HomeThe APT Korea Championships 2018 at Paradise City in Incheon awarded the festival’s first few winners today with Sungha Kim winning the NLH Welcome Event, Simon Cho dominating the Head Hunter, and Okina Takayuki besting fellow mates at the Charity Event. Congratulations on all the early winners!
Sungha Kim wins the Welcome Event
Sungha Kim, NLH Welcome Event winner
The NLH Welcome Event was the first APT event in Korea to officially kick off the Ante BB format. Action resumed from an overnight break with the final 8 players out of the 46 total entrants back at the felt. Since the bubble was already breached last night, today’s game was about capturing the bragging rights first title of the series.
Action got underway with Sungha Kim bringing in the largest stack of 166,500. The only other player in the six-digits with him was second position Lam Cheuk Nam with 105,500. But between the two, it was Lam wreaking havoc early.
Lam eliminated Edward Chung (8th) with J♥ J♣ over A♦ Q♠; John Paul Marshall (7th) with 3-3 over Q-8; and Fokin Valeriy (6th) with A♠ 10♦ over A♣ 6♠.
Lam Cheuk Nam
Next to fall was Inotsume Kazuya (5th). Kazuya was short-stacked entering the day and stayed that way throughout until he was practically drained out of chips.
Prior to the next elimination, Kim scooped up a big pot against Lam with A♠ K♦ top pair on a board of K♥ 4♣ 5♦ J♦ 6♠. Lam mucked and Kim claimed nearly half of the chips in play.
Sungha Kim
Aleksei Kan delivered the next casualty sending fellow countryman Aleksandr Cherepov out in 4th place with J♠ J♦ over 10♠ 10♦. After a few hands, the final three agreed on an ICM deal that would leave ₩300,000 and the trophy up for grabs..
When action resumed, Kan jumped out in uber-aggressive mode. He raised and shoved repeatedly until he was finally called by the leader Kim. Kim had A♠ K♥ and Kan with Q♠ 6♥. The board ran 6♣ 6♦ J♥ K♠ 10♣ for lucky trips to Kan and a double up. This awarded him the chip lead for the first time all day.
Aleksei Kan
Kan continued on the offensive until he met Kim once again in another all in preflop. Kan had 9♥ 9♠ and Kim A♦ 5♥. This time it was Kim’s turn to suck out with 3♦ 5♠ 3♠ 5♦ 2♠ full house. Kan proceeded to rail Lam in 3rd place with A-Q over K-10 to enter heads up against Kim with a 3.5:1 advantage.
Kan’s lead wouldn’t last though. Kim doubled up twice; the first was with A-K over 10-7, then the next was on a very lucky river card. Kim was all in on a flop 2♥ 6♣ 8♠ with Q♠ 8♣ top pair while Kan held J♦ J♣ overpair. The turn 7♥ was blank but the river 8♥ gave Kim trips and the chip lead. Shortly after, Kim shut the door on Kan with Q-7 over 8-7 on a final board that ran 4-A-9-6-7.
With this victory, Kim takes the helm in the APT Player of the Series race.
Payouts
Prize pool: ₩13,386,000 – Buyin: ₩330,000 – Entries: 46
1st Sungha Kim – Canada – ₩3,390,000 (deal made)
2nd Aleksei Kan – Russia – ₩2,643,000 (deal made)
3rd Lam Cheuk Nam – Hong Kong – ₩2,825,000 (deal made)
4th Aleksandr Cherepov – Russia – ₩1,408,000
5th Inotsume Kazuya – Japan – ₩1,064,000
6th Fokin Valeriy – Russia – ₩832,000
7th John Paul Marshall – USA – ₩670,000
8th Edward Chung – USA – ₩554,000
Simon Cho wins the Bounty tournament
Simon Cho, Head Hunter winner
The Head Hunter event may have only attracted 39 gunners but hidden within that mix was an executioner by the name of Simon Cho. Cho knocked out an astounding 10 players and earned ₩100,000 for each one of them. Cho went on to win the whole shebang, railing Tomoharu Furuya at heads up.
The final hand saw Cho push with 9♥ 8♠ and Furuya call for his tournament life with K♦ 8♥. The board ran J♥ 3♣ 7♣ 10♣ Q♠ for a winning straight.
Head Hunter – ITM
Payouts
Prizepool: ₩11,232,000 – Buyin: ₩440,000
1st Simon Cho – USA – ₩3,819,000
2nd Tomoharu Furuya – Japan – ₩2,456,000
3rd Junichi Nakagiri – Japan – ₩1,665,000
4th Junghee Kim – Canada – ₩1,185,000
5th Shigeho Yoshioka – Japan – ₩881,000
6th Tsao Wingfung – Hong Kong – ₩681,000
7th Aleksandr Cherepov – Russia – ₩545,000
Okina Takayuki wins the Charity Event
Okina Takayuki, Charity event winner
The APT would like to thank everyone that attended the Charity event. Your contribution will greatly help the Dicha Hill Children’s Home, an orphanage in Korea for the abandoned and orphaned youth.
Payouts
1st Okina Takayuki – Japan – ₩1,596,000
2nd Shimizu Masato – Japan – ₩784,000
3rd Inoue Hideyuki – Japan – ₩420,000
Charity Donation: ₩1,400,000
Events on Friday, August 10
13:00: MAIN EVENT (Day 1A)– Buyin: ₩1,100,000 (Full info here)
14:00: Pot Limit Omaha Hi 1 – Buyin: ₩330,000
17:00: Last Main Event Satellite – Buyin: ₩240,000 (one seat per 5 players)
Full APT Korea Championships 2018 schedule