3,000,000 barrel gets Ooi to fold.

After Ding Biao picked up the blinds we see Chris Park open-limp his small blind with 9♦ 8♦ and Sean Ooi elects to check with J♦ 6♣ to see the flop 7♦ 2♦ 8♥ . Park's 500,000 get called for the turn 2♥ to be revealed where Park switches to a check. Ooi forks out 1,400,000 and a call from Park completes the board 8♠ . Having made a boat, Chris Park opts to lead for 2,800,000, Sean Ooi raises to 6,500,000 and Park just calls.

Chris Park makes it 800,000 from the button and Ding Biao defends big. The flop A♠ T♣ K♦ gets checked to the turn 5♣ and Park's 800,000 delayed c-bet gets the job done.

Shortest stack Ding Biao opens 800,000 from the button and takes his opponents to the flop 6♦ Q♥ 9♦ where his 1,500,000 continuation doesn't find any customers.

The action folds to Michael Jozoff in the small blind, jamming 5,000,000 with T♥ 9♣ and Chris Park calls with Q♣ J♥ . Nobody improves on 5♠ 8♦ 8♠ 2♠ 6♥ , leaving the WSOP Ring holder in the dust.

Ding Biao kicks of the action with a 600,000 open from under the gun and takes both blinds to the flop Q♠ A♥ Q♥ where he c-bets 400,000. Chris Park folds the small blind but Sean Ooi sticks around for the turn 4♠ that gets rejected and the board completes J♥ . Ooi lays out a 1,500,000 value bet with Q♥ J♠ and after handing a time bank to the dealer, Ding hero calls with K♣ 9♣ before finding out he is behind.

Another upset dealt by the dealer flipping over A♥ Q♦ J♦ 4♦ 5♣ leaving the Canadian with almost $40M in live earnings and two bracelets with today's first 6-figure cash.

Being ahead preflop, Yu Lei is immediately falling behind when the dealer flips over Q♥ T♣ 3♥ 5♠ 7♣ , eliminating the bracelet holder Yu Lei in 6th place, two better than the 8th place in the $15,000 Superstar Challenge on the weekend.

Raising to 550,000 from the button with A♦ J♦ , Chris Park takes big blind Daniel Dvoress to the flop A♠ 7♦ 4♣ where a 350,000 c-bet gets called, the turn J♣ sees a 550,000 second barrel being called and the river 3♠ has Christopher Park fire a third barrel, putting Dvoress all-in, but he doesn't take the bait and folds.

The dealer keeps it interesting until the end on A♠ 6♥ 4♦ 5♠ Q♠ , but eliminates the #3 on the all time money list and allows the rest of the field to catch up by a little bit.

No help for Dvoress on the turn 4♠ and river 5♠ , taking Chidwick to his biggest stack all tournament.

The board runs 5♠ A♠ A♥ T♥ 6♣ and Yeu Wei Hsiang is out early in his 2nd Superstar Challenge final table, after finishing 3rd in the $15,000 SSC on the weekend.

Yeu Wei Hsiang opens 400,000 from the cutoff with A♥ 5♥ and big blind Sean Ooi defends with Q♦ 7♠ . The flop A♠ 8♦ T♦ has Yeu c-bet 300,000 and Ooi ups it to 900,000 after using a time bank. A call treats us with the turn 6♥ and Ooi tanks again, using another time bank before sliding out 1,400,000 and Yeu calls again. The river A♦ triggers Ooi to jam 3,700,000 with queen-high into Yeu's 2,600,000 stack, who goes into the tank and stays there for a while. After three time banks he decides to let go of his trips.

After picking up the blinds, Christopher Park defends his big blind against Sean Ooi's 400,000 open from under the gun. The flop 3♦ 9♥ 7♣ gets checked around for the turn 8♥ where Park leads 200,000 and picks up the pot.

