WPT Asia Online Series: Abhinav Iyer “OBellaCiao”, Loris51, DontWantARiver, BetAddict, Xiasong Zhu “zgheinan”, & clockmaker lift WPT trophies; China wins Nation’s Cup 1st Week Leaderboard; btones1 wins the freeroll

Another week of thrilling action at the WPT Asia Online Series taking place at online platform Natural8 – GG Network. Of the 17 remaining trophies, six were claimed this past week. Israel took home two – DontWantARiver and BetAddict -, two for China – Xiaosong Zhu “zgheinan” and Loris51 -, one for clockmaker and Abhinav Iyer “OBellaCiao” to give Singapore and India its first of the series. The week also wrapped up the WPT Asia Nations’ Cup 1st Week Leaderboard with China victorious.

11 trophies still up for grabs. Up and running are entry flights to the WPT Asia Mini Main Event HK$ 5 million guaranteed. All the information is provided below including recaps on the concluded events.

WPT Trophy #6: Short Deck Open – DontWantARiver – HK$ 30,936.10

The lone Short Deck trophy event clocked in at nearly six and a half hours until Israel’s DontWantARiver defeated China’s Tornadoaj for the coveted WPT title and trophy. This was Israel’s first win of the series. Running on a second bullet, DontWantARiver wrecked the hopes of five players at the final table to pocket the largest cut of HK$ 30,936.10 (~US$ 3,995) on a heads up deal. DontWantARiver also cashed at the WPT Side Events adding another HK$ 7,080 in winnings.

Buy in: HK$ 600 (~US$ 77)
Guarantee: HK$ 100,000 (~US$ 12,900)
Entries: 340
Prize pool: HK$ 187,680 (~US$ 24,200)
ITM: 47 places

The WPT Trophy #6: Short Deck Open attracted 340 runners to boost the prize pool from a guaranteed HK$ 100K to a larger HK$ 187,680 (~US$ 24,200). The event cruised in rapid pace and picked up more speed after the fall of Wilson Lim “@FickleFoxx” on the bubble. @FickleFoxx’s set was cracked by Hen Rosilio “GeorgeTheVet” straight on a board .

At three tables, Timothy Yim “Technologic” eliminated Benjamin Tan “RiverKillMe” (18th) then did the same to STGAO (17th). Short stacked players Best_Adam and Shota Nakanishi “shorta222” went head to head with the latter winning the race. WPT Trophy #1: Beat the Pros Bounty 3rd placer “whoareyou123” couldn’t hold on to reach the final table, instead lost in 15th place with pocket eights out flipped by yjyrz’s AJs that rivered the Ace. After two more fell on the wayside, Lecter denied GeorgeTheVet (12th) a second final table visit then railed tjyrz (10th) to carry in the largest stack to the final table. WPT Vietnam Championship runner-up Technologic was also in the lineup becoming the fourth player of the series to reach the final table twice.

First hand sent “shorta222” out, pushing with J9o on the button that failed to improve against bb Yoo Sin Kang “KangStar89” AQo. Next shove, LDD1990 was crippled after paying a double up to DontWantARiver then fell immediately after with DontWantARiver taking the rest. DontWantARiver continued to dominate, railing GratEGiGMaN (7th) to take the lead. Lecter (6th) couldn’t get much going despite entering the final table with the biggest stack and followed out at the hands of Tornadoaj. Short stacked dfish survived numerous shoves until DontWantARiver put an end to it with pocket Queens holding against AKo.

After a long four-handed round, Technologic’s set of Kings was not good enough to survive against Tornadoaj’s straight. DontWantARiver claimed a fourth victim in KangStar89 to face Tornadoaj at heads up ahead in the count. A deal was immediately reached for the money. The game resumed for the title and trophy. DontWantARiver captured it with full house to two pair on a final board .

