WPT Korea 2024: Ouyang Jiali ships Super High Roller for KRW 405,260,000 (~USD 302K); Iakimenko Anton leads WPT Opener Day 2

03/27/2024

WPT Korea hits the felt — Photo Credit – Chris Librojo

Thrilling action is seen left and right at the luxurious Landing Casino, Jeju Shinhwa World, South Korea with the WPT Korea festivities running through Wednesday, April 3rd. The first of 13 WPT Korea Rings to be awarded was earned yesterday by China’s Ouyang Jiali after she clinched the victory at the Super High Roller event. Also in the books are the last two flights for the WPT Opener which recorded a collective 387 entries. From that, only 48 runners are set to return to the felt today with Day 1A chip leader Iakimenko Anton maintaining his top rank into Day 2.

WPT Korea 2024 – Festival Results
WPT Korea 2024 – Player Guide

Joining the WPT Opener final games this Wednesday, March 27th is the first of two Single Day High Roller events, along with two qualifying rounds for Event #5: Jeju Dragon Quest.

China’s Ouyang Jiali ships Super High Roller for KRW 405,260,000 (~USD 302,180)

Ouyang Jiali wins WPT Korea SHR — Ouyang Jiali

A great start to the 2024 season, the WPT Super High Roller games was met with a KR₩ 1 Billion (~USD 805K) prize pool after a total of 29 entries was recorded across registration. Poker celebrities such as Phil Ivey and Espen Jorstad graced the felt, along with heavily decorated pros Timothy Adams and Daniel Smiljkovic. While these pros have a ton of experience under their belts, none of them would find themselves cutting a piece of the Super High Roller pie.

China’s Ouyang Jiali stormed to the lead an hour after registration closed, having scooped up Kobayashi Hirokszu’s 50 big blind stack all in one hand. An all-in preflop situation ensued with Kobayashi risking it all with , hugely behind Ouyang’s . From this, the Chinese amateur carried on her advantage all the way down to heads up play, continuously picking up pots here and there.

The money trickled in following the exit of Li Boyao in 6th place finish which guaranteed the remaining contenders a minimum payout of KRW 96,700,00 (~USD 71,920). Shortstacked Tang Tiayuan and Christopher Park quickly followed suit, both finding themselves crushed by the hands of Irish pro Stephen O’Dwyer. It didn’t take long for German prodigy Leon Sturm to fall in third place, shipping his last 3 million over to Ouyang for the advantage going into heads up play. The final duel lasted fairly quickly with Ouyang’s run good hardly beatable by her skilled opponent. Ouyang cracked O’Dwyer’s pocket kings and queens along the way and secured the victory in just a little over an hour. For her impressive run, Ouyang banked a career best cash of KRW 405,260,000 (~USD 302,180), a WPT Korea trophy, and the series’ first of four WPT High Roller Rings.

Date/s: March 25-26, 2024
Buy-in: KR₩ 40,000,000 (~USD 29,750)
Prize pool: KR₩ 1,079,960,000 (~USD 805,270)
Entries: 29 (20 unique)
ITM: 5 players

Event #2: WPT Super High Roller Full Payouts

Pos.	Player	Flag	Prize (KRW)
1	Ouyang Jiali	China	405,260,000
2	O’Dwyer Stephen	Ireland	270,200,000
3	Sturm Leon	Germany	180,100,000
4	Park Christopher Young	United States	127,700,000
5	Tang Tiayuan	China	96,700,000

WPT Korea 2024 – Super High Roller Live Updates
WPT Korea official livestream

Russia’s Iakimenko Anton leads WPT Opener Day 2

Iakimenko Anton tops WPT Korea Opener Day 1A — Iakimenko Anton, Photo Credit – Chris Librojo

WPT Korea’s opening event locked in a total of 387 entries recorded across three starting flights and found its player base hailing a strong representation from neighboring China. Each Day 1 played down to the money, resulting in only 48 players returning to battle today. Day 1A chip leader Iakimenko Anton continues to lead, holding down a massive 108 big blind stack to start the Day 2 games. Action resumes at Level 15: 3,000 – 6,000 ante 6,000, 12 noon.

Day 1B drew in a staggering turnout right off the bat with 68 entries, equal to that of Day 1A, already recorded within the first level. By the end of the night, the tally rose to 206 entries with 26 additional runners deemed to join the initial 9 survivors. The day capped with Lithuania’s Augutis Vilius bagging the largest, bringing a 589,000 (98 BB) stack through just ten big blinds behind Iakimenko.

The last flight on schedule drew in a final 113 entries with 15 players guaranteed a share of the KR₩ 287,173,400 (~USD 213,590) pot. It took over two levels of play before the bubble burst and saw Japan’s Mamiya Ruiko and Hungary’s Hanusi Mate hit the rails simultaneously. The two share a minimum payout, closing the flight with China’s Zhang Ding in the lead. Zhang joins the top ranks and stacks just third across the overall pecking order.

Date/s: March 25 – 27, 2024
Buy-in: KR₩ 850,000 (~USD 630)
Prize pool: KR₩ 287,173,400 (~USD 213,590)
Entries: 387 (221 unique)
ITM: 50 players

Day 1A: 68 entries, 9 qualified
Day 1B: 206 entries, 26 qualified
Day 1C Turbo: 113 entries, 15 qualified

Day 2: March 27, 2024

Day 2 Top Chip Counts

Pos.	Last Name	First Name	Flag	Chip Count	BB
1	IAKIMENKO	ANTON	Russia	650,000	108
2	AUGUTIS	VILIUS	Lithuania	589,000	98
3	ZHANG	DING	China	525,000	88
4	CHEN	KAILE	China	428,000	71
5	SHANGGUAN	YUECHENG	China	428,000	71
6	LIN YAN		China	407,000	68
7	YANG	XI	China	377,000	63
8	NIELSEN	MARTIN	Denmark	367,000	61
9	LUO	JIANMING	China	322,000	54
10	SHAO	HANYU	China	278,000	46

WPT Korea 2024 – WPT Opener Full Day 2 Chip Counts

Getting to Jeju Shinhwa Landing Resort

WPT KOREA - PLAYER AIRPORT SHUTTLE BUS

For arriving players, WPT is pulling out all the stops with a complimentary service straight to the venue. Just look for the WPT Korea banner right outside the arrivals gate and head down to the shuttle bus location. It takes approximately one hour to get to the Resort with the service running daily on a thirty minute interval starting at 7:00 a.m.