The PokerStars Live Asia Jeju Red Dragon kicked off in Korea this week with French pro Romain Arnaud (33) winning the $54,000 buy-in Super High Roller competition after besting a field of 44 entries that created a prize pool worth $2.25 million…the largest such pool yet for a PokerStars event in Korea.
Arnaud’s $668.000 pay day was his largest live tournament career earning yet, and was achieved despite the quality field of 30 players and 14 re-entries. The French pro is primarily a high stakes cash game player frequently seen at poker tables in Macau.
The heads up between Arnaud and fellow French player Rui Cao started when third placed Malaysian ace Michael Soyza busted out for $335,723, but there was minimal heads up activity as the duo immediately negotiated a chop that gave each $600,000 following a blind all-in shootout that left the title and the trophy for the winner.
The cards were with Arnaud, enabling him to claim the main prize whilst leaving Cao with a consolatory $619,000 second placing reward.