$5,000 No-Limit Hold'em | 2024 Jin Bei Cup

05-07-2024 19:27 UTC+7

Luxury Entertainment in Sihanoukville: Meet the Jin Bei Group

Christian Zetzsche

The Jin Bei Group has been founded in 2016 and stands for high-level luxury entertainment in the Kingdom of Cambodia. Their home base is the coast city of Sihanoukville, which has become a popular destination for casino visitors in recent years thanks to large scale investments by foreign investors.

Largest of them by some margin is the Jin Bei Group with a total investment of more than 300 million US Dollars in Hotels and Resorts just for this location. Their three prime properties in Sihanoukville are the Jin Bei Hotel and Casino, the five-star Jin Bei Palace Hotel and the Jin Bei Artisan Hotel - all nestled within one kilometre from each other.

The company has created the slogan "Rooted & Grown in Cambodia" with extraordinary leisure entertainment services on their properties. Their mission in a highly competitive Asian market is rather simple: Provide extraordinary hospitality to become one of the ten largest hospitality groups in the region.

At the core of the business idea is the hospitality sector but they quickly added other services such as tourism, technology, hotels, apartments and office leasing to the portfolio. As a result, it has become the largest integrated entertainment group in the city of Sihanoukville, combining a world class travel experience in a very modern and lavish environment.

Host venue for the inaugural Jin Bei Cup is the five-star Jin Bei Palace Hotel, which opened the door to visitors from near and far in March 2020. The property offers a view of the nearby Ochheuteal beach on one wing and urban view of the city centre on the other, catering to leisure and business travelers alike.

Western-style dishes and Chinese food can be found at the signature restaurants while the rooms are ranging from 40 square meters to the elegantly styled Sky and Palace Suites, measuring 165 and 170 square meters of luxury in one place. Of course, there is also a state-of-the-art gym and luxurious spa where guests can enjoy a wide range of massages.

With the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Jin Bei Group has found a home base rich in history with a very diverse culture of respect as well as a long tradition of literature and storytelling. The temples in Krong Siem Reap are globally recognised UNESCO World Heritage sites of which Angkor has been widely known as the centre of the ancient Khmer Kingdom.

Parts of the Khmer culture are still visible in the everyday Cambodian life and the inaugural Jin Bei Cup trophies embrace one of the most iconic symbols of the country, the seven-headed Naga. It forms a stone balustrade leading up to an entrance of the Angkor Wat Temple and represents power, water, and fertility in many Hindu texts. The silhouette of Angkor Wat itself is depicted on the national flag of the country as well.

Tags: Jin Bei Cup Jin Bei Group Jin Bei Hotel

05-07-2024 18:19 UTC+7

Registration Closed for the Opening Event

Christian Zetzsche

The opening $5,300 Single Day NLH Event attracted a field of 77 entries for a prize pool of $385,000 and the top ten spots are paid. A min-cash is worth $7,000 and the winner will take home the Jin Bei Cup trophy in local Khmer style along with the top prize of $131,000.

Tom Dwan entered the competition just before the end of the late registration and Quan Zhou avoided a re-entry over table three in spectacular fashion. He first quadrupled up his micro stack with Q♦3♠ when flopping two pair.

Jacson Feng won the side pot with J♣J♠ versus A♦Q♥ and 9♦9♥ only to then lose a three-way all-in with A♥K♥ versus 5♦5♠ and Q♥Q♦. The roller coaster runout brought top pair and two sets on 10♠9♦5♠A♦Q♠. Zhou then tripled up in the last hand possible with A♦2♦ when he turned the nut flush on a K♦7♦2♥Q♦Q♥ runout to save $5,300.

Once the late registration had closed in the rapid 20-minute level affair, only around 45 players remained and that number will certainly be culled down significantly by the time the dinner break awaits at the end of level 12.

Tags: Jacson Feng Jin Bei Cup Quan Zhou Tom Dwan

05-07-2024 17:41 UTC+7

First Images of the 2024 Jin Bei Cup Opening Event

Christian Zetzsche

05-07-2024 17:03 UTC+7

Quan Zhou Among the Contenders in the Single Day $5,000 NLH Event

Christian Zetzsche

The action in the early stages has certainly been frantic and the field ballooned to 66 entries already of which some 52 players remain at the end of level six when the first break was reached. Perhaps the most notable contender in the field for international poker enthusiasts is China's Quan Zhou, who currently sits in fifth place on the all-time money list of the country according to The Hendon Mob.

Zhou had a stellar year 2023 in which he earned a big portion of his live poker scores, now nearing almost $8.8 million. That included a fifth place in the Triton Super High Roller Series Monte Carlo Main Event for $ 1,165,000, which is his biggest cash in a reported live poker event so far. He also won The Big Wrap Wrap Diamond 10K PLO High Roller for €500,000 in September 2023 and finished as the runner-up of the WPT Alpha8 One Drop Korea for KRW 717,960,000 ($558,354) in between those large paydays.

As far as the World Series of Poker is concerned, Zhou cashed in fourteen events this past summer in Las Vegas and his closest shot at the coveted WSOP gold bracelet came in Event #57: $ 25,000 Pot Limit Omaha - High Roller - 8-Handed. Back then, he had to settle for sixth place and $370,498 for the efforts. Hong Kong born Spanish poker pro Ka Kwan Lau won his maiden WSOP gold bracelet in this event for a career-best score of $2,294,756 in a Spanish heads-up duel with Sergio Martinez Gonzalez.

