The APPT Korea is currently playing out at Paradise City Resort in Incheon, South Korea, and the hero of the series right now is Japan’s Yuki Ko, who’s won two major titles in just over eight hours.
Revenge is Sweet
In the 2017 PokerStars Festival Korea Main Event, the title came down to Ko and New Zealand’s Tae Han. It was Han who prevailed in the heads-up match to win $73,954. In this year’s APPT Korea National Event, which attracted 225 runners, it was the same two battling it out, and this time the 25-year-old Ko exacted his revenge.
“I’ll never forget about the heads-up match we played last time,” Ko told PokerStars officials. “From the moment we both made it to the final table, I’ve been excited about imagining that we might get into the same situation again.”
In the final hand of the tournament, which took place in Level 26 (25,000/50,000/5,000), Han raised the button to 110,000 holding the A♣6♥ and Ko three-bet to 325,000 with the A♥K♣. Han went ahead and moved in for 1.9 million and Ko snap-called. The board ran out A♠K♥9♦2♠2♣ and Han got a taste of what it’s like to finish runner-up.
Not only did Ko win ₩33,835,000 ($31,622) for the victory, he was awarded a PSPC Platinum Pass worth $30,000.
Prior to the win, Ko had $349,566 in live tournament earnings, including a career-high of $112,011 for finishing ninth in the 2016 Aussie Millions Main Event.
Final Table Results
1 Yuki Ko (Korea) ₩33,835,000 ($31,622)
2 Taehoon Han (New Zealand) ₩22,100,000 ($20,632.42)
3 Simon Burns (UK) ₩14,225,000 ($13,280.37)
4 Pete Chen (Taiwan) ₩11,053,600 ($10,319.57)
5 Sheng Li (China) ₩8,980,000 ($8,383.67)
6 Jaebok Ryu (Korea) ₩7,250,000 ($6,768.55)
7 Kunimaro Kojo (Japan) ₩5,870,000 ($5,480.19)
8 Masakazu Okamoto (Japan) ₩4,490,000 ($4,191.83)
9 Genki Okamoto (Japan) ₩3,455,000 ($3,225.57)
Back-to-Back Yuki Ko
After winning the APPT Korea National, Ko immediately jumped into the Single Day High Roller and won that too. This time he squared off against China’s Wenling Gao, who was coming off a fifth-place finish in the APPT Macau High Roller for $154,832.
Gao began the heads-up match at a chip disadvantage and took a big hit right out of the gate when Ko hit a full house. In the final hand, Gao was all in preflop holding the K♦7♥ against the Q♠10♠ of Ko. The 2♠8♦5♦ flop kept Gao out in front as did the 9♦ turn. However, the J♥ spiked on the river to give Ko a straight and his second win in a little over eight hours.
“I’ve been playing live tournaments for seven years and the APPT National actually brought me my first hold’em trophy, which I thought was a miracle,” said Ko after his second victory. “I’m satisfied with my play in the two tournaments.”
The APPT Korea continues this weekend with a ₩350,000 ($325) Main Event, which guarantees a ₩300,000,000 ($280,078) prize pool. There will be a random Platinum Pass draw at the start of Day 2 of the APPT Main Event.
High Roller Final Table Results
1 Yuki Ko (Korea) ₩66,400,000 ($61,990)
2 Wenling Gao (China) ₩48,020,000 ($44,831)
3 Linh Tran (Canada) ₩30,980,200 ($28,922)
4 Soichiro Kojiya (Japan) ₩23,460,000 ($21,902)
5 Jia Tang (China) ₩18,150,000 ($16,944)
6 Shoma Sude (Japan) ₩14,165,000 ($13,224)
7 Bryan Huang (Singapore) ₩11,290,000 ($10,540)
8 Fumihiro Tomura (Japan) ₩8,850,000 ($8,262)
