Xixiang Luo Captures APT Jeju Main Event Title, Korea's Largest-Ever Poker Tournament
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The Asian Poker Tour (APT) Jeju 2024 Main Event was a tournament to remember, breaking the record for the largest-ever poker tournament held in South Korea. By the time late registration closed on the last flight, some 1,083 players had bought in, creating a KRW 2,376,742,500 ($1,726,493) prize pool and a massive KRW 429,292,500 ($311,843) top prize.
The last player standing was Xixiang Luo, whose impressive victory propelled him into the top ten of China's all-time money list with $3,100,778 in career earnings. Luo cashed in eight APT Jeju 24 tournaments, never finishing lower than fourth, but his historic Main Event win stands out, not least because it earned him a career-best score.
APT 2024 Jeju Main Event Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize (KRW) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Xixiang Luo | China | KRW 492,292,500 | $311,843 |
| 2 | Jianfeng Sun | China | KRW 257,800,000 | $187,327 |
| 3 | Jason Wong | United Kingdom | KRW 181,580,000 | $131,902 |
| 4 | Jian Han | China | KRW 136,430,000 | $99,104 |
| 5 | Sergey Kim | Russia | KRW 104,340,000 | $75,794 |
| 6 | Mingchen Zhang | China | KRW 76,290,000 | $55,418 |
| 7 | Feng Chen | China | KRW 57,280,000 | $41,609 |
| 8 | Shih-Kai Lo | Taiwan | KRW 41,000,000 | $29,783 |
| 9 | Erdun Xu | China | KRW 31,970,000 | $23,223 |
The final day's play began with 15 players in the hunt for the title. The nine-handed final table was set when Kyung Min Lee's pocket nines lost a coinflip against the queen-ten of spades in the hand of Mingchen Zhang, busting Lee in tenth place.
Sergei Kim held a commanding lead going into the final table action, his 11,520,000 stack containing over 4 million more chips than the aforementioned Zhang.
The first finalist bowed out on the 18th hand of final table action. Erdun Xu open-shoved for 5.5 big blinds from late position with queen-ten and found himself against Luo and his pocket. Luo turned a seven-high straight to reduce the player count early into proceedings.
A battle of the short-stacks resulted in Shih-Kai Lo busting in eighth place. Jason Wong committed his last seven big blinds from the button with ace-ten of clubs, and Shih-Kai Lo called off a shorter stack in the big blind with king-nine of clubs. The board double paired, meaning Wong's ace-kicker played, and Lo was eliminated.
A few hands later, Feng Chen saw empty space where his chips once stood. Chen had lost all but two big blinds when his ace-king lost to Jianfeng Sun's pocket jacks, but had started to climb back up the chip counts with a couple of timely doubles. However, his comeback was cut short when his last four big blinds went into the middle with king-queen, and Sergei Kim called with ace-seven of hearts. Seven on the turn proved more than enough to send Chen home in seventh.
The final six became five when Zhang clashed with Sun in a battle of the blinds. With blinds now costing 200,000/400,000/400,000a, Sun moved all-in for 8,400,000 from the small blind, and Zhang called off his 5,200,000 stack from the big blind. It was king-four for Sun, king-nine of hearts for Zhang, but the former flopped two pair, which held to leave Zhang with no chips.
Start-of-the-final-table chip leader Kim was the next to fall but not until the blinds had again increased. Kim's final hand saw Luo min-raise to 1,000,000 with pocket jacks before calling the 7,100,000 jam from Kim, which he made with ace-eight. A king-high board failed to come to Kim's rescue, and he made his way out of the tournament area.
That hand gifted Luo the chip lead, but the 123rd hand of the final table all but handed him the title. With blinds now 300,000/600,000/600,000a, Jian Han moved all-in for 6,000,000 from the cutoff with ace-eight, Wong re-shoved for 9,500,000 fro the small blind with pocket queens, and Luo looked down at pocket tens in the big blind and made the call.
The deuce-four-three flop kept Wong's queens in front, with another four on the turn not altering the hand's course. The ten of clubs on the river improved Luo to a full house, busting Han in fourth and Wong in third during the same hand! Luo now held 33.8 million chips to Sun's 9.4 million stack.
Fifteen hands into heads-up play, it was all over. Luo shoved with ace-five, and Sun called off his 11.5 big blinds with the superior ace-nine. Luo spiked a five on the flop before the turn and river bricked to eliminate Sun in second place and leave Luo as the sole survivor and recipient of a KRW 429,292,500 ($311,735) prize and one of the coolest trophies in poker.
Breaking Down South Korea's Largest and Richest Poker Festival in APT History
The APT Jeju 2024 festival was the biggest and richest in South Korea in the tour's rich and storied history. The Landing Hotel & Casino, located in the luxurious Jeju Shinhwa Resort, was packed to the rafters throughout the festival as 954 unique players from 32 regions and countries generated a staggering 8,626 total entries. Tot up all those buy-ins, and you arrive at total prize pools worth KRW 12,331,911,624 or $9,098,270, which is quite phenomenal.
Although the Main Event accounted for almost 20% of the total festival prize money, several other tournaments enjoyed bumper crowds, with some setting new APT records.
The KRW 13,500,000 Super High Roller had KRW 500,000,000 guaranteed but ended up paying out KRW 831,872,000 ($604,694), while the KRW 7,000,000 APT High Roller was guaranteed to award KRW 650,000,000 but paid out KRW 1,204,255,000 ($886,596). Both prize pools set new records for similar APT events held in South Korea.
Other record-breaking events for APT tournaments in South Korea included the Natural8-sponsored Mystery Bounty Hunter, the Double Stack, the Sunday Super Stack, Korea National Cup, and the Mini Main Event. All in all, the APT Jeju 2024 festival was an incredible success, and will live long in the memories of everyone who attended.
What's Next for the Asian Poker Tour?
APT Jeju 2024 was the final stop of the current season, so the APT is heading on a short hiatus before embarking on a thrilling new season. Keep your calendars free between September 27 and October 7, 2024, because those are the dates that the Taipei Poker Classic 2024 takes place.
PokerNews will bring you more on the Taipei Poker Classic 2024 schedule closer to the festival.