Final table payouts

1st DontWantARiver – Israel – HK$ 30,936.10 (deal made)
2nd Tornadoaj – China – HK$ 29,420.21 (deal made)
3rd Yoo Sin Kang “KangStar89” – China – HK$ 18,780.56
4th Timothy Yim “Technologic” – Macau – HK$ 13,797.90
5th dfish – Israel – HK$ 10,137.21
6th Lecter – Singapore – HK$ 7,447.72
7th GratEGiGMaN – Japan – HK$ 5,471.77
8th LDD1990 – China – HK$ 4,020.07
9th Shota Nakanishi “shorta222” – Japan – HK$ 2,953.50

WPT Trophy #7: Zodiac Shooting Star Bounty – Xiaosong Zhu “zgheinan” – CN¥ 110,993.43

Lifting the 7th WPT trophy of the Asia exclusive Online Series was China’s Xiaosong Zhu “zgheinan” after dominating AlanYao at heads up. zgheinan shipped the CN¥ 59,044.18 first prize along with a sizable CN¥ 51,949.25 in bounties for a CN¥ 110,993.43 (~US$ 16,450) payday. This was zgheinan’s first cash of the series.

Buy in: CN¥ 1,050 (US$ 156)
Guarantee: CN¥ 388,000 (US$ 57,960)
Entries: 697
Prize pool: CN¥ 697,000 (US$ 104,100)
ITM: 98 places

The WPT Trophy ##7: Zodiac Shooting Star Bounty drew 697 to action to bump up the guarantee from CN¥ 388K to a substantial CN¥ 697,000 (US$ 104,100). Leading up to the final table with 12 remaining, JimyT took command after railing llllljy but dropped rank after doubling up both pdstgegege and bo2020. This gave AlanYao the leader’s status. AlanYao went on to rail NabyLad (10th) to bring in the largest stack and biggest bounty on his head at the final table.

Opening action was owned by Rickkk who railed Yaoming Huang “MY G63” (9th) and FATFINGER (8th). The next showdown led to a double up by pdstgegege against AlanYao. AlanYao lost another shove with zgheinan on the receiving end. This gave Rickkk the chip lead though briefly. JimyT eliminated DiKehTRoaN to grab control. With six remaining, JimyT picked up a big pot against AlanYao to create a wider lead however, it didn’t last. bo2020 doubled up with pocket Aces over JimyT’s pocket eights to have a turn at top position.

From there, zgheinan began to shine. On a flop of , zgheinan and JimyT were all in. zgheinan on a big draw, JimyT with top pair. The turn improved zgheinan to a flush and JimyT to top two pair. With the river , it was a double up for zgheinan and the chip lead.

zgheinan gained an even larger lead after finishing off JimyT (6th) when AQo paired both cards against pocket Jacks. AlanYao nearly met his end next but got lucky with KQs pairing the Queen to survive zgheinan’s AKo. pdstgegege also landed a double up against zgheinan but not costly enough for zgheinan to lose top rank. AlanYao ended bo2020 (5th), Rickkk bluff-shoved on the river with Ace high and was booted by zgheinan with two pair. Entering heads up, AlanYao had a slight lead (3.5 BB) against zgheinan after railing pdstgegege in 3rd place.

First heads up hand quickly switched the leadership with both players holding trips and zgheinan backed by a higher kicker. Several hands after, zgheinan scored another big pot with A8o pairing the 8 to overtake pocket sevens. The final hand soon arrived. Both players all in on a flop . AlanYao on a draw , zgheinan trips, the turn and river sealed the win and the WPT trophy for zgheinan.

Final table payouts

1st Xiaosong Zhu “zgheinan” – China – CN¥ 59,044.18 + CN¥ 51,949.25 bounties = CN¥ 110,993.43
2nd AlanYao – China – CN¥ 43,278.76 + CN¥ 14,601.56 bounties = CN¥ 57,880.32
3rd pdstgegege – China – CN¥ 31,732.21 + CN¥ 6,484.37 bounties = CN¥ 38,207.58
4th Rickkk – China – CN¥ 23,253.03 + CN¥ 12,929.69 bounties = CN¥ 36,182.72
5th bo2020 – China – CN¥ 17,044.37 + CN¥ 3,187.50 bounties = CN¥ 20.231.87
6th JimyT- Israel – CN¥ 12,493.49 + CN¥ 14,667.98 bounties = CN¥ 27,161.47
7th DiKehTRoaN – Israel – CN¥ 9,157.69 + CN¥ 3,078.11 bounties = CN¥ 22,235.80
8th FATFINGER – Singapore – CN¥ 6,712.53 + CN¥ 3,937.50 bounties = CN¥ 10,650.03
9th Yaoming Huang “MY G63” – China – CN¥ 4,920.28 +CN¥ 7,007.81 bounties = CN¥ 11,928.09

