Xiaobo Zhou Takes Down Inaugural OPC Main Event Title (HK$1.45M / $184,939), Denying Ivan Leow Back-To-Back Wins
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This inaugural Oriental Poker Championship had two flagship events: the HK$100K High Roller, and the HK$16,500 Main Event. And if it wasn’t for our new Main Event champion Xiaobo Zhou, the same player would have won them both.
Ivan Leow’s performance this week will be remembered for a while. Having entered the finale as the chip leader, he would go on to finish second out of a 513-strong Main Event field to win HK$1,016,700 ($129,588), just four days after he won the High Roller for HK$1,442,300 ($183,833). That’s one hell of a good week.
But in the end it was Zhou who emerged victorious, claiming the title, the trophy, and HK$1,451,000 ($184,939). At one point down to just ten big blinds, Zhou rose to the top of the counts three-handed, then gained a 5:1 chip lead heads-up after he busted Chang Bo Feng in third place.
The heads-up battle didn’t take long, with Leow dropping a chunk of chips the first hand of heads-up. Three hands later it was all over when Leow moved all-in for his last 1.2 million from the button holding 
and Zhou made the call with 
. The flop came 
giving Zhou the nuts and the win.
“My biggest score came back in 2011, when I came third in the APPT Red Dragon,” Zhou said afterwards. “I come from Beijing, I’ve been playing for nine years, and this is my first big score. It means so much to me. I want to thank my family for being by my side.”
He believed his biggest asset today was his tenacity. “Even when I was down to ten big blinds, I didn’t give up,” he added.
OPC Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in HKD) | Prize in (USD) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Xiaobo Zhou | China | 1,451,000 | 184946 | |
| 2 | Ivan Leow | Malaysia | 1,016,700 | 129,589 | |
| 3 | Chang Bo Feng | China | 653,900 | 83,346 | |
| 4 | Wayne Zhang | China | 483,700 | 61,652 | |
| 5 | Austin Walton | USA | 362,800 | 46,242 | |
| 6 | Sang Hwang | Hong Kong | 291,100 | 37,103 | |
| 7 | Yazhou Chen | China | 242,600 | 30,922 | |
| 8 | Yuefeng Pan | China | 193,300 | 24638 |
How It All Went Down
Let’s rewind to the start of the day. Eight players returned to the Venetian Poker Room today, and with several short stacks we lost a few players early. Yuefeng Pan was the first to exit, shoving when he turned second pair but running into the flopped trips of Feng. We then lost Yazhou Chen in seventh, when he shoved with queen-ten and couldn’t hit to beat Austin Walton’s pocket eights.
Sang Hwang was our sixth-place finisher. Short-stacked, he shoved over an Ivan Leow open with jack-six suited, but Leow would call with ace-five off and held. Then Austin Walton fell in fifth, when an ambitious three-bet jam with eight-nine suited over two players was called by Zhou holding pocket jacks. The pair held up.
One of the most dangerous players at this final table would depart in fourth. Wayne Zhang’s stack was getting whittled down, and with just seven big blinds he shoved with pocket threes. Zhou made the call, but then Leow moved all-in for 2 million more and Zhou let his hand go. Leow had pocket kings, and Zhang couldn’t improve.
Feng had the chip lead three-handed, but several big pots didn’t go his way and he found himself all-in with king-jack off versus Zhou’s pocket queens. Feng hit a king on the flop, but one of the two remaining queens landed on the turn to leave Feng drawing thin. Only a diamond would save him, but alas, the diamond never came.
From there, you know how it went. Leow couldn’t overcome Zhou’s chip lead, nor could he win his second tournament of the OPC 2018. He gave it a right good go, though, didn't he?
Congratulations to the inaugural OPC Main Event champ, Xiaobo Zhou, and thanks for reading the PokerNews coverage this week from Macau. Until next time!
flop. Leow, holding 
made two pair on the 
turn, but Zhou improved to trips on the 
river and Leow did well to avoid going bust right there. However, the Malaysian had the nous to check back the river.
river were merely a formality and Xiaobo Zhou is the inaugural Oriental Poker Championship Main Event Champion.
flop saw Feng briefly take the lead, his hopes were dashed on the 
turn, which gave Zhou a set of queens. There was no diamond re-draw on the 
river and the final table is now down to two. It is Xiaobo Zhou who will take over a 5-1 chip lead into the heads-up confrontation, so let's see if he can convert it into a win.
Zhou let out a big sigh of relief, followed by a fist pump. He’d clearly made a good fold.
and couldn’t hit anything on the 
board. Leow is now up to 4.69 million.
flop. However, he couldn't improve on the 
. The 
and Austin Walton woke up in the big blind with 
to keep the pocket pair in front, and Chen said his goodbyes as he made his way to the cage. For seventh, he'll collect 242,600 HKD, roughly $31,000 US.
and the 
river was the last card Pan would see in the OPC with the Chinese player heading for the exit, while Feng climbed into the chip lead. All that excitement brought the final table to the first 10-minute break of the day.
