Xiaobo Zhou Takes Down Inaugural OPC Main Event Title (HK$1.45M / $184,939), Denying Ivan Leow Back-To-Back Wins

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.

Ivan Leow heads-up for the OPC title — What a week for Ivan Leow

“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!