Hongbo Lin Turns First Live Tournament Into €46,917 CNP Alicante Victory
Hongbo Lin is the latest CNP Winamax champion after taking down the €550 Main Event in Alicante. The Chinese player, who had a vocal rail supporting him at Casino Mediterráneo, claimed the silver clover and €46,917 following a five-way deal at the final table.
The tournament attracted 713 entries across four starting flights, making it the second-largest stop of the season behind Sevilla’s 919-strong field.
CNP Winamax Alicante Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hongbo Lin | China | €46,917* |
| 2 | Miguel Montes | Spain | €24,855* |
| 3 | Iván Paredes Cendán | Spain | €20,786* |
| 4 | Cornel Teodor Chis | Romania | €28,939* |
| 5 | Miguel Abeijón | Spain | €22,752* |
| 6 | Lasse Antero Laukkarinen | Finland | €11,800 |
| 7 | Fedor Muntyan | Russia | €8,900 |
| 8 | Eduardo Guillén | Spain | €6,200 |
| 9 | Axel López | Spain | €5,000 |
*indicates five-way deal
A Memorable First Outing
Remarkably, the victory came in Lin’s first-ever live tournament. Entering late on Day 2, Lin’s unorthodox but fearless style paid dividends as he bulldozed his way through Day 3. By the time heads-up play began, he held an 8-to-1 chip lead over Miguel Montes, the current CNP leaderboard frontrunner. Montes could do little to halt Lin’s momentum, who sealed the win after another improbable all-in victory.
Joining them on the podium was Iván Paredes, who impressed on his deep run but fell in third after losing a key pot to Montes before busting to the eventual champion.
Day 3 Action
The final day began with 44 hopefuls, and eliminations came quickly in the early levels. Former chip leader Miguel Abeijón saw his stack whittled away after several failed all-ins, while Eduardo Guillén surged after hitting a dramatic two-outer on the river.
Lin’s rise began with a blind-versus-blind battle where his seven-four cracked pocket nines, before a triple all-in vaulted him into a commanding position. Holding pocket jacks, Lin overcame both ace-king and ace-queen after spiking a jack on the turn, cementing his role as the runaway chip leader.
The official final table bubble burst when Ramón Fernández ran into the kings of Cornel Teodor Chis, and from there Lin continued to dominate. Fedor Muntyan, Axel López, Guillén, and Lasse Antero Laukkarinen all fell short before the final five players struck a deal, leaving €14,425 and the trophy to play for.
Despite the chop, Lin showed no signs of slowing down. He dispatched Abeijón, Chis, and Paredes in quick succession before finishing the job against Montes in the early hours of the morning.
