Inside the KPC Poker October Series: USD 13.4 Million, Two Main Event Champions and a Seven-Figure Score

Twelve days, 73 events and more than USD 13 million later, the KPC Poker October Series has wrapped up at LES A Casino in Jeju, South Korea.

From October 10 to 21, the festival drew 4,443 entries and a combined prize pool of USD 13,433,510, with Eric Tsai claiming the biggest prize of them all, USD 1,046,600 in the King's 60K Super High Roller. A small Lithuanian contingent also made its presence felt throughout the series, capped by back-to-back titles in the final two days.

Here's a look back at the numbers and highlights from the latest KPC stop.

KPC Poker October Series by the Numbers

Eric Tsai Takes the Top Prize

The King's 60K Super High Roller drew 66 entries to build a USD 3,706,600 prize pool, the largest of the series. Tsai beat Calvin Lee heads-up to claim the biggest cash of his career, rivering a straight with king-jack against Lee's pocket jacks on the final hand. Tsai had finished runner-up twice at the August KPC series.

The final table also produced one of the stories of the festival, as Hugues Girard climbed from a single 25,000 chip on Day 2 to finish third for USD 470,000.

Kudzmanas Crowned King's Main Event Champion

The USD 15,000 King's Main Event drew 169 entries across three flights for a USD 2,372,760 prize pool. Marius Kudzmanas had already made three final tables during the series, finishing 7th, 7th and 6th, before he beat Peng Huang heads-up to win the title for USD 533,800.

"I cannot let the guy win two mains in one series," Kudzmanas said of his heads-up opponent. "If you're only going to have a king every 800 years, it's nice to be one of the guys who actually does it."

Peng Huang Tops 1,082-Entry KPC Main Event

The series' most popular event was the KRW 1,300,000 (~USD 969) KPC Main Event, which closed registration with 1,082 entries and a KRW 1,215,303,000 (~USD 905,600) prize pool, well clear of its KRW 880,000,000 guarantee.

Huang came out on top, winning the title for KRW 171,873,000 (~USD 128,070) after eliminating the bulk of the final table. He then came within one opponent of a Main Event double, finishing runner-up in the King's Main Event for USD 350,000.

A Series for Lithuania

The Lithuanian contingent left Jeju with plenty to celebrate. A day after Kudzmanas' Main Event win, Rokas Asipauskas took down the USD 30,000 Final Coronation for USD 300,800, hitting a two-outer to knock out Mehdi Chaoui four-handed before needing just one hand to finish heads-up.

"That was the plan," Asipauskas said of the Lithuanian success. "You'll definitely see us more. And I feel like even more Lithuanians will come."

Vladas Tamasauskas also won the USD 10,000 NLH/PLO Mixed early in the series, before leading King's Main Event Day 1A, while Gytis Lazauninkas finished third in the USD 25,000 Single Day Super High Roller.

King's Debut Delivers a Five-Bullet Champion

The series' first USD 1,000,000 guaranteed event, the King's Debut, went the way of Yan Wen Yee. The Malaysian needed five entries before finally bagging in the turbo Day 1C, then came back heads-up against Michel Molenaar to win USD 247,600.

High Roller Winners

Lei Yu topped the 38-entry USD 25,000 Single Day Super High Roller, which built a USD 889,200 prize pool, collecting USD 316,100 after a heads-up win over Punnat Punsri.

Tony Lin won the KRW 5,000,000 5M High Roller for KRW 134,120,000 (~USD 99,940) after a heads-up deal, with 167 entries building a KRW 745,154,000 (~USD 555,300) prize pool against a KRW 420,000,000 guarantee.

Zhi Ye, who only started playing tournaments in the second half of this year, bluffed his way to the 20K Crown Hunt title for USD 233,500, plus over USD 50,000 in bounties. The same event saw Chaoui's girlfriend pick the biggest bottle bounty of the tournament over a video call, worth USD 88,000.

Molenaar bounced back from his King's Debut runner-up finish to win the 25K Single Day Super High Roller for USD 140,000, his second title of the series.

Deep Runs Rewarded

Punsri was a regular at the high roller final tables, finishing runner-up in the first 25K Single Day Super High Roller and third in the King's PLO Escalating Bounty, before the Thai pro finally got his hands on a trophy in the 20K NLH 6-Handed for USD 132,800.

Chaoui was also everywhere. He finished runner-up in the second 25K Single Day Super High Roller for USD 94,000, won the King's PLO 6-Handed for USD 35,600, and came fourth in the Final Coronation, a result that cost him the chance to overtake Kudzmanas on the series leaderboard.

English Commentary Debuts on the KPC Stream

The October series also marked a first for KPC, with English commentary added to the live stream for the first time. Aaron Paul Kramer and Bobby James led the broadcast throughout the festival, joined by a rotating line-up of guest hosts.

The pair complemented each other well. James handled the strategy side, breaking down key hands and the theory behind them, with viewers in the stream chat regularly praising his explanations.

Kramer kept the broadcast moving, filling the quieter moments and keeping things entertaining through the long final tables, from Tsai's 60K win to Kudzmanas' King's Main Event triumph.

KPC Returns in January

KPC Poker returns to Jeju in January, with Kudzmanas and Asipauskas both promising to come back and defend their titles.

Players can view the full KPC Poker October Series schedule and results on Somuchpoker.

Images and data courtesy of KPC.