Zhi Ye Defeats Nevan Chang to Take 20K Crown Hunt as Lei Li Wins Monster Stack
Saturday, October 17 delivered more champions at the KPC Poker October Series, with the $15k King's Main Event also kicking off at LES A Casino in Jeju, South Korea.
Zhi Ye won the 20K Crown Hunt for USD 233,500, while Lei Li took down the 282-entry Monster Stack for KRW 68,962,000 (~USD 51,390) after a heads-up deal.
Elsewhere on the KPC schedule, Vladas Tamasauskas bagged the chip lead on Day 1A of the King's Main Event, and Danny Tang celebrated his birthday by winning the King's Big O.
Zhi Ye Wins 20K Crown Hunt
The USD 20,000 Crown Hunt drew 59 entries to build a USD 750,500 prize pool, with nine places paid. Ye beat Nevan Chang heads-up for the title, with Chang earning USD 150,000 as runner-up.
The bottle bounties provided one of the moments of the day before the final table. Mehdi Chaoui let someone else choose which bottle to smash over a video call, and the pick paid off in style, revealing the biggest bounty on offer at USD 88,000.
Eric Tsai, fresh from his 60K Super High Roller win, was the first to fall from the final table in ninth, followed by Fabian Gumz in eighth. Xuan Liu then picked up a big pot when his pocket jacks beat Marius Kudzmanas' pocket aces and Lei Yu's pocket threes, sending Kudzmanas out in seventh for USD 37,000.
Rokas Asipauskas found a crucial double soon after, his pocket sevens holding against Liu's ace-five to take him to 2.4 million. The live stream then paused while the stage hosted a birthday celebration for Tang and Winfred Yu, with play continuing off camera.
Coverage picked up again with six players left. Junjie Xu doubled with pocket kings through Liu's pocket sevens, but Liu got those chips straight back when his pocket aces held against Lei Yu's king-four.
Asipauskas fell in sixth for USD 43,000 when his pocket kings were cracked by Chang's ace-three of spades, with spades on the turn and river completing a runner-runner flush.
Ye then took down a huge pot with a big river bluff against Liu. With four diamonds on the board, Liu folded second pair, and Ye turned over jack-five with nothing.
Lei Yu went out in fifth for USD 53,000, moving all in from the cutoff for around 2 million with pocket sevens into Chang's pocket jacks in the big blind.
Xu followed in fourth for USD 71,000, his small blind shove with king-eight called by Ye's queen-ten. The ten on the flop sent the 3,750,000 pot to Ye, putting him on 8.3 million.
Liu was down to 850,000 when he moved all in on the button with queen-six. Chang isolated with ace-six from the small blind, and his ace-high held on a four-eight-five-nine-ten board to send Liu out in third for USD 100,000.
Ye took 8.6 million into heads-up play against Chang's 5.5 million. Chang doubled into the lead early when his pocket jacks held against Ye's ace-king, but Ye took a string of small pots to move back in front, 9.2 million to 4.5 million.
In the final hand, Chang moved all in on the button with eight-seven suited and Ye called with ace-jack. The the turn gave Chang a flush draw, but the five of clubs on the river missed, and Ye's ace-high was good for the title.
20K Crown Hunt Final Table Results
Place | Player | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|
1st | 233,500 | |
2nd | 150,000 | |
3rd | 100,000 | |
4th | 71,000 | |
5th | 53,000 | |
6th | 43,000 | |
7th | 37,000 | |
8th | 33,000 | |
9th | 30,000 |
Ye's Fresh Start
Remarkably, Ye only started playing tournaments in the second half of this year. He also collected five bounties worth over USD 50,000, taking his total haul from the event to around USD 280,000.
"For me, it's about being much more aggressive. More people are willing to gamble, and that's the only way you create more opportunities to collect knockouts and bounties," Ye said of his approach. "I ran a ton of bluffs, but almost every single bluff worked. I'm extremely satisfied with how those bluffs executed."
"The prize money isn't huge, but I view this as a fresh start for me," he added. "It definitely gives me more motivation and confidence to enter more tournaments moving forward. My next goal is to win a Main Event Championship."
Lei Li Wins Monster Stack
The KRW 1,500,000 (~USD 1,120) Monster Stack drew 282 entries across four flights and built a prize pool of KRW 365,472,000 (~USD 272,330), comfortably clearing its KRW 200,000,000 guarantee.
Li and Wei Yang Zhou agreed an ICM deal heads-up, with Zhou taking KRW 60,510,000 (~USD 45,090).
Li took control four-handed, flopping a set of eights against Xiaofan Guo's pocket tens to move up to around 7 million, half the chips in play.
He then eliminated Chun Kit Kwan in fourth for KRW 27,800,000 (~USD 20,720) with ace-king against queen-ten, and Guo in third for KRW 37,800,000 (~USD 28,170) when his king-nine paired on the turn against ace-king.
Li led 8.7 million to 5.3 million when the deal was struck and pushed on to 12.1 million. Zhou doubled twice to stay alive, but Li ground him back down, and the final hand saw Li's ace-six find an ace on the flop against Zhou's pocket threes.
