Taiwan’s own Chi Hang ships the J88Poker Tour Main Event and wins seat to WSOP

It took over 8 hours of intense final table action for the J88Poker Tour Main Event to complete.  When it did, it was local player Chi Hang reveling in all the glory. Chi spiked a lucky two-outer on the turn against Jin Ho Hong to capture NT$2,152,000 (~US$69,000), the J88PT champion’s golden bracelet, and a seat to the WSOP 2019 Main Event.

Final 9 recap

Chi Hang was impressive throughout. Prior to reaching today’s final 9, he entered Day 2 in the top ten out of the 134 players that advanced from the starting days. To close Day 2, he was third in the count.

Kicking off the final day, Hang quickly picked up the first pot, and it wasn’t a small one either. With progressive betting at every street, his full house bested Vincent Li’s (seat 5) full house on a board of . This sent Li down to 8bbs and was soon railed in 9th place by Patrick Liang with pocket tens over pocket sixes.

Entering the final day with a monstrous stack was Lin Yu Sheng. He padded that further by sending Sam Chen Yu Hung (8th) to the rail. It was a flip with Sam holding and Lin with the board running .

Before the next casualty, Hang shaved some towers off Sunny Jung to climb closer to the leader Lin. Hang had full house, Jung two pair, on a board . Jung would eventually fall to Liang but not before Ray Chiu sent Wu Chun Hui out in 7th place with dominating throughout.

Jung’s last hand was that lost to Liang’s on a board of . 

The five-handed round was a long one. During its three hour-run, Hang continued to climb, picking up pots off the leader Lin to send him down to earth. Short-stacked Chiu doubled up twice with pocket sixes holding up and his getting full pay from Liang on a board . Liang had . The all in was on the turn.

The table finally trimmed to four with Liang knocking out Lin (5th). Liang shoved on a board . Lin tanked then called for his tournament life with only to see Liang’s .

Down to four players, Liang led with one-third of the chips in play until he ran into a costly pot against Hong. Hong was all in on the turn holding set and Liang held draw. The river didn’t help Liang and Hong doubled up into the chip lead.  Despite Liang’s loss in chips, he was still way ahead of Chiu’s stack. Liang eliminated Chiu in 4th place with over on a board .

The three-handed round was a tough one for Liang. His stack was on a perpetual downturn and finally put it all in with that was called by Hong with . The board offered no help instead improving Hong to trips and Liang was out in 3rd place.

This left Jin Ho Hong up against Chi Hang for the title. Up for grabs was the top prize money, the bracelet, and the WSOP 2019 Main Event seat.

In the end it was Chi Hang who prevailed. The last hand was a dramatic two-outer spiked on the turn that sent Hang’s rail erupting. Hong with , Hang with , the final board . 

Congratulations to Chi Hang for his victory at the J88Poker Tour Main Event!

Final 9 Payouts

1st Chi Hang – Taiwan – NT$ 2,152,000 + WSOP 2019 Main Event ticket + golden bracelet
2nd Jin Ho Hong – Korea – NT$ 1,348,500
3rd Patrick Liang – Brazil – NT$ 832,000
4th Ray Yik Yin Chiu – Hong Kong – NT$ 631,200
5th Lin Yu Sheng – Taiwan – NT$ 459,100
6th Sunny Jung – Korea – NT$363,500
7th Wu Chun Hui – Taiwan – NT$ 287,700
8th Chen Yu Hung – Taiwan – NT$ 239,900
9th Vincent Li – Hong Kong – NT$ 192,100

Final Table Replay

Watch 2019 J88 Taiwan from 華人德州撲克俱樂部 on www.twitch.tv

The Main Event ran from March 30 to April 3 with 452 entries each one coughing up the NT$25,000 (~US$800) buy-in. This huge turnout doubled the advertised guarantee to a lucrative NT$10,170,000 (US$330,000). Day 2 saw pieces of the pot distributed starting with 54th place which was shared due to two players busting on the bubble round. The final 9 returned today and after 8 hours of competition, Chi Hang seized his first-ever live tournament victory and scored his largest win.

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More: J88Poker Tour Full Coverage

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Article by Tricia David