Main Event

Hyukjin Kwon paid off a bet worth 125,000 by Jong Hoon Lee on the river of a T♣ 9♣ A♦ 3♥ A♣ board and mucked when Lee showed K♣ Q♣ for the ace-high flush. Kwon then tangled with Sungwon Seo and lost even more chips to drop to a severe short stack.

He got the last of it in with 9♣ 7♦ against Seo's A♦ 2♥ and turned a straight on the 8♥ 6♣ 4♣ T♠ 3♠ runout to stay alive.

Prior to the break, Ki Taek Kwon lost his short stack on the live stream table while Jin Wook Lee departed from the outer tables. In the final hand before the break, Jong Hoon Lee took on Won Beom Seo. The öatter had the A♥ K♣ and was dominated by A♠ 4♠ . No help came on the J♥ 3♥ 2♠ J♦ T♦ board and that brought the field down to the last 16 for the two table redraw.

Junsheng Qiao doubled through Jong Hoon Lee when J♣ J♠ held versus 6♣ 6♠ on a board of A♥ 7♣ 5♥ 8♣ 7♦ . He then got it in against Lee again and A♦ K♣ flopped the nuts on a board of A♣ A♥ K♠ T♦ 2♣ for another double.

Takeshi Odawara was eliminated by Dongwook Lee while his fellow countryman Tetsuya Fujiwara tripled his short stack. His A♦ A♣ was up against the K♣ 9♠ of Jong Hoon Lee and needed an ace on the K♦ 8♣ 2♠ A♥ K♠ runout.

Jong Hoon Lee bet the 7♣ 3♦ 2♣ A♠ turn from under the gun and received a call by Tsukasa Endo on the button. Lee bet again the J♠ on the river for 31,000 and then called a raise to 90,000 by the chip leader.

Endo showed the A♦ 2♦ for aces and deuces, but Lee had that beat with A♣ 3♣ for aces and treys.

In a battle of the blinds, Junghwan Kim bet the 8♠ 7♣ 5♦ K♣ turn for 24,000 and the 3♣ river for another 38,000. Tsukasa Endo called both times and won the pot with 7♠ 6♣ , as Kim only had A♣ 6♥ for the missed straight draw and nut flush blocker.

The COEX Convention & Exhibition Center inside of the Starfield Coex Mall in Gangnam, Seoul was the place to be for poker enthusiasts from near and far as the Super Cup Seoul 2024 kicked into high gear. Three different tournaments commenced and that included the highly anticipated Super Cup Seoul Main Event with it's KRW 1 Billion in prizes.

It was the first of four starting days which unfolded and most of the participants were hailing from South Korea with some additions from Japan, the United States and Japan. That ultimately led to 77 participants, all in the hopes of turning their 30,000 chips into a lot more than that to lock up a portion of the cash prize.

Only 12 players were set to advance to the money stages and a duo from South Korea topped the leaderboard when all was done and dusted. Jong Hoon Lee earned the title of Day 1a leader with a stack of 465,000 while Sumin Lim ended not far behind on 441,000.

Both chip leaders were pivotal in concluding the action in level 15 with Lee scoring two big knockouts. He first took a bunch out of French chess enthusiasts and poker cash game pro Yohan "YoYo" Trens, then cracked pocket queens with seven-six suited. Soon after, Lee flopped a set of nines against the top two pair of Yoonseok Choi and soared further up the leaderboard. However, the final elimination came from Lim in the utmost cruel fashion when he hit a two-outer with pocket kings versus pocket aces.

Yoo Young Jin (316,000) and Geunseop Ban (297,000) also bagged up very healthy stacks en route to a possible deep run in this tournament.

The dozen survivors now have two days off from the Main Event action while another three starting days remain for everyone else. Some notables who came and left without anything to show for were Jaejoon Yang, YouTuber Soyoung Ham, well-known comedian Wonhyo Kim, as well as Isabelle Group ambassador Yejin Kim. More fortunate was the only female survivor on Day 1a, Yun Hye Kim, who survived the bubble on a nub and made it through with just 22,000 (four big blinds).

