The start of final table action in the Pokerstars Asia Championship of Poker main event gave every indication that it would be a short-running affair as Korean ace and reigning ACOP champion Sunny Jung crushed all opposition and built on a formidable chip lead, but the contest turned out to be a 14 hour marathon of a fight which left the heads up opponents exhausted.
The main event attracted 291 entries, a 40 percent rise on last year, and generated a massive prize pool of HK$27,092,100.
When China’s Zuo “ST” Wang – who had been the short stack for most of the final table action – finally succumbed in third for HK$2,565,000 (US$330,850) the last two players standing were Jung and Canadian Gabriel Le Jossec, with Jung holding an almost two-to-one chip lead.
However the Canadian more than held his own to double up and turn the heads up into a tough fight that lasted until 5am the next morning, with the Canuck claiming the winner’s spoils of a $60,000 wristwatch, the prestige of his biggest ever win….and a pay-check worth HK$6,300,000 (US$812,000).
His very worthy opponent took home HK$4,250,000 (US$550,000).
Other final table pay-outs included:
Ami Barer (Canada) – HK$$2,025,000 (US$260,000)
Vladimir Troyanovskiy (Russia) – HK$1,620,000 (US$210,000)
Konstantin Pogodin (Russia) – HK$1,350,000 (US$175,000)
Joseph Cheong (USA) – HK$1,080,000 (US$140,000)
Raiden Kan (Hong Kong) – HK$813,100 (US$100,000)
Tore Lukashaugen (Norway) – HK$675,000 (US$88,000)
Sunday will see the finale of the ACOP HK$250,000 buy-in High Roller competition, which has pulled in a remarkable 83 registrations.