WPT Main Event

Following ten 60 minute levels, Day 1A wrapped up with China's Zhiyuan Zhang stacking the lead over the 42-survivor pack with a chip count of 376,500. Zhang rose to the top spot by the last few hands after sending Tom Henricus to the rails with a backdoor flush against the latter's turned straight. The chip leader pot landed Zhang nearly a third of his stack, leaving quite a distance from second in position Xixiang Luo's 294,000. Fellow Chinese runner Jianglong Zheng trails just behind the two-time bracelet winner with 292,000, both just shy of reaching the 300K mark.

WPT Main Event

Dates: November 16-22, 2024

Buy-in: KRW 2,500,000 (~USD 1,795)

Guarantee: KRW 1,680,000,000 (~USD 1,206,430)

Day 1A: 120 entries, 42 qualified

Day 1B: Sunday, November 17

Day 1C: Monday, November 18

Day 2: Tuesday, November 19

Day 3: Wednesday, November 20

Day 4: Thursday, November 21

Day 5 /Final: Friday, November 22

Fang Chen overcame a 27-entry field at the last side event on the day's list, Hyper Turbo NLH, and clinched the trophy just before midnight struck. Another win saw the five golden-starred red flag held up high as Chen defeated Japan's Naoki Yashiro in heads up play for the overall victory. For his triumph, Chen banked KRW 5,303,000 (~USD 3,790) in winnings along with the esteemed WPT trophy.

Hyper Turbo NLH

Date/s: November 16, 2024

Buy-in: KRW 600,000 (~USD 430)

Entries: 27 (23 unique)

Prize pool: KRW 14,143,000 (~USD 10,115)

ITM: 5 places

Full Payouts

1st Fang Chen - KRW 5,303,000

2nd Yashiro Naoki - KRW 3,540,000

3rd Xinkun Wan - KRW 2,360,000

4th Ling Li - KRW 1,670,000

5th Youmei Li - KRW 1,270,000

Xiaozhou Zhao pushed his last 25,000 in, followed by another all-in from Fan Fan for 38,000. Xiaochuan Zhang on the button made the final call for a three way showdown.

Board J♥ Q♠ 2♠ 6♠ 8♠ ran in favor of Zhao's overcards, earning him the much needed triple just a few hands before the day closes.

Linghui Dai opened to 4,000 from utg, and was called by Thijs Hilberts on the button along with Chenxu Zhang on the big blind. On flop J♣ 5♥ T♠ , Dai continued for 5,000 and missed to weed either opponent to turn J♦ . Dai proceeded with another 15,000, and shipped the pot as both opponents threw in the fold.

With 37,000 in the middle on board J♠ 2♥ 3♦ 4♦ 6♦ , action was seen on Tom Henricus with a nearly pot size bet of 32,000. Zhiyuan Zhang on the small blind, check raised all-in, which left his Dutch opponent to go deep in the tank. Henricus eventually called off for his remaining 63,000 with a straight A♥ 5♦ , and stood up just as Zhang revealed a backdoor flush T♦ 2♦ .

China's Guo Xu shipped the final victory over today's Single Day Mystery Bounty NLH games, having bested the 40-entry field for the title. With seven places only paid, an ICM heads up deal was put in place which guaranteed Xu the largest cut of the KRW 52,380,000 (~USD 37,460) prize pool at KRW 9,700,000 (~USD 6,935), leaving only the WPT trophy to play for. The biggest winner however, was runner up Jianqiang Yu who bagged an additional KRW 13,500,000 (~USD 9,655) in bounty prizes, bumping up his total winnings to KRW 22,140,000 (~USD 15,830).

Single Day Mystery Bounty NLH

Date/s: November 16, 2024

Buy-in: KRW 1,500,000 (~USD 1,070)

Entries: 40 (36 unique)

Prize pool: KRW 52,380,000 (~USD 37,460)

ITM: 7 places

Full Payouts

1st Guo Xu - KRW 9,700,000*

2nd Jianqiang Yu - KRW 8,640,000*

3rd Zixuan Zhou - KRW 4,890,000

4th Chenxiang Miao - KRW 3,390,000

5th Kim Sergei - KRW 2,450,000

6th Viacheslav Tian - KRW 1,850,000

7th Jun Ye - KRW 1,460,000

*Denotes deal was made

**Excluding bounty prizes

A rough last two levels, Evgenii Chzhen was down to 33,500 and found himself in danger once more as he shoved T♣ 8♣ against Jun Li's open. Li happily called with A♦ K♠ and secured the victory as board J♦ 6♣ 2♥ 6♥ 9♦ ran dry for both.

