Full review of Asian performance during the first half of 2019 WSOP

We have reached the halfway mark of the 2019 World Series of Poker at the Rio All Suites Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The series has been running since May 28 to conclude on July 16. A total of 89 events fill up the schedule. At the time of writing, 43 events have completed. Here’s a breakdown of the top performers from the Asia – Pacific contingent.

One bracelet for Australia

Let’s start off with those coveted bracelets. So far only one player from Asia Pacific was able to strap a WSOP gold. The happy recipient was Robert Campbell who nearly won one back in 2015 at the $1500 HORSE event but fell one spot short. He can now cross that off his bucket list. Campbell topped the 467 entries of Event 33: $1500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw. He pocketed $144,027 and brought home bracelet #27 for Australia. Prior to this win, Campbell reached the final table of Event 18: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship for $102,868. He is currently 44th in the 2019 WSOP Money List.

More:WSOP 2019: Razavi goes close, an Australian bracelet, Mizrachi’s fifth and Chinese players going deep

Biggest Asian cash

As always, the $1500 No Limit Hold’em Millionaire Maker (Event 19) was a monster. It drew thousands to the felt to create a field of 8,809, the largest this event has ever gathered. The enormous pot worth $11,892,150 saw only one millionaire payout.

Japanese player Kazuki Ikeuchi put in a strong bid and nearly shipped it however he fell short to just one player, USA’s John Gorsuch. For his runner-up performance, Ikeuchi still claimed a pocketful $830,783. He is currently ranked 5th in the 2019 WSOP Money List. Additionally, Ikeuchi jumped from 20th to 5th in The Hendon Mob’s Japan’s All Time Money List with over $1.1 Million in live earnings.

Among the 74 Asia Pacific players that cashed, reaching the top 100 were: decorated bracelet winner Andrew Hinrichsen in 17th, Terry Fan in 50th, Sparrow Park Yu Cheung in 56th, and Yuefeng Pan in 58th. Cashing for the first time in this series were Chen Hao (292nd), Abhishek Goindi (484th), Bobby Zhang (650th), Wilson Lim (1022nd), and Michael Addamo (1078th).

Asia – Pacific results at the Big 50

With the series celebrating its 50th year, Event 3: $500 No Limit Hold’em Big 50 – $5 Million guaranteed – drew a thunderous 28,371 entries. This more than doubled the prize pool to $13,509,435. Among the 4,154 payouts were 140 Asia Pacific players taking a cut. Israel’s Rafi Elharar ran the deepest. He finished 3rd for a pocketful $534,574. He is currently 11th in the 2019 WSOP Money List.

17 players from India cashed. Sharvan Chhabria finished the deepest of 18th place. Indian bracelet winner Nipun Java finished 1647th.

30 players from China cashed. Chinese pro / WSOP bracelet winner Wei Guo Liang finished 457th. Yang Zhang finished the deepest of 93rd place.

Reaching the final table

Alike Ikeuchi, numerous players also ran very deep with several reaching the final table. Listed below are those players:

Thai Ha: a near first bracelet for Vietnam with Thai Ha finishing 2nd out of 114 entries at Event 8: $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Short Deck. Thai Ha earned $183,081. This result sent him over a million in live earnings.

Dingxiang Ong: a near first bracelet for Singapore with Ong finishing 2nd out of 1,832 entries at Event 16: $1500 No Limit Hold’em 6-Handed. Ong earned his first ever six figure score of $251,937. 23 Asia Pacific players cashed in this event. Among them was Singapore’s Alex Lee in 34th place. Philippines bracelet winner Mike Takayama in 57th place.

Anson Yan Shing Tsang: finished 3rd at Event 8: $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Short Deck for $130,482. He is the only player from Hong Kong decorated with a WSOP bracelet which he won last year in Rozvadov. Chinese players Yong Wang and Liu Jiaxiu final tabled as well. Wang finished 6th for a $49,095 payout, Jiaxiu finished 8th for $35,907.

Dong Sheng Peng: 18 Asia Pacific players cashed at Event 26: $2,620 No Limit Hold’em Marathon. Chinese player Peng finished 3rd out of 1,083 entries. He earned his first ever six figure score of $208,726.

Zinan Xu: another event drawing big numbers was Event 34: $1,000 No Limit Hold’em Double Stack. The event saw 6,214 entries. Out of the 62 Asia Pacific players in the money, China’s Xu finished the deepest of 3rd place for $314,876. He is currently 31st in the 2019 WSOP Money List. Notable player Timur Margolin finished 50th. Cashing for the first time were Shurane Vijayaram in 252nd, Lester Edoc in 269th, and Dhaval Mudgal in 723rd.

