Stephane Blouin and John Lee win opening trophies; Charity check presentation; APT POS race update

The first two trophies of the inaugural APT Korea Seoul 2018 have been awarded to Stephane Blouin and John Young Lee for winning respective side events. Last night, Lee won the Ante Up for Charity event and earlier today, Blouin closed out the two-day Welcome Event.

Charity Event generates KRW 2M donation; John Young Lee claims the title

The Ante Up for Charity was the first event to conclude with John Young Lee besting the 20 player field. The event generated a donation of KRW 2,000,000 for the Welfare Policy Division Gwangjin-gu Office of the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Check presentation to Welfare Policy Dvision Gwangjin-gu Office

John Young Lee – Charity Event winner

Lee had an overwhelming stack at three-handed and opted to strike a deal. Below are the payouts:

1st John Young Lee – USA – KRW 1,500,000
2nd Isaac Russell – USA – KRW 1,058,500
3rd Tsuchiya Sho – Japan – KRW 1,058,500
4th Adrien Charles Choux – Hong Kong – KRW 383,000

Stephane Blouin wins the Welcome Event

The NLH Welcome Event returned today with the final four players vying for the title and the first hefty payout of the series. Canada’s Stephane Blouin stormed in eliminating all of his opponents to lift up the trophy and pocket the KRW 5,674,000 first prize.

Stephane Blouin – NLH Welcome Event winner

Going back to yesterday’s action, the event drew in 69 entries and at KRS 330,000 each, players were looking at a sizable prize pool of KRW 20,079,000. Out of that pie, 12 players were guaranteed a piece. After the bubble burst with Jeffrey Lee Haney delivering the axe, the story for the rest of the day revolved around Jinwoo Kim. For those who may not remember, Kim finished runner-up at APT Korea Incheon 2017 Main Event.

The story began with everyone in-the-money and Kim losing nearly all of his chips when his Q-10 shove fell to Gaynanov Artur’s Q-Q. Thinking he was covered, Kim was about to walk away when he was informed he still had 2.5 bbs remaining. He sat back down then doubled up three times. He later bad beat Junghee Kim with his K 10 turning two pair on a board of 5 10 3 K 2 against Junghee’s Q Q. Both players were all in on the flop.

Having claimed the chip lead, players at the table joked that they should have let Kim walk away. 

Kim continued his ascent eliminating Artur (8th) and eventually Haney in 5th place to close the day with a massive lead. 

Blouin dominates final day action

The final day was short and swift courtesy of Stephane Blouin. On the first hand, Blouin railed Yang Young Moon with K 9 over A 8 on a board of 5 10 8 7 9.

Three remaining, Blouin doubled up back-to-back through the chip leader Jinwoo Kim. The first win Blouin pushed with K-K on a board 9-8-7-9 and Kim called with 4-8. The river 3 was no help to Kim. The next hand saw both all in preflop; Kim with A-Q and Blouin with Q-Q. The ladies held sending Blouin’s stack through the roof. Thirteen hands later, Blouin eliminated Kim in 3rd place.

Heads up began with Blouin up 4:1 against Andrew Lunde. It only took seven hands for Blouin to close it out with his A 6 victorious over J 10. This is Blouin’s first APT title. He now leads the APT Player of the Series race.

Payouts
1st Stephane Blouin – Canada – KRW 5,674,000
2nd Andrew Lunde – Canada – KRW 3,783,000
3rd Jinwoo Kim – USA – KRW 2,615,000
4th Young Moon Yang – KRW 1,874,000
5th Jeffrey Lee Haney – USA – KRW 1,392,000
6th Lei Chen – China – KRW 1,072,000
7th Akash Patel – India – KRW 857,000
8th Gaynanov Artur – Russia – KRW 709,000
9th Han Tae Hoon – New Zealand – KRW 609,000
10th Junghee Kim – Canada – KRW 523,000
11th Ryuichi Utsunomiya – Japan – KRW 523,000
12th Taichi Ichikawa – Japan – KRW 448,000

APT Player of the Series race update

At every APT stop, players have a chance at winning the APT Player of the Series title. The top three players with the most points accrued at the end of the festival win special prizes. First place takes home the mother load – the APT POS trophy, APT POS ring, a customized watch, and USD 800. For 2nd and 3rd, they each receive a trophy and USD 100.

Here are the current top 5 race leaders after two events:

1 – Stephane Blouin – 289.13
2 – Andrew Lunde – 226.10
3 – Jinwoo Kim – 187.17
4 – Young Moon Yang – 162.47
5 – John Young Lee – 155.00