Huidong Gu Wins PokerStars APPT Jeju Main Event for ₩183,695,000 ($159,000)
Table Of Contents
The 2019 PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour Jeju Main Event drew a total of 362 entrants in Shinhwa World's Landing Casino. When Day 3 started, only eleven hopefuls were returning to the tables, and it was the 76-year old businessman based in Shanghai Huidong Gu who won the Main Event trophy.
"I never thought that I would make it this far to the final table, I was going to just warm up in Korea for the World Series Main event."
Huidong Gu was born in Macau and has had his fair share of history in the game of poker, with almost $400,000 in live cashes before this tournament. After his win in the Main Event, he can be proud of having more than half a million dollars in total prizes, and also of surpassing his most significant live cash so far for more than $100,000. Huidong Gu sits in second place of Macau's all-time money list.
Huidong Gu had to defeat Yang Zhang heads-up; one of the most successful poker players from China with $1.7 million in total career live cashes. Gu started heads-up with a small disadvantage in chips but won a crucial pot to turn things around.
As he said with the help of the translator, the most important pot of the final day was one versus Yang Zhang: “I think the hand that stands out the most was where I held king-queen for top pair and Yang Zhang had nine-five and moved all-in on the turn with a draw. After the hand, I thought everything should go smoothly now as I had the chip lead.”
“The money is not important [...] Even though at the time Zhang was short in chips, I still wanted to do a deal with him where I got the trophy, and we split the cash.”
Gu continued: “I never thought that I would make it this far to the final table, I was going to just warm-up in Korea for the World Series Main event - I’ve already bought a ticket, I’m going to it. Basically, I’m just lucky to win this title.”
For Gu, the most important thing was the trophy, and he proved it by offering his opponent an even chop if he was to give him the trophy, even though having at the moment an almost 3-to-1 advantage in chips.
“The money is not important, me and Zhang don’t care about the money, both of us were playing for the trophy and the title. Even though at the time Zhang was short in chips, I still wanted to do a deal with him where I got the trophy, and we split the cash.”
2019 PokerStars APPT Jeju ₩2,500,000 APPT Main Event Final Table Results
| Position | Player | Country | Prize (in KRW) | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huidong Gu | Macau | ₩183,695,000 | $159,000 |
| 2 | Yang Zhang | China | ₩116,535,000 | $101,000 |
| 3 | Ruihong Tao | China | ₩73,081,000 | $63,200 |
| 4 | Zhang Mengyin | China | ₩57,280,000 | $49,500 |
| 5 | Siyuan Wang | China | ₩41,478,000 | $36,000 |
| 6 | Duc Trung Vu | Vietnam | ₩33,578,000 | $29,000 |
| 7 | Tae Hoon Han | New Zealand | ₩26,467,000 | $23,000 |
| 8 | Kairan Jin | China | ₩22,517,000 | $19,500 |
| 9 | Jiageng Zhang | China | ₩18,567,000 | $16,000 |
Action of the day
The final day started with eleven players remaining. After the first few hands, it was an almost simultaneous elimination on both tables. Guondong Tian busted in eleventh place and Lijiang Liu fell in tenth with top pair versus Yang Zhang's two pair on the flop to send the remaining nine players to the final table.
It took almost one and a half level before the first elimination at the final table, and it was Jiageng Zhang who busted in 9th. He fell in Huidong Gu's trap, with the latter just calling Jiageng's preflop three-bet with aces. The chips went in the middle on the flop, and Jiageng's pocket tens couldn't find any help.
Half an hour into the next level saw Kairan Jin end his run. He three-bet shoved with ace-seven, and original raiser Yang Zhang called with ace-jack. The board ran pure for Yang, and he sent the final table into seven-handed play.
It was then that the most important hand of the day, up to that point, took place, with the elimination of the start-of-the-day chip leader. New Zealand's Tae Hoon Han seemed like he couldn't get anything as he wanted during the final table; mostly losing small pots and all-ins against short stacks. He then three-barrel bluffed his stack against Yang Zhang, but the latter wasn't folding. Yang's flopped top pair, and rivered trips was good enough to make him call Han's river shove and win a huge pot, while at the same time busting one of the most dangerous players at the final table.
After that elimination, everything happened rather quickly. In just half an hour of play, four more players were eliminated to send the Main Event to the heads-up stage. The first to bust in this short time of period was Duc Trung Vu in sixth place when he hero-called Huidong Gu's shove on the river with second pair, only to see his opponent show top two-pair.
The Day 1c chipleader was the next player to leave, with Siyuan Wang shoving his short stack with ace-eight to get called by Yang Zhang's king-jack who spiked a jack on the river.
The only woman that started Day 3, Zhang Mengyin, had a great performance, managing to ladder up in the payouts even though she was short stacked for the biggest part of the day. She had some luck during the day as well; tripling up in a spot with queen-six versus Gu's kings when she hit runner-runner cards for a straight that kept her alive. In her last hand, she had fewer than four blinds and shoved five-deuce to lose by Ruihong Tao's king-nine.
Three-handed play didn't last more than just three hands, with Ruihong Tao shoving with ace-eight only to get called by Yang Zhang's ace-ten that held until the river.
When heads-up started, Yang Zhang had slightly more chips than Huidong Gu. In the aforementioned hand, that Gu noted as the most important in the last day for him, he managed to turn things around. It all ended with a sixes (Yang Zhang) versus jack-ten (Huidong Gu) hand, where the board brought two queens and two nines, for Zhang's hand to get counterfeited.
This wraps up the PokerNews coverage for the 2019 APPT Main Event here in Jeju, South Korea. Meanwhile, the festival is not over, as the last High Roller starts tomorrow. You can follow it all right here on PokerNews with the 2019 PokerStars APPT Jeju ₩6,000,000 APPT High Roller live updates.
