Qing Liu Wins Career-First WPT Title Amidst FT Controversy & Medical Emergency

Qing Liu Wins WPT at Venetian
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  • Attreyee Khasnabis March 10, 2021
  • 4 Minutes Read

The first of the three delayed World Poker Tour (WPT) Main Event FTs from last year is set to take place on March 10. The first of which will be the WPT Gardens Poker Championship, where Qing Liu (cover image) has already booked a seat for himself with the fifth-biggest stack of 795,000. However, just ahead of his televised FT appearance, Liu entered the $5,000 entry buy-in WPT at Venetian Main Event and ended up shipping it to win his first-ever WPT title!

The Las Vegas-based Liu had entered the heads-up facing a 2:1 chip deficit against the 2015 WSOP Main Event champion Joe McKeehen.

McKeeheen is not just a three-time WSOP bracelet winner and a former World Champion but has also won four WPT titles. With $16,66 Million in live tournament earnings, he was gunning to take down his first WPT Main Event trophy. He was the hot favorite to win the title after entering the final day’s play as the chip leader.

After the heads-up started, it took Liu about five hands to turn the tide in favor as he won a massive 12.8 Million pot on the 157th hand of the day. It was smooth sailing for Liu after that, with McKeehen failing to overcome the increasing chip lead.

In the end, Liu took home his career-first WPT title, along with a $752,880 top prize. He added two trophies to his cabinet, the WPT Champions trophy and a Venetian trophy for the win. Liu’s name will be added to the WPT Champions Cup alongside every other WPT champion from across the 18 WPT seasons.

When asked what he feels his chances are of winning back-to-back WPT titles when he returns to play the WPT Gardens Poker Championship final table on March 10, Liu said, “I don’t think so. I used up all my luck today. Tomorrow I won’t be so lucky.”

The five-day tourney promised a $1.5 Million guarantee and went on to register 937 entries across two starting flights, collecting a smashing $4.33 Million.

The top 118 places were paid, which included notables like James Carroll (13th for $47,420), Ben Palmer (18th for $31,920), Nick Schulman (31st for $22,525), and Upeshka De Silva (65th for $11,680).

The tournament went off without a hitch, for the most part. That is before the final two days stirred up some controversy and a medical emergency. On Day 4, just after Stefan Nemetz hit the rail in ninth place for $73,795, the remaining eight players were divided into two tables of four players each.

Jared Jaffee, who had about a 14 BB-stack, was moved to Table 1, after which hand-for-hand play for the final table bubble commenced. Jaffee ultimately fell out on the FT bubble when his pocket tens were cracked by Liu’s that flopped a pair of kings on the runout . Jaffee collected $93,630 for his eighth-place finish.

Jared Jaffee
Jared Jaffee

 

Soon after that, Jaffee took to Twitter to trash-talk the WPT, the Venetian, and WPT Executive Tour Director Matt Savage. Jaffee claimed that Savage overruled Venetian Tournament Director Tommy LaRosa and chose to redraw seats eight-handed with four players at two separate tables. The move seemed odd to Jaffee and apparently several other players because the tournament had been eight-handed throughout up to that point.

 

Savage, on his part, clarified that the same decision had been previously made at the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open in Hollywood, Florida, in January. The decision was made to prevent players from folding their way to the final table of six. Due to the big blind ante in play and the blinds coming around much quicker at a four-handed table than an eight-handed table, players were incentivized to play more hands, which would, in turn, speed things up.

Matt Savage
Matt Savage

 

Savage went on record to say, “I am fine with changing it in the future, but I wasn’t going to change it because one player was short-stacked and demanding a change.”

However, the drama did not end there. Just as the final day’s play was about to start on Tuesday, March 9, the start time had to be delayed by an hour as Roland Rokita was rushed to the hospital because of a medical emergency.

GGPoker Ambassador Fedor Holz, who happens to be a friend of Rokita’s, tweeted that Rokita needed a “severe emergency operation,” but it was apparently non-life-threatening.

 

The players all agreed to postpone play for an hour to allow Rokita to seek medical attention. He was back at the Venetian, ready to go by 3 PM when the FT play began. Despite the medical emergency, Rokita, who had entered the final table as the second chip lead, eventually finished third for $363,235.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Joe McKeehen – 10,850,000

2. Roland Rokita – 8,450,000

3. Trace Henderson – 5,925,000

4. Qing Liu – 5,725,000

5. Kou Vang – 3,550,000

6. Jack Hardcastle – 3,025,000

WPT at Venetian Final Table
WPT at Venetian Main Event Final Table

 

Final Table Recap

Trace Henderson was the first player to hit the rail when his failed to hold up against Qing Liu’s , which bettered to a pair of tens on the turn. Henderson exited in sixth place.

Trace Henderson
Trace Henderson

 

It took 43 more hands before the next elimination took place. On the 79th hand, Kou Vang’s was bested by Joe McKeehen’s . The board brought giving McKeehen trip eights and knocking Vang out in fifth place.

Kou Vang
Kou Vang

 

Less than 30 minutes later, Jack Hardcastle‘s ran into McKeehen’s . The board bricked, and McKeehen’s king-high kicker dismissed Hardcastle in fourth place.

Jack Hardcastle
Jack Hardcastle

 

Three-handed play continued for nearly two hours before Roland Rokita was eliminated in third place. The hand in question saw McKeehen jam from the small blind with . Rokita called from the big blind with pocket fives for his last 3.72 Million. The runout gave McKeehen a jack-high straight, ending Rokita’s run in third place.

Roland Rokita
Roland Rokita

 

The heads-up between Joe McKeehen (24,700,000) and Qing Liu (12,825,000) began with the former enjoying a considerable lead. On the 157th hand of the day, Liu won a decisive 12.8 Million pot to take the chip lead away from McKeehen. From there onwards, Liu continued to expand on his lead and won the tourney 18 hands later.

Joe McKeehen
Joe McKeehen

 

On the final hand of the tournament, McKeehen shoved all-in for 3.3 Million, and Liu called.

Joe McKeehen:

Qing Liu:

Despite being in a dominating position pre-flop, the board ran against McKeehen, with Liu rivering two pairs of sixes and fours to win the title and top prize of $752,880.

Qing Liu
Qing Liu

 

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Qing Liu – $752,880*

2. Joe McKeehen – $491,960

3. Roland Rokita – $363,235

4. Jack Hardcastle – $271,050

5. Kou Vang – $204,430

6. Trace Henderson – $155,865

*Includes $15,000 as part of the first-place amount in cash since the WPT Tournament of Champions will not be held this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Content and Images Courtesy: World Poker Tour

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