TMT Main Event (9,000 TWD)

"I'm so happy and dreamy. It's my first time playing in Taiwan. I played only in Korea, so I felt awkward and couldn't adapt at first, but the active atmosphere and the interaction with foreign players made it easier.", commented Kim following his victory.

The Taiwan Millions Tournament has wrapped up another successful chapter in its books with this season's Main Event games done and dusted. From a chart-topping field of 6,463 entries, the homegrown brand has once again brought a seven-digit headline figure on the table. With NTD 32,500,000 (~USD 1,000,000) in guarantees from the get-go, its prize pool ballooned to nearly 50% in added value, awarding a total of NTD 47,958,700 (~USD 1,456,825) in prizes for its Main Event alone.

The star of the show was South Korea's Young Kyu Kim, who bagged the largest share across the list, earning a career-defining cash of NTD 4,124,500 (~USD 125,285). Kim's first visit to the city of Taipei paid off wonders with the highly coveted TMT Main Event Trophy, crafted from the rare Calocedrus Formosana wood, right in tow for his journey back home.

"After advancing to Day 2, I felt I was behind on experience and knowledge. So I reviewed hand ranges carefully, and played more conservatively against good players in the table."

Kim’s path to the top was highlighted by three pivotal moments in the final rounds that shifted the momentum in his favor. Entering the final table with a stack just below the average, Kim quickly gained traction, having delivered the first elimination of the table, setting the tone for the rest of the ride. Kim's two turning points came at the cost of Ching En Chen with both situations seeing a 30-70 win rate at best. Kim shipped the two fortunate double ups his way, leaving Chen to succumb in 4th place not long after.

Following the last local runner's exit, chip stacks evened out across the remaining three players, resulting to a deal on the table. Each contender was secured NTD 3,600,000 (~USD 109,820) in winnings, leaving NTD 524,500 (~USD 15,930) and the TMT trophy to play for. Hyper aggressive Denny Kruezi was the first to fall after his roller coaster ride came to a halt right at Kim's doorstep. Kim brought this 2:1 advantage onto the final duel against Yamaguchi Junya and closed it out in just two short deals. The final hand saw Kim's king-jack of clubs hold against Junya's ten-eight offsuit, leaving the latter to settle for a runner up finish.

"I will go and celebrate with my family, my beloved girlfriend, and supportive friends, and definitely play more poker back in the poker room I often go to - Yajasu in Korea."

On top of their payouts, all final table contenders received a Main Event entry for this October's TMT Championship games, keeping the excitement going for the next season. Congratulations to all the winners!

TMT Main Event 17

Date/s: January 12, 15-20, 2025

Buy-in: NTD 9,000 (~USD 280)

Guarantee: NTD 32,500,000 (~USD 1,000,000)

Entries: 6,463

Prize pool: NTD 47,958,700 (~USD 1,456,825)

By the Numbers

Day 1A: 901 entries, 136 ITM / 73 qualified

Day 1B: 400 entries, 60 ITM / 32 qualified

Day 1C: 662 entries, 100 ITM / 53 qualified

Day 1D: 618 entries, 93 ITM / 49 qualified

Day 1E: 769 entries, 116 ITM / 62 qualified

Day 1F: 623 entries, 94 ITM / 50 qualified

Day 1G: 1,276 entries, 192 ITM / 102 qualified

Day 1H: 863 entries, 130 ITM / 70 qualified

Day 1 Local & Overseas: 351 entries, 28 qualified

Day 2: 519 players, 45 qualified

Day 3/ Final: 45 players

Final Table Results

Yamaguchi Junya open shoved his remaining 35,500,000 and saw Young Kyu Kim on the big blind, rise to the challenge.

Junya at risk, missed to improve on board 7♦ 6♥ 4♣ 4♥ 6♣ , capping his run ultimately in runner up finish.

Yamaguchi Junya defended his big blind vs a 4,000,000 button open from Young Kyu Kim, and headed to flop 4♣ 9♠ T♠ . Action checked round to turn K♣ , where Kim bet 10,000,000. Junya check called, and arrived at showdown shortly after river 9♥ was checked through.

