Wei Ran Pu Wins 2018 Poker King Cup Macau Main Event for US$187,239

The Poker King Cup (PKC) has reached its conclusion in the Poker King Club at the Venetian Macau, and during its six day run featured seven events with buy-ins ranging from HK$2,000 (US$255) all the way up to HK$200,000 (US$25,600) for its Super High Roller. In total, the 2018 Poker King Cup handed out an impressive HK$18,512,700 ($2,370,480) in prize money to 1,076 players, and commenting later on its overall success, Winfred Yu stated:

“I think with the limited amount of time and resources we have, we are happy with the player numbers this series. The great turn out proves that Macau is still the number one capital of poker in Asia.”

Poker King Cup Highlights

One of the first tournaments to kick off the PKC series was its HK80,000 High Roller (US$10,250), which attracted 69 entries to create a prize pool of HK$5,138,100. Two days later, and it was Japanese player Tokuho Yoshinaga who would emerge atop of the field to walk away with top honors, and a first place prize of HK$1,410,169 (US$180,000).

Meanwhile, the HK$16,500 Main Event (US$2,112) has just brought the PKC to a close, with Wei Ran Pu managing to overcome its 518-strong field to claim a top prize worth HK$1,464,000 ($187,239). In the photo, the PKC Champion can be seen receiving his winner’s check from the Poker King Cup President Winfred Yu, a talented player himself with $3,465,343 in live earnings to his name, placing him at number three on Hong Kong’s ‘All Time Money List’.

HK$80,000 PKC High Roller

The PKC HK80,000 High Roller attracted a number of notable pros, and amongst those finishing short of one the competition’s 10 paid money spots was Preston Lee, Michael Addamo, Phanlert Sukonthachartnant, Mark Hammond, James Chen and Duan Chao. Yang Li then became the first player to walk away with a cash prize worth HK$158,300 ($20,270), with his departure also ushering in the final table.

Final Table

Tokuho Yoshinaga (900k) was the chip leader going into the final table, followed a distant back by fellow Japanese player Takashi Ogura (525,000), both of whom would eventually face off against one another heads-up.

Yoshinaga (A-A) started out by eliminating Dennis Rubba (4-4) in 9th, before being dealt pocket aces and once more handing out the same treatment to Wenling Gao (5-5) in 6th after the board rolled out 8-7-2-9-7.

Next, Ogura (A-K) took care of William Fasano (A-7) in 4th, after which Yoshinaga (A-J) dispatched Hon Cheong Lee (A-3) to the rail in 3rd to force the final phase of the contest.

Heads-Up Recap

Tokuho Yoshinaga began heads-up holding a 6-4 chip advantage over Takashi Ogura, and the duo soon struck a deal in which the prize money was divided up HK$1,410,169 to HK$1,323,831 respectively, with the trophy still left to play.

After the contest resumed, the two players were involved in an unusual hand in which both players had been dealt pocket kings and ended up splitting the pot. The deciding hand subsequently took place the very next hand after Ogura (6-6) raised preflop, resulting in a 3-bet from Yoshinaga (A-Q), followed by a 4-bet jam and then a snap call to set up a classic race. Yoshinaga didn’t have to wait long to surge ahead after the dealer laid out a Q-3-K flop, though, while the 7 and 3 on turn and river sealed the deal.

Tokuho Yoshinaga’s victory more than doubles his career earnings to $326,087. It also represents his second tournament win to date out of 10 live cashes, the other having been his triumph at the 2015 Asia Championship of Poker Macau Main Event for HK$272,946 ($35,215). Interestingly, all Yoshinaga’s previous cashes have been recorded in Macau, with the exception of his 344th place finish at the 2010 WSOP $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event for $1,868.

Final Table Results (US$)

1: Tokuho Yoshinaga (Japan) 180,472*
2: Takashi Ogura (Japan) 169,423*
3: Hon Cheong Lee (HK) 87,474
4: William Fasano (UK) 60,508
5: Hong Jun Zhao (China) 40,774
6: Wenling Gao (China) 30,907
7: He Chang (China) 24,994
8: Wang Zhi Li (China) 21,705
9: Dennis Rubba (UK) 21,053

HK$16,500 Main Event

The HKD 16,500 Main Event featured a HK$7,536,900 prize pool and reached its conclusion on the fourth day of play. Among the notable pros seeing a return on their buy-ins was Antonio Martins in 51st (HK$33,200), Sparrow Cheung in 46th (HK$33,200), Sun Bin in 36th (HK$45,200), Ke Fei Na in 34th (HK$45,200) and Zhang Chao in 30th (HK$45,200). Following Ke Wang’s departure in 11th (HK$107,800) and Korean players Lee’s exit in 9th, the final table was set, which this year ended up being an all-China affair.

Wei Ran Pu entered the final table in 3rd place with the fast paced action seeing the player eliminate five players over three and a half hours on his way to victory. Pu (A-A) started off by taking care of Cang Sheng Ni (A-K) in 7th, while his pocket jacks also beat Jun Fang’s A-K holding to see him exit in 5th. Pu (7-7) then eliminated a short stacked Li Yu (A-4) in 4th, followed by Yang Wang in 3rd to take a 3-1 chip lead overt Jian Dong Yu into heads-up play.

Following a bit of toing and froing, the final hand was played after Jian Dong Yu put in a raise that was apparently bigger than he originally intended and so tried to take back some of the chips. This was obviously blocked by the dealer, and sensing an opportunity Pu moved all-in preflop holding pocket sixes. Yu opted to make the call with the rest of his chips, but received no relief on a 5-7-J-9-7 board to finish in a runner-up position for US$131,000. Meanwhile, Pu was declared the 2018 Poker King Cup Main Event champion, and commenting upon his impressive performance, joked:

“This is my biggest ever win, which I think I’ll celebrate by spending the money on playing more poker tournaments.”

Final Table Results (US)

1: Wei Ran Pu (China) $187,239
2: Jian Dong Yu (China) $131,284
3: Yang Wang (China) $84,436
4: Li Yu (China) $62,464
5: Jun Fang (China) $46,848
6: Liang Song (China) $37,588
7: Cang Sheng Ni (China) $31,321
8: Qi Cheng Du (China) $24,965