WPT Trophy #8: PLO Turbo – clockmaker – HK$ 16,661.47

Currently the fastest running event of the series was WPT Trophy #8: PLO Turbo completed in just 4 hours and 13 minutes. On a second bullet, Singapore’s “clockmaker” knocked out six players at the final table to claim the title, trophy, and HK$ 16,661.47 (~US 2,150). This was clockmaker’s first cash of the series. Runner-up PillBerkins became the fifth player to reach the final table for a second time.

Buy in: HK$ 400 (US$ 51)
Guarantee: HK$ 100,000 (US$ 12,900)
Entries: 273
Prize pool: HK$ 100,464 (US$ 12,960)
ITM: 39 places

Picking up the action at the final two tables with clockmaker already sitting on a massive lead. Chi Chung Ho “chipuker” (12th) fell to LuckBluffJase, teshaTriple7 (11th) and Demi0000 (10th) both tumbled to PillBerkins to form the final table with clockmaker still on top.

The final table was dominated by chip leader clockmaker who shipped six stacks on the road to victory. The first was Yusuke Fujita “Yu0826” (9th) followed by shaohan02 (7th) after PillBerkins railed zym@yyx in 8th place. Next on the chopping block was RUQOA (6th) for clockmaker to amass over half the chips in play. LuckBluffjase ended wwwfengxing (5th) then the rest went to clockmaker.

LuckBluffJase was stopped in 4th place, Wonil Yun “ForUandMe” doubled up PillBerkins before falling to clockmaker in 3rd place. Clockmaker and PillBerkins quickly struck a deal then played for the title and trophy. On the first hand, both were all in on a flop , PillBerkins with , clockmaker ahead with , the turn and river sealed the win for clockmaker. This was clockmaker’s first cash of the series. For runner-up PillBerkins, it was a deeper finish than the 6th place at the WPT Vietnam Championship.

Final table payouts

1st clockmaker – Singapore – HK$ 16,661.47
2nd PillBerkins – Turkey – HK$ 16,578.75
3rd Wonil Yun “ForUandMe” – Korea – HK$ 10,543.97
4th LuckBluffJase – Hong Kong – HK$ 7,841.77
5th wwwfengxing – China – HK$ 5,832.09
6th RUQOA – Japan – HK$ 4,337.44
7th shaohan02 – China – HK$ 3,225.85
8th zym@yyx – China – HK$ 2,399.14
9th Yusuke Fujita “Yu0826” – Japan – HK$ 1,784.28

WPT Trophy #9: WPT Philippines Championship – Abhinav Iyer ”OBellaCiao” – PHP 2,888,236.05

Well known Indian pro Abhinav Iyer “OBellaCiao” added another feather to his cap. In January 2019 he won the APT Vietnam Main Event, then that summer, he locked up his first WSOP bracelet in Las Vegas. This week, OBellaCiao claimed his first ever WPT title at the WPT Philippines Championship trophy event. For his achievement, he pocketed PHP 2,888,236.05 (~US$ 59,400), the added US$ 3,000 WPT Passport, and as a Natural8 winning player, a HK$ 10,000 WPT Live Event Sponsorship. To date, OBellaCiao has well over US$ 1 million in tournament earnings.

Buy in: PHP 80,000 (~US$ 1,650)
Guarantee: PHP 10,000,000 (~US$ 206,760)
Entries: 215
Prize pool: PHP 16,340,000 (~US$ 337,850)
ITM: 31 places

Numerous pros met their end before the money was reached. The list included Phachara Wongwichit, Pete Chen, Kosei Ichinose, Kitty Kuo, Li Kwun Ngai “Peleus34”, Wei Zhao, and WSOP 2020 Online bracelet winner Sung Joo Hyun “ArtePokerTV, to name a few. Timothy Yim “Technologic” fell on the bubble to influencer Mario Mosboeck with A10o dominating A7o. First to cash was India’s “darkroast” (31st) followed up the rung by Daniyar Aubakirov (24th), Josh McCully “thefreshest” (23rd), Ravid Garbi “jerbi9999” (19th), and Mohaiman Ashrafee (17th).