Sean Ooi kicks off the action with a 400,000 raise holding A♥ K♥ from the hijack and Michael Jozoff defends big with Q♣ 9♣ for the flop 6♠ 8♥ 5♠ . Jozoff donks 300,000 and gets called for the turn K♣ to be revealed where Jozoff lays out another 1,200,000. Another call from Ooi completes the board and two checks have Sean Ooi coming out on top.

After having taken out a few chips of the leader's stack three hands ago, Michael Jozoff opens 400,000 from +1 and takes big blind Yu Lei to the flop K♠ K♣ Q♠ where a 225,000 c-bet gets the job done again for Jozoff.

The turn 8♦ and river 4♠ has Park extend his lead and leave Tony Lin, who just missed out on a bracelet in December, in the dust.

With 4 WSOP Bracelets, 2 WSOP Rings and more than $135M in live earnings between them, this final table will be a treat for every poker fan. All of them will be gunning for the $431,905 top prize. Flop well everyone!

Another beautiful sight for Cheong is the flop Q♠ 7♥ 7♦ , jumping ahead of Park, the turn T♣ leaves Christopher Park with less than 5%, but binks the river 8♣ for a boat, denying Joseph Cheong a second Superstar Challenge final table appearance in just three days.

Digging for 13 outs, Yeu hits one of them on the river 7♥ , keeping the bubble intact and dealing a huge blow to Tony Lin.

The remaining 10 players have four familiar faces from the $15,000 Superstar Challange final table among them. Still in the hunt for a second appearance are Joseph Cheong, Yeu Wei Hsiang, Yu Lei and chip leader Ding Biao.

Yeu Wei Hsiang gets us going with a 300,000 open from under the gun and Daniel Dvoress defends his big blind to see the flop 7♥ 9♠ 8♦ where Yeu's 200,000 c-bet finds a customer to take along to the turn 9♣ . No action reveals the river 7♦ and two more checks have Dvoress show K♦ 6♣ , losing against Yeu's better high card A♦ 4♣ .

Sean Ooi kicks off the action with a 300,000 raise from under the gun and takes Michael Jozoff in the big blind to the flop Q♦ T♣ J♣ . Ooi's 350,000 c-bet gets check-raised to 900,000, Ooi calls and the turn A♥ kills all the action for the board to complete 6♣ . The young American shows 9♦ 8♥ and Sean Ooi mucks.

Christopher Park min-opens 300,000 from under the gun, Ding Biao pumps it to 900,000 from the big blind and Park fills up to see the flop 3♠ 5♠ Qj where Dings 500,000 c-bet gets called and the turn K♦ hits the felt. Ding fires a second barrel of 1,000,000 that gets the job done, taking most of his chips back from Park.

Drawing for a gutter and some running outs, Xu gets one of them on the turn T♥ , but his luck runs dry on the river J♠ and one of the remaining bracelet winners is out.

Michael Jozoff min opens 300,000 from under the gun, cutoff Sean Ooi ups it to 650,000 but Tony Lin takes it down with a 1,400,000 cold four-bet that goes unanswered.

When the action folds to Ding Biao in the small blind he fills up and Christopher Park opts to check and sees the flop 8♣ A♥ 7♠ that gets checked to the turn 4♦ . Checked to Park again he lays out 300,000, Ding check-calls and the board completes 8♦ . Another 1,500,000 bet from Park sends Ding in the tank before he folds, handing 2 time banks to the dealer. That's the 3rd time Park picked up a small pot against Ding in just a few hands.

Stephen Chidwick kicks off the action with a raise to 275,000 and Christopher Park defends big to see the flop 4♠ 5♥ 7♥ that gets checked to the turn 7♦ . Chidwick tests the waters with a 175,000 delayed c-bet that gets called, before forking out a large 800,000 bet on the river A♣ . Park check-calls again with A♠ 3♥ top pair winning against Chidwick's queen-high Q♥ J♦ .

Yue Wei Hsiang raises to 250,000 from under the gun and takes big blind Daniel Dvoress to the flop 6♣ 4♥ 8♦ . A 300,000 c-bet and a call is all she wrote until the board completes 8♣ and 7♠ with two more checks revealing Dvoress as the winner with Q♠ 6♠ .

