APT Main Event - Final Day - KRW 2,000,000,000 GTD

Xixiang Luo

China's Xixiang Luo cemented his name in the history books by winning the historic APT Main Event for a staggering payout of KRW 429,292,500 (~$311,735). Luo overcame his countrymate Jianfeng Sun heads-up in what was South Korea's largest-ever poker tournament which saw the runner-up bank KRW 257,880,000 (~$187,260) for his efforts.

The field of 1,089 entries (583 unique) generated a prize pool of KRW 2,376,742,500 (~$1,726,125) and set a new APT country record as the richest tournament to be held in South Korea in the tour's history.

APT Host Hsiao-Chin "Elfin" Lin had a chance to speak to Luo after his momentous victory.

"I've been on a bit of a downswing for the past two months, but this APT series has been quite successful." replied an elated Luo after he was asked how he felt.

Luo had plenty to say about the mixed games on offer at the APT.

"Also, I want to promote mixed games – they are so much fun, and APT offers them every day. They all have low buy-ins which makes them a great learning opportunity for anybody."

Lin asked Luo what he had been listening to through his earphones whenever there was a break.

"Actually, I'm watching the live stream to see how other players are playing. It's been a long time since I've been this serious. I never used to watch but ten years ago I told myself I would win a Main Event within 40 years. Ten years have passed, and I've completed the task 30 years ahead of schedule. Yes! I said ten years ago, that it might take 40 years to win the Main Event, and now I have achieved this."

It truly is an incredible feat to win such a prestigious event and with this victory, Luo climbed into the top ten on China's All-Time Money List and now has over $3,000,000 in live tournament earnings.

The day got underway with 15 players ready to engage in battle with all eyes firmly locked on the life-changing payouts and the APT Gold Lion Trophy. Russia's Sergei Kim held the chip lead at the start of play and Chuanshu Chen was the short stack with just eight big blinds.

Before Chen could even warm his seat up he was heading to the payout desk as in the very first hand dealt he was eliminated at the hands of Sun. The eliminations were coming thick and fast as Kim eliminated both Phanlert Sukonthachartnant of Thailand and Hong Kong's King Lai in quick succession shortly thereafter to leave the remaining players within touching distance of the final table.

As the final table loomed, tensions began to rise as the pay jumps started to increase dramatically and the ICM implications began to have more of an effect with thousands of dollars on the line. The field thinned down further with the elimination of Chang Liu and Taiwan's Kai Hsu in a matter of moments.

The unfortunate title of Main Event Bubble Boy belongs to Kyung Min Lee after he called a shove with pocket nines and lost a flip to the popular Mingchen Zhang who held queen-ten.

Kyung Min Lee bubbles the APT Main Event final table

By the time the final table got underway, Kim had extended his lead and held over a quarter of the chips in play, which put him well clear of Zhang who sat second in the counts. It was the eventual champion who could have been the first player to be eliminated from the final table when his ace-king was flipping against the pocket jacks of Jian Han. Luo didn't need to sweat the runout for long as he flopped trips and turned a full house to secure the double-up and climb up the rankings.

China's Erdun Xu came into the final table with the shortest stack and never managed to ladder up the payouts as his queen-ten lost a flip to Luo's pocket sixes which left him out in ninth for a career-best score of KRW 31,970,000 (~$23,225).

Feng Chen and Han then played out a hand that included a controversial slowroll with the nuts. Han turned a set with pocket aces and was facing a shove from Chen who had turned two pair with ace-six, but no immediate call came from Han who had nothing to fear on the board as he held the best possible hand. Eventually, Han put the chips in and secured a double-up at the expense of his countrymate who was drawing dead. We will never know if it was a friendly slowroll amongst friends or an act of retribution, but it certainly didn't look good.

Shih-Kai Lo

Shih-Kai Lo was eliminated next after his king-nine never improved against the ace-ten of Jason Wong which left the Taiwanese player out in eighth for KRW 41,000,000 (~$29,785) — also a career-best payout.

A cooler then went Zhang's way as his pocket aces doubled through the Big Slick of Han which put him second on the leaderboard.

Chip leader Kim then extended his lead at the top by sending Chen to the rail in seventh. Chen had shoved all in with king-queen but was behind the entire way against Kim's ace-seven which left him with a payout of KRW 57,280,000 (~$41,600) for his deep run.

Kim had almost half of the chips in play and seemed destined to win the title as nobody offered any resistance against the Russian player's aggression. However, things turned south in the blink of an eye as he lost pot after pot and suddenly relinquished the chip lead for the first time on Day 4.

Mingchen Zhang

It was Sun who took over as the table captain after he shoved king-four and got called by the king-nine of Zhang. A king-six-four flop improved Sun to two pair and Zhang couldn't find any help on the turn or river which meant his run was over in sixth for KRW 76,290,000 (~$55,400).

It was Wong's turn to rise from the ashes and take his turn at the top of the counts as he stormed into the chip lead after calling a shove from Sun in a blind-vs-blind situation. Wong's ace-eight managed to hold against Sun's king-nine which sent the British player to the top of the pack with five players remaining.

Luo was all in and at risk again with king-queen against the ace-eight of Sun. After flopping an open-ended straight draw, Luo drilled Broadway on the turn which kept him alive.

