WPT Prime Taiwan underway at Asia Poker Arena in Taipei City – Opening day highlights and results

SMP Editor
SMP EditorEditor-in-Chief
wpt prime taiwan
wpt prime taiwan

Shuffle up and deal! At 1pm on August 8, 2023, local and international players dove into action on opening day of World Poker Tour (WPT) Prime Taiwan Season XXI. This eagerly anticipated two-week event kicked off at the newly opened Asia Poker Arena in Taipei City. Catering to a spectrum of bankrolls, four trophy events were on the agenda. Here are the highlights and results of Day 1.

Event 1: Main Event Warm Up – Day 1A results

Setting the tone was the festival opener, the Main Event Warm Up featuring a TWD 3,000,000 (~USD 94,300) guarantee. Day 1A drew a healthy 162 entries with 21 players reaching ITM to advance to the next stage.

Kuang Hung Lee – file photo
Kuang Hung Lee – file photo

Among the rare players seen in the Taiwan crowd were USA’s Quoc Bao Diep and Tunisia’s Selim Souissi, however both missed the mark. Making the cut were recently crowned Taiwan Millions Tournament Main Event champion Chia Yun Wu, and WSOP Mystery Bounty $1M bounty prize lucky draw winner Patrick Liang. Topping the counts was Hong Kong’s Alan Cho Fung Wong with 57 bb, trailed closely by Taiwan’s Luke Kuang Hung Lee with 54 bb. Interested players still have one final chance to jump in with Day 1B yet to play out.

Buy in: TWD 10,000 (~USD 314)

Guarantee: TWD 3,000,000 (~USD 94,300)

Day 1A: 162 entries / 21 advanced (ITM)

Day 1B: Wednesday, August 9, 1pm

End of Day 1A – 21 players

Player

Flag

Stack

Alan Cho Fung Wong

Hong Kong

574,000

Kuang Hung Lee

Taiwan

554,000

Herry Lian

Germany

509,000

Chia Wei Chang

Taiwan

429,000

Chia Yun Wu

Taiwan

289,000

Ming Song Huang

Taiwan

271,000

Ka Shun Tsang

Hong Kong

270,000

Yu Sheng Chien

Taiwan

265,000

Jackie Wu

China

228,000

Chia Hsiang Ko

Taiwan

226,000

You Da Tsai

Taiwan

161,000

Chen Wei Tseng

Taiwan

160,000

Patrick Liang

Taiwan

152,000

Chen Yun Chien

Taiwan

148,000

Kai Yang

USA

147,000

Wai Kin Lam

Hong Kong

115,000

Shao Hong Yu

Taiwan

103,000

Hung Kai Hsu

Taiwan

102,000

Lo Chang Ming

Taiwan

60,000

Yu Chi Liu

Taiwan

52,000

Kun Tai Lu

Taiwan

28,000

Event 2: PLO Warm Up – Day 1 results

Pot Limit Omaha lovers also had their fun on the felt with the PLO Warm Up on the day’s lineup. 46 entered for a prize pool of TWD 1,307,000 (~USD 41,085). The night closed with the bubble bursting, leaving six players to bag up led by Taiwan’s Li-Ta Hsu.

Li-Ta Hsu
Li-Ta Hsu

When the survivors return on Wednesday, August 9 at 1pm, each one is guaranteed TWD 18,700 (~USD 590), however all eyes will be on the TWD 121,900 (~USD 3,830) first prize and event trophy.

Buy in: TWD 8,000 (~USD 250)

Entries: 46

Prize pool: TWD 1,307,000 (~USD 41,085)

ITM: 6 places

Chips in play: 1,380,000

Average stack: 230,000

End of Day 1 – 6 players remaining

Rank

Player

Flag

Stack

1

Li-Ta Hsu

Taiwan

465,000

2

Moo Jae

USA

399,000

3

Aaron Chuang

Taiwan

177,000

4

Minho Cho

South Korea

140,000

5

Bo Jia Su

Taiwan

85,000

6

Yan Chen Jiang

Taiwan

41,000

Chingchun Wu wins first side event trophy at the Turbo 30 Sec Clock

Taiwan’s Chingchun Wu emerged victorious at Event 3: Turbo 30 Sec Clock to claim his first ever international side event trophy. Wu topped a field of 60 hopefuls for a career high payout of TWD 106,900 (~USD 3,360). Notables also in the money were Singapore’s Dhanesh Chainani in 4th place and lone female at the final table, Chien Chih Weng in 5th place.

