Haisheng Qiu Leads GOP Main Event Final Table as Lester Edoc Falls Short

The Gods of Poker (GOP) Incheon Main Event reached its final table at Paradise City Casino , with Day 2 delivering a full dose of Main Event chaos. Hero calls, cracked aces, brutal rivers, short-stack comebacks, and one massive fall from the top all shaped the race for the Black-and-Gold Gauntlet.

From 51 returning players, only nine remain in contention for the title, the KRW 148,280,000 (~USD 98,000) top prize, and the most coveted trophy of GOP Incheon: The Prophecy Unfolds .

China’s Haisheng Qiu leads the final table with 9,670,000 chips, while former chip leader Lester Edoc suffered a painful fall to exit in 10th place, just one spot short of the final table.

Qiu Leads the Final Nine

Qiu finished Day 2 with the largest stack in play after climbing from the lower half of the counts to the very top. He bagged 9,670,000, good for 96 big blinds when the final table resumes.

His rise included one of the biggest swings of the day, surviving against Edoc’s pocket jacks when his ace-jack found an ace on the river. From there, Qiu kept building, later scooping a three-way pot with a set before eliminating Sascha Manns in 13th place with pocket tens against ace-ten.

GOP Main Event Final Table Seat Draw

Edoc’s Day Ends in Heartbreak

No player carried more attention into Day 2 than Lester Edoc . The Filipino pro entered as the overall chip leader with a huge 249 big blinds and looked set for another major run after already winning two titles at the festival.

Early on, Edoc was locked in. He sniffed out a bluff from Seiji Sasaki, calling with pocket tens on a queen-high board against ace-king. He then made one of the calls of the day against Richard Flach, who fired three streets on a five-six-four-ten-seven board with three clubs. Edoc used the maximum six time banks before calling with five-six to send Flach out holding pocket jacks.

For a while, it looked like Edoc was still in control. He won a large pot with aces against Yi Cheng Lo , but the fall came fast. Lo later doubled through him with ace-queen against ace-king after a queen hit the board, leaving Edoc with just one big blind.

Edoc had summed it up earlier in the day with two words: “Never easy.” His run eventually ended in 10th place, one spot short of the official final table.

Flight Leaders Still Fighting

Two starting flight leaders are still alive for the Main Event title. Kyung Min Lee , who topped Day 1B, enters the final table second in chips with 7,625,000. One of his biggest hands came at Edoc’s expense, when his pocket tens flopped a set to crack pocket aces.

Yi Cheng Lo , the Day 1C leader, also remains in the hunt with 3,180,000. Lo held the chip lead for a large stretch of Day 2 before slipping back, but he survived a crucial all-in with ace-queen against Edoc’s ace-king to keep his Main Event hopes alive.

Lo already came close to a Gauntlet earlier in the series, finishing runner-up to Edoc in the GOP Super High Roller. Now, he has another shot at one of the biggest prizes of the festival.

Yamamoto Chases the Hat Trick

Ryoma Yamamoto enters the final table as the shortest stack with 1,070,000, but counting him out would be dangerous.

Yamamoto has already won the GOP Olympians and the Hyper Turbo High Roller at this festival. A Main Event victory would complete a remarkable hat trick and give him the Black-and-Gold Gauntlet to go with his growing trophy count.

One of his biggest Day 2 moments came when he eliminated Gleb Ershov, getting there with a five-six flush draw on the river to crack pocket aces.

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Woo Hyon Shin was one card away from elimination in 12th place before rivering two pair to survive. From there, he picked up the aggression and later eliminated Wei Sun to finish with 5,665,000.

Chzhen Evgenii also endured another swingy day after already battling through Flight E. One of his key moments came when he eliminated Boris Sun with the nut flush.

Dong Yan was one of the biggest movers of the day, coming from behind in several major pots. He cracked Kohei Suzuki’s pocket aces with pocket eights after hitting a set on the river, then sent Hyuga Nishiguchi to the rail after king-queen outran ace-ten.

Chien Te Lee had one of the wildest escapes of Day 2, finding a one-outer with pocket queens to crack pocket aces. He later eliminated Yoshiki Shibata in 11th place and will return with 3,480,000.

Hiroki Karatsu also showed serious patience late in the day. With 12 players remaining, he found back-to-back double-ups from just four big blinds and later made a disciplined fold with pocket jacks just before the final table bubble, with two shoves in front of him.

Miura Wins Aphrodite Event

The latest Aphrodite Event drew 25 entries, generating a prize pool of KRW 7,200,000. Japan’s Michiru Miura topped the field to claim the title and KRW 3,150,000.

Rivera Adds Turbo High Roller Title

Marc Rivera continued his excellent GOP Incheon series by winning the Turbo High Roller. The event drew 13 entries and created a prize pool of KRW 24,960,000.

Rivera, already the first player in GOP history to win multiple Gauntlets, added another title to his festival haul after defeating Kanata Hongo heads-up.

Final Table Set for Saturday

The GOP Incheon Main Event final table gets underway on Saturday, May 23 at 12:30 p.m. local time. Livestream coverage begins at 1:00 p.m. on the GOP YouTube channel, with blinds resuming at 50,000/100,000 and a 100,000 big blind ante.

Nine players remain. One will become the first-ever GOP Incheon Main Event champion and walk away with the Black-and-Gold Gauntlet.

Images and data courtesy of Gods of Poker.