Wei Ran Pu Wins Poker King Cup Macau 2018 Main Event for HKD 1,464,000 ($187,239)
The Poker King Cup Series is coming to a close, with the HKD 16,500 Main Event taken down by Wei Ran Pu, granting the Chinese player his first major title win and a career-high score of HKD 1,464,000 ($187,239).
A total of 63 players out of the 518-strong field cashed for a share of the HKD 7,536,900 prize pool, with Pu coming into the all-Chinese eight-handed final table as the third largest stack, busting five out of the seven other finalists to enter heads-up with over a 3-to-1 chip lead.
Pu’s heads-up opponent, Jian Dong Yu, put up a good fight, but was unable to overcome his chip deficit and it was all over in ten hands, with Pu winning all but three of them.
In the final hand, Yu raised the button with ace-four and called off for his tournament life when Pu moved all-in with pocket sixes. The pair held up to grant Pu the win, and a gracious Yu came over to shake his opponent’s hand, before heading off to collect the equivalent of over US$131,000 for his runner up finish – a career best for him as well.
“Of course I’m very excited to win,” said Pu via the aid of a translator immediately after hoisting the trophy and posing for his winner’s photo and trophy presentation with Poker King Club President Winfred Yu.
“This is my biggest ever win, which I think I’ll celebrate by spending the money on playing more poker tournaments,” Pu joked, before heading off to celebrate with his friends on the rail.
In total, the Poker King Cup has awarded over HKD 18,512,700 (~$2,370,480) in prize money over the six-day seven-event series, with 1,076 players taking part in the action and 134 of them earning a share of the loot.
PKC Macau 2018 by the Numbers
| Event | Entries | Prize Pool (HKD) | ITM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main Event | 518 | 7,536,900 | 63 |
| Opening Event | 155 | 405,900 | 18 |
| High Roller | 69 | 5,139,100 | 10 |
| NLHE #1 | 73 | 254,900 | 9 |
| NLHE #2 | 115 | 502,000 | 15 |
| Deepstack | 125 | 763,900 | 15 |
| Super High Roller | 21 | 3,910,000 | 4 |
“I think with the limited amount of time and resources we have, we are happy with the player numbers this series,” said Poker King Club President Winfred Yu shortly after awarding the trophy.
“The great turn out proves that Macau is still the number one capital of poker in Asia, and the range of buy-ins from HKD 2,000 all the way up to HKD 200,000 satisfies all types of players, from the seasoned professional to the keen amateur, and the entrants have all been happy with the tournament poker on offer this series.”
PKC Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Name | Country | Prize (in HKD) | Prize in (USD) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wei Ran Pu | China | 1,464,000 | 187,239 | |
| 2 | Jian Dong Yu | China | 1,026,500 | 131,284 | |
| 3 | Yang Wang | China | 660,200 | 84,436 | |
| 4 | Li Yu | China | 488,400 | 62,464 | |
| 5 | Jun Fang | China | 366,300 | 46,848 | |
| 6 | Liang Song | China | 46,848 | 37,588 | |
| 7 | Cang Sheng Ni | China | 244,900 | 31,321 | |
| 8 | Qi Cheng Du | China | 195,200 | 24,965 |
The final table was a fast-paced affair and was all wrapped up in three-and-a-half hours, including 20-minutes of breaks, with three of the eight players returning with short stacks. These would all depart after the first full 60-minute level played.
It was Qi Cheng Du who became the first casualty, falling at the hands of Jian Dong Yu to depart in eighth place for an HKD 195,200 payday after his ace-king was outflopped by Yu's king queen.
While it was Li Yu who held the lead coming in, an early gigantic three-way pre-flop all-in between Pu, Yu and short stack Cang Sheng Ni saw Pu wake up with pocket aces, which held against Yu's pocket tens and Ni's ace-king, to shoot Pu into the top spot, send Ni to the rail in seventh place, and Yu to the bottom of the counts just an hour into the proceedings.
Ni was followed to the rail by Liang Song, who departed at the hands of Li Yu just minutes later after running ace five into Yu's pocket tens to collect HKD 293,900 for his sixth-place finish.
Both Yu’s played a big pot for the chip lead following Song’s departure, which Jian Dong Yu won after picking off a big bluff, before Pu sent Jun Fang to the rail in fifth place after winning a flip with pocket jacks against Fang's ace-king just before the blinds climbed, with Fang taking HKD 366,300 for his fifth-place finish.
While Pu did not remain in the top spot for the whole affair he was an unstoppable force, busting five of the final eight players in quick succession, including the start of day chip leader Li Yu. After Yu took a beat at the hands of fellow finalist Yang Wang to get short, he got the last of his chips in with ace-four and ran into the pocket sevens of Pu to take play three-handed.
Three-handed lasted less than half a level with Yang Wang on the short-stack, busting at the hands of Pu for a HKD 660,200 after moving all-in from the small blind pre-flop with queen-three and getting looked up with ace-five.
Congratulations to PKC Main Event champ, Wei Ran Pu, and thanks for reading the PokerNews coverage this week from Macau. Until next time!