A three bet pot, four players battled on flop 6♦ 5♥ Q♦ , to which three stacks rushed in with Wenping Chen covering both Jinze Zhang (67,500) and Hui Chen (102,500).

Chen A♠ Q♥

Zhang K♣ Q♠

Chen 8♠ 7♥

Chen looking to deliver a double bust, instead booked the loss as the runout came K♠ 5♦ , landing Zhang two pair for the win.

Facing an open and a call, Peter Park threw in an 11,500 three bet on the button and saw both opponents continue to flop A♥ J♣ 5♠ . Park fired a 9,000 cbet which was enough to convince the two to fold.

Thijs Hilberts opened to 3,000 from the hijack and called 7,000 more following a three bet from Chenxu Zhang. On flop K♠ 4♥ 5♣ , Zhang continued for 8,500, but slowed down on turn A♥ after Hilberts put in the call. Zhang tested the waters once more on river 3♥ with a 21,000 bet , yet tank folded after Hilberts raised to 50,000.

Tom Henricus decided to put in a raise to 11,000 vs Tsz Kin Heung's hijack open, and was joined by both Heung and Zhiyuan Zhang behind on flop 2♠ T♠ 5♦. Henricus gunned for another 7,000, followed by a raise from Zhang to 26,000. Both opponents give it up and Zhang takes it down.

Jianbin Chen on the small blind sent out a cold four bet to 20,000 against an open and a three bet, and went on to call off for his remaining 71,500 after initial raiser Xuancheng Li came out on top.

Whilst a great spot for Li, the runout A♥ 5♥ 6♣ 3♠ 2♣ suggested otherwise, leaving Li to rake in the 127 BB pot.

Tsk Kin Heung defended his cutoff open and called an 11,000 three bet from Chuanshu Chen on the small blind. On flop 6♦ 2♣ 2♠ , Chen went for a check call, followed by a check raise to 50,000 on turn K♦ . Heung answered with an all-in, and Chen snap folds, saving his remaining 13 BB.

With an open and three bet in front, Pete Chen stuffed his last 20,000 in from the big blind, and was up against initial raiser Kyungmin Lee for a pocket pair battle. Drawing slim, Chen found no help on board T♠ 3♣ 4♥ T♥ 8♣ , sealing his elimination.

Up against an utg open from Jinze Zhang and a button call from Evgenii Chzhen, Xiaqing Ji sent out a three bet to 14,000 right on the big blind. Zhang called in hopes to see a flop, yet was faced with another raise from Chzhen to 40,000. Both opponents fold, and Chzhen locks in the boost.

Another multiway raised pot on flop Q♣ 7♣ 6♠ was seen on the tables, with action checked through to turn A♣ . Two stacks quickly piled in the middle with Zhihua Yang at risk for his last 31,000 against Linghan Yu.

Yu K♣ 8♣

Yang J♣ 9♣

Drawing to a dead club draw, Yang exited the arena shortly after the river 4♣ landed his opponent the nut flush.

Facing an open and a call, Jianglong Zheng raised the stakes to 15,000, and saw Xiang Li behind cold call for a two-player battle. On board J♣ 8♠ 8♦ 2♦ 8♥ , Li check called three 20,000 bets, one for each street, and was left crushed to find his K♥ K♦ , no good against Zheng's A♣ A♦ .

A fourway raised pot dealt flop T♠ 9♠ 8♥ . Action was checked to Wenping Chen, who fired a bet of 4,600. Only Xixiang Luo on the small blind found the call to turn T♣ , on which he led 9,800. Not looking to tangle, Chen opted out, earning Luo the pot.

