Qian Zhi Qiang Wins World Poker Tour Sanya Main Event for $242,555
After five days of play and a field of 888 entries in the World Poker Tour Sanya Main Event in the southernmost city on Hainan Island of China, Qian Zhi Qiang emerged victorious to take home the CNY 1,600,000 ($242,555) top prize.
The invitational tournament at the MGM Grand Hotel had a cap of 888 players and a prize pool of CNY 8.88 million, or about $1.4 million, with direct buyins available to international players. The WPT Sanya events qualified players for the WPT Asia-Pacific Player of the Year leaderboard for Season XVI.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Qian Zhi Qiang | $242,555 |
| 2nd | Hu Ling Fei | $166,700 |
| 3rd | Li Cheng Bei | $106,000 |
| 4th | Huang Deng Dong | $78,800 |
| 5th | Tang Ying | $60,600 |
| 6th | Chen Ke | $46,900 |
| 7th | Li Yu Guang | $39,400 |
| 8th | Chen Sui Yu | $30,100 |
| 9th | Fu Peng | $22,700 |
According to WPT's live updates,, WPT Beijing champion Pete Chen, WPT Cambodia champion Benjamin Gonzva and WPT Thailand runner-up Vincent Chauve joined the field but did not survive Day 1. American WPT Champions Club members Daniel Weinman and Sam Panzica both bagged chips on Day 1b but busted on Day 2 before the money. Weinman and Panzica also fell short of cashing in the recent WPT India event, but they are both rumored to have another shot to cash in the WPT Asia circuit in the upcoming WPT Japan.
According to the onsite updates provided by somuchpoker.com, the money bubble bursted on Day 2 with 111 players in the money. Defending champion Hao Chen was eliminated early on Day 3, in the money. On Day 4, Wu Xin bubbled the official final table when his Ax3x failed to hold up against chip leader Qiang’s turned straight with Qx10x and they were down to the official final table.
The final nine returned on Nov. 21 to play down to a winner with Qiang as the chip leader with a stack of 88 big blinds, though Huang Deng Dong was not far behind with 75 big blinds.
Final Table Action
The first elimination of the day was Fu Peng who ran his 9♠9♦ into Hu Ling Fei’s A♥K♣ and Tang Ying’s 10♠10♥. The 5♦3♦3♠A♠6♠ board gave Fei a pair of aces to eliminate Peng in ninth place.
Chen Sui Yu was next to bust in eighth place with K♥5♥, eliminated by Qiang and his K♠7♣. He was followed to the payout desk by Li Guang Yu, who shoved from the hijack with J♦9♦ only to have Qiang re-shove on the button with K♦10♦. The board came Q♥5♣8♠K♠5♠ to give Qiang a pair of kings and eliminate Yu in seventh place.
The next elimination came when Chen Ke shoved with 7♠7♦ in the small blind and big stack Qiang called in the big blind to put Ke at risk with A♦Q♦. Qiang spiked an ace on A♠2♠3♦ and held to send Ke out in sixth.
A short while later, Ying got all her chips in good with K♠K♣ from the blinds after Hu Ling Fei opened on the button with A♣9♥. Fei called the short-stacked shove to put Ying at risk and found an ace on the flop to eliminate her in fifth place.
In a battle of the blinds, Qiang raised from the small blind with A♦Q♦ before Dong moved all in from the big blind with K♠J♠. Qian called after thinking for a while and Dong, who came into the final table second in chips, was at risk. He took the lead on the K♣6♣3♣ flop and turned two pair when the J♣ hit, but the 10♠ river gave Qian the runner-runner Broadway straight to knock out Dong in fourth place.
Qian continued to do most of the work at the final table, this time getting Li Cheng Bei on the ropes. Bei moved all in first to act with 9♣9♦, only to have Qiang re-shove in the small blind to isolate with A♠10♠. Yet again, Qiang found an ace on the A♥J♣J♠ flop and Bei would have to settle for third place.
Qian went into heads-up against Fei with a 3-1 chip advantage and eventually extended that to a 4-1 lead over Fei. The match lasted less than an hour and in the final hand, Qian raised on the button with K♠2♦ and Hu three-bet with 4♠4♦. Qian called and on the 10♠5♣2♣ flop, Hu bet, Qian moved all in, and Hu called for his remaining chips.
Qian was behind with just a pair of twos, but the K♥ turn gave Qian the lead. He further improved to a full house on the 2♥ river to end the tournament. The second-place finish worth $166,700 was Hu’s first live tournament cash as a businessman from Hai Kou that plays poker as a hobby and came into the day as the short stack.
After taking second place in the 2016 CPG China Championships Main Event, Qian got the victory in this one for his biggest cash to date to nearly double his total live earnings of $248,071 as well as gain points in the WPT Asia Pacific (APAC) Player of the Year race.
Lead image c/o World Poker Tour
