Zhou Yun Peng Wins WSOP China Main Event For $367,024

Poker history was made the other day when the first ever WSOP gold bracelet awarded in Asia went to Zhou Yun Peng for winning the WSOP China Main Event and CNY 2,414,000 ($367K).

It was indeed a monumental event that followed an announcement over the summer that WSOP and Tencent had signed a 10-year partnership that would see the WSOP extend its reach to China. Tencent is the world's largest investment corporation, as well as the biggest gaming and entertainment company.

Peng told WSOP officials that this was his first live poker tournament action after having studied the game by reading books and watching videos for a few years. Not a bad showing for a first-timer, who will forever be remembered as the first WSOP gold medal champ on Chinese soil.

Six-Handed Final Table

Peng began final table action third in chips among the six players remaining. Three hours later, he had all the chips in front of him after disposing of three final tablists himself.

The first of those was the short-stacked Ni Cang Sheng, who shoved 1,910,000 in chips with pocket sevens. Peng, who began with a stack of 8,120,000, made the call with his pocket kings and the better starting hand held up, sending Sheng to the rail.

The next KO victim was Wu Xin, who got all his chips in with big slick after 4-betting Long Rong. The board ran out and failed to deliver an ace or a king, making Rong's pocket eights the winning hand.

While big slick sent Xin packing in 5th place, it provided a pay jump for Zhang Jian Bin. He held A-K and was up against the suited A-J of Li Xiang Lai. The lesser hand found no help from the flop, turn, and river and Lai's journey ended in 4th place.

In the next elimination, A-K was once again a pivotal hand in the contest, only this time it wasn't a winner for Zhang Jian Bin. Both an ace and a king landed on the flop, but it wasn't good enough against the pocket aces of Zhou Yun Peng. Bin had to settle for 3rd place after beginning the day as chipleader.

That left Long Rong to battle heads-up versus Zhou Yun Peng. The latter had doubled up with pocket deuces earlier in the tournament and delivered the final blow with the same hand. Peng connected on a flush to become champion, relegating Rong and his ace-rag offsuit to runner-up status and 2nd place prize money.

“There is so much untapped potential in Asia and we’ve found the perfect partner in Tencent to help spread the great game throughout the entire continent,” said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart following the announcement of the decade-long alliance. “We plan to use the WSOP brand and our expertise, along with Tencent’s reach in Asia, to inspire the next generation of competitive sport players.”

The game of poker continues to grow. Let's see how much more it grows in Asia over the next nine years of WSOP and Tencent's working relationship.

WSOP China Main Event - Final Table Results