Yuchun Chen opened from utg and called a 6,500 three bet from Wei Hong a seat after. On flop 9♦ 5♠ 3♠ , Chen check called for another 6,500, yet was unable to continue after Hong lodged a heftier 17,000 on turn T♣ .

Tsz Kin Heung opened to 2,500 from early position and saw both Tom Henricus and Patrik Demus on the blinds come along on flop 8♦ 6♠ 2♥ . Checked to Heung, he bet 2,600, raised by Henricus to 6,900. Demus behind, re-raised all-in for 21,200 total, leaving only Henricus priced in to make the call.

Demus is ahead with top pair 9♥ 8♥ against Henricus' 9♦ 6♦ , up until the runout came 4♣ 6♣ to knock the Hungarian out entirely.

Wenping Chen opened to 2,500 from the hijack and was joined by three opponents on flop J♠ 2♦ 8♣ . Qingtao Kong on the small blind led all-in for 30,600 and picked up the boost following three folds behind.

A three way raised pot on flop K♣ 4♣ 6♣ saw its action check to Lu Wei on the button, who bet 2,000. Shing Kit Kwan on the big blind put in the call, peeling turn 3♥ . No bets went in as the two moved on to river 4♠ . Checked to Wei, he bet a final 3,500, yet folded after Kwan raised all-in.

Kai Xu opened to 2,000 and found two callers behind, tabling flop Q♠ 8♠ 6♣ . Xu continued for 4,000, check called by Peter Park on the big blind. Turn Q♦ collected no bets, prompting Park to bet all-in on river 2♥ . Xu saves his chips and quickly folds.

Yongbin Wang defended his big blind against Wendong Lyu's button open, and went on to check call all three streets on board 6♠ 4♦ 2♥ T♠ J♦ . Putting his tournament life on the line with a pair of sixes 6♦ 7♦ , Wang unfortunately, headed out after finding Lyu's rivered pair of jacks J♣ 8♦ to deliver his bust.

Lu Wei defended his utg open and called a 6,000 three bet from Jiaqi He right behind. On flop T♠ J♦ 8♦ , Wei check called for another 8,000, and got through turn A♦ for cheap after He checked back. Wei led 20,000 on river 3♥ , and earned the pot as He slipped his hand in the muck.

Nguyen Quang Minh limp called on the button vs Xinxin Jiang's 16,000 all-in, and cruised to victory on board 6♣ J♣ J♦ 4♦ J♠ . Jiang is eliminated from the Main Event games, yet still has a lot of time to re-enter with two more hours left on the registration clock.

A pot of 63,000 stood in the middle on board 7♠ 8♠ 7♦ 8♥ J♥ . Small blind Peter Park bet 21,500 and was snap called behind by Chenxu Zhang. Going for value or not, Park found his Q♦ Q♠ flying towards the muck as Zhang turned over T♦ 9♦ for a rivered straight.

Another WPT trophy was taken down on display with Dong Li shipping the victory across the Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo games. A small one table field of eight players vied for the title, six of which walked away empty-handed. In the final duel, Li finished off his last opponent, Xiaochuan Zhang to take the KRW 4,544,000 (~USD 3,250) top prize, leaving the latter to settle for the lesser KRW 2,440,000 (~USD 1,745) payday.

Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo

Date/s: November 16, 2024

Buy-in: KRW 1,000,000 (~USD 715)

Entries: 8 (7 unique)

Prize pool: KRW 6,984,000 (~USD 4,995)

ITM: 2 places

Full Payouts

1st Dong Li - KRW 4,544,000

2nd Xiaochuan Zhang - KRW 2,440,000

WPT Main Event players have been sent off to a one hour dinner break, with play set to resume at 6:30 pm local time. 69 runners out of the 108 entry field continue to be in contention, with yesterday's Single Day High Roller runner up Kyungmin Lee leading the pack. Today's action is set to conclude following four more 60 minute levels onto Day 2.

Registration remains open through Level 8 @21:45.

Kai Xu opened to 1,800 from utg, and was met with a 5,500 three bet from Chenxu Zhang right behind along with a call from the big blind. Action back to Xu, he raised to 28,000, leaving only Zhang to continue to flop A♦ J♦ 9♥ . Xu doesn't hestitate to check fold after being faced with 15,000 bet, earning Zhang a nice boost.