After winning two hands this orbit already, Sean Ooi opens another 250,000 from under the gun and Michael Jozoff defends big blind. The flop 4♣ 2♦ T♦ has Ooi lay out a 400,000 c-bet that gets the job done once more.

Picking up the action on the heads up turn 4♦ 5♦ 3♣ J♦ with 575,000 up for grabs Ding Biao leads 350,000, Stephen Chidwick check-calls and the river 6♣ gets checked around for Ding Biao to scoop the pot with A♣ 3♦ against Chidwick's A♦ 9♥ .

After losing a few chips more since his last tussle with Tony Lin, Sean Ooi is back in the drivers seat with a raise to 200,000 from under the gun and takes big blind Michael Jozoff to the flop 5♦ Q♥ 3♠ . A first barrel of 150,000 gets called to the turn 9♣ where Ooi's second barrel of 525,000 is enough to take down the pot uncontested.

The flop 8♦ 9♠ A♣ has Zhao left with just a few runner runner options, one being the turn J♠ but the dealer puts an end to his run with the river 8♠ . With that we are in the money for a min cash of KRW 56,600,000 ($39,295) guaranteed.

A raise to 200,000 from under the gun Tony Lin has Sean Ooi fill up and watch the flop flip over 9♦ 6♣ 3♥ . Lin's 300,000 c-bet gets called to the turn K♦ where two checks complete the board Q♠ . Lin forks out another 900,000 with K♥ 8♠ , Ooi calls but throws it in the muck.

Daniel Dvoress opens 200,000 from under the gun and Sean Ooi defends big blind to see the flop 3♦ 9♠ Q♥ where Ooi check-calls a 200,000 c-bet for the turn to fall 4♥ . Dvoress fires a second barrel of 600,000, Ooi check calls again and the board completes 8♣ . Two checks reveal Sean Ooi as the winner with A♦ 9♣ .

Ding Biao kicks off the action with a raise to 200,000 from the cutoff, Stephen Chidwick jams 1,650,000 with A♣ K♦ from big blind and Ding calls with A♠ T♣ . No help for Ding on 3♥ 2♣ 2♠ 2♥ 4♥ and Stephen Chidwick gets propelled back into contention on the bubble.

Under the gun opens 200,000 and takes three players to the flop 7♠ A♥ 2♠ that gets checked around to the turn J♠ . Yeu Hsiang puts out a 175,000 feeler from the small blind, Zhao Hongjun calls from the big, UTG folds and Daniel Dvoress pumps it to 650,000 out of the cutoff. Yeu folds and Zhao pays up to see the board complete J♣ . Two checks have Dvoress table the winner A♣ Q♥ against Zhao's outdrawn 7♦ 2♥ .

Zhao Hongjun open jams 1,800,000 from under the gun and Daniel Smiljkovic calls his last 960,000 from the small blind and all eyes go to the dealer once more.

Ding Biao raises to 160,000 from the cutoff and fellow big stack Mao Renji defends big to see the flop 6♦ 9♥ T♣ that gets checked to the turn A♦ with two more checks revealing the river K♠ . Mao leads 500,000, Ding jams his massive stack with the nuts Q♥ J♠ and Mao finds the call with two pair A♣ 6♣ for his remaining 2,350,000 to hand Ding Biao a massive lead over the remaining 16 players.

Ding Biao gets the ball rolling with a raise to 120,000 from under the gun and takes button Mao Renji to the flop T♠ 2♣ A♣ . Mao bets 100,000 into a missed c-bet, gets called and the turn Q♠ hits the felt. Mao's 450,000 gets check-called again and the river K♠ kills the action, having Mao table the winner with A♠ Q♥ against Ding's K♣ T♥ .

Picking up the action on 8♥ K♣ 6♥ K♦ and 555,000 in the middle, Michael Jozoff leads 500,000, Zhao Hongjun forks out a raise to 1,350,000 after using up three time banks, Jozoff jams for 2,430,000 and Zhao is in the tank again before folding and handing another time bank to the dealer.