Tien Loon Ling and Ryan Plant Claim Major King Poker Cup Titles

Tien Loon Ling and Ryan Plant collected two of the largest titles awarded during the closing stages of the K Poker Cup and King Poker Cup Series .

Ling completed a huge heads-up comeback to win the Royal Ascent for USD 273,380, while Plant defeated a 95-entry field in the USD 10,000 Crown Hunt to secure USD 160,000, along with some extra in bounties.

The two tournaments awarded almost USD 1.7 million combined at LES A Casino in Jeju, South Korea .

Ryan Plant Wins KPC Crown Hunt for USD 160,000

Plant recovered from a 17th-place finish in the Royal Ascent to capture the Crown Hunt title.

The USD 10,000 tournament attracted 95 entries and generated a USD 604,200 prize pool, with the top 15 players reaching the money.

Plant defeated Taiwan’s Eric Tsai heads-up to secure the USD 160,000 top prize. Tsai earned USD 103,000 as runner-up.

China’s Mingcong Chen completed the podium for USD 70,000, while Seunghyun Nam finished fourth for USD 50,000.

Quan Zhou continued his successful KPC festival by placing fifth for USD 35,300. Zhou had already reached the Royal Ascent final table, where he finished fourth for USD 80,700.

Australia’s John Perry collected USD 27,500 in sixth, followed by Samuel Mullur in seventh for USD 22,300.

Chi Zhang , Phuong Ngoc Nguyen and Matthew Wantman completed the top ten.

#K8 Crown Hunt ($10,000)

Total Prize USD

$604,200

Total Prize

604.2K USD

Entries

95

ITM

15

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	$160,000	RP Ryan Plant United Kingdom	1,805.85
2	$103,000	TY Ting Yi Tsai Taiwan	1,276.93
3	$70,000	MC Mingcong Chen China	1,042.61
4	$50,000	SN Seunghyun Nam United States of America	902.92
5	$35,300	QZ Quan Zhou China	807.60
6	$27,500	JP John Perry Australia	737.23
7	$22,300	SM Samuel Mullur Austria	682.55
8	$19,300	CZ Chi Zhang United Kingdom	638.46
9	$17,700	PN Phuong Ngoc Nguyen Viet Nam	601.95

Check the 15 Payouts & Results ...

Tien Loon Ling Wins Royal Ascent for USD 273,380

Ling secured a KPC ring, trophy and USD 273,380 after defeating a 146-entry field in the Royal Ascent.

The tournament played across two starting flights before the 23 survivors returned for the final day. The field generated a USD 1,088,980 prize pool, with each Day 2 qualifier guaranteed at least USD 17,600.

Thailand’s Punnat Punsri led the 12 players advancing from Day 1A with 3,535,000. Hongjun Zhao followed with 3,415,000, narrowly ahead of Ryuta Nakai on 3,360,000.

Chin Wei Lim topped the 11 Day 1B survivors with 2,710,000. Mullur bagged 2,480,000, while Nang Quang Nguyen advanced with 2,260,000.

#K3 Royal Ascent ($8,000)

Total Prize USD

$1,088,980

Total Prize

1.1M USD

Entries

146

ITM

23

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	$273,380	TL Tien Loon Ling Malaysia	2,360.83
2	$175,500	NQ Nang Quang Nguyen Viet Nam	1,669.36
3	$116,800	HZ Hongjun Zhao China	1,363.03
4	$80,700	QZ Quan Zhou China	1,180.42
5	$57,800	JZ Jian Zhu China	1,055.80
6	$43,100	TJ Toby Joyce Ireland	963.81
7	$33,400	RN Ryuta Nakai Japan	892.31
8	$27,100	CW Chin Wei Lim Malaysia	834.68
9	$23,000	PP Punnat Punsri Thailand	786.94

Check the 23 Payouts & Results ...

Tony Ren Lin Falls on Royal Ascent Final Table Bubble

Yifu He entered Day 2 with only 30,000 and was eliminated on the second hand of play.

Plant departed in 17th, Mullur finished 16th and Quan Qiu placed 14th.

Chunnuan Xu finished 20th, while Xueying Zhao and Jiani Yang reached 15th and 13th respectively.

It took close to three hours to reach the nine-handed final table. Tony Ren Lin became the final-table bubble after his suited ace-five was outdrawn by Zhou’s suited jack-nine, which completed a flush.

Quan Zhou Leads Royal Ascent Final Table

Zhou entered the final table with 9,950,000, well ahead of Punsri on 5,725,000. Ireland’s Toby Joyce began third with 4,750,000.

Despite starting second in chips, Punsri became the first finalist eliminated. His pocket eights ran into the pocket jacks of Zhou, leaving him ninth for USD 23,000.

Lim followed in eighth after his suited ace-eight lost against Zhou’s king-ten. A ten on the turn sent Lim to the rail with USD 27,100.

Nakai departed in seventh when his king-queen failed to improve against the pocket kings of Nguyen.

Joyce then committed his chips with pocket deuces and ran into another pair of pocket jacks held by Zhou. The Irishman collected USD 43,100 for sixth place.

Jian Zhu was eliminated in fifth after his ace-king lost a race against Nguyen’s pocket sevens.

Nang Quang Nguyen Takes Control Four-Handed

Zhou’s earlier chip lead began to disappear during four-handed play.

He eventually moved all in with pocket fours against the pocket tens of Nguyen. The larger pair remained ahead, sending Zhou out in fourth place for USD 80,700.

Nguyen continued to apply pressure and eliminated Zhao in third. Zhao called for the remainder of his stack with pocket deuces but was behind Nguyen’s pocket nines.

The result earned Zhao USD 116,800 and left Nguyen holding approximately 30,000,000 against Ling’s 6,000,000 at the beginning of heads-up play.

Tien Loon Ling Overcomes Five-to-One Heads-Up Deficit

Ling immediately began reducing the gap.

Nguyen moved all in with king-three during the opening heads-up hand and Ling called with suited nine-eight. Ling flopped three nines to double and cut Nguyen’s advantage to approximately two to one.

Ling later completed a flush against Nguyen’s two pair to take the chip lead. Another large pot followed when Ling’s straight was paid off by Nguyen.

Nguyen responded by making a straight of his own against Ling’s two pair, briefly moving back ahead.

The lead changed again when Ling flopped a straight against Nguyen’s top pair and both players committed their chips.

Turn Flush Secures Royal Ascent Title

The final hand saw Nguyen move all in on the flop with top pair. Ling called with a flush draw and completed it on the turn to secure the title.

Nguyen received USD 175,500 as runner-up, taking his recorded live tournament earnings beyond USD 2.5 million.

Ling collected USD 273,380 for the victory, moving his own career earnings beyond USD 5.5 million. He also left LES A Casino with the Royal Ascent trophy and one of the festival’s KPC rings.

Complete results and tournament coverage are available through the Somuchpoker live reporting hub .

All images courtesy of KPC.