Yujung Choi got her stack of 27,000 all in preflop holding the and was up against the of Akira Ohyama, who barely had her covered. Choi was looking to avoid any tomfoolery, and that's just what she did after the board ran out an uninspiring .
Ohyama was left with just 3,100, and they disappeared on the very next hand when he was committed in the small blind.
Last year, Andy Ying Kit Chan of Hong Kong finished runner-up in this very event for $454,808 (thanks to a heads-up deal and a flip for the title). Chan had his eyes fixed on another deep run, but any hope of that happening just went up in flames.
It happened after Ro Woong Park got his stack all in holding the and Chan put him at risk with . Park doubled on the hand after the board ran out , and Chan was crippled. He would bust in the very next hand.
On a flop of with around 12,000 in the middle, Ioannis Apostolidis open shoved 70,600 from the big blind into the original raiser David Martirosyan.
Martirosyan went into the tank for several minutes before eventually making the call to put Apostolidis at risk.
Apostolidis:
Martirosyan:
The turn brought the giving Martirosyan a straight as the on the river improved his hand to a flush to send the player formally known as "Furniture" John to the rail while Martirosyan moved to 230,000 in chips.
We're not sure of the exact action, but we do know that Liang Shi shoved the turn for roughly 60,000 on a board reading . Devan Tang snap-called with the for the nuts, which of course bested Shi's . The meaningless was run out on the river for good measure, and then Shi took his leave from the tournament.
Edward Chun Ho Yam and Vladimir Troyanovskiy each put in 35,300 preflop and saw a flop of , which they both checked. When the dealer burned and turned the , Yam led out for 21,000 and Troyanovskiy called, leaving himself 30,000 or so behind.
"All in," Yam said once the completed the board on the river. Troyanovskiy gently tossed in a few chips to signal a call, but he chucked his cards to the muck in frustration when Yam rolled over the for the win.