Junya revealed a busted straight draw 8♦ 7♣ , leaving Kim's queen-high Q♣ 5♣ good for the pot.

Action is down to heads up play with Young Kyu Kim stacking a 2:1 advantage against his final opponent, Yamaguchi Junya. Both are already guaranteed NTD 3,600,000 (~USD 109,820) in winnings, with an additional NTD 524,500 (~USD 15,930) and the coveted TMT trophy left on the table.

Chip Counts

Denny Kruezi opened 10,800,000 on the small blind, joined behind by Young Kyu Kim onto flop 6♣ 2♦ 2♠ . Kruezi led all-in for 41,300,000 and was snap called by his opponent with two pair 8♠ 6♠ . Kruezi behind with K♥ Q♥ , failed to catch up on either turn 8♥ or river A♥ , sealing his fate in third place.

Denny Kruezi opened 24,000,000 on the button, leaving himself 200,000 behind. Young Kyu Kim called on the small blind, and asked for the rest on flop 8♦ 5♠ 5♥ . Kruezi called off with K♠ Q♦ , ahead of Kim's K♦ T♦ . Turn 2♥ and river 5♣ made no difference, leaving Kruezi's better king-high good for the win.

Denny Kruezi open jammed 22,700,000 on the button, called by Young Kyu Kim on the small blind.

Dominated, Kruezi hung on to his seat as board 3♦ A♣ 3♠ 8♣ A♦ ran a split pot for the two.

Denny Kruezi jammed his last 8,700,000 against Young Kyu Kim's button open and saw the latter complete.

In for a race, board 8♦ 6♠ 5♠ T♥ 7♥ swung for Kruezi, earning him a double up.

A blind vs blind battle began with Denny Kruezi putting in a raise to 3,100,000. Young Kyu Kim padded it to 10,000,000, and Kruezi defended. On flop 9♣ 8♠ 4♠ , Kruezi led all-in and Kim boldly made the call with ace-high.

Denny Kruezi K♦ T♦

Young Kyu Kim A♣ Q♣

Kim ahead, improved further on runout 2♥ A♥ , crippling Kruezi in the process.

Yamaguchi Junya opened 3,000,000 on the button and fired one continuation bet against Young Kyu on the big blind, and earned the pot straight away.

On the next deal, Junya raised all-in against Denny Kruezi's button open and picked up the pot uncontested.

A limp pot blind vs blind saw Denny Kruezi lead out 1,000,000 on flop A♠ 6♦ 6♥ . Young Kyu Kim called behind, and arrived at showdown shortly after turn 8♥ and river 7♥ collected no bets. Kruezi revealed Q♣ J♥ , no good against Kim's trip sixes 6♠ 4♣ for the pot.

A back and forth between Young Kyu Kim on the button and Ching En Chen saw the latter five bet jam his 31 big blind stack right in the middle. Kim called off for his entire 26,600,000 and found himself in trouble against his opponent's monster pair.

Ching in great shape to take it down, found no scare cards across board 4♥ 6♥ 2♠ 6♣ , up until the river spiked an A♦ to turn the tables. Kim was spared from elimination, earning him a full double up back to second in chips.

Zi En Huang open shoved his remaining 8,900,000 utg, called by Young Kyu Kim on the small blind. Ching En Chen right behind, reshoved for 10,700,000 and saw Kim make the final call for a three way showdown.

Crushed against the rockets, Ching smooth sailed to victory on board J♦ Q♠ 4♠ 3♠ 2♣ , shipping the massive boost towards his way.

Liang Hao Lin raised 7,000,000 on the cutoff, leaving himself 500,000 behind. Young Kyu Kim bumped it up on the small blind, and Lin flicked in the rest.

Dominated, Lin managed to outflop his opponent on 8♠ 5♠ 6♣ , but came crashingly shortly as the runout 7♥ T♥ landed Kim a better pair to take it down.

