Masato Yokosawa Wins World Poker Tour Korea Main Event for $100,000
The World Poker Tour's inaugural event on Korean soil has come to a close! The WPT Korea at Ramada Plaza Jeju crowned its champion on Thursday as Masato Yokosawa conquered the final table of six to claim the $100,000 in first-place prize money.
WPT Korea Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Masato Yokosawa | $100,000 |
| 2 | Chris Park | $60,700 |
| 3 | Hyunshik Hun | $38,500 |
| 4 | Kosei Ichinose | $28,500 |
| 5 | Jae Kyung Sim | $21,400 |
| 6 | Chane Kampanatsanyakorn | $17,100 |
Despite Chane Kampanatsanyakorn beginning the final table with a commanding chip lead, he was ultimately the first player to fall. The first dent in Kampanatsanyakorn's armor came at the hands of Kosei Ichinose. In a hand at 8,000/16,000/2,000, Ichinose opened to 36,000 from under the gun. Kampanatsanyakorn called from the big blind and the two saw a Q♥10♥5♥ flop. Kampanatsanyakorn check-called a continuation bet of 18,000, and the K♣ hit the turn. Kampanatsanyakorn checked, Ichinose bet 40,000 and Kampanatsanyakorn slid out a check-raise to 110,000. Ichinose called and the 3♥ put a fourth heart on the board. Kampanatsanyakorn moved 150,000 forward and Ichinose called with 9♥8♥. Kampanatsanyakorn mucked and suddenly was out a big chunk of his stack.
On the 39th hand of the final table, Kampanatsanyakorn announced an all in bet of 200,000 from the cutoff. Chris Park called from the big blind and the two tabled their hands.
Kampanatsanyakorn: A♥5♥
Park: 5♣5♠
The board fell down Q♥10♠2♠3♣3♥ and Kampanatsanyakorn was unable to improve. He was eliminated in sixth place and took home $17,100 in prize money.
Jae Kyung Sim was the next to go, as a few hands later he moved all in from the small blind with the A♦Q♦. Park woke up with the K♥K♠ in the big blind and snapped him off. Sim was searching for an ace heading to the community cards, but found no help through the 9♥6♥5♦4♠2♦ board. His fifth-place finish earned him $21,400.
Over the next fifteen hands, players were seemingly doubling through each other left and right, as three double ups took place. Eventually though, Ichinose found himself in a position that sent him to the rail. Yokosawa moved Ichinose all in from the small blind and Yokosawa called for his tournament life. Ichinose showed the J♥10♥ and was up against Yokosawa's 9♦4♦. Unfortunately for Ichinose, Yokosawa paired a four on the A♣Q♠3♦4♣Q♥ board and he was eliminated as the fourth place finisher.
On hand #104, Hyunshik Hun was eliminated when his K♦Q♣ failed to improve during a preflop all in against Park's 10♥10♦. Hyunshik's third-place elimination thrust Yokosawa and Park into heads up play. Yokosawa held a roughly 2-to-1 chip lead over Park at the start of play.
While many chips traded hands over 50 hands of heads up play, Yokosawa was ultimately able to close the deal and seize the championship. On the final hand, blinds were at 25,000/50,000 with a 5,000 ante. Park raised to 120,000 and Yokosawa called. The two took a flop of 10♠8♣5♠ and Yokosawa check-called a continuation of 140,000. The turn was the 5♦, which paired the board. Yokosawa checked once again and Park bet 215,000. Yokosawa stuck around. The 2♥ completed the board and Yokosawa checked for a third time. Park moved all in and Yokosawa snapped him off.
Park: A♥10♣
Yokosawa: 6♥5♥
Yokosawa made trip fives on the turn to best Park's two pair and he was crowned the champion! Yokosawa earned $100,000, the WPT Champions trophy, and a $15,400 seat into the WPT World Championship in April in Atlantic City.
Data and photo courtesy of the WPT Blog.
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