Jiang Chen Wins the PokerStars 2019 APPT Jeju High Roller (?61,895,000|$53,400)
The first ?6,000,000 High Roller event of the 2019 Asia Pacific Poker Tour Jeju is over, and it was a player with history in the series who managed to take it down.
Jiang Chen proved that he has what it takes to make the winner's circle during APPT's, although the previous two times the Chinese player final tabled he was unable to close out the win. During the 2019 APPT Korea he had a second place in the Super High Roller and a fourth place in the Main Event, but this time he was the one posing with the trophy.
Chen defeated his fellow countryman Hao Tian in the heads-up and won the biggest prize of the event, which was ?61,895,000 (~$53,400). Tian had to settle for second place and a consolation prize of ?42,782,000 (~$37,000).
Chen returned as the second biggest stack after Day 1 on his first and only bullet and managed to turn this into a final table appearance. Although he was left short during the final table, he built his stack up again and went on to close out the win.
However, this is not his biggest poker accomplishment. Chen is a proud winner of a WSOP gold bracelet after taking down a $1,000 NLH buy-in event in Las Vegas back in 2005 for a payday of $611,015. Actually, his win here ranks as the third biggest cash in his career, after the WSOP event and his second place in APPT Korea's Super High Roller, to bring his total live tournament winnings to over $855,000.
Final Result 2019 APPT Jeju ?6,000,000 High Roller
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (in KRW) | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jiang Chen | China | ?61,895,000 | $53,400 |
| 2 | Hao Tian | China | ?42,782,000 | $37,000 |
| 3 | Changyang Liu | China | ?27,308,000 | $23,560 |
| 4 | Xinglong Huang | China | ?20,936,000 | $18,070 |
| 5 | Shawn Busse | United States | ?16,385,000 | $14,140 |
| 6 | Lei Yu | China | ?12,744,000 | $11,000 |
Action of the day
Day 2 started with 18 players, 16 from Day 1 and two new registrations just before the beginning of Day 2. The first goal of the players was to secure a seat in the unofficial nine-handed final table. This happened when Hao He busted in a huge pot versus Changyang Liu who entered the final nine with a commanding lead. In order to achieve this, Liu had to spike a magic diamond in the river to make a flush, while Hao He had a top set.
On the final table, Wei Zheng was the first player to bust, losing a flip with nines against Hao Tian's ace-king, when an ace hit the flop. Vitaliy Kim was the next casualty, falling to Jiang Chen's top pair, top kicker, when his pair of deuces couldn't find a fourth club on the board to improve to a flush.
The bubble didn't last for long as Wei Huang lost a crucial flip with king-queen versus Shawn Busse's pocket pair of tens, and this way all remaining players laid their hands on the prizes.
When the official final table of six started, it looked like it could be anybody's game, with the shortest stack being Lei Yu with 30 big blinds and the biggest stack Liu with 60 big blinds. It took more than an hour for the first elimination in the money, and it was Lei Yu who shoved from the button with ace-deuce of hearts, only to see Jiang Chen call him with a pair of tens that held to take play five-handed.
Two bracelet winners were among the five finalists, and one of them fell in fifth place. The USA's Shawn Busse shoved from the button with ace-eight and saw Liu calling him from the small blind with queen-ten. A queen on the flop was enough to send Busse to the rail in fifth place.
The next casualty was Xinglong Huang who lost a flip with ace-eight versus Liu's pair of sevens, and had to settle for fourth place and a prize of ?20,936,000 (~$18,070).
The chipleader of Day 1 and during the biggest part of Day 2, was the player that finished in third place. Changyang Liu three-bet shoved with king-queen after Jiang Chen's raise, and the latter called with ace-ten. No kings or queens on the board and Liu was out in third place for ?27,308,000 (~$23,560).
When the heads-up started, Chen and Tian had almost similar stacks with around 40 big blinds each. Both players started reluctantly with mostly limping and checking but then Chen stepped up the aggression. He was shoving one hand after the other and suddenly Tian was left with less than 20 big blinds. In one of those shoves, Tian decided to call with king-five, but Chen was ahead with ace-nine.
He kept this advantage in an ace-high board and scooped the first High Roller title on offer at the 2019 APPT Jeju series.
That brings an end to the PokerNews updates for the first High Roller here in Jeju, but there is no time to rest since the Main Event is just around the corner. Day 1a of the Main Event will start at 12 p.m. on June 24, 2019, and the PokerNews team will be here for all the updates.