While nearly every land-based poker outfit was grounded during the pandemic, Ace Poker League, formerly known as Asia Poker League, was busy turning up the heat in Korea. With live games allowed to run, albeit on and off, the brand delivered numerous lucrative events featuring prize pools irresistible to the gathering masses. A few days ago, another high octane festival wrapped up with the APL 2022 City Series – Seoul packing The K-Hotel from October 7 to 11. In the aftermath, it awarded ten champions and paid out well over a million US dollars. Here are the highlights.
Festival review
Festival prize pool: KR₩ 1,540,000,000 (~US$ 1,074,920)
Events: 10
Main Event entries: 1,250
Main Event prize pool: KR₩ 1,000,000,000 (~US$ 697,590)
Multiple final tables: Hwang Jaeyeol (2) and Han Sangjin (2)
Park Kangkeun wins the Main Event for KR₩ 200,000,000 (~US$ 139,515)
On the last weekend of August, the APL 2022 City Series kicked off its six weekend tour to give players a chance to qualify into Day 2 of the Main Event. On October 7, the games officially opened at The K-Hotel with two Day 1 starters scheduled. A mix of locals and international players lined up for a seat but with the 1,250 entry cap quickly reached, this left many disappointed and missing out on the hefty KR₩ 1,000,000,000 (~US$ 697,590) prize pool.
After two days of eliminations, local player Park Kangkeun emerged victorious for his first known live career poker takedown. Park overcame seasoned pro Tae Hoon Han to capture the trophy and the KR₩ 200,000,000 (~US$ 139,515) first prize. He also earned the title of biggest earner. This was Park’s second ever tracked cash having first ran deep in late-July at the WFP Main Event in Korea, finishing 4th for KR₩ 55,000,000. As for runner up Han, he still walked away with a decent purse of KR₩ 130,000,000 (~US$ 90,690).
Top ten payouts
1st
Park Kangkeun
KR₩ 200,000,000
2nd
Tae Hoon Han
KR₩ 130,000,000
3rd
Heon Wook Jeong
KR₩ 90,000,000
4th
Lyon A
KR₩ 68,000,000
5th
Hwang Jaeyeol
KR₩ 50,000,000
6th
Lee Kyunghwan
KR₩ 36,000,000
7th
Lee Gil Ho
KR₩ 26,000,000
8th
Lee Hwamin
KR₩ 18,000,000
9th
Tomoki Terashina
KR₩ 13,500,000
10th
Kwok Sun Ho
KR₩ 10,000,000
Super High Roller: JIMMY CHA – KR₩ 42,000,000 (~US$ 29,300)
Since March, Korean-American Jimmy Cha has been picking up numerous cashes on the live Korean felt and over the weekend, he was awarded the Super High Roller win after a heads up deal with Jung Yoonsu. Out of the KR₩ 170,000,000 guaranteed prize pool, Cha pocketed the larger KR₩ 42,000,000 (~US$ 29,300) and 2nd placer Yoonsu collected a slightly less KR₩ 40,000,000 (~US$ 27,900).
1st
Jimmy Cha
KR₩ 42,000,000*
2nd
Jung Yoonsu
KR₩ 40,000,000*
3rd
Park Younghee
KR₩ 25,000,000
4th
Wonchul Bae
KR₩ 17,600,000
5th
Jeon Chang Bum
KR₩ 13,600,000
6th
Niwa
KR₩ 10,500,000
7th
Lee Hyunseong
KR₩ 8,500,000
8th
Ko Seunghun
KR₩ 6,800,000
9th
Murayama Yuki
KR₩ 6,000,000
*Heads up deal
Ladies Event fills up all 75 seats with no re-entries; KIM JUYEON wins
Ladies events are always a challenge for organizers as they tend to bring in small numbers however not the case at the APL 2022 City Series – Seoul. At the Queens Event, the ambitious 75 max entry was quickly claimed without needing any re-entries. Player Kim Juyeon won the lion’s share of KR₩ 18,000,000, walking way with a cool KR₩ 5,300,000 (~US$ 3,700).
Super Stack: CHI JEN CHEN – KR₩ 17,050,000 (~US$ 11,890)
Taiwanese player Chi Jen Chen is not just winning titles on home soil, he also landed one at the Super Stack event in Seoul after a three way deal. The event generated one of the largest crowd of the series with 30 players earning a piece of the KR₩ 120,000,000 (~US$ 83,710) prize pool. The largest chunk went to Sumin Jang (KR₩ 21,300,000) followed by Yang Jiho (KR₩ 18,100,000) and champion Chen who took home KR₩ 17,050,000 and the trophy.
Other Events:
Mystery Bounty – KR₩ 54,000,000 gtd – KIM WOOJIN – KR₩ 8,630,000 (~US$ 6,020)
Pot Limit Omaha – KR₩ 20,000,000 gtd – RON TSE – KR₩ 6,600,000 (~US$ 4,600)
Teams Event – KR₩ 44,000,000 gtd – APL DEALER TEAM – KR₩ 8,000,000 (~US$ 5,580)
NLH Turbo – KR₩ 25,000,000 gtd – KWAK JUN HO – KR₩ 6,300,000 (~US$ 4,395)
The End Game – KR₩ 45,000,000 gtd – DUYEON JEONG – KR₩ 8,000,000 (~US$ 5,580)
Charity Event – KR₩ 44,000,000 gtd – WONGOOK CHOI – KR₩ 12,000,000 (~US$ 8,370)
*KR₩ 5,000,000 donated to charity
*All images courtesy of APL
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