Renjun Yang opened to 1,700 from utg, joined by both players on the blinds - Wanchen Zhou, and Quang Minh Nguyen. Flop K♦ J♦ 2♥ was checked round, peeling turn 4♠ . Nguyen led for 3,700, called only by Zhou to river Q♠ . Both checked to showdown with Zhou's A♦ Q♦ shipping the pot with a pair of queens.

Facing an utg open, Jianjun Xu fired a three bet to 4,600, and was met with a cold four bet behind from Yiyu Zhou. Initial raiser folded, and Xu answered with another raise to 36,600, convincing Zhou to surrender.

Ying Song opened to 1,800, called behind by Jianbin Chen. No bets went in on flop J♠ 8♥ 4♥ , revealing a free turn A♥ . Song this time, sent out a 2,000 delayed cbet which didn't deter Chen. River 3♣ went for another check round, shipping Song the pot shortly with K♠ J♦ .

A four way raised pot led by Xudong Jin saw the raiser continue for 2,000 on flop A♠ 8♦ 5♥ . Jinze Zhang on the small blind, check called and headed to turn 9♥ . Both checked it through to river 4♠ , which led Zhang to fire 3,000. Jin snap called and quickly picked up the pot with A♣ K♠ , beating Zhang's 2♣ 2♥ .

A ton of preflop action was already brewing a sweet pot with an open, call, and three bet in front of Xiang Li. Li took charge, and shoved against all three players, earning him the pot unchallenged.

With a pot of 33,000 built in the middle on board 7♣ K♠ 3♥ 5♣ , action was seen on initial raiser Yongbin Wang with a bet of 15,000. Evgenii Chzhen behind, called to see river T♥ , and went on to bet all-in following a check from his opponent. Wang folds and Chzhen continues to pile it high.

Siyu Ji opened to 1,300 on the button, joined by both players on the blinds to flop Q♥ Q♠ 8♥ . A back and forth between Ji and Pete Chen landed both stacks in the middle, Chen ahead with flopped trips K♠ Q♦ against Ji's J♥ J♠ . The runout 6♥ 4♥ however, ran two hearts, leaving Ji's flush good for the win.

A three bet pot led by Dongdong Sun on the big blind saw flop K♦ 6♥ 5♣ . Sun continued for 6,000, and check raised all-in on turn 8♦ against initial raiser Dawei Lu. Lu risks his entire 34,100 with midpair A♣ 8♣ , and locked in the win against Sun's A♦ Q♦ as the river 8♠ completed the board.

In just over four hours of final table play, the series' WPT Opener has crowned its newest champion with Slovakia's Tomas Patka reigning in all the glory for KRW 37,977,000 (~USD 27,160) in winnings. Patka entered the final rounds middle of the pack and came out on top of the 106-entry field to bank the largest cut of the KRW 138,807,000 (~USD 99,275) prize pool. For his dominating run, Patka captured not only the worthy score, but also the coveted WPT Trophy and prestigious WPT Ring in celebration of his first live record in Asian soil.

WPT Opener

Date/s: November 15-16, 2024

Buy-in: KRW 5,000,000 (~USD 3,570)

Entries: 106 (70 unique)

Prize pool: KRW 138,807,000 (~USD 99,275)

ITM: 14 places

Final Table Results

1st Tomas Patka - KRW 37,977,000

2nd Tsz Kin Leung - KRW 25,330,000

3rd Takeo Kimura - KRW 17,220,000

4th Meng Ling Lin - KRW 12,140,000

5th Tae Hoon Han - KRW 8,890,000

6th Seiya Shoji - KRW 6,760,000

7th Boxin Jin - KRW 5,360,000

8th Yunchao Yu - KRW 4,430,000

9th Guanxiong Zhang - KRW 3,830,000

Up against an open and a call, Ying Song delivered a 3,600 three bet and saw Wei Zhu put in the call to see flop Q♠ 7♣ 3♥ . Zhu check raised to 11,200, and bet another 15,500 on turn K♠ , with Song challenging him all the way down to river A♣ . No attempt in slowing down as Zhu pushed all-in, snap called by Song with A♠ A♦ . Zhu takes the crushing loss, having missed his straight draw 4♦ 5♦ , and shoots down to a third of his stack.

