GOP Incheon II Day 2: Ugay Claims First Spartan, Ueda Wins JPPS NLH; More Trophies Awarded

Trophies were flying off the shelves on Day 2 of Gods of Poker Incheon: The Labyrinth Trail at Paradise City, South Korea. From thrilling showdowns and brutal coolers to hard-fought victories, the action delivered plenty of drama as nine champions walked away with coveted GOP hardware.

Scroll down for the highlights.

Alexander Ugay Crowned at GOP Olympians

The first GOP Spartan trophy was one hot item at the GOP Olympians, with all 17 returning players hoping to land their first piece of GOP hardware to add to their personal awards shelf.

In the end, it was chip leader Alexander Ugay who set the terms and walked away as champion after a three-way deal.

Event #1: GOP Olympians – Final Table Results

*Denotes deal made.

Click here for the complete Payouts.

Gordon Runs Hot, Ugay Lands Sick River

The GOP Olympians drew 108 entries across four starting flights, with 17 players returning to chase a share of the KR₩ 41,472,000 prize pool. Ugay entered the final day as chip leader, but it was Gordon who took charge early to carry the biggest stack into the final table.

GOP Olympians - Final Table

At the final table, Gordon kept his foot on the gas, eliminating Wakaba Saito in 8th place before waking up with pocket aces against Nobuyuki Nakaoka, who shoved his way out in 7th place.

Then came Ugay's big break.

Ugay spikes the river!

Grinding from the middle of the pack, Ugay shoved on a flop of 9 ♠️ 9 ♥️ 2 ♣️ with K ♦️ 2 ♦️ and Haisheng Qiu snap-called for everything with a dominating Q ♦️ Q ♥️. The 8 ♥️ came on the turn followed by the 2 ♠️ and just like that, Ugay stormed to the top of the counts.

Gordon answered by eliminating Young Jun Choi in 5th place, then found himself in a bizarre exchange with Jun Mitani.

Gordon wins with nine-high

After his pocket kings were cracked by Mitani's king-queen which made trip queens, on the next showdown, Gordon raised-all in on a board 10 ♦️ 6 ♥️ 3 ♥️ 5 ♠️ and Mitani snap-called for his tournament life.

Gordon had 9 ♥️ 4 ♣️, Mitani had 8 ♠️ 7 ♣️, both missed their draw on the river J ♦️ for Gordon's nine card to play. Stunned, Gordon commented,

"I can't win with kings but I win with nine-high?"

Shimizu Atsuto, Alexander Ugay, Graeme Gordon

That left three players who quickly requested the ICM numbers and were happy with the proposed payouts, until they learned that under GOP rules, playing for the trophy meant leaving a percentage of the prize money on the line. If not, the hardware would automatically go to chip leader Ugay.

Neither Gordon nor Shimizu Atsuto was eager to surrender the shiny prize without a fight until Ugay offered to take less cash - though still the largest cut - and the trophy, or else no deal, instead they play on to a winner. After a few minutes, money won over the rivals and Ugay was crowned the champion.

Shinichiro Ueda Is Last Man Standing in Japanese Showdown

Shinichiro Ueda champions JPPS NLH

Fifteen Japanese players entered the JPPS NLH, but only one could walk away with the trophy. After a stubborn money bubble and a three-way battle that refused to end quietly, Shinichiro Ueda emerged as the last man standing, claiming his first-ever GOP title.

JPPS NLH – Payouts

Held in collaboration with Japan Poker Player Services (JPPS), the event featured a KR₩ 990,000 buy-in and generated a KR₩ 12,960,000 prize pool, with only the top three finishers getting paid.

Ueda and Rokuro Ichihara took turns commanding the chip counts before Joichi Fukui joined the frontrunners by eliminating Kenichi Takarabe in 5th place.

Ryuta Yasuoka bubbles to Shinichiro Ueda

That left four players fighting for the ITM spots, and nobody was particularly eager to be the odd man out. This led to a lengthy bubble until Ueda finally did the honors.

Ueda eliminated short stacked Ryuta Yasuoka who shoved in desperation with 10 ♣️ 8 ♣️ that missed against K ♠️ 5 ♠️.

Joichi Fukui (R) doubles up through Shinichiro Ueda (L)

With two-thirds of the chips in play, Ueda looked ready to finish the job but it proved difficult as both Ichihara and Fukui landed double ups.

Ueda recovered by eliminating Ichihara with A ♦️ 9 ♣️ over K ♠️ Q ♦️ to go heads up against Fukui slightly behind in chips.

Not for long. Ueda kept up the aggression to wrestle back the lead, and eventually sealed the victory to claim his maiden GOP title.

Other Winners at Day 2

A very happy Joichi Fukui

In addition to the champions highlighted above, seven more players got their hands on GOP trophies, including JPPS NLH runner-up Joichi Fukui.

Immediately following his loss, Fukui jumped into the last event of the day, the Hyper-Turbo High Roller, then proceeded to outlast the four-entry field.

Yohei Okamoto wins Spartan Trophy

There were actually two Spartan trophies awarded in Day 2. While Ugay claimed the first Silver Spartan, the first Gold Spartan was won by Yohei Okamoto at the Single Day High Roller after he defeated Ryo Kotake.

Momoka Inoue wins Aphrodite Event

The first of four Aphrodite Events (Ladies Event) drew eight women to the felt for a prize pool of KR₩ 2,304,000. In the end, it was a nasty cooler that turned the tables to lead Momoka Inoue to victory.

Entering the bubble round with three players remaining, Inoue sat on the largest stack with the average still at 40 big blinds. Moriyama Midori was shortest but held strong until the average dropped to 16 big blinds. Shoving with Q ♠️ 4 ♣️, she was outdrawn by Inoue's J ♥️ 8 ♥️ that flopped two jacks.

At heads up, Ruka Hosoda quickly doubled up to the lead with 10 ♣️ 10 ♦️ holding over A ♠️ 7 ♣️. Then came the hand that changed everything.

Cooler at heads up!

On a turn board 8 ♠️ 5 ♦️ J ♦️ 6 ♦️, Inoue shoved and Hosoda snap-called. Inoue had J ♠️ 6 ♣️ two pair, Hosoda flopped J ♥️ 5 ♣️ two pair. The K ♠️ completed the board.

The end came shortly after when Hosoda pushed her remaining chips with pocket twos. Inoue called with suited king-eight and found a king on the turn to seal the victory.

Also bringing home trophies:

Takuya Shima - Limit Triple Draw Lowball Mix - (A-5, 2-7)

Michael Chung - 5-Card PL Omaha High - Double Board Bomb Pot - Turbo

Koji Wake - Turbo - High Roller

Yosuke Sekiya - Hyper Turbo

Congratulations to all the winners!

Links:

Day 2 - Results

GOP Incheon II - Photos

GOP Incheon II - Schedule