GOP Incheon Day 4: Lester Edoc Claims Gold Gauntlet in Super High Roller

Gods of Poker Incheon has its first Gold Gauntlet champion. Lester Edoc came into GOP Incheon on a roll and kept it going, topping a 19-entry GOP Super High Roller at Paradise City Casino to defeat Taiwan’s Yi Cheng Lo heads-up and pocket KRW 80,630,000 (~USD 53,500) alongside the coveted gold Gauntlet.

Day 4 at GOP Incheon: The Prophecy Unfolds belonged entirely to first-time champions. Every trophy handed out went to a player stepping onto the podium for the first time at this series — no repeat winners, no familiar names collecting second hardware. Eight events, eight fresh faces. That kind of sweep rarely happens at a festival of this scale, and it added a distinct energy to a day already headlined by Edoc’s long-awaited breakthrough.

Edoc Finally Gets His Gauntlet

The story of Edoc’s GOP Incheon run is one of close calls finally going his way. Having fallen just short of a gauntlet at the inaugural GOP Jeju in December, the near-misses continued here with third-place finishes in both the GOP Olympians and the High Roller Turbo before he broke through at the Super High Roller.

The GOP Super High Roller drew 19 entries at KRW 10,500,000 each, building a prize pool of KRW 184,300,000 (~USD 123,000). By the final four, Edoc and Lo had established themselves at the head of the counts, trading the chip lead across a combative opening level. The first significant read of the day came when Lo fired a river check-raise and Edoc snap-called with queen-five on a seven-five-ten-three-king board. Lo turned over a bluff with two-four and Edoc had his measure early.

The first elimination came courtesy of the cards. Marc Rivera — who arrived in Incheon chasing history as the only man with a chance to win two Gauntlets — had his ace-queen cracked by Lo’s ace-jack when a jack landed on the flop. Rivera exits in fourth, the gauntlet dream deferred.

Wenchao Liu proved a resilient three-handed opponent, surviving multiple all-ins and even extracting maximum value from Edoc with pocket aces along the way. His run ended on a cooler, with his ace-king running into Lo’s pocket kings, and the Filipino heads-up showdown was set.

Heads-Up: Edoc vs Lo

Edoc sat down with a commanding chip lead, but Lo refused to go quietly. He grinded back, doubled through a coin flip — ace-queen over pocket fives — and briefly snatched the chip lead for the first time. Edoc steadied and rebuilt his advantage, only for Lo to strike again with a rivered flush to narrow the gap to 106 versus 83 big blinds. Two steps forward, one step back.

Lo’s resistance eventually ran out of runway. He bled chips across several pots, dropped to 18 big blinds, and a hero-call by Edoc on a board that completed his straight cost Lo dearly. One final double bought Lo more time, but the last hand was swift: Lo held eight-seven, Edoc ahead with king-three. A three on the flop, another on the turn, and it was over.

GOP Super High Roller Payouts

Eight Trophies, Eight Fresh Champions

Beyond the headline result, Day 4 produced a sweep of first-time winners across the side event schedule. Japan led the way in volume with five trophies, while Hanh Tran — the two-time WSOP champion and GOP’s own Mix Game Advisor — finally converted her Incheon deep runs into gold, taking down Event #28: Badugi Mix for her first GOP Incheon title.

Japan’s Yohei Makino opened the Day 4 trophy count with a Silver Spartan at Event #19: Titan Stack, while compatriots Taku Okumura, Yuma Takaki, Yuri Ishida, and Keichiro Sugimoto rounded out the Japanese haul. China’s Yuxuan Deng claimed the Gold Spartan on offer at Event #29: Single Day High Roller — Mystery Bounty.

Player of the Series: Tran Leads, Hata Lurking

Hanh Tran’s Badugi Mix victory moved her to the top of the GOP Incheon Player of the Series standings, with five cashes now to her name across the festival. Hot on her heels is Kenji Hata , who pushed hard for what would have been his third trophy of the series at the Titan Stack before finishing runner-up. The deep run catapulted him into second position — well within striking distance as the series moves into its final stretch.

Main Event Underway — Flights Still Available

Day 1A is in the books. Four flights remain for anyone still looking to get into the KRW 700,000,000 (~USD 480,000) guaranteed Main Event. Players jumping in receive a 30 big blind starting stack, with blinds climbing every 60 minutes until the top 13.5% of each field advances. The coveted Black-and-Gold Gauntlet trophy is waiting at the end.

Images and data courtesy of Gods of Poker.