Tokuho Yoshinaga Wins the Poker King Cup Macau High Roller
After almost 14 levels of play, Tokuho Yoshinaga took down the Poker King Cup Macau HK$80,000 High Roller for HK$1,410,169 (~$180,000) by defeating another player from Japan, Takashi Ogura after a heads-up deal. The tournament here in the beautiful Venetian Macau Resort & Hotel attracted 69 entries in total which was double the number of players (34) that played in last year’s event.
The first-place prize meant that Yoshinaga more than doubled his recorded lifetime tournament cashes and this would take him to just over $400,000 in total. This was also his second tournament win ever so he was very happy to have taken this tournament down. Other notables on the final table included Hon Cheong Lee, Hong Jun Zhao, and Wenling Gao.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (HKD) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tokuho Yoshinaga | Japan | 1,410,169* | 180,472* |
| 2 | Takashi Ogura | Japan | 1,323,831* | 169,423* |
| 3 | Hon Cheong Lee | Hong Kong | 683,500 | 87,474 |
| 4 | William Fasano | United Kingdom | 472,800 | 60,508 |
| 5 | Hong Jun Zhao | China | 318,600 | 40,774 |
| 6 | Wenling Gao | China | 241,500 | 30,907 |
| 7 | He Chang | China | 195,300 | 24,994 |
| 8 | Wang Zhi Li | China | 169,600 | 21,705 |
| 9 | Dennis Rubba | United Kingdom | 164,500 | 21,053 |
*reflects heads-up deal
Day 2 started with 36 players while the late registration and reentry period was still open for the first two hours. During Day 1, the tournament attracted 54 entries and another 15 were added onto that during Day 2. Preston Lee won his maiden WSOP bracelet this summer and started the day short and ran ace-queen into the pocket nines of his opponent. Last year’s runner-up in this event, Phanlert Sukonthachartnant couldn’t win with ace-nine when Liang Xu held eight-four and hit a four on the flop.
Another new WSOP bracelet winner was Michael Addamo who busted both bullets he fired today before even really being able to build up a stack. Sergio Aido from Spain had to reenter early on the day when his ace-king couldn’t beat the pocket jacks of Kuisong Wu. His second bullet was unsuccessful too as he ran ace-king into the pocket tens of another player and didn’t manage to find a way to the payout desk in the end.
Other well-known players that failed to cash today include Phachara Wongwichit who held ace-jack when he shoved but was called by Ogura who had pocket sixes. Mark Hammond ran pocket queens into the king-queen of Yi Fan Yang but couldn’t hold. Yang was also responsible for busting James Chen with pocket kings when Chen had jack-ten. Day 1 chip leader Duan Chao couldn’t get paid today either as he ran his king-ten into the ace-eight of Lee.
Yang ended up being the bubble boy in the end when he first doubled up Lee on the bubble and was left behind with less than one big blind. He then tripled up again, mainly through Lee, and then lost it all with nine-eight in a three-way pot against Yoshinaga and He Chang with Chang scooping the pot. With 10 players left on the last two tables, Yang Li was the first to go when he shoved his pocket kings on the turn and was called by Gao. Gao needed the river to make it a full house to take Li out of the running.
The final table was now set with Yoshinaga in the chip lead that he never gave away again. Dennis Rubba was the first to leave the final table stage when his pocket fours couldn’t crack Yoshinaga’s aces. Wang Zhi Li shoved king-ten into the queen-jack of Gao and she managed to hit a queen on the river to bust Li.
Lee went on a bit of a rollercoaster by first doubling up Zhao, then he eliminated Chang with ace-ten against Chang’s jack-ten. Disaster struck Lee when he doubled up Ogura, leaving himself behind with just over 3 big blinds. Ogura held ten-nine and Lee had pocket jacks. Ogura managed to flop a straight. Lee then doubled up twice in a row and again, lost a bunch when he had to pay Zhao’s double-up.
Even though Lee went up and down with his stack, Gao was the next to be axed when she ran her pocket fives into the aces of Yoshinaga. The only female to have entered the High Roller is no stranger to these tournaments but was disappointed in failing to finally conquer her first high roller title after coming close again. Only ten minutes later, Lee doubled up again, taking some chips back from Zhao. Zhao then lost the rest of his stack to William Fasano who had quietly been collecting pay jumps up till then. Zhao’s ace-queen couldn’t win against the ace-king of Fasano.
Fasano himself was the next to say goodbye when his ace-seven wasn’t good enough to beat the ace-king of Ogura. The whirlwind of hands being played didn’t stop and Lee was next to go. His ace-three couldn’t win against the ace-jack of Yoshinaga. Yoshinaga and Ogura quickly took a break and discussed a deal. After a few minutes, they agreed on things and continued to play for the trophy.
During the first hand of heads-up, they both held pocket kings and split the pot. The hand right after that, Ogura’s pocket sixes couldn’t hold up against the ace-queen of Yoshinaga who found a queen on the flop and that was it for Ogura. They hugged it out and Yoshinaga was the one to take the trophy honors for Japan tonight.
This concludes the live reporting for the PokerNews team for the High Roller. The live updates will continue Saturday, Sept. 22, as Day 1b of the Main Event starts at 1 p.m. local time so make sure to follow those for all the action right here in Macau!
