The latest World Poker Tour Prime champion has been crowned. Hyundong Lee defeated a field of 1,470 total entries in the WPT Prime Taiwan Championship, earning his first recorded title and $212,005 for the win. This triumph also came with 960 Card Player Player of the Year points for Lee.
The strong turnout for the $35,000 TWD buy-in event (just shy of $1,200 USD) resulted in a prize pool worth more than $1.5 million when rendered in American currency. The top 183 finishers cashed, with six-figure scores for the final three.
Lee’s Road To Victory
This event ran from Aug. 14-19 at the Asia Poker Arena in Taipei City. The final day began with just six remaining and Lee atop the chip counts.
Youngjong Lee (6th – $45,893) was the first to fall, with his trip kings out-kicked by the same trips with an ace kicker for Ting Wei Li. Justin Chan then bowed out in fifth place ($60,525) when his Q-8 ran into the A-K suited of Ci Hong Ho.
Ho continued his surge up the standings when his pocket nines outraced the A-J of Man Woo Park (4th – $79,814) shortly after busting Chan.
Lee won a big clash during three-handed action, with A♥K♦ overcoming the 5♥5♣ of Li, which was turned into a bluff with a shove on the turn. He received a quick call from Lee, who held through the river to take a commanding lead. Li was left on fumes and soon headed to the rail in third place ($106,418).
Heads-up began with nearly a 4:1 advantage for Lee over Ho. The lead changed hands when Ho doubled up with a flopped flush, but Lee was able to quickly battle back out in front ahead of the final hand of the tournament.
With blinds of 400,000-800,000 and a big blind ante of 800,000 Lee raised to 1,800,000 on the button with K♠10♠ and Ho called from the big blind with J♦5♦. The flop came down 6♥4♠3♠ and Ho bet 1,500,000 with his open-ended straight draw. Lee raised to 4,200,000 with his flush draw and Ho moved all-in for 22,800,000 total. Lee called and the A♠ turn gave him the nuts to leave Ho drawing dead. The 9♦ river was a mere formality, making Ho’s runner-up finish for $143,499 official.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Hyundong Lee | $212,005 | 960 |
| 2 | Ci Hong Ho | $143,499 | 800 |
| 3 | Ting Wei Li | $106,418 | 640 |
| 4 | Man Woo Park | $79,814 | 480 |
| 5 | Justin Chan | $60,525 | 400 |
| 6 | Youngjong Lee | $45,893 | 320 |
| 7 | Wangkei Lau | $35,417 | 240 |
| 8 | Seungmin Yu | $27,436 | 160 |
| 9 | Robert Nemeskeri-Kiss | $21,616 | 80 |
Photo provided by WPT.
