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Event #12: US$25,000 8 Handed
Day 1 Completed
2025 The Lord Poker Tournament Jeju
Event #12: US$25,000 8 Handed
Day: 1
Event Info
2025 The Lord Poker Tournament Jeju
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1
Buy-in
$25,000
Prize Pool
$1,000,000
Total Entries
14
Level
16
Blinds
15,000 / 30,000
Ante
30,000
Entries
14
Players Left
6
Players Left 1 / 14
Filter
Level 10
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
It was a rather uneventful Day 1 of Event #12: $25,000 8-Handed in the Super High Roller Series of The Lord Poker Tournament (TLPT) — that is until the final two levels of the night. A total of 14 entries have been recorded thus far in the final event of the series at the Landing Casino at Jeju Shinhwa World Resort in Jeju, South Korea.
Among those 14 entries, many players were forced to use a second bullet throughout the day. However, Ivan Zhang managed to last an entire 10 levels on just a single bullet on his way to a substantial chip lead over the remaining six players still in the event. A fiery last couple of levels in the night produced a wealth of chips for Zhang who bagged up a stack of 1,066,000 chips.
Zhang, a co-founder of the TLPT, has been a staple at all of the tournaments in this High Roller series with a final table finish in the Main Event where he wound up in sixth place. Deemed as a "cash-game player" by himself, Zhang only plays a few tournaments per year but has accumulated over $500,000 in tournament winnings throughout his career. The talkative Zhang will be looking to add to his resume tomorrow and possibly record a new best live tournament score.
Day 1 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivan Zhang | China | 1,066,000 | 133 |
| 2 | Quan Zhou | China | 743,000 | 93 |
| 3 | Dominik Nitsche | Germany | 526,000 | 66 |
| 4 | Gary Thompson | Ireland | 227,000 | 28 |
| 5 | Lei Yu | China | 159,000 | 20 |
| 6 | Ami Barer | Canada | 79,000 | 10 |
The action on Day 1 got started with just four players taking their seats in the opening level. Dominik Nitsche joined the other co-founders of TLPT Quan Zhou and Dong Chen when the cards went in the air. Chips were slow moving through the opening levels as others Ami Barer, Gary Thompson, and Marius Gierse eventually joined the field.
Zhou got himself off to a hot start by taking the early chip lead and leaving both Nitsche and Thompson on short stacks - both of whom were forced to reenter post-dinner break. Nitsche went on to build a heaping stack later in the evening, mostly thanks to the two entries of Charles Chao. However, the German poker pro clashed with Zhang in back-to-back hands which both went the way of the Chinese businessman.
Nitsche managed to recover some of those chips due to the single hand played by Yisha Chen in the last level of the night. Chen sat down to pocket tens and got all of her chips in the middle preflop but ran straight into Nitsche's pocket aces. Chen opted to not reenter the event on Day 1.
The remaining six players will return to the felt at 1 p.m. local time and late registration will remain open until the cards go back in the air. If anyone should choose to buy-in at that time, they will be given a starting stack of 200,000 chips with the blinds resuming at 5,000/10,000 and a 10,000 big blind ante. The blinds will continue to be 45 minutes in length until a winner is crowned which will bring an end to the first stand-alone series on TLPT.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be here to bring you all of the live updates on the final day of the series, so stay tuned to find out who will take home the trophy and the top prize.
Level 10
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
The players have bagged their chips after 10 levels with Ivan Zhang leading the way as the only player with a seven-figure stack. A full recap of the day's action will be posted shortly.
Level 10
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Gary Thompson raised to 16,000 in the hijack and was called by Ivan Zhang and Ami Barer in the blinds. The flop came K♦J♣2♥ and the blinds checked to Thompson who bet 18,000. Zhang check-raised to 56,000 which got Barer to fold but Thompson still called.
The turn was the 10♦ and Zhang checked again. Thompson announced a bet of 70,000 and Zhang check-raised all in as the big stack. Thompson used two of his time banks and then released his cards to the muck.
Level 10
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
The tournament clock has been paused and the players will play five more hands before bagging and tagging. Late registration will remain open until the start of play on Day 2 at 1 p.m. local time.
Level 10
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Charles Chao was just on his way out after busting to Gary Thompson and Yisha Chen was making her way to the table. On her very first hand, Dominik Nitsche opened to 16,000 from under the gun and Chen ripped all in for 250,000 from the cutoff. The action folded back to Nitsche who snapped her off.
Yisha Chen: 10♠10♥
Dominik Nitsche: A♠A♣
Chen was in need of two outs to preserve her fresh stack of 200,000 but the board of K♠7♦5♥J♣6♠ provided no help and Chen was eliminated after just a single hand.
Level 10
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Ivan Zhang just limped in on the button which invited Ami Barer and Dominik Nitsche to come along from the blinds. The flop came 9♠4♠2♠ and the action checked to Zhang who bet 10,000. Barer folded but Nitsche called to see the 8♠ on the turn.
With four spades on the board, both players checked and the 9♥ paired the board on the river. Nitsche checked again and Zhang blasted off a huge bet of 110,000. Nitsche looked startled for a moment but then eventually called. Zhang whipped over 9♦4♥ for a full house and raked in another massive pot.
"Your strategy works very well," Zhang joked with Nitsche who has employed a limping strategy recently.
Level 10
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Dominik Nitsche raised to 16,000 from under the gun and was called by Charles Chao on the button. Ivan Zhang reraised to 64,000 in the small blind and both Nitsche and Chao called.
The flop fell J♠J♥5♣ and Zhang led out with a bet of 130,000. Nitsche called and Chao got out of the way. The turn was the 10♠ and Zhang shipped all in for around 230,000. Nitsche looked back at his cards and dumped them in the muck, sending a healthy pot and the chip lead to Zhang.
Level 10
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Dominik Nitsche raised to 16,000 in the hijack and Lei Yu called on the button. They went heads-up to a flop of 8♦5♣3♦ where Nitsche led out with a bet of 30,000. Yu called and the Q♠ peeled off on the turn.
Nitsche checked this time and Yu tossed in a bet of 26,000. Nitsche used one of his time banks and then moved all in, forcing a quick fold from Yu.
Level: 10
Blinds: 4,000/8,000
Ante: 8,000
