The Curse Is Broken: Jeremy Chan Transforms from Eternal Runner-Up to Champion
The tournament with a 15,000,000 KRW buy-in (approximately $10,700) attracted an elite field of 58 entries, creating a prizepool of 801,705,000 KRW (around $575,525).
The main hero of the day was Jeremy Je Min Chan, who finished second at this very venue a year ago. Since then, he lost another five heads-up matches, and only managed to break the curse of second places after a nearly three-hour final duel against Dutchman Michel Molenaar.
In the final hand, Chan with A c 3 c secured a nut flush on the board 9 c 8 h 2 s J c 2 c, knocking out Molenaar who went all-in on the river with A d J s. Besides the trophy, Chan took home 236,325,000 KRW and a ticket to the APT Championship in Taipei worth $10,000.
You can watch the key moments of the final day in the livestream replay on the Asian Poker Tour channel:
Final Table Results of Event #22 Super High Roller - 8 Max:
|
Place |
Player |
Country |
Winnings (KRW) |
Winnings (USD) |
|
1. |
Jeremy Je Min Chan |
Malaysia |
236,325,000 |
169,650$ |
|
2. |
Michel Molenaar |
Netherlands |
170,950,000 |
122,720$ |
|
3. |
Peng Chen |
China |
110,290,000 |
79,175$ |
|
4. |
Chih Wei Fan |
Taiwan |
83,500,000 |
59,940$ |
|
5. |
Martin Sedlak |
Germany |
64,600,000 |
46,375$ |
|
6. |
Nevan Chang |
Taiwan |
50,420,000 |
36,195$ |
|
7. |
Reoma Ogawa |
Japan |
40,180,000 |
28,845$ |
|
8. |
Yuya Arito |
Japan |
31,510,000 |
22,620$ |
From Tourist to Unexpected King: Tomoya Tsubouchi Dominates Record Field
The festival's opening event made history with a record 709 entries. The original guarantee was more than doubled, and the final prizepool reached 409,459,411 KRW.
The champion, Tomoya Tsubouchi, was only playing his second poker tournament outside of Japan. Tsubouchi came to Korea on vacation with friends, and now returns home with a trophy and a prize of 78,109,411 KRW.
He dominated the final table and ended the tournament with a remarkable 3-way all-in, knocking out both remaining opponents in one hand thanks to a runner-runner straight.
Final Table Results of Event #1 Korea National Cup:
|
Place |
Player |
Country |
Winnings (KRW) |
Winnings (USD) |
|
1. |
Tomoya Tsubouchi |
Japan |
78,109,411 |
55,420$ |
|
2. |
Phuong Ngoc Nguyen |
Vietnam |
47,710,000 |
33,850$ |
|
3. |
Ian Rudolph |
USA |
34,090,000 |
24,185$ |
|
4. |
Ogura Ryushin |
Japan |
25,810,000 |
18,310$ |
|
5. |
Naoki Yamashita |
Japan |
20,540,000 |
14,575$ |
|
6. |
Koji Komatsu |
Japan |
15,770,000 |
11,190$ |
|
7. |
Jin Yoojin |
South Korea |
11,400,000 |
8,090$ |
|
8. |
Ryusuke Kosugi |
Japan |
7,780,000 |
5,520$ |
|
9. |
Chaopeng Chen |
China |
6,180,000 |
4,385$ |
Sources: SoMuchPoker, YouTube