King Poker Cup: Ren Lin Strikes Again in the King’s Main Event for $600K

Final Table Results

Lin’s Take on the Win and the King Poker Cup

Just two days ago, Tony Lin claimed his first triumph of the festival in the NLH/PLO Mix, and now he has emerged as the champion of the prime event, the King’s Main Event. “Why just two, not three? That’s what I’m thinking at the moment,” joked Lin when the host asked him about his feelings. This sparked laughter around the venue.

“King Poker Cup is really a wonderful festival. Even before I won any event, I had already commented that it provides a world-class experience in Asia, especially for the $5,000-$20,000 games. KPC is truly the best one. Maybe it’s because of my silver tongue, luck swung my way and helped me a lot in winning events here. So remember, be friendly and give compliments,” Lin shared.

“The most resilient opponent was Lei Yu, in a hand where he had pocket jacks and I had pocket aces. It was truly a sick one. I hit an ace on the flop, but I still tanked for a long time, which he thought was unbelievable. Eventually, he busted out, and if I didn’t win the event after that, it wouldn’t make sense,” he laughed when asked which player impressed him the most during the event.

“The most crucial hand for me was when my ace-king went up against pocket tens. If I didn’t hit a queen, I would have been walking away already,” Lin reflected when asked about the key moment. “But I believed the king would come, because it’s the King Poker Cup. As the name of the tourney suggests, it must be easy to hit,” Lin joked.

“My target is to reach No. 1 on the GPI by the end of this year,” Lin said, encouraging himself as spectators applauded. “Well, I’m bluffing,” he made fun again.

Day 2 Action

Day 2 saw Day 1A and 1B’s 50 returning players battle down to the final table over a session that lasted more than 12 hours. Standout hands included Takumi Odani‘s successful bluff against Christopher Park ; Odani check-raised the flop, continued on the turn, and shoved the river with ten-high to force a fold from Park. However, the talk of the day was when Trung Hieu Nguyen also pulled off a river shove with four-high against Quang Minh Nguyen to take down a pot, to the delight of the onlooking crowd.

With only 29 paid places, there was a palpable tension in the air as the field thinned to around 30 players. Wanpeng Lim burst the soft bubble when he four-bet shoved pocket tens into Hieu Nguyen’s queens and failed to improve, taking the field onto the stone bubble. Nan Zhang became the unfortunate bubble boy in a three-way all-in where his ace-jack lost to Lei Yu ‘s ace-king, which flopped a king for the triple-up.

The remainder of the day saw the remaining 29 players grind it out for a coveted place at the final table; although some were happy taking the min-cash, a very respectable USD 30,000, by the end of the day there were 10 players left fighting it out for a seat in the finale. Tom Heung took the noble tenth-place position when his king-queen came up against Zengxiang Chen‘s ace-queen, and a queen on the board kept Chen’s dominating hand ahead, sending the remaining nine to the final table.

The action wasn’t over yet, however, as the floor has announced play would continue until just eight players were still seated. A short-stacked Calvin Lee found himself in that vulnerable position, sitting on around 10 big blinds as the field moved under the spotlight.

The day came to it’s conclusion when Lee shoved from under the gun with jacks, but in a cruel cooler situation, Ceesvin on the button had woken up with aces, which held on the runout to send Lee to the rail. Still, he took home almost USD 70,000 for his efforts and can be proud of another solid run.

Final Eight

Day 3 kicked off with the remaining eight, and the chip counts showed a clear divide right from the start. Ren Lin held a commanding lead with nearly 20 million, giving him plenty of room to pressure the table, while Seunghyun Nam sat in second with about 15.8 million.

At the other end, Takumi Odani came in shortest with just 4.45 million (around 15 BB), and Matas Cimbolas wasn’t far ahead with 5.1 million. The middle stacks: Chen, Nguyen, Ceesvin, and Li, were all between 9 and 14 million. Lin utilised his advantage right from the get-go, truly practising the “No Gamble, No Future” motto that he preaches.

The action came quickly. Early in the session, after his stack had been dwindling down, Li open-shoved from early position for his remaining chips. Ceesvin three-bet from the next seat, and Nam four-bet shoved over the top from the small blind.