Weiyi Zhang: another Chinese player ran very deep. At Event 36: $3K NLH Shootout with 313 entries, Zhang finished 3rd for $92,625. Other Asia Pacific players in the money were James Obst (13th), Yang Zhang (17th), and Dong Chen (21st).

Raghav Bansal: Out of all the Indian pros at the series, Raghav Bansal pushed the furthest. He finished 3rd out of 2,403 entries at Event 42: $600 No Limit Hold’em/Pot Limit Omaha Mixed Deepstack 8-handed. He earned $88,410. Fellow countryman Ashish Ahuja also did very well finishing 5th for $48,914. Among the 25 Asia Pacific players that cashed, reaching the top 100 were Lester Edoc (33rd), James Chen (68th), Fu Bang Huang (97th), and Quan Zhou (99th).

Naoya Kihara: finished 4th out of 470 entries at Event 10: $1500 Dealer’s Choice – 6-Handed. Kihara earned $39,377. In 2012, he became the first player to win a WSOP bracelet for Japan. Double bracelet winner Australia’s Mel Judah cashed in 36th place.

Emil Tiller: 18 Asia Pacific players cashed at Event 12: $1,000 No Limit Hold’em Super Turbo Bounty. Australian player Tiller finished the deepest of 4th out of 2,452 entries. He earned $75,149. Australian pro / bracelet winner James Obst finished 15th.

Dominic Coombe: 34 Asia Pacific players cashed in Event 28: $1,000 No Limit Hold’em. Out of the 2,477 entries, Australia’s Coombe ran the deepest of 6th place for $63,491. Notable players in the top 100 were Aditya Sushant (13th), Quan Zhou (14th), Pete Chen (61st), Paawan Bansal (64th), and Philip Wang (93rd), Cashing for the first time this series were Victor Chong (156th) and Muskan Sethi (180th).

Shintaro Baba: Japanese player Baba finished 7th out of 917 entries at Event 17: $1500 No Limit Hold’em Shootout. He earned $32,517. Korean pro Steve Yea finished in 23rd place.

Michael O’Grady: among the six Asia Pacific players that cashed at Event 11: $5,000 No Limit Hold’em, Australian player O’Grady finished the deepest of 9th out of 400 entries. He earned $27,848. Taiwanese pro Pete Chen just missed the final table. He finished 11th for $21,812. The other four were Yang Zhang, Dong Chen, Kazuki Ikeuchi, and Manoj Ravi.

Indian contingent in action

India brought a very large contingent to the series. In attendance were bracelet winners Nipun Java, Aditya Sushant, and Nikita Luther. Listed below are the top 5 earners (so far) and number of cashes.

Ashish Ahuja – 5 cashes – $99,582
Raghav Bansal – 3 cashes – $92,446
Sharvan Chhabria – 1 cash – $53,714
Kartik Ved – 6 cashes – $41,732
Aditya Sushant – 5 cashes – $28,939

Decorated bracelet winners in the money

Here’s a look at how the Asia – Pacific decorated bracelet winners are faring at the series.

Robert Campbell – Australia – 3 cashes – $260,576
Anson Yan Shing Tsang – Hong Kong – 3 cashes – $65,848
Andrew Hinrichsen – 1 cash – $59,833
Naoya Kihara – Japan – 1 cash – $39,377
Jeff Lisandro – Australia – 3 cashes – $35,601
James Obst – Australia – 7 cashes – $31,999
Timur Margolin – Israel – 3 cashes – $29,084
Aditya Sushant – India – 5 cashes – $28,939
Sam Higgs – Australia – 1 cash – $17,972
Amir Lehavot – Israel – 2 cashes – $17,630
Sean Yu – Korea – 3 cashes – $16,012
Wei Guo Liang – China – 5 cashes – $15,394
Martin Kozlov – Australia – 3 cashes – $15,016
Nipun Java – India – 4 cashes – $7,849
Asi Moshe – Israel – 2 cashes – $6,831
Mike Takayama – Philippines – 1 cash – $4,985
Yue Du – China – 1 cash – $3,758

Other strong performers

Non-bracelet winners performing well at the series:

Quan Zhou – China – 8 cashes – $37,511.
Yang Zhang – China – 6 cashes – $31,362
Pete Chen – Taiwan – 5 cashes – $30,118
Philip Wang – Taiwan – 3 cashes – $25,874
Dong Chen – China – 5 cashes – $23,094

More 2019 WSOP news coming your way at Somuchpoker. Stay tuned!

Article by Tricia David