Day 1b will get underway at 11 a.m. local time on the second floor of the Convention Centre inside of "The Platz", with all those joining the action will hope to follow into the footsteps of Lee and Lim. Tune back in then to follow all the action right here on SoMuchPoker.

There is an open shove for 76,000 and big stack Sumin Lim calls, all other players fold. Once the other table is finished, the at-risk player reveals A♠ A♥ and Lim has one notch worse with the K♦ K♥ . The Q♥ J♠ 5♣ 8♠ K♠ board delivered the blow in cruel fashion via two-outer on the river to let the Day 1a bubble burst.

Lim almost ended the night with the chip lead, though, Jong Hoon Lee has retained the top spot by a small margin.

In a big pot of more than 100,000 to the 8♣ 6♣ 4♥ 7♥ turn, Jong Hoon Lee bet 40,000 out of the small blind. Yohan "YoYo" Trens tossed his two time bank chips towards the dealer and went into the tank. During the final 30-second period, he moved all-in for around 60,000 and Lee called.

Trens showed Q♥ Q♠ but needed help, as Lee had improved to two pair with the 7♠ 6♠ . The board paired, but the 7♦ river only improved Lee to sevens full of sixes while Trens left with the head shaking.

Won Beom Seo was watching the action from nearby, as he had been the one to bust prior for the final two tables to form.

Yohan Trens three-bet from 8,000 to 20,000 preflop and was called by Jong Hoon Lee, who check-called the 9♠ 8♦ 5♣ flop for 15,000. Both checked the 6♠ turn and Lee bet the 7♠ river for 25,000. Trens called and mucked after being shown Q♣ T♦ for a ten-high straight.

Yejin Kim, Jong Hoon Lee and Yohan Trens all limped in. Yitaek Choi then squeezed to 9,500 and was called two ways by Kim and Lee. On the 7♥ 5♥ 5♠ flop, it checked to Choi and he bet 15,000 to win the pot right there.

Jong Hoon Lee raised it up to 3,000 and Dongmin Kim just called two seats over on the button. On a flop of A♦ Q♠ 4♥ , Lee check-called for 2,500. They checked down the Q♣ turn and 4♦ river for Lee to show J♣ T♣ for a missed gutshot. Kim won another pot as his A♥ 7♥ was good for aces up.

Towards the end of the last level. Sumin Leem had flopped a set of fours with 4♥ 4♦ on a board of A♣ 4♠ 3♣ 7♥ J♣ to double through the A♠ J♠ of Yitaek Choi and knock out a shorter stack holding J♥ 3♥ . Leem earned another knockout now while Dongmin Kim has taken over the lead from Jong Hoon Lee.

Jong Hoon Lee had lost a portion of his large stack while Yejin Kim and Woo Young Jeong chipped up on the same table. Lee then raise-called the shove of a short stack for 14 blinds with J♠ 9♦ and was up against A♦ 8♦ .

The two live cards got there on the J♣ 8♠ 6♦ T♠ K♣ runout to reduce the field by one.

Three ways to the 9♦ 6♠ 3♠ 7♠ 8♥ river, the action checked to Jeong-Wook Kim on the button and he bet 15,000. Chip leader Jong Hoon Lee called in the small blind and Si-Jin Park reluctantly folded with a smirk on the face.

Kim showed 8♣ 7♣ for two pair but Lee had 5♥ 5♣ for the bottom end of the straight.

Jong Hoon Lee scored a fortunate double-up when he got it in with A♠ 6♠ versus A♣ Q♥ thanks to the Q♦ T♠ 4♠ 8♣ K♠ runout, which gave him a flush. He then knocked out another opponent in an even bigger pot before a short stack bowed out.

Up next, there was an open raise to 1,500 and a call. Jeong-Wook Kim three-bet to 4,000 and Lee made it 12,000 to go. Only Kim called, but folded when Lee fired a hefty bet of 40,000 on the J♣ 9♦ 4♠ flop.