Ceesvin made the call to cover both players, showing queens against Nam’s jacks and Li’s nine-high. A set on the flop pretty much sealed it, and Ceesvin held to send both opponents out together in 8th and 7th place; a brutal double knockout that drastically altered the table dynamic.

Odani was the next to fall in 6th. Down to his last chips, he open-shoved from the small blind, and Nguyen made the call from the big blind. Odani started ahead with king-high against queen-high and looked safe through the flop, but Nguyen picked up a flush draw on the turn. The river brought the completing diamond, and Odani headed to the rail with USD 108,000 for his efforts.

The action continued to heat up as the final table narrowed. In one key hand, Ceesvin raised from the small blind only to face a three-bet from Lin in the big blind. Ceesvin responded by four-bet shoving all in, and Lin made the quick call for his tournament life. Lin held ace-king against Ceesvin’s pocket tens in a classic flip. The board ran out dry through the turn, leaving Lin drawing thin and looking headed for the exit. But the river king gave him the pair and a full double-up, keeping his stack intact and shifting momentum back in his favour.

Cimbolas was the next to fall in fifth place. He opened from the button before Nguyen shoved all in from the big blind with his covering stack. Cimbolas made the call with ace-jack, running into Nguyen’s ace-queen. Nguyen stayed ahead through the early streets, but Cimbolas paired his jack on the flop to take the lead. Nguyen picked up a straight draw on the turn, and the river queen completed it, sending Cimbolas to the rail with USD 143,000 for his deep run.

Lin then eliminated Chen in fourth place. Lin raised from the button, and Chen shoved all in from the big blind for his short stack. Lin called with jack-ten, up against Chen’s ace-three. Chen held the lead with ace-high through the flop and turn, but Lin picked up a gutshot straight draw. The river eight filled it exactly, giving Lin the straight and sending Chen out home with USD 193,000.

Ceesvin would be the one that fell in third. Nguyen limped from the small blind and Ceesvin checked his option, bringing a dry flop with two hearts. Nguyen check-raised Ceesvin’s lead, only for Ceesvin to move all in for his short stack. Nguyen snapped it off with five-deuce for two pair, while Ceesvin showed ten-four of hearts for a flush draw. The turn ten gave Ceesvin a few more outs to stay alive, but the river king was a brick, sending the Singaporean to the rail with USD 286,000, leaving Lin and Nguyen to battle it out heads-up for the title and the whopping USD 600,000 prize.

Heads-Up

The battle for the title began almost deadlocked, with Lin holding a narrow lead of 51,000,000 against Nguyen’s 45,000,000. With the trophy, pay jump and pride on the line, the stage was set for a hefty duel, but the momentum shifted in Lin’s favour almost immediately.

One of the first hands of heads-up play proved to be the turning point. Nguyen rivered a straight only to run directly into Lin’s flush, which had filled up on the turn. After calling off a significant value bet on the river, Nguyen saw a huge portion of his stack slide across the table. Lin raked in the pot to establish a solid lead right out of the gate, a lead he would never relinquish.

Nguyen ultimately finished his run in second place, outlasting almost the entire 191-entry field to take home a massive USD 400,000 payday. After seeing his stack dwindle during the final stages of heads-up play, Nguyen was eventually all-in and at risk to try and shift the momentum. He found himself in a race for his tournament life with queen-high, trailing the ace-high of Lin.

Lin walked off the stage to watch the monitors with his rail, waiting nervously as the dealer fanned a dry king-high flop. The turn provided no help for Nguyen, leaving him with just one street to find the cards he needed to stay alive. The river bricked out, officially ending Nguyen’s deep run and crowning Lin the champion of the first-ever King Poker Cup Main Event.

The Final Day Ahead

Today marks the final day of action at the King Poker Cup at LES A Casino, with the series set to close on a high with two headline events on the schedule.

The Final Coronation continues after Day 1 concluded with Dong Chen out in front on 3,115,000 chips, holding a narrow lead over Wang Ye and Heung Tsz Kin. A deep and dangerous chasing pack remains in contention, including Abraham Ceesvin, Lei Yu, Tony Ren Lin, and Khoa Anh Ngo, as the field plays down to a champion.

Later in the day, attention shifts to the USD 15,000 Big Bounty, the final marquee event of the festival. With one last trophy to be claimed, today’s schedule brings the curtain down on the King Poker Cup with high stakes, big bounties, and a fitting finale to the series.