Evgenii Chzhen called a raise from the button and called once more following a 6,200 three bet from Wendong Lyu on the small blind. On flop 3♥ 8♥ 9♣ , Chzhen remained unzfazed by Lyu's 10,000 cbet, revealing turn 6♥ . Both checked it through to river 2♥ where Chzhen lodged a 40,000 bet. Lyu tanks and eventually decides to let it go.

Yongbin Wang limped in and faced a 3,600 raise from Tom Henricus right behind. Both Wang and the big blind called to see a flop of A♦ 7♥ 2♣ . Wang check called one bet from Henricus, yet folded as the raiser fired another 8,000 on turn 7♠ .

Hui Chen sent out a 5,500 three bet against Valeriy Pak's early open and saw the latter complete for a battle on board A♥ J♠ 6♠ 3♥ 3♦ . Chen bet all three streets - 3,500, 9,000, and a final 18,000, with Pak calling all the way to showdown, only to muck as Chen turned over A♦ K♦ .

Both Yicheng Ren and Hidetomo Wada completed their blinds against Shuo Yang's utg open, and headed to flop T♠ 7♣ 2♦ . Ren check raised to 3,900 following a cbet from Yang and saw both put in the chips to turn Q♦ . Ren bet another 3,500, and arrived shortly at showdown after Wada called off his last 2,800 and Yang opted out.

Ren J♥ J♣

Wada T♥ 5♦

In rough shape, Wada was in luck to find a 5♠ land on the river, just enough to save him from elimination.

With a pot of 9,000 on board 9♠ 3♦ 2♦ 8♣ , action was seen on Zhihua Yang with a check raise to 13,100. Qingbo Gao on the other end, demanded for his opponent's entire 40,100, and saw the latter call off with two pair 9♣ 8♥ . Gao is left drawing to three outs with Q♥ 9♥ , which didn't come on river J♠ .

With an open and two calls in front, big blind Rong Long fired a three bet to 6,500, and saw only Xudong Jin continue to flop J♠ 9♠ 8♣ . Jin led out a 5,500 bet, and snap called Long's 29,600 jam with two pair J♥ 8♥ . Long, gunning for a straight draw with A♥ Q♥ , was left in pieces as turn 2♠ and river J♦ completed the board, missing his outs entirely.

Ying Song put in a raise to 1,300 and saw both players on the blinds complete. On flop A♦ 2♦ 7♠ , Dawei Lu led for 4,000, and picked up the pot uncontested.

Jianjun Xu opened to 1,300 on the hijack and was met with a 3,300 three bet from Yiyu Zhou behind. Xinyu Shu on the button came along for a three way pot on flop 7♣ 7♦ 9♦ . Zhou continued for 4,000, raised by Shu to 11,000. Both went ahead to turn T♠ , where Shu sent out a hefty 40,000. Xu makes the call for his remaining 25,300 with 9♣ 9♥ , and gets the best of it against Shu's A♣ A♦ , all the way down to river 3♦ .

Qingtao Kong defended his big blind against a hijack open from Wenjie Huang, and headed to flop 3♦ 4♦ K♠ . Kong check called a 1,000 cbet and arrived at river A♥ for cheap after both players checked turn 9♦ . Kong led for 6,200, called by Huang only to muck as Kong showed top pair A♦ 6♠ .

Down short, Peter Park risked his remaining 8,200 and was up against initial raiser Patrik Demus' pocket pair. Demus quickly landed the advantage on flop 5♦ 4♣ 3♥ yet booked the loss as the runout 2♠ 9♦ gave Park a wheel straight.

Hui Chen opened to 900 from the hijack and was met with a three bet to 2,700 from Xiang Li behind. Big blind completed, prompting Chen to raise it further to 9,000. Only Li put in the call, revealing flop 2♥ 5♦ 3♥ . Li called for another 3,500, yet tank folded after Chen sent out another 13,500 on turn 9♥ .

