World Poker Tour is in Korea and has the winner of it’s headliner: China’s Yin Tao, who was part of a field 758 that generated a prize pool north of $1.7 million.
“What an incredible experience Jeju has been, from the player turnout to the celebrations and all-around atmosphere.” said WPT CEO Adam Pliska. “Thank you to our partner Jeju Shinhwa World for the exceptional hospitality and for putting on a world class event. And congratulations to Yin Tao for becoming our WPT Korea champion.”
The $2,643 (KRW 3,400,000) buy-in event paid out the top 95 finishers. The field surprised poker tournament officials at Jeju Shinhwa World, who had to add an extra day in order to get to a winner at a reasonable hour.
The 2018 champ of WPT Korea, Valeriy Pak, finished as runner-up.
Once three-handed, the players made a deal according to chip sizes (ICM), and that’s why third-place received more than first and second.
Final eight of WPT Korea
- Yin Tao – $232,667
- Valeriy Pak – $197,332
- Chao Ting Cheng – $251,595
- Jian Guo Shu – $115,545
- Chun Hao Zhang – $86,994
- Toshihide Sawada – $64,673
- Li Jiang Liu – $51,210
- Hong Zhu – $39,672
The WPT streamed the final table, and it’s available to watch on YouTube.
Steve O’Dwyer wins high-roller event
Steve O’Dwyer continued a very good 2023 with a victory in the WPT Korea Alpha8 for One Drop event, a $132,126 (KRW 170,000,000) tourney that attracted 18. He pushed his lifetime poker tournament winnings up over the $36 million mark with the win. A portion of the buy-ins went to the One Drop Foundation, a non-profit that helps provide clean water to communities in need.
He won $1 million.
O’Dwyer, the U.S.-born player based in Ireland, has cashed 16 times and made nine final tables in tournaments in Europe and Asia since January. This is his only victory on the year, but he does have another $1 million-plus cash after finishing third in a $100,000 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in May ($1,171,000).
O’Dwyer, 41, has been a formidable opponent on the high-roller tour since he won the HK$500,000 Asia Pacific Poker Tour high-roller event for $1,811,638 in November of 2014. Two months later, he scored his biggest lifetime cash in the $100,000 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for $1,872,580.
Since then, he’s won 10 events with buy-ins costing $50,000 or more.
