Strong Showing by Cash-Game Phenom Dong Kim on Day 1b
On Day 1b of the PokerStars.net Asia-Pacific Poker Tour Main Event in Seoul, it was all about high-stakes online cash-game player Dong "Donger Kim" Kim. Kim bagged up 82,700 and is in strong contention heading into Day 2, while Takihiro Nakai (186,700) closed out the day with an overwhelming the chip lead.
Kim, who recently beat Nick "TCfromUB" Frame in an epic heads-up challenge for $120,000, will be trying add a tournament title to his poker résumé and his hopes are very much alive. The pro with South Korean roots played one of the biggest pots of the day when his river shove with the nut flush got called by a player who had a straight, and that gave him the chip lead for quite some time. However, Nakai got the best of him in a four-bet pot that gave him the advantage.
The second and final starting day of the APPT Seoul Main Event drew a crowd of 125 players, and 47 of those managed to survive. Together with the 116 players that entered on Day 1a, this tournament has a total of 241 players that created a prize pool of 645 million Korean Won. The winner of this event takes home ₩165,590,200, or about $151,000, and the top 27 places will get paid.
At the start of the day, a slate of familiar faces were in the mix, including Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin, Winfred Yu, Raymond Wu, and ACOP Main Event winner Gabriel Le Jossec. The French Canadian had an awful day and was among the first to get knocked out when his queens fell to the ace-king of Daniel Kneafsey. Lin did manage to survive the day and will return with 33,400 on Day 2.
Freshly-minted Team PokerStar Pro Kosei Ichinose did not have a good day, either, as the former Supernova Elite got knocked out in the early goings. Other big names we lost on Day 1b included Stevan Chew, Raiden Kan, and MC HotDog. The latter, perhaps not too well known in the Western world, is a superstar in every Chinese speaking region as the award-winning rapper regularly performing at some of the biggest venues.
MC HotDog's performance in Seoul, however, was not as he had hoped, and towards the end of the day the birthday boy was knocked out. Before closing out the chapter of MC HotDog's tournament appearance we had to share the video of his rap about poker. Watch and enjoy:
When play resumes tomorrow, there will be 89 players in contention. Make sure to tune back in to PokerNews.com for a very lengthy second day of play. The goal is to play down to a final table, and the action kicks off at 12 p.m. local time.