Jun Ye's hijack open was met with a three bet and four bet behind, which didn't stop him from launching a five bet back to 23,000. Ren Jun Yang raised all-in for Ye's entire 55,100, and saw the latter call off with Q♠ Q♣ . Whilst a premium pair, Ye's ladies missed to stand against Yang's K♦ K♠ all the way through board J♦ 9♣ 2♣ A♣ 9♦ for his elimination.

Action folded to Siyu Ji on the button, who opened to 1,000. Small blind Guigen Xiao raised to 3,500, cold called by Hidetomo Wada behind. Ji decided to raise the stakes to 15,900, enough to earn him the pot straight away.

With three limps ahead, big blind Zhengshan Hao put in a raise to 5,000. Initial limper Sanduisuren Nadmid bumped it up further to 13,000, and saw only Hao continue to flop J♠ 6♥ 7♣ . Nadmid sent out 10,000 and happily called 8,500 more after Hao moved all-in.

Hao shows top pair A♣ J♣ , hugely behind Nadmid's overpair K♥ K♠ . The turn 3♦ and river Q♣ failed to save Hao, leaving him to exit the arena shortly after.

A four bet pot brewed 21,000 in the middle even before the flop 6♥ 4♦ K♣ rolled on the felt. Shunsuke Mitsugi check called a 5,500 cbet from raiser Kai Leung, and went on to check raise all-in for 33,700 on turn 2♦ . Leung made the call with A♠ K♦ , and was left instantly drawing dead against Mitsugi's turned set 2♣ 2♠ . Mitsugi rakes in the pot, earning him a stack nearly double of the starting.

Zhihua Yang opened to 900 from late position and called a 3,000 three bet from Hidetomo Wada behind. On board 2♦ 2♠ 8♥ T♦ , Wada bet both streets - 3,000 and 6,500, and left his opponent unable to proceed by the second barrel.

Day 1A's first break sees Evgenii Chzhen on top of the ranks, sitting with three times the starting stack. Still a long way to go, with action set to close by the end of Level 10.

Top Chip Counts

With a 7,800 pot on board 9♠ 7♠ K♠ Q♦ , raiser Lili Zhang fired another 5,000 bet, only to be check raised by Chao Li on the big blind for 7,000 more. Zhang continued to river K♦ and barreled a final 15,000. Li put in the call and mucked after Zhang turned over quads K♥ K♣ .

Xixiang Luo defended his early open and called a 2,200 three bet from Qiao Heng. On flop Q♣ 4♠ 7♥ , Luo check called for another 1,800, and moved on to turn Q♦ . Heng ceases to fire and folds on river K♣ once faced with a 5,000 bet.

With an open and two calls ahead, Xinyu Shu three bet squeezed on the button to 3,200 and saw only Jianjun Xu continue to flop 9♦ 7♣ 6♥ . Both checked it through to turn K♣ where Xu check called 2,000. Shu churned out a final 7,000 on river K♠ , and shipped the pot just as Xu folded.

Beng Hong Ker opened from the cutoff to 700 and was joined by both players on the blinds. On board 4♣ 6♦ 9♥ T♥ 5♦ , Ker double barreled - 1,100 and 2,200, with only Patrik Demus check calling both streets. Ker slowed down by the river with a check back, and mucked as Demus tabled top pair A♦ T♦ .

With 7,800 in the middle on flop J♠ 9♦ 4♠ , Sergei Kim check called a 3,200 bet from button raiser Xiang Li. Turn T♣ went check check, convincing Kim to lead 9,200 on river 3♠ . Li tanks and eventually throws in the fold.

Facing an open and a call, Fabio Oka on the button launched a three bet to 3,000 and saw both opponents complete, revealing flop Q♦ T♠ 8♣ . Action was checked to Oka who bet 7,500, which didn't stop either from continuing to turn 4♥ . Xiang Li this time, led for 13,000, and shipped the pot following two folds.

A 5,300 pot was centered around board K♥ 7♠ J♦ A♣ . Initial raiser Xuancheng Li threw in a bet of 2,200, and called for 3,000 more following a raise from Yongqiang Xia behind. River A♦ was checked down by both, with Li's rivered trip aces A♠ 9♠ good for the take down.