At 14 players left, OBellaCiao ended Kong Keat Ng “HoneyFunny” (14th), WPT Vietnam Championship winner Peiyuan Sun “fish3098” (13th) fell to WhiteChick, WSOP 2020 Online winner Kartik Ved “Mandovi” eliminated both imluckbox23 (12th) and DanceMonkey (11th), then Windriver emptied out wassa in 10th place to form the final table led by massive stacked OBellaCiao and Mandovi.

For OBellaCiao, it was his second final table appearance this series finishing 9th at the WPT Korea Championship. Also on a second final table visit was Vietnam’s “remyevy” who finished 4th at the earlier WPTDeepStacks.

On just the fifth hand of the final table, OBellaCiao denied Huu Dung Nguyen “remyevy” in 9th place. The next shoves saw Windriver (8th) fall to mrduckie, Mario Mosboeck double up through OBellaCiao, and ggu_ggu double up through Mandovi. ggu_ggu claimed another boost after delivering a bad beat bust to FacelessMan with pocket Queens pairing the Queen to crack pocket Aces. Another pocket Aces showed up, this time no bad beat as Mosboeck doubled up off mrduckie’s pocket Tens. Down to five bbs, mrduckie staged a strong comeback winning two shoves, however, not so fortunate for WhiteChick who three-bet shoved with pocket twos that fell to OBellaCiao’s pocket nines.

At five remaining, Mosboeck won two sizable pots, one off OBellaCiao and the other off Mandovi. With his big stack, Mosboeck proceeded to rail ggu_ggu (5th) to claim the lead with over half the chips in play. That lead vanished when he doubled up OBellaCiao (see pic below). OBellaCioa shoved on the river.

From there, OBellaCiao never relinquished. After Mandovi (4th) fell to mrduckie, OBellaCiao zoomed further by railing mrduckie (3rd) to face Mosboeck at heads up. A deal was reached and Mosboeck commented “battle for the trophy!”. The final hand came quick with Mosboeck bluff-shoving on a board that OBellaCiao tank-called with trips.

Final table payouts

1st Abhinav Iyer ”OBellaCiao” – India – PHP 2,888,236.05 (deal made)
2nd Mario Mosboeck – Austria – PHP 2,643,585.61 (deal made)
3rd mrduckie – Singapore – PHP 1,767,301.59
4th Kartik Ved “Mandovi” – India – PHP 1,320,356.05
5th ggu_ggu_ – Philippines – PHP 986,443.08
6th WhiteChick – Singapore – PHP 736,974.10
7th FacelessMan – Hong Kong – PHP 550,595.45
8th Windriver – Vietnam – PHP 411,352.87
9th Huu Dung Nguyen “remyevy” – Vietnam – PHP 307,322.51

WPT Trophy #10: Superstack Classic – BetAddict – HK$ 1,062,806.52

Great value at the Superstack Classic phased event that saw an overlay of around HK$ 227K. Needing 1,316 to reach the guarantee, it came short with 1,256 entering across 21 starting flights. Of the 169 final day qualifiers, 150 were guaranteed a piece of the HK$ 5,000,000 (~US$ 645,000) prize pool.

Buy in: HK$ 5,000 (~US$ 645)
Guarantee: HK$ 5,000,000 (~US$ 645,000)
Entries: 1,256
Prize pool: HK$ 5,000,000
Final Day Qualifiers: 169 players (~US$ 645,000)
ITM: 150 places

Kicking off the final day, only three players carried in massive stacks of over a million. The largest was xiao2er who exited in 77th place; third ranked P@tP@tP@ndo just missed the final table, finishing in 12th place; and second ranked Robert Glasspool “robdag83” entered the final table in 7th position, cashing out in 5th place. For Israel’s BetAddict, it was a 109th rank entering the final day to third position at the final table. 

