Boyuan Qu emerged victorious in the richest poker tournament held on Korean soil to date, the ₩4,350,000 buy-in High Roller at the first ever PokerStars Festival Korea, banking a ₩72,160,000 payday. He bested a stacked field of 34 unique players who collectively made 62 separate entries and a tough final table that included PokerStars Team Online Pro Randy Lew. Remarkably, he was the chip leader at the start of play on Day 2 and never relinquished the lead, going wire-to-wire to claim the top prize and trophy.
Final Table Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1
Boyuan Qu
China
₩72,160,000
2
Kazuhiko Yotsushika
Japan
₩52,200,000
3
Takayuki Iwamoto
Japan
₩33,680,000
4
Horzuchi Yutaka
Japan
₩25,500,000
5
Randy Lew
USA
₩19,730,000
6
Daniel Demicki
Poland
₩15,400,000
7
Xiangbiao Zhu
China
₩12,270,000
8
Sparrow Cheung
Hong Kong
₩9,620,000
Since only eight places were paid in this event, the final table was reached before the money bubble broke. That didn't happen until Randy Lew eliminated Elias Gutierrez when the two players got the chips in before the flop and Lew's ace-ten caught up to Gutierrez's ace-king to send him to the rail. Eliminations followed at a frantic pace from that point forward. Sparrow Cheung was the next to fall in eighth place when he got undersetted by Xingbiao Zhu, who entered late on Day 2. Zhu subsequently departed in seventh place when he got his chips in the middle with pocket nines against the ace-king of Kazuhiko Yotsushika and lost the coin flip. On the very next hand, Yotsushika dispatched another foe to the rail when Daniel Demicki got his stack in with king-ten suited against Yotsushika's pocket deuces and Yotsushika turned a boat to leave Demicki drawing dead. Randy Lew followed shortly thereafter in fifth place when he shoved from the small blind with nine-seven suited into the eventual champion's king-jack and didn't improve when the board rolled out. Next to go was Horzuchi Yutaka, who departed in fourth place when he got his stack in preflop against Qu holding pocket nines to Qu's ace-king suited only to see Qu flop the nut flush. Takayuki Iwamoto became the third-place finisher when he got his short stack in the middle preflop with pocket fours and Qu, who called with king-eight, paired his eight on the flop to take the lead and Iwamoto found no help on the turn or river.
At the start of heads-up play, Qu had a nearly three-to-one chip lead over Kazuhiko Yotsushika. However, Yotsushika didn't go quietly and nearly overtook Qu at one point as the two players battled back and forth for over an hour. It all came to an end when Yotsushika shoved into Qu's turned trip nines with king high and no hope of improving on the river. After the last card fell, Qu, who only has two previous live cashes on his tournament record, had officially banked the largest payday of his poker career by miles, taking home the approximate equivalent of $64,000 for his efforts in this event.
While the High Roller is in the books, the Main Event is already in progress, so be sure to keep it here for coverage of the remainder of the first PokerStars Festival Korea from the PokerNews live reporting team.
Kazuhiko Yotsushika raised to 45,000 from the button, Boyuan Qu three-bet to 135,000 from the big blind, and Yotsushika called.
The flop came and Qu bet 135,000. Yotsushika raised to 330,000 and Qu called.
The turn brought the and Qu checked. Yotsushika shoved for about 480,000 and Qu called to put him at risk.
Qu:
Yotsushika:
Qu had turned trip nines and Yotsushika was drawing dead with one card to come. The meaningless fell on the river and Qu took the pot to eliminate Yotsushika and finish the tournament as the winner.
Takayuki Iwamoto jammed from the small blind for 185,000 and Boyuan Qu called from the big blind to put Iwamoto at risk.
Iwamoto:
Qu:
Iwamoto had the preflop advantage but needed to win the coin flip in order to preserve his tournament life. The board ran out , pairing Qu's eight to give him the pot and end Iwamoto's deep run in this event.
Horzuchi Yutaka got his entire stack in the middle before the flop against Boyuan Qu, who had him covered by a wide margin.
Yutaka:
Qu:
Yutaka had the preflop advantage but had to win the race in order to double up. The flop gave Qu the nut flush and left Yutaka in terrible shape. The turn and river changed nothing and Qu took the pot to end Yutaka's deep run in this event.
Action folded to Randy Lew in the small blind and he moved all-in. Boyuan Qu called from the big blind to put Lew at risk and the two players tabled their hands.
Lew:
Qu:
Qu had the preflop advantage and Lew needed help from the deck in order to double up. The flop gave Lew a flush draw, but the fell on the turn to pair Qu's king and give him a bigger lead. The river was no help to Lew and his deep run in this event has come to a close.
Daniel Demicki got his stack in before the flop from the big blind against Kazuhiko Yotsushika in the small blind.
Demicki:
Yotsushika:
Demicki was racing for his tournament life and needed to improve in order to double up. The flop was no help to Demicki and the turn gave Yotsushika a boat, which left Demicki drawing dead with one card to come. The meaningless fell on the river and Yotsushika took the pot to end Demicki's deep run in this event.
Xingbiao Zhu was under the gun and got all his chips in before the flop against Kazuhiko Yotsushika in the big blind who had him covered by a wide margin.
Zhu:
Yotsushika:
Zhu was racing for his tournament life and needed to improve in order to double up. The board ran out and Yotsushika's pocket nines held up to win the pot and end Zhu's deep run in this event.
Sparrow Cheung got his stack in against Xingbiao Zhu, who had him well covered, and the cards were already on their backs with the board reading . Cheung held for bottom set but was in bad shape against Zhu, who held for middle set. The turn and river changed nothing and Zhu took the pot to end Cheung's run in this tournament.
Alan Lau opened with a raise to 7,200 from the cutoff, Wei Hsiang Yeu three-bet to 18,500 from the small blind, and Lau four-bet jammed for about 65,000, sending Yeu into the tank. He tossed in one time bank chip and with one second remaining on the shot clock following the extension, he called.
Lau:
Yeu:
Lau had the preflop advantage with the better ace and Yeu needed help from the deck in order to stack Lau. The board ran out and Lau took the pot with top two pair to double up.
Boyuan Qu, who extended his chip lead significantly over the first level of Day 2, raised to 5,500 from the button and Pete Chen jammed from the small blind for 33,200. Daniel Demicki quickly reshoved from the big blind for what looked like just over 80,000,, and after a few moments of thought, Qu folded.
Demicki:
Chen:
Chen was in bad shape preflop with the smaller pocket pair and needed help from the deck in order to double up. Although he picked up a gutshot when the flop came , he didn't improve further on the turn or river and Demicki took the pot.