Running through its last four days on schedule, the WPT Prime Taiwan 2024 festivities at the CTP Asia Poker Arena, Taipei, once again welcomed hundreds of players right on its doorstep. Day 1B of the Championship Event attracted another smashing turnout with 535 entries added to the tally, bringing the total attendance to 956. A promising outlook remains on the horizon as the headlining games stands to be right on track of breaking the current WPT Asia Pacific record at 1,395 entries.

On the sidelines, Taiwan’s Daniel Yang started the day well in the green, with a victory at the High Roller event earning him a seven-figure payday. By night’s end, two more trophies were awarded with Yiu Yeung Leung, and Yohwan Lim outlasting the final two turbo events.

WPT Prime Taiwan – Players Guide
WPT Prime Taiwan – Festival Results

Tsui Ka Chun tops WPT Prime Taiwan Championship Event Day 1B

Having picked up a larger turnout for its second flight, Day 1B found its 535 entry field draw down to 12.5% (ITM) by the eighteenth level of play. Ching Chieh Chou exited as the day’s stone cold bubble after his last five big blinds missed to double up with against Chak Pan Ho’s . Chou’s elimination signaled the day’s close, and saw four players narrowingly bid for the top spot. By just a tiny margin, Hong Kong’s Tsui Ka Chun (977,000) edged past Japan’s Hiroyuki Tane (966,000) to stand in the lead of the 67 qualifiers advancing to Day 2.

A number of Asian crushers joins the Day 1B list, of which includes fifth in rank Tae Hoon Han, Ting-Yi ‘Eric’ Tsai, Kun Han Lee, Yoda Lin, Jereld Sam, Chi Jen Chen, Eisuke Katsuren, and Mai Bien. WPT Player of the Festival leader Park Yu ‘Sparrow’ Cheung also made it through for his second run, this time bringing in a healthier stack of 431,000, above average.

Meanwhile, notable contenders Soo Jo Kim, David Erquiaga, Satoshi Tanaka, Seungmook Jung, and Kyle Bao Diep, failed to make the mark and were nowhere to be seen by bagging time. Some of Taiwan’s best runners such as WPT ambassador Pete Chen, Chen An Lin, Yu Chung ‘Nevan’ Chang, Chi Jen ‘Justin’ Chu, and Kenny Shih, similarly hit the rails but are expected to be back on the felt for the last starting heat on schedule.

Read back on the concluded WPT Prime Taiwan Championship Event Day 1B action via WPT’s official Live Updates.

Dates: August 15-19, 2024
Buy in: TWD 35,000 (~USD 1,080)
Guarantee: TWD 32,276,500 (~USD 1,000,000)

Day 1A: 421 entries / 53 qualified
Day 1B: 535 entries / 67 qualified
Day 1C: Saturday, August 17
Day 2: Sunday, August 18
Day 3/ Final Day: Monday, August 19

WPT Prime Taiwan Championship Event Day 1B Top Chip Counts

Side Events

Event #37: High Roller: Daniel Yang – TWD 1,317,100 (~USD 40,780)

The second two-day High Roller on schedule saw only seven out of its 43 entry field return to the felt for the final games. Each guaranteed a share of the TWD 3,879,100 (~USD 120,110) prize pool, two short stack eliminations were seen right off the bat beginning with Wei Jen Wang’s exit in 7th place. Wang jammed his last 7.5 BB in with and lost the flip against Mikael Andersson’s , ending his run. Woojin Kang was next to hit the rails after a blind vs blind clash with against David Erquiaga’s , cost the former his chance of the title. 

A short-lived boost, Erquiaga failed to pick up the momentum as he succeedingly lost a crucial flip against Ping Liu for a chunk of his stack. Down to 7.5 BB, Erquiaga went with and fell short against Andersson’s for his elimination. Just a few deals later, SHR winner Daewoong Song followed suit after a failed bluff left him short, leading to his bust by the hands of Daniel Yang. Three handed play saw the chips fairly even up until Liu crashed out in third, after calling off with on board . Andersson moved with a final shove on the river, and collected in full, having tabled a full house to rake it in. 

Heads up against Yang, lasted for an hour with the two battling across several small pots. Yang remained to play small ball and managed to inch over his opponent after a number of successful hero calls. The turning point of the duel saw a limp pot roll flop . A back and forth between the two resulted in over a million in the middle even before the turn showed . Action was checked through to river where the Swede pulled another bluff , only to be called by Yang with at the last second. Left with 13 BB, Andersson pushed all-in on the next hand with , and saw his journey end after Yang’s held on board for the final victory.

Dates: August 15-16, 2024
Buy in: TWD 100,000 (~USD 3,090)
Prize pool: TWD 3,879,100 (~USD 120,110)
Entries: 43
ITM: 7 places

Event #37: High Roller Full Payouts

Event #39: Turbo Freezeout: Yiu Yeung Leung – TWD 488,900 (~USD 15,175)

Running only fifteen minutes on the clock, the Turbo Freezeout event saw its 176 entry field quickly reach its final nine players in just under six hours of play. Each final table contender hovered around the 10-20 BB range with the first bust seen minutes in. Vietnam’s Long Lam found himself at the losing end of a blind battle, followed shortly by Li Sinyang. Son Sanghyun similarly got entangled in a cooler situation as his ran smack right into Shing Kai Lam’s . The preflop game continued to see one by one fall, Zhi Jun Xu with a flip, and both Henricus and Lam gutted by pocket kings. 

Three left in contention, Yiu Yeung Leung locked in several steals until Keiichiro Nato finally challenged him with . A good call by Nato, the runout unfortunately, landed a flush for Leung’s to boot him not long after. Leung continued to grind his remaining opponent until the final showdown came into play, with his outflopping Chiu’s entirely for the win. Interestingly, Leung was spared from a bubble elimination early on, having spiked his two outer – against the rockets, to turn things around and keep him alive for a truly fated triumph.

Date/s: August 16, 2024
Buy in: TWD 12,000 (~USD 370)
Prize pool: TWD 1,860,900 (~USD 57,760)
Entries: 176
ITM: 22 places

Event #39: Turbo Freezeout Final Table Results

Event #40: Turbo High Roller: Yohwan Lim – TWD 931,000 (~USD 28,900)

The last event on schedule for Day 12 of the WPT Prime Taiwan festival drew in a smaller field of 37 entries with only six sharing a piece of the TWD 2,620,000 (~USD 81,320) pie. South Korea’s Yohwan Lim piled the highest stack across the final table and quickly delivered the money bubble elimination, along with Emmanuel Segismundo’s exit in 6th place sequentially. Seo Moonho, right on Lim’s tail, landed a huge pot with his holding up against Tung Wing Wong’s to send the latter out.

All four Korean contenders battled for the hefty blinds across two more levels until Sungmin Jung was grinded down to eventually fall in fourth place. The lead bounced back and forth between the three, with Lim turning up his aggression once with the advantage. Lim moved all-in hand after hand and saw Sung Joo Hyun be his first victim. Moonho followed just two deals later with the final hand seeing the runner up finisher call off for his last 16 BB with . Lim, slightly behind with secured the victory as the river completed his flush to wrap up the games.

Date/s: August 16, 2024
Buy in: TWD 80,000 (~USD 2,470)
Prize pool: TWD 2,620,000 (~USD 81,320)
Entries: 37
ITM: 6 places

Event #40: Turbo High Roller Full Payouts