MAIN EVENT ($1,320)

The second Won Poker Cup III Main Event qualifier on schedule, Day 1B, added another 89 entries onto the tally, bringing 11 more survivors onto the next round. Emerging at the top of the counts was Azerbaijan’s Khayal Abbasov, who bagged a towering 566,000 in chips — surpassing the Day 1A benchmark set by Jian Lin (526,000).

Abbasov steadily grew his stack throughout the day and was consistently found stacking atop the charts once registration closed. His biggest boost however, came in the last hour of the day after a preflop confrontation with Chak Hei Chan saw him clutch a massive 80 big blind pot. Abbasov continued to dominate following the win, and later on delivered the bubble elimination to ring the Day 1B curtains close.

Two more flights are due to run tomorrow, May 19th, anticipated to draw the largest fields across the list. Don't miss the action and join the chase for a chance to win a chunk of the $600,000 guaranteed prize pool!

Won Poker Cup III Main Event

Date/s: May 17-21, 2025

Buy-in: USD 1,320

Guarantee: USD 600,000

Day 1A: 70 entries, 9 qualified

Day 1B: 89 entries, 11 qualified

Day 1C: Monday, May 19

Day 1D Turbo: Monday, May 19

Day 2: Tuesday, May 20

Day 3/ Final: Wednesday, May 21

With 13 players remaining, Day 1B ended abruptly as two eliminations occurred at the same time, skipping the usual hand-for-hand bubble play.

Among those eliminated was Nguyen Thai Quang, who moved all-in for his final 40,000 from the big blind, facing off in a race against chip leader Khayal Abbasov. The board ran out A♦ 3♦ 8♠ J♠ 6♦ , offering no help to Nguyen, as Abbasov stayed ahead from start to finish.

On the other table, Lining Tan joined Nguyen in disappointment, falling just a few spots short of reaching Day 2 and securing a cash.

Henri Hinds opened 14,000 utg and was called behind by Kyle Bao Diep on the button.

The flop came A♣ 9♣ 7♠ , and Hinds checked it over to Diep, who opted to check back.

On turn 4♠ , Hinds went for a bet of 65,000, and finished with an all-in on river 2♣ for his last 114,000. Diep called down both streets with top pair A♦ Q♠ , exposing Hinds bluff J♦ T♣ to bag the win.

Only six more eliminations are due before the flight wraps up, leaving just 11 players out of the 89-entry field onto Day 2 by night's end.

Chip Counts

Reigning chip leader Khayal Abbasov extended his lead even more so, having picked up yet another pot to crack the 500K threshold.

Abbasov opened on the cutoff and saw player on the small blind commit 55,000 of his stack, leaving himself with one chip behind. Abbasov effectively put him all-in and easily delivered the bust on board A♠ Q♦ 3♦ K♥ J♣ .

With action folded to the button, Khayal Abbasov lodged a 10,000 open and was met with a 40,000 three bet from Chak Hei Chan on the small blind. The raise opened the action for Abbasov to pad the pot further to 90,000, resulting in an all-in from Chan with his newly acquired chips of over 200,000.

Abbasov snap called with the cowboys and scooped up the chip leader pot with no issues as board 5♠ 3♥ J♦ 3♦ 3♣ ran clean.

Chak Hei Chan scooped up a three way all-in, propeling him up the charts alongside runners John Matsuda and Khayal Abbasov. With two out of the way, only 21 players remain in contention, 11 of which are guaranteed a spot into Day 2.

Konstantin Pogodin open jammed his last 43,000 utg and was met with another all-in from Danny Huynh behind. All else folded and the dealer fanned board 4♠ A♦ T♥ 5♠ T♠ .

Pogodin's dominated pair bound for the muck, cutting the counts by one.

With action folded to the blinds, Nguyen Thai Quang opened to 14,000 and was met with an all-in for 82,000 total from Erik Rozhynski right beside. Nguyen was up to the test and found himself in great shape to bust his opponent out once the cards were revealed.

Rozhynski however, was in luck and managed to spike his two outer on board 2♠ 2♣ Q♠ 9♣ J♥ , earning him yet another clean double up.

Henri Hinds opened 10,000 utg+1 and shelled out 28,000 more following an all-in from Erik Rozhynski behind.

Rozhynski ahead, faded the ace on board 3♦ 2♣ 8♣ 6♠ Q♥ , keeping him in his seat with more breathing room as the flight continues.