Zhou is sporting two patches on his jacket today, the "TLPT Team Boss" and AA Poker. The former refers to The Lord Poker Tournament while AA Poker is an Asian app-based mobile poker platform which has several high-profile brand ambassadors. Zhou is among them, as well as Dan "Jungleman" Cates and Wesley Fei. The app's chief product officer (CPO) Lirui "Ivan" Zhang is also in this competition as well.

Other big names who have been wearing the AA Poker patch during live poker events include Bryn Kenney, Alex Trevallion, Chris Moneymaker, Didier Guerin, Andy Lee, Martin. Kozlov, and Shan Huang to name all but a few.

The app features some unusual features such as their characteristic ripper gameplay and bomb pots geared towards a more exciting playing environment. It is available on iOS and Android devices.

Tags: Alex Trevallion Andy Lee Bryn Kenney Didier Guerin Ka Kwan Lau Quan Zhou Among Sergio Martinez Gonzalez Shan Huang Wesley Fei

05-07-2024 15:52 UTC+7

The Jin Bei Cup Is Officially Underway

Christian Zetzsche

The action for the opening event kicked off in time with some 25 players seated, two of which were non-Asian cash game players. It will be a fast-paced affair today with 20-minute levels and host venue for the tournament is the luxury Jin Bei Palace Hotel in the centre of Sihanoukville in Cambodia.

It is the first international poker event of the Jin Bei Group at the five-star entertainment complex and many of the local businessman from China are expected to join the action during the three days of the series. Live poker tournaments in the city at the coastline are an exception, though, the Asian Poker Tour visited four times since 2012 and three years in a row from 2014 to 2016 when the stop took place at the Queenco Casino and Hotel.

Since then, many casinos have been built in the city but they mostly cater to the high-stakes cash game action, which is also running concurrently as well. The city has become a hotbed for live poker cash game action in Cambodia while the capital Phnom Penh is more accustomed to host tournament action throughout the last few years.

In January 2017, the World Poker Tour visited Sihanoukville for the first and only time and the extensive schedule included the WPT National Cambodia Main Event, which was won by French player Benjamin Gonzva. Since then, all international competitions have, however, taken place at the NagaWorld Integrated Resort in the capital but this has now changed. Both cities are also connected by the busiest high-way in the country and it takes a mere two hours to make the trip.

The inaugural Jin Bei Cup may only contain three tournaments from May 7 to 9, 2024, but it caters to the high-stakes action with one of the largest guarantees in the history of Short Deck Poker. In the inaugural Jin Bei Cup Main Event Short Deck, players are competing for a share of the massive $5,000,000 guarantee and can buy-in for $53,000 to take their shot.

The Jin Bei Group has also secured the support of two stars in the international poker scene as Tom "durrrr" Dwan and Dan "Jungleman" Cates. Several other big names are expected to make the trip to Sihanoukville for what shapes up to be one of the most exciting Short Deck tournaments of the year.

Just to put the inaugural edition in perspective: The very successful Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Jeju in nearby South Korea included four Short Deck tournaments including a $52,000 Main Event, which drew 34 entries and 33 re-entries for a prize pool of $3,350,000. The guarantee at the upcoming Main Event is significantly higher and showcases the ambition of the Jin Bei Group to provide live poker entertainment at a very high level.

Tags: Benjamin Gonzva Dan Cates Jin Bei Cup Jin Bei Group Tom Dwan

05-07-2024 13:45 UTC+7

Welcome to the 2024 Jin Bei Cup Event 1 Single Day $5,000 NLH

Christian Zetzsche

Three days of thrilling live poker action await at the luxurious Jin Bei Palace Hotel in Sihanoukville, Cambodia and some of the biggest names in the high-stakes world are expected to hit the poker tables during the inaugural Jin Bei Cup such as Tom Dwan and Dan "Jungleman" Cates.

The schedule contains three tournaments and a mix of No-Limit Hold'em and short deck with the opening event featuring the Cadillac in the world of poker: NLHE. Event 1 Single Day $5,000 NLH will certainly include high-octane action with levels of 20 minutes each on eight-handed tables and unlimited re-entries before the start of level nine.

The action is expected to kick off at 3 p.m. local time and all players receive 200,000 in chips, good enough for 200 big blinds in the first level of play. A 30-second shot clock is in play from the get-go and all participants receive eight time bank extension cards with an additional five distributed once the final table has been reached.

However, the opening event is just a warm-up for the $50,000 Short Deck Main Event the following two days thereafter. A massive $5,000,000 guarantee awaits for the flagship tournament of the series and it is one of the largest guarantees ever for a short deck tournament. The organisers have also guaranteed the top-heavy minimum payouts for this high-stakes contest extraordinaire, which may go up even further if the prize pool increases beyond the guarantee.

First Place: $1,500,000
Second Place: $800,000
Third Place: $600,000

The two-day event will be played in the traditional six-max format that makes short deck so explosive and unlimited re-entries will be allowed on the entire Day 1. As of level 10, players eliminated can make a one-time purchase of two stacks and the same add-on option is also allowed for everyone prior to the start of the final day. The registration closes at 2 p.m. on Thursday, May 9, 2024 and from there on, the race to crowning a winner will be on.

Another Hyper Turbo NLH Side Event with a buy-in of $10,600 caps off the series here in Cambodia and the PokerNews live reporting team will focus on the atmosphere of the opening event and the Short Deck Main Event.

Jin Bei Palace Hotel and Casino at Sihanoukville

Tags: Dan Cates Jin Bei Cup Tom Dwan

$5,000 No-Limit Hold'em

Day 1 Started