The final nine for the opening key event, WPT Opener, is set with Taiwan's Meng Ling Lin leading the charge. Day chip leader Tae Hoon Han stands second in line along with Tsz Kin Heung, both of which remain to stack above the 400K mark. Each contender is already guaranteed KRW 3,830,000 in winnings, and a chance to ladder up to the KRW 37,977,000 (~USD 27,160) top payout on the list.

WPT Opener

Date/s: November 15-16, 2024

Buy-in: KRW 5,000,000 (~USD 3,570)

Entries: 106 (70 unique)

Prize pool: KRW 138,807,000 (~USD 99,275)

ITM: 14 places

Final Table Chip Counts

Meng Ling Lin - 560,000

Tae Hoon Han - 488,000

Tsz Kin Heung - 460,000

Tomas Patka - 312,000

Seiya Shoji - 253,000

Yunchao Yu - 221,000

Guanxiong Zhang - 145,000

Takeo Kimura - 110,000

Boxin Jin - 103,000

Level 16: 4,000 / 8,000 ante 8,000

Average stack: 294,444 (37 BB)

Jin Wang flicked in his remaining 4,000 and was called by both Fabio Oka and Xiang Li. No side pot was seen as both checked down board 7♣ 8♣ T♥ 2♥ 8♦ .

Wang scoops the triple up with a full house, and bounces back to a 60 BB stack.

A three way three bet pot led by Jieming Xu saw a flop of A♥ 4♠ 5♦ . Action was checked to Xu, who bet 5,000. Initial raiser Zhihua Yang continued to turn 6♠ , and led out 7,000. Xu clicked back to 14,000, and went on to call a final 35,000 on river 2♦ . Both players reveal a rivered straight for a split pot.

Yi Qin opened to 600 from utg and was met with a 2,500 three bet from Qingbo Gao on the small blind. Qin bumped it up further to 7,000, called by Gao. On flop A♣ K♣ 4♥ , Qin bet 7,500, and Gao folds.

Having built a 6,200 pot on board 2♣ 3♠ T♦ 3♥ 7♥ , action was caught on Jieming Xu with a bet of 2,000. Qingbo Gao right behind, put in a raise to 6,000, and showed a boat 2♦ 2♥ following a fold from his opponent. Xu saved some chips with his top pair T♣ , behind on all streets.

Three tables are currently running with 19 players already seated by the first level. Some players engaging early in the mix include Beng Hong Ker, Kai Lun Leung, Patrik Demus, Sanduisuren Nadmid, Fabio Oka, Jieming Xu, and Kim Sergei.

Xixiang Luo opened to 600 on the button and saw both players on the blinds come along on flop 2♦ 8♥ 3♣ . Luo continued for 1,100, check called by Jianjun Xu. Turn 7♦ and river Q♣ were checked down, revealing Xu's bottom pair 5♣ 2♠ , good for the pot.

Evgenii Chzhen defended his cutoff open and called a 2,000 three bet from Jin Wang a seat behind. On flop Q♣ 3♠ T♥ , Chzhen check raised to 5,500, and saw his opponent complete, revealing turn A♥ . Chzhen barreled 8,000, and a final 25,000 on river J♣ .

With a one card straight on the board, Jin tank called with Q♠ Q♦ yet quickly mucked as Chzhen turned over K♥ J♥ for a broadway.

Cards in the air, good luck to all the players!

Today kicks off the start of the esteemed WPT Korea Main Event games with its initial flight playing through this Saturday at 12 noon. The headliner boasts the largest guarantee of all three Main Events, armed with a minimum prize pool of KRW 1,680,000,000 (~USD 1,206,430)!

Ten levels of 60 minute blinds is set to run through with each entry buying players a starting of 50,000 to begin the longstanding battle.

WPT Main Event

Dates: November 16-22, 2024

Buy-in: KRW 2,500,000 (~USD 1,795)

Guarantee: KRW 1,680,000,000 (~USD 1,206,430)

Day 1A: Saturday, November 16

Day 1B: Sunday, November 17

Day 1C: Monday, November 18

Day 2: Tuesday, November 19

Day 3: Wednesday, November 20

Day 4: Thursday, November 21