Monster Stack Final Table Results
Place | Player | Prize (KRW) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
1st | 68,962,000* | ~51,390 | |
2nd | 60,510,000* | ~45,090 | |
3rd | 37,800,000 | ~28,170 | |
4th | 27,800,000 | ~20,720 | |
5th | 20,800,000 | ~15,500 | |
6th | 15,800,000 | ~11,770 | |
7th | 12,000,000 | ~8,940 | |
8th | 9,500,000 | ~7,080 | |
9th | 7,500,000 | ~5,590 |
*ICM deal
Tamasauskas Leads King's Main Event Day 1A
The USD 15,000 buy-in King's Main Event got underway with 63 entries on Day 1A, and 16 players bagged chips.
Tamasauskas leads with 5,635,000. He got his chips in with pocket aces in a three-way pot against Tony Lin and Martin Sedlak, and the aces held to win the 972,000 main pot, ending Lin's first bullet and doubling through Sedlak.
KPC Main Event champion Peng Huang is second with 4,080,000, and his heads-up opponent Hongjun Zhao is also through with 2,925,000. Thi Xoa Nguyen advanced with 1,380,000 after a king-high straight eliminated Yifu He, while Michel Molenaar, Punnat Punsri, Tsai, Wai Kiat Lee and Mehdi Chaoui are all in the mix.
King's Main Event Day 1A Chip Counts
Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
1 | 5,635,000 | |
2 | 4,080,000 | |
3 | 2,925,000 | |
4 | 2,495,000 | |
5 | 2,185,000 | |
6 | 1,980,000 | |
7 | 1,915,000 | |
8 | 1,380,000 | |
9 | 1,255,000 | |
10 | 1,215,000 | |
11 | 1,000,000 | |
12 | 1,000,000 | |
13 | 865,000 | |
14 | 500,000 | |
15 | 265,000 |
Tang and Choi Win King Titles
Tang marked his birthday by winning the USD 2,000 King's Big O for USD 20,000. The 31-entry field built a USD 55,916 prize pool, with Tony Lin finishing runner-up for USD 13,200 and Renji Mao fourth.
Kevin Choi took third in the Big O after winning the 14-entry King Poker Cup Mixed Triple Draw earlier in the day. Choi beat Yao Liu heads-up to collect USD 11,900, with Tang third.
King's Big O Results
Place | Player | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|
1st | 20,000 | |
2nd | 13,200 | |
3rd | 8,400 | |
4th | 5,800 | |
5th | 4,500 | |
6th | 4,000 |
King Poker Cup Mixed Triple Draw Results
Place | Player | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|
1st | 11,900 | |
2nd | 8,000 | |
3rd | 5,400 |
Sunday, October 18 Schedule
Day 1B of the King's Main Event kicks off at 1:00 p.m., with registration open until 8:50 p.m. The 25K Single Day Super High Roller also starts at 3:00 p.m.
Start | Event | Buy-In | Starting Stack | Registration Closes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1:00 p.m. | Event #52 The King's Main Event - Day 1B | USD 15,000 | 500,000 | 8:50 p.m. |
2:00 p.m. | Event #56 King's Big Bet Mix | USD 2,000 | 100,000 | 5:15 p.m. |
3:00 p.m. | Event #57 25K Single Day Super High Roller | USD 25,000 | 300,000 | 8:00 p.m. |
8:00 p.m. | Event #58 King's PLO Escalating Bounty | USD 4,000 | 250,000 | 11:15 p.m. |
Players can view the complete KPC Poker October Series schedule on Somuchpoker.
Images and data courtesy of KPC.
About the Editor
Callum Jury is Somuchpoker's Live Content and Social Media Specialist, reporting live from WSOP and Asia Pacific poker festivals including the APT and PokerStars LIVE series. Originally from the Lake District in the UK, he has covered the Southeast Asian poker circuit since 2025, combining day-by-day tournament reporting with the social and digital content that brings the action to fans.
Related News
Live PokerRecapPoker Dream 26 Malaysia Main Event Draws 1,266 Entries, Builds MYR 4.64 Million Prize Pool
Poker Dream 26 Malaysia Main Event draws 1,266 entries to build a MYR 4.64 million (~USD 1.135 million) prize pool, surpassing its MYR 4 million guarantee. A total of 174 players advance to Day 2, with MYR 685,000 awaiting the champion.
Live PokerRecapJoris Michl Leads Final 35 in APPT Championship Manila
oris Michl leads the final 35 in the APPT Championship after a 479-entry field created a ₱68.29 million prize pool, while Florencio Campomanes wins the High Roller Turbo.
Live PokerRecapGOP Incheon II Countdown: Rake-Free Main Event Flight A and New High Roller Satellites
GOP Incheon II starts October 30 with a 100% rake-free Main Event Flight A and new satellites into the GOP High Roller, Demigods and Super High Roller.
Live PokerRecapLin Huang Wins 416-Entry Warm-up GiantStack as TMT Championship 2026 Begins
TMT Championship 2026 Day 1 recap from Taipei: Lin Huang wins the 416-entry Warm-up GiantStack, Tao Chu takes the Mini High Roller, plus Day 2 schedule.
Live PokerRecapHao Tian Wins Super High Roller at Poker Dream 26 Malaysia for MYR 477,000 (~USD 116,800)
Hao Tian wins the MYR20K Super High Roller for MYR 477,000 (~USD 116,800) at Poker Dream 26 Malaysia, defeating a 101-entry field to claim his first Poker Dream trophy, while Eugene Zhou qualifies for the Main Event Day 2 three times.
Live PokerRecapPeng Huang Tops 1,082 Entries to Win the KPC Main Event
Peng Huang wins the 1,082-entry KPC Main Event for KRW 171,873,000 and Eric Tsai takes the King's 60K Super High Roller for USD 1,046,600.