Xiaqing Ji Leads Final Nine of TLPT Opening Event
The Lord Poker Tournament series kicked off its inaugural event in style by hosting a US$600,000 guaranteed freeroll appropriately titled the TLPT Opening. Qualifiers lined up in spades at the Landing Casino inside the fabulous Shinhwa World Hotel Jeju to take part in the historic event and, by the time late-registration had ended — 446 players had joined the fray.
The turbo structure ensured swift action throughout the day and it took just over 11 hours of play to get down to a final table of nine. Leading the way is Xiaqing Ji (1,375,000), who is a regular in the Asia tournament scene and has racked up just shy of $500,000 in live-tournament earnings according to the Hendon Mob. The only other player to end over the million-chip mark was Jiawei Yuan, who ended the day with 1,265,000.
Final Table Seat Draw and Chip Counts
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jiawei Yuan | China | 1,265,000 | 32 |
| 2 | Xiaqing Ji | China | 1,375,000 | 34 |
| 3 | Yang Chen | China | 785,000 | 20 |
| 4 | Jinsui Fan | China | 500,000 | 13 |
| 5 | Xiaoyan Xu | China | 190,000 | 5 |
| 6 | Jiaman Sun | China | 580,000 | 15 |
| 7 | Jia Wang | China | 895,000 | 22 |
| 8 | Xinyuan Yang | China | 610,000 | 15 |
| 9 | Yawen Ren | China | 460,000 | 12 |
Action of the Day
The TLPT Opening Event got underway with 27 players as the registration line quickly grew — ensuring a steady influx of late entrants.
Ti Zhou got off to a hot start after being the recipient of an ill-timed shove by Weidong Cheung on just the second level of play. Zhou, who frequently enjoyed victories with a fist pump, managed to double his stack early and rode that momentum to a deep run.
With an average stack that quickly settled to between 20 and 30 big blinds due to the turbo structure, it was no surprise that the money bubble arrived before dinner break. After just a few deals of hand-for-hand play with 76 players remaining (and 75 making the money), Zhou found himself in the spotlight again after calling an all in by Chenxin Yu holding aces. A swarm of onlookers gathered around the table to see that Yu was behind with pocket threes. The board ran out safe for Zhou, much to the delight of everyone but Yu — who was eliminated on the stone money bubble.
The chips started flying following Yu's elimination, which led to over 20 eliminations within the remainder of the level as short stacks were happy to gamble after locking up a min-cash.
Among the field who joined late were a handful of notables who made the money, including super high roller Quan Zhou (71st - $3,100), Taiwanese poker pro Nevan Chang (51st - $3,300), and American poker pro Christian Harder — who had to settle for a 16th place finish ($5,000) after losing a flip with ace-king against Jia Wang's pocket eights.
There were few lulls in the action right up until the final table bubble, which burst after "Yoyo" committed their stack with pocket sevens and was called by Yuan's king-ten suited. Yuan ended up pairing his ten on the turn and holding to end play for the day and set up a final table of nine with 19:20 remaining on Level 23.
The final nine players will return tomorrow (May 14) at 1 p.m. and play down to a winner. Blinds will resume at 20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 big blind ante and continue to go up every 30 minutes following the completion of Level 23.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Payout |
|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 |
| 2 | $78,000 |
| 3 | $54,000 |
| 4 | $37,000 |
| 5 | $27,000 |
| 6 | $19,000 |
| 7 | $14,000 |
| 8 | $11,100 |
| 9 | $8,000 |
With a cool $100,000 up top — the remaining players are sure to bring their A-game into the finale. Keep it with PokerNews for continuing coverage all the way until a TLPT Opening champion is crowned!