Final table round-up

Every player at the final table was on their first visit this series. India’s Ankit Wadhawan “d00mtr00p3r” led with a commanding stack after railing two players simultaneously – Qoomame (11th) and P@tP@tP@ndo (12th). He was joined by known live tournament players Singapore’s Dingxiang Ong “dydgg66”, Israel’s Liran Machluf “brix” 2013 (Eureka Poker Tour Main Event champion), Korea’s Sang Yeon Hwang “alltimehigh”, Sriharsha Doddapaneni “Upswinger”, and Hong Kong’s Robert Glasspool “robdag83” who also railed two players at once – Kosei Ichinose (18th) and Kara Kumar “profishnal7” (19th).

After seven or so hours of play, the battle for the WPT glory and the handsome HK$ 1,062,806.52 (~US$ 137,130) first prize came down between d00mtr00p3r and BetAddict. Both players were looking to bring home a second trophy for their home country. In the end, BetAddict delivered a bad beat to lock it up. Final hand d00mtr00p3r min-raised, BetAddict called, the flop landed . d00mtr00p3r c-bet, BetAddict check-jammed covering d00mtr00p3r who then risked it with overpair. BetAddict showed bottom pair flush draw. BetAddict improved to trips on the turn and shipped it on the river .

BetAddict joined fellow countryman DontWantARiver in the champions circle. This was BetAddict’s second series cash with a 25th place finish at the WPT Korea Championship. It was also the single largest payout of all completed trophy events. For  runner up d00mtr00p3r, largest recorded career score of HK$ 728,234.53 (~US$ 94,000).

Among the notables in the money outside of the final table were Daniyar Aubakirov (27th), David Tai (30th), Kazuki Ikeuchi (31st), Gaurav Sood “Haversham” (38th), Phachara Wongwichit (57th), Timothy Yim “Technologic” (60th), Abhinav Iyer “OBellaCiao” (71st), Thomas Ward “readytoship” (75th), Vincent Li Kwun Ngai “Peleus34” (84th), Wei Zhao (90th), and Chi Chung Ho “chipuker” (133rd).

Final table payouts

1st BetAddict – Israel – HK$ 1,062,806.52
2nd Ankit Wadhawan “d00mtroop3r” – India – HK$ 728,234.53
3rd Dingxiang Ong “dydgg66” – Singapore – HK$ 498,986.53
4th Liran Machluf “brix” – Israel – HK$ 341,905.38
5th Robert Glasspool “robdag83” – Hong Kong – HK$ 234,273.74
6th Sang Yeon Hwang “alltimehigh” – Hong Kong – HK$ 160,524.34
7th Renji Mao “rickymao” – China – HK$ 109,991.28
8th mikisyomiki – Japan – HK$ 75,365.77
9th Sriharsha Doddapaneni “Upswinger” – India – HK$ 51,640.99

WPT Trophy #11: WPT Taiwan Championship – Loris51 – NT$ 1,685,452.54

The next National title was captured by China’s Loris51 who rose above the 319 runners of the WPT Taiwan Championship. Loris51 locked up the NT$ 1,685,452.54 (~US$ 58,400) first prize, the trophy, and the added US$ 3,000 WPT Passport.

Buy in: NT$ 30,000 (~US$ 1,025)
Guarantee: NT$ 3,500,000 (~US$ 119,600)
Entries: 319
Prize pool: NT$ 9,091,500 (~US$ 316,100)
ITM: 47 places

The race to the final table ran for over 8 hours. Once it formed, familiar faces were in the lineup. Vietnam’s Harry Duong “Harry1403” (WPT Trophy #1: Beat the Pros Bounty champion) was back at the final table for the third time and Upswinger and Loris51 in for their second visit. In charge was FlyDRuNkBEaR who denied Huu Dung Nguyen “remyevy” a third final table berth by booting remyevy out in 10th place.

On just the second hand, Nethanek Klein “natykkk” was downed by Upswinger. Despite the early fall, it was an improvement for natykkk who missed the final table at the Superstack Classic by one spot. Next hand, it was Atuana crashing with pocket fours behind Upswinger’s pocket Jacks. “Toilet Paper” nearly busted when pocket twos faced off against Harry1403’s pocket Tens. A deuce came on the flop to double up. On the flip side, Harry1403 dropped to 10 BB and lost it all to Lili Zhuang “austin”.

