(Photo: Worldpokertour.com)
It was Canadian-Korean ‘Jessica’ Bian Hong Yang who emerged victorious from a tough and youthful final table in Incheon this weekend to lift the WPT Korea Main Event title, scooping the top prize of KRW 56,992 million (approx. $50,000) and becoming the first WPT title holder in Asia.
The 175-player field at the Grand Jeju Paradise Casino – a ‘foreigner’s only’ casino outside of tournament play - had been whittled down to just six, and included Japan’s highly-experienced pro Iori Yogo who came into the event with almost $900,000 of lifetime tournament winnings, including 7 cashes this summer in Vegas.
Toronto-based Yang is primarily a cash game player with only 3 prior tournament cashes on her resume, and she entered the final day’s play some way behind the chip leaders, but she proved herself more than capable of adjusting to tournament play as she disposed of Yi Shun Ji and Albert Paik with ‘well-timed aggression and quality reads’ according to the WPT blog.
Paik had recently taken down the APT Korea Main Event for almost $40,000 as well as last year’s APPT Main Event in Korea for over $100,000, so Yang was up against some seriously stiff opposition.
The heads-up battle with Yogo ended in victory for Yang when she ‘reraised all-in over the top of an open from Yogo. Yogo made the call to put his tournament life on the line with pocket deuces. His baby pocket pair was behind the pocket eights of Bian Hong Yang, and the board gave him no help.’
The win was the biggest of Yang’s career to date, her previous best being a $29,800 cash for finishing 7th in the Asian Poker King tournament in Macau back in 2011.
WPT Korea Main Event Final Table Results
| 1 | Jessica Bian Hong Yang | KRW 56,992,000 | $50,000 |
| 2 | Iori Yogo | KRW 39,940,000 | $35,000 |
| 3 | Yi Shun Ji | KRW 25,689,000 | $21,000 |
| 4 | Albert Paik | KRW 19,020,000 | $17,000 |
| 5 | Jia Liang Xiao | KRW 14,277,000 | $13,000 |
| 6 | Tsun Ming Chan | KRW 11,412,000 | $9,000 |