Fresh off a win, Armon Van Wijk found himself back in the thick of it, this time clashing with Cheng Zhang after his preflop four-bet shove was called down by the latter.

Van Wijk this time, behind against the ladies, booked the loss as no aces were found on board 9♥ T♥ J♦ 4♣ 3♠ .

Facing a late position open and a call, Sia Soon Lee squeezed all-in on the big blind for 27,500, and was looked up by initial raiser Armon Van Wijk.

Lee at risk, failed to catch up on board 8♦ 6♣ A♠ 5♠ Q♦ , ending his run at today's Main Event qualifier.

Jo Seng Mok open raised all-in utg for his remaining 24,500 and was challenged by Dand Dinh behind.

Up for a gamble, Dinh's bold move paid off, having rivered top pair on board 2♦ 7♥ 8♦ J♠ Q♥ to land the win.

Jumping in just before registration closed, Ronald Haverkamp has wasted no time making his presence known. In less than an hour, he has since built up his stack three-fold, towering above the 100,000 mark.

Haverkamp won two sizeable takedowns with back to back premium pairs, knocking both Tu Xu Gang and Ilya Firstov out of the Day 1B running.

Khayal Abbasov opened from early position and was joined by both players on the blinds onto flop 7♥ 8♠ 4♣ . Abbasov continued for 3,000, check called by Nguyen Thanh Long on the small blind.

On turn J♥ , Abbasov fired another 11,500, and was this time, met with a check raise to 25,000 from his opponent. Abbasov gave it a thought yet elected to surrender, conceding the pot to Nguyen.

Nguyen Quang Huy opened utg and was joined by Kyle Bao Diep behind, along with Oleg Titov on the big blind.

Three way action on flop 4♠ A♦ Q♦ saw Titov take the initiative and lead out for 3,500. While Nguyen folded, Diep raised to 8,500, scaring Titov away entirely.

Alfie Adam collected a payday after a three way collision shot him right up the charts. Adam managed to take two out simultaneously as his K♣ 3♣ found a third club on the turn for a flush, enough to ship the hefty pot his way.

Following an early open and a 10,000 three bet from Sia Soon Lee, Michael Nguyen on the big blind decided to take the spot and shove his remaining 19,000 in. While the initial raiser folded, Lee was up to the test and easily picked up the pot, having ran top set on board K♣ 7♠ 2♣ 8♣ 5♠ .

Today's Main Event heat is officially closed for registration with a slightly larger 89 entries turning up for the Day 1B games.

A♠ play resumes following the 45-minute dinner break, only 54 players remain in contention, each eyeing a coveted seat into Day 2. Once more, action will play down to 12.5% of the field at 11 players, all of whom will be guaranteed a share of the prize pool.

"Due to many players requests, we will now give players in Main Event 1B and 1C dinner breaks.

The break after level 10 will be extended from 15 minutes to 45 minutes. Registration for both flights will also be extended by 30 minutes."

Following the advisory, today's Main Event Day 1B registration is deemed to close just before the start of Level 11 @18:45.

The Won Poker Cup III is ablaze with excitement as its $600,000 guaranteed Main Event takes center stage. The first flight, Day 1A, played out yesterday and gave tournament hopefuls a thrilling welcome to the grandest stage of the series.

Today marks Day 1B, the second of four starting flights, where players will once again battle for a place in the next round. With only 12.5% of the field advancing into the money, competition is fierce from the very first deal.

Blinds will run 30-minute intervals throughout the qualifier, with registration remaining open until the start of Level 11. All entrants receive a 30,000 starting stack and four time banks to help them navigate the road to Day 2.

Setting a high bar from the outset, Taiwan’s Jian Lin emerged as the chip leader from Day 1A, bagging a commanding 526,000 chips to top the nine-player survivor list. Anyone aiming to seize the lead will need to climb past the half-million mark by night’s end.

Stay locked in as SMP brings you real-time updates, key hands, and chip counts straight from the tournament floor!

Won Poker Cup III Main Event

Date/s: May 17-21, 2025

Buy-in: USD 1,320

Guarantee: USD 600,000

Day 1A: 70 entries, 9 qualified

Day 1B: Sunday, May 18

Day 1C: Monday, May 19

Day 1D Turbo: Monday, May 19

Day 2: Tuesday, May 20

Day 3/ Final: Wednesday, May 21