After a long six handed round, austin got lucky on Toilet Paper connecting on a double belly however for imluckbox23 it was the end with KQo dominated throughout by Loris51’s AKo. This gave Loris51 the lead. FlyDRuNkBEaR tumbled next with austin shipping it. More shoves followed sending heavy pots around the table. Upswinger got lucky with AJs all in called by Toilet Paper’s AQo that produced two Jacks on the flop then Toilet Paper busted to chip leader Loris51. Loris51 went on to rail Upswinger with pocket nines dominating pocket threes to enter heads up with a 5:1 advantage against austin. On just the second hand, it was all over. Both players were all in on a ten-high flop, Loris51 had the higher kicker that showed up on the turn. Austin was drawing dead.

Final table payouts

1st Loris51 – China – NT$ 1,685,452.54
2nd Lili Zhuang “austin” – China – NT$ 1,238,287.42
3rd Sriharsha Doddapaneni “Upswinger” – India -NT$ 909,758.68
4th Toilet Paper – China – NT$ 668,391.27
5th FlyDRuNkBEaR – Taiwan – NT$ 491,061.70
6th imluckbox23 – India – NT$ 360,778.79
7th Harry Duong “Harry1403” – Vietnam – NT$ 265,060.80
8th Atuana – China – NT$ 194,738.67
9th Nethanel Klein “natykkk” – Israel – NT$ 143,072.20

CHINA wins WPT Asia Nation’s Cup 1st Week Leaderboard

Alongside the WPT events was the WPT Asia Nation’s Cup Weekly Leaderboard. The first week ran from October 3 to 10. Although it was Kazakhstan’s Daniyar Aubakirov topping the charts, it was China taking the Nation’s Cup with five of the top 10 players in points hailing from the winning country. As a reward, 1,037 players from China earned a seat to the HK$ 50,000 (US$ 6,450) freeroll which took place on October 11. After a quick two hours and 41 minutes, player “btones1” shipped it for HK$ 7,350.29 (~US$ 950). “btones1” earned points at the WPT Side Event Daily Opener on October 7 which eventually led to a seat to the invitational freeroll.

The scoreboard is back to zero. The WPT Asia Nation’s Cup 2nd Week Leaderboard is up and running from October 11 to 17. The top 10 players will count for each country’s standings. Once added, the country with the most points wins the week’s leaderboard. Players who contributed a single point to the hosted country will earn a seat to the HK$ 50,000 freeroll.

Other Key Events

The WPT Asia Mini Main Event is currently ongoing with Day 1s running daily until the final race on Sunday, October 18 inclusive. For a buy-in of HK$ 1,000 (~US$ 129), players have a chance at the HK$ 5,000,000 (~US$ 645,000) guarantee. 7 of the 29 starting flights have been completed with 1,183 entries and 118 advancing. Among the top 15 were WPT champions Harry Duong “Harry1403” (WPT Trophy #1: Beat the Pros Bounty), China’s “zgheinan” (WPT Trophy#7: Zodiac Shooting Star Bounty) and Zhe Feng “jjsjsjjsj” (WPT Trophy #2: WPT DeepStacks).

Top 15 in chips

WPT Asia Main Event HK$10 Million GTD

The WPT Asia Main Event is the series headliner featuring a very rich and juicy HK$10 Million (~US$ 1.29 million) guarantee. This is the biggest Asia online tournament guarantee ever offered. Buy in is HK$10,000 (~US$ 1,290). It is a phased event with 22 Day 1s running starting October 18. Final Day is on Sunday, October 25 at 21:00 CST.

National Championship tournaments

Three National Championship tournaments remain. Each tournament will use the featured nation’s currency as buy in and guarantee. Champions of each will also receive an added US$ 3,000 WPT Passport.

• WPT Cambodia High Roller Championship: US$ 350,000 guarantee – US$ 3,500 buy-in – Sunday, October 18 at 20:00 CST – this high roller event has the largest buy in and guarantee of all the National Championship tournaments
• WPT Japan Championship: JP¥ 7,500,000 (~US$ 71,000) guarantee – JP¥ 30,000 (~US$ 285) buy-in – Tuesday, October 20 at 20:00 CST
• WPT Macau Championship: HK$ 2,000,000 (~US$ 258,000) guarantee – HK$ 3,500 (~US$ 450) buy-in – Sunday, October 25 at 20:00 CST

Stick with us at Somuchpoker as we bring you recaps on the ongoing series.