Day 2 Momentum Builds As GOP Olympians Drives The Action

Day 2 of the Gods of Poker: The Titan Assembly gathered momentum as waves of international contingents from Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand and the Philippines joined the strong local presence at the tables of the CTP Asia Poker Arena in Taipei City, Taiwan.

Running from January 8 to 18 with 95 total events in tow and NT$ 42,000,000 in guarantees, the next batch of champions emerged which included the first two-time series winners - Hanh Tran and Martijn Gerrits. 

The day’s main entree was the GOP Olympians, which completed its final three flights. We've got those results and recap below along with all of the day's highlights.

GOP Olympians: Recap

Shin Rong Wang

The first of the festival's marquee events resumed with the final three flights of the GOP Olympians attracting 210 entries to bring the total tally to 351 entries. With buy-in at NT$ 12,000, the prize pool climbed to NT$ 3,639,168 (~US$ 115,600), comfortably surpassing the guarantee. By the end of play, 30 players advanced and locked up a piece of the boosted pot. 

Flight D-E-F: Top 10 Survivors

The most popular flight was Flight D which offered three hours of play before registration closed. Out of the 105 that entered, only 15 moved on led by Shi Rong Wang with a stack of 1,015,000. This earned Wang second position in the overall Final Day lineup with Flight A leader Kuan Lun Chen holding the torch at 1,057,000 in chips.

Kouichi Baba

Wang's rise to the top was through a steady grind with a late pot picked up on a failed bluff by Chia Chiang Ko just before the bubble burst. Wang's ascent was unlike second-ranked Kouichi Baba who built his 898,000 stack more explosively, eliminating several players, including one in a set-over-set situation.

Billy Alfonso proved to be the flight’s great escape artist, slipping to ten big blinds before staging a dramatic comeback. Alfonso won three all-in showdowns, two while trailing at showdown. He bagged up 671,000. 

The flight ended when Guo You Kuo knocked out Wai Kit Law with pocket nines that dodged overcards. Kuo bagged up 689,000 in chips.

Shan Wang

At Flight E, the largest stack bagged was by Shan Wang with 624,000 in chips. Four busts to bagging time, Wang eliminated Yoong Shen Ding with pocket nines that held against king-queen. 

Alan King Lun Lau

To wrap up the GOP Olympians qualifying rounds, Alan King Lun Lau surged during nine-handed play, first eliminating Chun Wai Chiu at soft bubble with ace-queen over king-nine suited then delivered the official bubble by knocking out Chi Jan Liu when his K ♦️ J ♥️ got lucky against Liu's A ♠️ K ♠️ with two jacks on the flop. 

Lau closed as chip leader with 752,000 in chips while Liu suffered a cruel exit, bubbling the event for the second time after also falling short in Flight A.

GOP Olympians: Final Day

With all of the flights in the books, the final 51 players return to action on Saturday, January 10 at 12:30 PM. Each one is guaranteed a minimum payout of NT$ 19,900 (∼US$ 630) while awaiting the festival's first major champion is a sweet NT$ 771,968 (∼US$ 24,500) and a Silver Spartan trophy. 

Blinds start at 6,000-12,000 with levels increasing every 30 minutes. 

For the complete Seat Draw, click here.

For the Payouts, click here. 

Day 2 Winners

Hanh Tran

Below are the newest batch of players hoisting GOP trophies. Among the standouts were GOP Mixed Game Ambassador Hanh Tran and Martijn Gerrits, both players winning their second trophy this series. 

For Tran, his first victory was at opening day's 5 Card PLO then followed it up with a win at the Limit Triple Draw Mix (2-7, A-5, Badugi). Tran now has a whopping four GOP shield trophies having won his first two in Jeju. Will he make it a hat trick? He certainly has plenty of chances to make that happen with nine days of games still ahead. 

Tran has now cashed in a total of three events which means he has qualified for the Player of the Series title and is leading the race. 

Martijn Gerrits

At his heels in second-rank is Gerrits who also has three cashes and two titles. Gerrits' first won the Single Day High Roller on opening day then won the Hyper Turbo Double Board Single Winner on Day 2. 

For the Player of the Series leaderboard, click here. 

Rudy Edenata

Also making headlines was Rudy Edenata who claimed the day's largest payday after his victory at the Single Day High Roller for NT$ 302,400 (~US$ 9,600). Edenata is a GOP returnee having attended the launch last December in Jeju where he binked a Shield trophy. With this latest victory, he adds a Gold Spartan to his growing GOP collection. 

Up Next…

As GOP Taipei moves into its third day, the first GOP Gauntlet of the festival comes into play at the Demigods Challenge. The most expensive event on the schedule, it carries a NT$ 330,000 (~US$ 10,400) buy-in, with the champion earning the right to raise the imposing GOP Black Gauntlet. Cards start flying at 2:00 PM. Registration closes at 4:15 PM. 

GOP Taipei Links: 

Schedule
Photos: Day 2
Photos: Champions