Professional Magician Mai Jie Wins 2015 Boyaa Poker Tournament for $113,628
Earlier this week, the 2015 Boyaa Poker Tournament (BPT) concluded at the Venetian Macau. The international tournament was organized by Boyaa Interactive, with Poker King Club as co-organizer, and saw 298 players battle it out for a share of a USD $500,000 prize pool.
Interestingly, participants were selected from more than 2 million entrants via playing online at "BPT Tables." Those selected – including players from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Europe and the Middle East — were then sent to participate in the Main Event in Macau. That meant there was no on-site registration, and the only way to join the tournament – which donated 1% of the prize money to Macau Bishop Hill Children's Centre, a charity that provides assistance to needy children and youth — was by competing in Boyaa Online games.
As such, the field was comprised of players from a variety of backgrounds including university students Yanshao Hang and Yijie Chen, Indonesian businessman Iwan Azis, Thai teacher Somjit, Vietnamese civil servant Nguyen Van Hai, World Series of Poker mainland China champ and China Poker Game Chongxian Yang, and Shihua Fu, chairman of Texas Hold’em Training Master.
However, in the end it was Mai Jie, a professional magician, who won the title of Global Champion at the 2015 BPT and captured a HK$880,678 ($113,628) first-place prize. Others among the top 45 to cash in the event were Ho Kwok Sze Calvin (4th – HK$316,584), Jansukon Tawatchai (5th – HK$249,429), Phuwadol Chuthanuwong (8th – HK$107,447), Krishna Chandra (13th – HK$38,374), Ding Wily Fan (18th – HK$30,699), and Angunsri Kowit (20th – HK$23,024).
Along with Poker King Club President Winfred Yu, the CEO of Boyaa Interactive David Zhang, presented Jie with a check, while also stating that he hoped the scale of tournament could get even more extensive and simultaneously become more globally influential.
In addition, Haraldur Sigurdsson won BPT Side Event #1: High-Limit Hold'em Championship for HK$46,840, while Ronald Yu took down the BPT Side Event #2 for HK$57,000.
In the future, Boyaa Interactive plans to hold more international tournaments worldwide.
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PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.