Sergei Kim

The start-of-day chip leader Kim then had his Main Event journey cut short after he shoved all in with ace-eight over the open-raise of Luo, who immediately called with pocket jacks. No ace appeared on the board which meant Kim was eliminated in fifth and collected KRW 104,340,000 (~$75,770) for his efforts.

Sun was all in with ace-nine against the queen-ten of Luo with four players remaining but once again the board favored the shorter-stacked player and Sun survived.

A pivotal hand then played out which included three players and two eliminations in extraordinary fashion with Luo being the beneficiary. Han shoved all in with ace-eight and Wong shoved behind with pockets queens, then Luo looked down at pocket tens and made the call which created a three-way all-in pot. It seemed as if Wong was going to take a giant chip lead but a ten on the river meant Luo scooped the entire pot and knocked out two players in the same hand. Han picked up KRW 136,430,000 (~$99,080) for fourth and Wong banked KRW 181,580,000 (~$131,865) for third as he had more chips to start the hand.

Jianfeng Sun

Luo took an over three-to-one chip lead into heads-up play and the two players kept exchanging shoves which kept the stacks at a similar size until the final hand of the Main Event. Sun had looked down at ace-nine and called the shove of Luo who held ace-five. A five on the flop paired Luo and that was enough to see him win the title as Sun couldn't catch a nine on the turn or river which meant he had to settle for second and the KRW 257,880,000 (~$187,260) runner-up prize.

Xixiang Luo and his entourage celebrate winning the APT Main Event

Congratulations to Luo on his win and the hefty KRW 429,292,500 (~$311,735) winner's purse.

Xixiang Luo celebrates the winning moment

Xixiang Luo has won the APT Main Event for KRW 429,292,500 (~$311,735).

A full recap of the day's action will follow shortly.

Jianfeng Sun

Jianfeng Sun has been eliminated in 2nd place for KRW 257,880,000 (~$187,260).

Hand 138 Xixiang Luo shoved all in and Jianfeng Sun called off his stack of around 7,000,000 chips.

Luo A♦ 5♥

Sun A♥ 9♦

Luo had a chance to win the title but needed to come from behind if he wanted to get his hands on the trophy. Sun had a fantastic opportunity to double up and claw some chips back from his opponent.

Sun's plans for a double-up were quickly crushed as the T♦ Q♦ 5♣ flop gave Luo a pair of fives and a big lead in the hand.

No help arrived for Sun on the 3♣ turn which meant he had one chance to hit a nine otherwise he would be the runner-up.

The dealer didn't make them sweat as she quickly revealed the K♠ river which meant Sun had been eliminated in 2nd place.

Hand 134 Xixiang Luo limped in and Jianfeng Sun checked. On the 9♠ 8♣ J♠ flop, Sun checked, Luo bet 1,400,000, and Sun called. An A♠ fell on the turn and Luo shoved all in, Sun quickly folded.

Hand 135 Sun limped in and Luo checked. A J♠ 8♥ 6♦ flop saw Luo check-fold to a bet of 600,000 from Sun.

Hand 136 Luo limped in and Sun shoved. Luo folded.

Hand 137 Sun limped in and Luo checked. A flop of T♥ 9♠ 6♣ went check-check to an A♦ turn. Luo check-called a bet of 700,000 from Sun. An 8♥ hit the river and Luo led out for 1,100,000, which Sun called. Luo tabled T♣ 7♥ for a rivered straight and Sun mucked.

Xixiang Luo

Hand 129 Jianfeng Sun limped in and Xixiang Luo raised to 1,800,000, Sun folded.

Hand 130 Luo limped in and Sun raised to 1,800,00, Luo folded.

Hand 131 Sun limped in and Luo checked his option. The flop came 2♠ T♦ J♣ and Luo check-called Sun's bet of 600,000. A K♥ fell on the turn which Luo checked, Sun bet 1,800,000, and Luo folded.

Hand 132 Luo limped in and Sun shoved all in. Luo folded.

Hand 133 Sun raised to 1,200,000 and Luo shoved all in. Sun folded.

Hand 124 Xixiang Luo raised to 1,300,000 and Jianfeng Sun called from the big blind. On the 3♠ 4♠ K♦ flop, Sun check-folded to a bet of 1,700,000 from Luo.

Hand 125 Sun limped in and Luo shoved all in. Sun folded.

Hand 126 Luo limped in and Sun shoved for 6,300,000. Luo folded.

Hand 127 Sun limped in and Luo checked his big blind. On the 4♥ 2♠ 3♣ flop, Luo checked, Sun bet 900,000, and Luo folded.

Hand 128 Luo limped in and Sun checked. On the 8♠ 2♥ 2♣ flop, both players checked to the Q♠ turn. Sun led for 1,300,000 and Luo folded.

Here's a reminder of the payouts for the final two.

Play will resume shortly.

Jianfeng Sun (left) & Xixiang Luo (right)

Here are the chip counts going into heads-up play and it's Xixiang Luo who holds a 3-to-1 advantage.

Xixiang Luo consoles Jason Wong

What a brutal beat that was for Jason Wong.

The only good news is that he did make the pay jump as he had more chips than Jian Han, but that river card will surely haunt him for a while.