event 2 plo
event 2 plo

Date: August 8, 2023

Buy in: TWD 6,000 (~USD 190)

Entries: 60

Prize pool: TWD 296,900 (~USD 9,335)

ITM: 8 places

Place

Player

Flag

Payout

1

Chingchun Wu

Taiwan

106,900

2

Chia Yu Shr

Taiwan

62,800

3

Chao Min Fan

Taiwan

39,300

4

Dhanesh Chainani

Singapore

26,700

5

Chien Chih Weng

Taiwan

20,800

6

Chunhao Tsai

Taiwan

16,300

7

Shen Syu Ho

Taiwan

13,400

8

Hsiao Tsung Hsien

Taiwan

10,700

Event 4: Mini High Roller Warm Up – Day 1 results

David Erquiaga – file photo
David Erquiaga – file photo

Heavy hitters had their hands full at the Mini High Roller Warm Up with 22 ponying up the TWD 66,000 (~USD 2,075) buy in. Only 12 players survived the heat led by 2022 WPT Prime Cambodia Main Event champion David Erquiaga with a stack of 45 bb. Other notables making the cut were famous South Korean Yohwan “BoxeR” Lim,I-Chun Chiu aka Charlie Chiu who ran deep into 133rd place at the WSOP Main Event last month, and Chao Ting Cheng who won his first major title early this year.

Players can still sign up to this event with 40 minutes of late registration remaining at the start of Day 2.

End of Day 1 chip counts

Rank

Player

Flag

Stack

1

David Erquiaga

Philippines

456,000

2

Chung Ching Cheung

Hong Kong

432,000

3

Jules Blondel

France

357,500

4

Yohwan Lim

South Korea

341,000

5

Kai Cheng Hsu

Taiwan

287,000

6

Fun Chih Wei

Taiwan

245,000

7

Charlie Chiu

Taiwan

220,500

8

Hung Wei Yeh

Taiwan

218,500

9

Sparrow Cheung

Hong Kong

212,000

10

Yu Chung Chang

Taiwan

210,000

11

Thibaut Blondel

France

198,500

12

Chao Ting Cheng

Taiwan

53,500

WPT Prime Taiwan Season XXI Key Highlights

Day 1 is in the books with plenty of action still ahead. WPT Prime Taiwan boasts the richest and most extensive lineup ever announced by the global brand in Asia. A total of 46 trophy events are scheduled highlighted by the Main Event.Make sure to check the schedule link provided for all the details and structure.

WPT Prime Taiwan – Full Schedule

IMG 4479
IMG 4479

TheWPT Prime Main Eventgets underway onAugust 17 and runs until August 21.For a buy in of TWD 33,000 (~USD 1,075), players have a shot at the mightyUSD 1,000,000 guarantee.This is the largest tournament prize pool advertised by the WPT for Taiwan. To further display the worth of this event, the champion will receive a2023 WPT World Championship seat worth USD 10,400.The WPT value-adds airfare and accommodation.

Other big events are theMystery Bounty TWD 5,000,000 (~USD 162,245) guaranteedfrom August 11 to 13 and8 Max Championship TWD 2,000,000 (~USD 65,150) guaranteedfrom August 14 to 15.

For high rollers, the CTP High Stakes Challengeis the most expensive with buy in of TWD 300,000 (~USD 9,475). TheWPT Prime Super High RollerandWPT Prime High Roller 3K are also big wig favorites and are certain to attract the creme de la creme of the region.

WPT Global

Did you know that WPT brand launched WPT Global?WPT Globalis one of the fastest growing rooms, has a soft field, and offers action in every limit.

Read ourWPT Global revieworregister here:

https://somuchpoker.com/wpt-global/

Orcontact usfor any questions.

About the Editor

SMP Editor

The SMP Editor covers international poker and iGaming for SoMuchPoker, providing news, tournament coverage, and industry insights. With a focus on accuracy, clarity, and relevance, the editor helps readers stay informed about developments across the global poker community.