Players Series Taiwan Championship Breaks Guarantee With 862 Entries; Sean Ooi Leads Into Day 2

The opening heat of the highly anticipated NT$ 20 million guaranteed PS Taiwan Championship attracted 87 entries, narrowing down to just 13 players in the money. After 16 intense levels of 40-minute play, the bubble burst, with Sim Eun Jung being the unfortunate final elimination after running his J♥ J♣ right into Paul Garcia's A♥ A♣ .

Once bagging time was in, Malaysia’s Liew Lee Wee emerged at the top spot with a stack of 448,000, followed by Garcia with 339,000. Defending PS Main Event champion Lai Hsuan Yu rounded out the top three, finishing day one with a strong 322,000.

Only 18 players out of the 118-entry field survived the PS Taiwan Championship Flight B rounds, each now secured a share of the NT$ 20 million guaranteed pot. Australia's Yita Choong bagged the lead across the second heat, stacking a mighty 536,000 chip count following eighteen levels of play. On his tail is South Korea's Jimin Lee with 474,000, trailed closely by Singapore's Ravn Teo with 457,000. Joining the three onto Day 2 are international notables Konstantin Held, Kristof Segers, Dylan Foster, and Beng Hong Ker.

The second PS Taiwan Championship heat of the day, Flight C, drew in another 106 entries and played down to ITM at 16 players. South Korea's Min Yeong dominated the late night games and came out on top of the ranks with an impressive 466,000 chip count. Fellow Korean contender Dong Hyum Lim also bagged big, yet quite a distance from Yeong with a 311,000 stack onto Day 2. Local runner Jia Chi Lee rounded up the podium, just barely above the 300K mark, with seasoned runners Jun Li, Kossongi Ori, and Yasuhiro Waki, also making the cut.

The fourth flight on schedule for the esteemed NT$ 20 million guaranteed PS Taiwan Championship racked up a total of 164 entries, adding another 25 players on the money list. Taiwan's own Chia Hsian Ko came out on top of the Flight D leaderboard following sixteen levels of play, having scooped a full double up through Jack Sinclair just before the bubble burst. Chia finished with a solid 429,000 stack and is due to kick off the Day 2 battle with a grand start.

The later heat of the PS Taiwan Championship on offer, Flight E, added 73 more entries to the counts and brought another 11 survivors onto Day 2. Taiwan's own Liang Sheng Yeh towered over the field by day's end after finishing with a chart-topping stack of 440,000, highlighted by a remarkable hero call that snatched a pot from Sean Ooi just before the day wrapped up. Close behind him is fellow countryman Shen Hao, who bagged 304,000 after eliminating Ooi as the stone cold bubble in the early morninghours. Also advancing through are international notables Jereld Sam and Hon Cheong Lee, both stacking just above the 100K mark.

After crashing as the stone cold bubble in the previous PS Taiwan Championship heat, Malaysia's Sean Ooi made a complete turnaround on Flight F, coming out on top of the largest field - 195 entries, with a stack of 654,000. Ooi leads the 29 survivors moving forward to Day 2, joined by Taiwan's Yu Yung Lin with 461,000, and Australia's Jennifer Cassell with 429,000, across the top ranks. It took seventeen levels of play before the money bubble burst, with Qing Hua Chen falling to Myung Hwan Han in a tense race for his final four big blinds.

The last heat of the PS Taiwan Championship added 119 entries, bringing the total field to 862, easily smashing its NT$ 20,000,000 published guarantee and boosting the prize pool to NT$ 24,570,000. A total of 130 places are set to cut a share of the massive pot, with the minimum cash listed at NT$ 60,000. The NT$ 3,601,000 top prize remains to be on everyone's focus, where Day 2 sees another thrilling battle on the felt as the field narrows down to the final table.

Another 17 players survived the Flight G carnage and advanced to Day 2, with local runner Chien Te Lee stacking the lead with 553,000 in chips. Malaysia's Jeremy Chan likewise ended with a strong finish, having bagged 404,000 along with PS High Roller Championship winner Julian Salvesen with 395,000.

South Korea's Seungmook Jung stormed to victory at the PS Super High Roller Championship, navigating through a tough field of 103 entries to secure the NT$ 2,625,000 top prize and his first ever PS trophy. Jung entered the final table with the chip lead and maintained control throughout, eliminating six of his eight opponents on his way to the win.

In the final match against Kai Cheng Hsu, Jung held a 4:1 chip advantage but saw Hsu quickly gain the upper hand. Jung however, managed to win a crucial flip that swung the chips back in his favor, and close out the victory shortly after. The final hand came to light when Hsu risked his last twelve big blinds with A♦ Q♥ up against Jung's K♥ T♥ for a race. Board ran 8♦ 7♣ 5♣ K♣ 6♥ , landing Jung top pair to seal the deal.

Taiwan's own Wang Wei Hsiang captured a crushing victory at the PS Taiwan Open, earning a best live cash of NT$ 1,439,000. Only nine players out of the 597-entry field headed back for the Final Day battle with Wang in the lead.

Wang extended his advantage early as he delivered the first two eliminations of the day. It was only at three-handed did Wang briefly lose the lead, only to regain control moments later. One of the defining hands was Chan Pak Kwan's exit in 3rd place, in which he fell with pocket kings against Wang's pocket aces for his tournament life. This cooler situation brought Wang back atop the ranks against final opponent Hoi Man Cheng.

Over an hour of back and forth took place on the felt before a critical pot, where Wang's set 8♠ 8♣ held strong against Hoi's two pair K♥ J♣ on board J♠ 8♥ 4♥ K♠ A♣ , shipping Wang nearly 80% of the chips in play. Just five minutes later, the curtains rung close, Wang with the final victory and PS trophy in hand.

Singapore's Vincent Wong proudly took over a field of 139 entries at the Deepstack Bounty and added another trophy to his mantle following an unbeatable display. The final table saw an international mix with players from six different countries represented among the nine finalists. Wong emerged victorious after a strong showing, defeating local player Tsai Yu Fan in the final heads up match to secure the largest payout of NT$ 172,000, in addition to his bounty earnings.

Posting a NT$ 1 million guarantee, this PS season's Super Stack games welcomed 122 entries vying for the title, pushing its prize pool further to NT$ 1,264,900. Only the final two tables of 18 players locked in a share, the largest of which went towards Chia Ta Tsai's pocket. Local talent heavily dominated the final table and saw lone international runner Jonathan Looi be the first to fall in 9th place. In the end, it was Chia who hoisted the victory, earning him NT$ 355,500 in winnings along with the prestigious PS hardware.

Short handed enthusiasts gathered round for the late night 6-Handed Turbo games with 98 entries ponying up the NT$ 5,000 buy-in. The prize pool surged to NT$ 409,300, and saw Hong Kong's Chan Lok cap the games with the sole six-figure payout on the list of NT$ 120,500 in his pocket. Chan navigated his way to success across the final rounds and crushed Kim Jihwan in the final showdown to lock in the victory.