A round-up of live tournament action from around the globe including Joe Serock taking down the European Open, and Bian Yang winning WPT Korea.
Unibet’s decision to send 200 online qualifiers to Las Vegas to compete in the inaugural European Open Special Edition was a sound one as 673 players entered smashing the $400,000 guarantee to smithereens.
The $1,100 buy-in event formed part of the Wynn Fall Classic, and it was a resounding success. Not only did Unibet send their qualifiers, but they also brought along a host of Unibet Ambassadors and celebrities, including the former Miss Finland, Sara Chafek, and former professional footballers Regi Blinker, Phil Babb, Henrik Larsson, and George Boateng.
98 players received a penny or two, and the final table housed three big names: Joe Serock, Rex Clinkscales and the World Poker Tour (WPT) Champions Club member, Jordan Cristos.
Clinkscales’s run ended in seventh, Cristos got closer with a third-place exit, but it was Serock who went all the way. The native of New Mexico defeated Joris Springael in heads-up action to take the first prize of $113,059. It’s the first live tournament Serock has put away since winning the Player’s Poker Championship in Aruba back in 2012.
The victory takes Serock’s all-time live tournament earnings to $3.5m.
Final Table Results
1. Joe Serock – $113,059
2. Joris Springael – $72,814
3. Jordan Cristos – $48,941
4. Andrew Warren – $34,625
5. Egi Adrianns – $25,769
6. Martin Soukup – $20,076
7. Rex Clinkscales – $16,114
8. Andrey Piotnikov – $13,384
9. Ryan Readenour – $11,320
Other players who ventured further than Voyager 1 included the Miami Vice legend Don Johnson (24th), the former Celtic star Regi Blinker (27th), David Sklansky (56th), and Ryan Laplante (72nd).
Bian Yang Wins WPT Korea
World Poker Tour (WPT) personnel have been stretched a little thin these past few weeks. They’ve had the WPT Borgata Poker Open. Tony Dunst, Vince Van Patten and co then headed out onto the ocean for WPT Cruise, and now the action is going down at the Maryland Live! Casino.
And there has been activity on the other side of the world.
The WPT has recently made a pit stop at the Paradise Grand Casino Jeju in South Korea for a WPT Korea event organised under the WPT DeepStacks umbrella.
The event attracted 175 entrants (none of whom were from Korea because the law forbids them from playing), and the winner was the Canadian Bian Yang.
Yang is a cash game grinder with very few live tournament victories on her CV (four). Her previous best cash before her victory was $29,800 after finishing seventh in an Asian Poker King Tournament in StarWorld, Macau back in 2011.
21 players received a minimum of $2,243. The vast majority of those finishing in the money were from China, with players from Japan also numerous.
Yang picked up KRW56,992,500 for the win, $50,256.
Final Table Results
1. Bian Yang – $50,256
2. Iori Yogo – $35,222
3. Ji Shun – $22,653
4. Albert Paik – $16,772
5. Xiao Jia – $12,590
6. Tsun Chan – $10,063
