Poker champs crowned in China and Ireland

It was a busy week for poker around the globe, as major tournaments concluded and major cash was awarded in China and Ireland.

In China the main event of the 2018 Poker King Cup Macau was played at the Venetian Macau. The main event had a buy-in of HK$16,500, or roughly $1,100 US, and had a 518-player field.

The last man standing after the last card was dealt was Wei Ran Pu. The native of China cashed HK$1,464,000 for the win, which is about $187,239 US.

Pu began the final table third in chips and eliminated five of his opponents on the way to the win. He faced Jian Dong Yu heads-up for the tournament title with a 3-to-1 chip lead at the outset of heads-up play. It didn’t take long for all the chips to end up with Pu.

On the final hand of the tournament, Yu was all-in with ace-four, and he needed some help against Pu’s pocket sixes. The board didn’t provide Yu with any help, knocking him out. For second place, he picked up HK$1,026,500, or $131,284 US.

Wojchiechowski outlasts them all in Ireland

While the cards were in the air in China, they were also being dealt out at the Citywest Hotel in Dublin, Ireland in the Winamax Poker Open Dublin.

The €550 No-Limit Hold’em tournament set a new event record with a 1,191-player field. That also led to a record prize pool of €570,489. Taking up the biggest portion was Karol Wojchiechowski. For the win he received €89,716, or $104,967 US.

It came down to Wojchiechowski and Andrew Dooley heads-up for the tournament title. Wojchiechowski began heads-up play with the chip lead with 38 million chips to Dooley’s 21 million. Dooley took over the chip lead a few hands into heads-up play, but it didn’t last long, as Wojchiechowski regained the lead a few hands later.

One of the key hands of heads-up was a big win for Wojchiechowski. Holding pocket fives, Wojchiechowski flopped a full house on 10c-5s-10d. Dooley check-called three bets from Wojchiechowski all the way to the showdown before mucking and handing a huge pot to Wojchiechowski. After that win he has just over a 3-to-1 chip lead.

On the final hand Dooley pushed all-in pre-flop holding Ah-8s. Wojchiechowski called with pocket sixes. The board ended up 5h-2d-Jd-7s-7c and it was all over. For second place, Dooley received €52,386, or $67,141 US.