Ching En Chen opened 1,600,000 utg and faced an all-in for 13,800,000 from Young Kyu Kim on the big blind. Ching gave it some thought and eventually found a call, risking a third of his stack.

Kim in luck, spiked a queen on board T♥ 6♥ 3♠ Q♠ A♣ , more than enough to send Ching's pocket pair bound for the muck.

Zi En Huang defended his big blind against Young Kyu Kim's 1,600,000 button open, dealing flop 6♦ J♠ K♥ . Both checked it through to turn 7♦ , where Huang led 1,800,000. Kim raised to 4,000,000, called by Huang onto river T♣ . No more bets went in, tabling Huang's pair of tens Q♣ T♦ , no good against Kim's pair of jacks Q♥ J♥ .

A limp pot blind vs blind read a flop of T♦ A♣ J♠ . Action checked round to turn 4♣ , where Denny Kruezi led 700,000. Young Kyu Kim called behind, and went to bet 3,400,000 on river K♦ checked to him. Kruezi gave it up, shipping Kim the boost.

Denny Kruezi limped utg and called Young Kyu Kim's 1,500,000 raise right behind. Action on board J♣ 2♣ 8♣ 4♦ 5♠ was checked down to the river, where Kruezi led 2,600,000. Kim made the call and mucked as Kruezi turned over a wheel straight A♦ 3♦ .

Young Kyu Kim opened 1,700,000 utg+1 and put out 2,000,000 more following an all-in from Chang Chang Kim behind.

Chang dominated, exited as the first final table casualty as board 6♣ 8♣ 9♥ 3♥ T♣ left him high and dry.

Denny Kruezi opened 1,200,000 on the small blind, called behind by Young Kyu Kim. On flop J♦ 7♣ 5♣ , Kruezi continued for 1,700,000 and called his opponent's raise to 3,500,000. Kim went for another 1,800,000 on turn 2♥ , yet folded after Kruezi check raised all-in.

Jhen Yi Chin pushed his last 2,700,000 in the middle utg and saw Young Kyu Kim move all-in as well on the button. No other joined in, revealing board 9♣ 9♥ 4♣ A♣ Q♠ .

Kim spiked a boat on the river, eliminating Jhen as the final table bubble.

Young Kyu Kim opened 2,400,000 on the button and was met with an all-in from Chang Chang Kim for 5,100,000 more. Young didn't hesitate to lay it down, shipping Chang the pot.

Yu Cheng Lu pushed his last 3,500,000 on the button and was tank called by Young Kyu Kim on the big blind.

Gunning for a double up, Yu soon bowed out as board 6♣ A♥ 7♥ K♣ 9♣ landed his opponent a straight to bag the win.

Ching En Chen opened to 1,600,000 and faced an all-in for 6,500,000 from Young Kyu Kim behind. Ching chose not to take a showdown, shipping Kim the pot.

Chang Chang Kim open shoved his last 3,400,000 utg and was looked up by Young Kyu Kim right on the big blind.

Slightly behind, Chang Chang Kim managed to outrun his opponent on board K♠ 3♠ T♣ J♦ T♥ , keeping him in contention for the Main Event title.

TMT Main Event action is down to its final two tables with Ching En Chen towering over the field. Each remaining contender is now guaranteed NTD 265,000 (~USD 8,085) in winnings, and a step closer to clinching the NTD 5,324,500 (~USD 162,425) top prize.

Chip Counts

Pai Cheng Qun (BTN) raise 800,000 pre-flop while Kim Youngkyu called. The flop brought K♥ 7♠ Q♠ . Cheng Qun bet 550,000 after Youngkyu checks. Youngkyu calls and the turn brings 6♣ . Youngkyu checks and Cheng Qun bets 1,500,000. Youngku folds under the pressure.

Kim Youngkyu (UTG+1) raises all-in with 215,000 holding A♦ J♥ while Lee Seok Young (BTN) three-bet all-in with 360,000 holding 8♥ 8♦ . The board brought J♣ T♣ 6♠ K♠ T♥ giving Youngkyu the winning hand.