British player Tommy Zhang is one of the early winners at the second annual Asia Championship of Poker having won Event 2: HK $11,000 Deepstack Championship for HK $420,000. The 23-year-old poker pro beat 177-players on Day 4 of the 17-day ACOP schedule saw the completion of one ‘ACOP Title Event’ while another got on its way.
The tournament, which played out over three days, paid out the top 19 players out of the HK $1,716,900 prize pool, but it was Zhang who walked away with the HK $420,600 top prize. His victory came just as Event 3: 6-Max Championship began on Monday evening at the PokerStars LIVE Macau poker room.
“It doesn’t feel real…it feels unbelievable,” said Zhang, a 23-year old poker pro from the United Kingdom.
Event 2 final table results
1. Tommy Zhang, UK, HK $420,600
2. Peter Chu, Hong Kong, HK $283,300
3. Makoto Yoshimichi, Japan, HK $180,300
4. Julian Hasse, Germany, HK $145,900
5. Kai Yang, Chinese Taipei, HK $115,900
6. Claudia Yum, Korea, HK $94,400
7. Yibo Zhou, China, HK $77,300
8. Ryan Yu, Canada, HK $60,100
9. Ryo Akabane, Japan, HK $51,500
Zhang’s opponents had plenty to play for when the final table commenced on Monday afternoon.
China’s Ryan Yu had his eyes set on the No. 1 spot on the Asia Player of the Year (APOY) rankings. He needed a 7th place finish to do so but just fell short in 8th place. Yu takes over the No. 2 position leapfrogging Red Dragon winner Terry Fan.
Korea’s Claudia Yum was seeking the distinction of becoming the first female player to win an open ACOP Title Event but ended up in 6th place.
Zhang credited overnight chip leader Kai Yang as the person that convinced him to play the ACOP despite the former specializing in cash games and “rarely” in tournaments. Yang finished in 5th place and improves his APOY rank to No. 20.
The knock outs to Germany’s Julian Hasse (4th) and Japan’s Makoto Yoshimichi (3rd) set up a short heads-up battle with Hong Kong’s Peter Chu. Zhang Kâ™ Q♥ beat Chu’s J♣ Jâ™ in a classic coin flip, leaving the Hong Kong native badly crippled.
Despite an immediate double-up by Chu, there was no comeback story as his big slick A♦ K♦ failed to hold against Zhang’s 4s-6c in the following hand.
After the chips got all-in preflop, the board ran Q♠7♣ 10♠K♠J♠to give the UK poker pro a four-card flush to secure his first career title.
For side event results please click here.
For 2013 Asia Player of the Year rankings please click here.
For more information about the ACOP please visit PokerStarsLIVEMacau.com.
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