Day 3 Highlights from GOP Incheon As Main Event Gets Set to Begin

For three straight days, Gods of Poker has lit up Paradise City Casino in Incheon, South Korea with loads of headliners. Now the spotlight shifts to the festival’s crown jewel.

Today, the GOP Main Event officially gets underway, putting the coveted Black-and-Gold Gauntlet within reach as players prepare for the biggest hunt of the series.

There are five different entry options offered with buy-in at KRW 2,200,000 (~USD 1,500). The best value for your buck is Day 1A which is a two-day flight. Registration runs all day on May 18 then closes at the start of Level 3 on May 19. See the chart below for the full schedule.

With gradual blinds, this is your best chance to reach the ITM stage and be guaranteed a cut of the KRW 700,000,000 (~USD 470,000) prize pool.

*Scroll to the left for the full chart.

Click here for all the info on the Main Event.

Now let us give you the Day 3 highlights. Scroll down for all the stories.

Lester Edoc Leads GOP Super High Roller Day 1

GOP Super High Roller Gauntlet

The Gold Gauntlet was on full display in the high roller section as the GOP Super High Roller came alive across two opening flights. By the close of registration, 19 entries put up the KRW 10,500,000 (~USD 7,000) buy-in, generating a prize pool of KRW 184,300,000 (~USD 123,000).

The four surviving players have now locked up a share of the payouts and will return for the final day on Monday, May 18. They will race to the top where the KRW 80,630,000 (~USD 53,700) top prize and gauntlet await.

Lester Edoc

After all the bags were in, Lester Edoc emerged as the overall chip leader. At Flight A, Edoc eliminated Joseph Cheong on the bubble with A ♦️ 10 ♥️ over A ♥️ 8 ♥️ on a board of A ♠️ 2 ♦️ 7 ♥️ 9 ♥️ Q ♠️. Edoc is in prime position for what could become his long-awaited Gauntlet victory.

Standing in Edoc's way is Marc Rivera, already a member of the exclusive Gauntlet club after conquering the Demigods Challenge at GOP Taipei. Rivera has a chance to become the first player in to win multiple Gauntlets.

Also advancing was Wenchao Liu, who returned to familiar territory after coming close to a Gauntlet triumph late last year, and completing the final four was Yi Cheng Lo, who is a newcomer to GOP looking to deny all the regulars.

For the prize pool breakdown, click here.

Honoka Suzuki Dominates Aphrodite Event

Honoka Suzuki wins Aphrodite Event

The second Aphrodite Event found its champion in Honoka Suzuki — but before she could lift the trophy, she had to survive a field that included one of the most decorated Aphrodite players.

From a turnout of 13 entries, with only three players guaranteed a piece of the KRW 3,744,000 prize pool, among the crowd was Arlene Rivera, hunting for what would have been her eighth Aphrodite Mirror trophy.

Arlene Rivera

Suzuki's path to the top began with the harsh elimination of Sananthachat Thanapatpisal whom she rivered a flush holding 4 ♥️ 5 ♥️ to crack and bust A ♥️ A ♦️.

Leading up to the bubble, Rivera was eliminated then Yuka Kato felt the full cruelty of the bubble. Kato's 8 ♣️ 9 ♦️ flopped second pair was behind the whole way against Tokunaga Saori's Q ♦️ 5 ♣️ top pair that improved to trips queens on the turn.

Rene Horiuchi, Honoka Suzuki, Tokunaga Saori

With the money intact, Suzuki cleaned out Rene Horiuchi in 3rd place to set up heads-up against Saori for the coveted Aphrodite Mirror.

It was no contest. Suzuki came into heads-up with a commanding chip lead and proceeded to drain Saori. Although Saori managed one double up to keep herself alive, it barely dented Suzuki's stack.

The final hand was Q ♣️ 7 ♣️ for a full house to Suzuki on a board 7 ♦️ 7 ♠️ Q ♦️ K ♣️ 3 ♥️ to dust Saori's A ♣️ 3 ♣️.

For the payouts, click here.

Shinya Nakai Bags the Lead at Titan Stack Day 1

Shinya Nakai bags the chip lead

The next multi-flight event on the schedule was the Titan Stack which drew 101 entries for a prize pool of KRW 58,176,000 (~USD 39,000).

Among the 15 players that navigated their way into the ITM round was Shinya Nakai, who bagged a commanding 1,006,000 stack (62 big blinds).

Further down the rung was Yuxuan Deng who delivered the bubble at Flight B after a very lengthy stretch that saw the average drop to just 12 big blinds. Deng eliminated Yasuhiro Takarada with A ♣️ J ♣️ over A ♥️ 7 ♥️.

For the prize pool payouts, click here.

Day 3 Winners

Ming Yue Wang

Other thrilling stories of Day 3 was Ming Yue Wang's achievement at the side events. Wang became the first player at GOP Incheon to win two trophies in the same day at the same event, claiming both Event #22 and Event #25, the 5-Card PL Omaha Double Board Bomb Pot and its Hyper Turbo counterpart.

Ryoma Yamamoto

Another player joining the multi-trophy winners club was GOP Olympians champion Ryoma Yamamoto who shipped Event #26: Hyper Turbo High Roller.

The biggest winner of the day was Gary Hyemyong Moon at Pandora's Mystery Bounty. You can read up on the event via the link provided below.

Story: Gary Moon Wins Pandora's Mystery Bounty

Update: Player of the Series

The Player of the Series race is underway with Ming Yue Wang stealing the top spot after his double-win today. Hanh Tran is currently second and Long Jin in third.

For the POS standings, click here.

Links:

GOP Incheon - Schedule
GOP Incheon - Photos
GOP Incheon - Champions