Congratulations to Jason Mo, Winner of APPT Seoul (₩165,590,200)!
After one of the most impressive showings at a final table, it was American high-stakes cash-game regular Jason Mo who took down the APPT Seoul Main Event. Mo topped a field of 241 players to capture the title, and his conquest included beating Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang in heads-up play.
The day started with 13 hopefuls, but the field was very quickly trimmed down to just nine. Junichi Nakagiri was the first to go, hitting the rail when his ace-eight fell to Daniel Demicki's king-nine. He was followed by Shintaro Baba's elimination in 12th place. Baba lost a coin flip with ace-queen against Demicki's tens, and the Polish player took the lead.
Demicki extended his lead to 1.2 million in chips, and just minutes later he busted Tain Tan in 11th place. Tan held ace-queen versus Demicki's jacks, and Demicki managed to hit quads. On the final table bubble, it was Boris Li from Russia who hit the rail when his queen-six of clubs did not improve against Tyler Jennens' queen-jack.
The final table started with Demicki in the lead followed by Mo, and Daniel Kneafsey and Dong Kim were hanging on as the short stacks. Neither of those two were the first to hit the rail, though, as Takuya Suzuki busted in ninth place for 15.78 million Korean Won ($14,426). The last Japanese player remaining ran ace-king into Mo's kings, and from that point on the American pro had a chip lead he would never relinquish.
Kneafsey was the next player to get knocked out in eighth place, as the Irishman lost a coin flip with jacks versus Huang's ace-king. Kneafsey took home 20.51 million Korean Won ($18,750).
In seventh place, the tournament lost Dong Kim, one of Mo's good friends and online rivals. Kim plays on PokerStars under the handle "Donger Kim" and is one of the most feared heads-up no-limit hold'em cash-game players. Today he made his first big live final table, but ultimately busted against Mo when his king-queen could not overcome ace-jack. While Kim took home 25.24 million Korean Won ($23,074), it was Mo who extended his lead even more.
The last Russian standing was Vladimir Demenkov, and he did well to maneuver his way into sixth place with a short stack. Demenkov cashed for 31.55 million Korean Won after losing his final chips against Huang. Then, five-handed play started with Celina Lin as the shortest stack, but she managed a double up, and Tyler Jennens busted next.
Jennens, as many other players did before and after him, busted to Mo when his ace-king could not connect with the board against pocket queens. Jennens collected 39.76 million Korean won ($36,348) and the tournament was down to four.
At this point, half the field was made up out of Team PokerStars Pros, but they would not manage to tip the scale in their favor. Lin got very unlucky to get knocked out in fourth when her pocket tens were beaten by Demicki's king-three of diamonds. Demicki hit a flush on the river, and Lin cashed for 50.49 million Korean Won ($46,158).
When three-handed play began Mo had almost 75% of all the chips in play, and he added even more by eliminating Demicki in third for 63.1 million Korean Won ($57,677). Demicki went into a coin-flip situation holding ace-jack of clubs against Mo's pocket threes, but the board brought no card higher than a ten. With Demicki knocked out after an impressive showing, it was then between Huang and Mo.
Mo started with an almost 9-1 chip lead going into heads-up play, and coincidentally he's a specialist in this format — heads-up no-limit hold'em. Huang won a few pots during the heads-up match, but the very first all-in showdown turned out to be the last.
Huang was all in for his tournament life with ace-eight after getting four-bet shoved on, and Mo showed ace-queen. The board brought no help for Huang, who finished second, and Mo claimed the biggest live tournament win of his career. Huang finished second for 165,590,200 Korean Won ($89,413).
Previous to this event, Mo had one win in a World Poker Tour National High Roller event in the Philippines and three runner-up finishes in other tournaments. That win came from an event with only six entries, and this one holds a lot more prestige. Mo took home not only the prestigious APPT Seoul title, but also a whopping 165,590,200 Korean Won ($151,384).
| Place | Name | Country | Prize in Krw | Prize in USD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jason Mo | United States | ₩165,590,200 | $151,359 |
| 2 | Bryan Huang | Singapore | ₩97,820,000 | $89,413 |
| 3 | Daniel Demicki | Poland | ₩63,100,000 | $57,677 |
| 4 | Celina Lin | China | ₩50,490,000 | $46,151 |
| 5 | Tyler Jennens | Canada | ₩39,760,000 | $36,343 |
| 6 | Vladimir Demenkov | Russia | ₩31,550,000 | $28,838 |
| 7 | Dong Kim | United States | ₩25,240,000 | $23,070 |
| 8 | Daniel Kneafsey | Ireland | ₩20,510,000 | $18,747 |
| 9 | Takuya Suzuki | Japan | ₩15,780,000 | $14,423 |
*Currency conversion at the time of the payout announcement.
With that, we would like to say goodbye from Seoul. The APPT on PokerNews.com continues on Wednesday, May 27 with the APPT Macau at City of Dreams, and we hope you'll be following along with the action.