Poker King Cup Macau 2018: Tokuho Yoshinaga Wins HK$80,000 High Roller For HK$1,410,169

The HK$80,000 High Roller at the 2018 Poker King Cup Macau was held over two days at the beautiful Venetian Macau Resort & Hotel and drew in a total of 69 entries that created a prize pool of HK$5,138,100. The eventual champion was Japanese pro Tokuho Yoshinaga (cover image), who took down the event after 14 levels of rigorous play that saw him defeat the likes of Dennis Rubba, Wenling Gao, Hon Cheong Lee and Takashi Ogura on the final table. Yoshinaga went home with the trophy and career-best cash of HK$1,410,169 (US$180,472) following a heads-up deal with fellow countryman Takashi Ogura.

Day 1 Recap

54 runners joined the action on Day 1 and after nine levels of play, only 36 remained to carry on the fight for the top honours on Day 2. Taking the overnight chip lead was Duan Chao from China with 181,500 in chips.

Other notables who also managed to bag stacks for Day 2 were Ziang Zhu (106,000), Sergio Aido (95,200), Tony Chang (94,900), Peter Chan (80,400), and Ye Wang (77,700).

Final Day Recap

With the late registration and re-entry period open for the first two hours on Day 2, the 36 survivors of Day 1 were joined by 15 more players, taking the total player count to 69.

With only the top 10 places assured payouts, the race to finish in the money saw many poker heavyweights perish along the way including World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winners Preston Lee and Michael Addamo, Phanlert Sukonthachartnant, Mark Hammond, James Chen and Day 1 chip leader Duan Chao.

Yang Li (10^th for HK$158,300) was the first player to finish in the money, but also bubbled the final table.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Tokuho Yoshinaga – 900,000

2. Takashi Ogura – 525,000

3. Hong Jun Zhao – 360,000

4. Wenling Gao – 350,000

5. William Fasano – 300,000

6. Hon Cheong Lee – 270,000

7. He Chang – 255,000

8. Wang Zhi Li – 235,000

9. Dennis Rubba – 200,000

Final Table Recap

Early on the final table, Tokuho Yoshinaga bet 40,00 from the cutoff and Dennis Rubba shoved for over 300,000 from the button. The blinds folded and Yoshinaga snap-called.

Dennis Rubba

Tokuho Yoshinaga

Yoshinaga’s pocket rockets held on the board and Rubba was busted in ninth place.

A little after a 10-minute break, Wenling Gao shoved all in from the button and was called by the short-stacked Wang Zhi Li from the small blind. Li pitted his against Gao’s . The board ran and Gao rivered a pair of queens to rail Li in eighth place.

Next to fall was He Chang when he jammed from under-the-gun for 136,000 holding . Hon Cheong Lee called from the cutoff and turned over . The community cards didn’t help either player, however, Lee’s ace-kicker was good enough to knockout Chang in seventh place.

Immediately after the second break, Wenling Gao moved all-in for her last 260,000 from under-the-gun and was called by Yoshinaga from the button.

Wenling Gao

Tokuho Yoshinaga

The board fanned out and once again Yoshinaga’s pocket rockets won him the pot, while Gao was eliminated in sixth place.

Finishing in fifth place was Hong Jun Zhao who shoved all-in for 420,000 from the button and was called by William Fasano from the small blind. Zhao tabled and Fasano turned over a better . The on the rundown got Fasano two pairs – aces and kings, while Zhao was sent packing.

Down to four-handed play, William Fasano moved all-in from under-the-gun with and Takashi Ogura called from the small blind with . The board spread out and Ogura’s king kicker prevailed to bust Fasano in fourth place.

Soon thereafter, Hon Cheong Lee pushed his remaining stack in the middle from the small blind and received a call from Yoshinaga in the big blind.

Hon Cheong Lee

Tokuho Yoshinaga

The community opened and Yoshinaga’s higher kicker helped him stay in the game, while Lee`s tournament run ended in third place.

The heads-up play was set up between the two Japanese pros Tokuho Yoshinaga (2,040,000) and Takashi Ogura (1,410,000). Following an unscheduled break, both players returned to the felt and announced that they had struck a heads-up deal, with Yoshinaga locking in HK$1,410,169 and Ogura HK$1,323,831. They continued to play for the trophy.

On the final hand of the event, Ogura raised to 90,000 from the button and Yoshinaga 3-bet to 350,000 from the big blind. Ogura 4-bet jammed for 1,400,000 and Yoshinaga snap-called.

Takashi Ogura

Tokuho Yoshinaga

The flop gave Yoshinaga the lead with a pair of queens. The turn and the river did not improve Ogura’s hand and he was relegated to a runner-up finish as his fellow countryman Yoshinaga claimed the trophy.

Final Table Results (HKD)

1. Tokuho Yoshinaga – HK$1,410,169*

2. Takashi Ogura – HK$1,323,831*

3. Hon Cheong Lee – HK$683,500

4. William Fasano – HK$472,800

5. Hong Jun Zhao – HK$318,600

6. Wenling Gao – HK$241,500

7. He Chang – HK$195,300

8. Wang Zhi Li – HK$169,600

9. Dennis Rubba – HK$164,500

*denotes heads-up deal

Keep following PokerGuru for more updates from the 2018 Poker King Cup Macau!

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