GOP Incheon: Lester Edoc Claims Gold Gauntlet

Back in December at the inaugural Gods of Poker in Jeju, Lester Edoc came close to winning a gauntlet at the Demigods Challenge before falling one spot short. At GOP Incheon, the Filipino crusher finally got his redemption.

After already posting a pair of third-place finishes at the GOP Olympians and at the High Roller Turbo, Edoc smashed through the bronze barrier at the GOP Super High Roller to capture the magnificent gold gauntlet.

Along with the trophy, he pocketed KRW 80,630,000 (~USD 53,500) after overcoming a dangerous final four lineup at Paradise City Casino.

GOP Super High Roller Event Recap

The GOP Super High Roller drew 19 entries at KRW 10,500,000 each for a prize pool of KRW 184,300,000 (~USD 123,000).

On the final day, the opening level began with Edoc and Yi Cheng Lo trading blows at the top of the counts. The first big pot came when Lo fired a check-raise river bet and Edoc snap-called with Q ♠️ 5 ♠️ on a board of 7 ♦️ 5 ♦️ 10 ♣️ 3 ♠️ K ♥️. Lo turned over 2 ♣️ 4 ♥️ bluff.

Marc Rivera

The first casualty was Marc Rivera in 4th place, whose ace-queen suffered a brutal beat against Lo’s ace-jack after a jack landed on the flop.

Wenchao Liu

Wenchao Liu then mounted several successful survival shoves and even extracted maximum value from Edoc with pocket aces, but his run ended on a cooler as well with A ♦️ K ♦️ running into Lo's K ♣️ K ♠️.

Heads Up: Edoc vs Lo

Yi Cheng Lo

Edoc entered heads-up with a commanding 195 big blinds against Lo's 32 big blinds. Lo proceeded to grind to over double his stack then doubled up on a flip with A ♦️ Q ♠️ over 5 ♦️ 5 ♠️ to dethrone Edoc for the first time.

Edoc quickly got on the horse and grinded back into control before Lo doubled again with a rivered 9 ♥️ 8 ♥️ flush over two pair 10 ♦️ 6 ♠️ on a board of 3 ♥️ 8 ♠️ 7 ♥️ 10 ♠️ 6 ♥️. This narrowed the gap to Edoc 106 big blinds versus Lo's 83 big blinds.

Lester Edoc

Again, Lo could not hold the momentum. He bled chips across multiple pots, dropping to 18 big blinds before a hero-call on a board cost him, with Edoc turning over a straight.

Lo managed one more double up before the final hand arrived. Lo had 8 ♥️ 7 ♠️, Edoc ahead with K ♣️ 3 ♣️, a three found the flop and the turn for Edoc to seal the win.

GOP Main Event Underway

The GOP Main Event is underway with Day 1A completing its marathon two-level format across nine hours of open registration. There is still time to get in this flight so get in while you can. Registration closes at the start of Level 3 on Tuesday, May 19 at 12:30 PM.

Players that jump in will receive a 30 big blind starting stack. Blinds will increase every 60 minutes until 13.5% of the field advances to the ITM round.

Day 1A - Seat Draw

If you miss that window, there are still four other flights to target and have a chance at the KRW 700,000,000 prize pool. Buy-in is KRW 2,200,000.

For all of the info, click here.

Day 4 Winners

Yohei Makino celebrates his victory with friends

Day 4 belonged to first-timers. Every trophy awarded went to a player claiming their first series title — no repeats, no familiar names on the podium, just fresh champions stepping into the spotlight for the first time at GOP Incheon.

Players of the Series Update

Among the Day 4 winners was Hanh Tran, who finally broke through with a title at Event #28: Badugi Mix. Tran now holds five cashes at GOP Incheon and has taken over the top spot in the Player of the Series race.

Kenji Hata was at it again, pushing hard for what would have been his third trophy of the series at the Titan Stack event before falling just short in 2nd place. The deep run catapulted Hata into the POS race and he now sits in second position, well within striking distance of leader.

For the POS standings, click here.

Links:

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