Peng Deng Seizes Overall Lead At Main Event's Largest Flight; 66 Advance To Day 2

With four flights now in the pages of history, the Gods Of Poker Jeju  debut closed its Main Event gates leaving only 66 players marching onward to the next stage. The final onslaught came in Flight D where a big turnout of 237 battle-ready warriors suited up - many of them Asia's fiercest - all seeking the immortal Black-and-Gold Gauntlet and the largest cut of the KR₩ 1 Billion (~USD 700,000) prize pool.  

Taking place at LES A Casino in Jeju, South Korea, Flight D ran over two days with the second day determining who would rise and who would walk away empty-handed. As the field thinned and stacks deepened, several players hovered near the top with over a million in chips, each vying for control of the final flight.

It wasn't until Peng Deng delivered a double knockout that separated him from the pack. During the hand, all the chips went in preflop. Deng’s A ♥️ J ♥️ completed a flush to crack Jose Colada's 10 ♠️ 10 ♥️ set and Dmitrii Gnusaev’s A ♠️ K ♦️ on a board of 2 ♠️ 4 ♥️ 10 ♦️ 3 ♥️ 8 ♥️.

As more players were ousted, leading to just six eliminations to the money, Deng struck again. He disposed of Ying Li - who entered the day as chip leader - with 6 ♣️ 6 ♦️ standing tall against A ♦️ J ♣️. This vaulted Deng's stack well past Flight B leader Alan King Lun Lau (2,027,000) to steal the overall top position heading into Day 2 with a massive 3,553,000 stack.

Elmer Kalaquian

A strong contingent of Filipino pros turned out for the final flight with several surviving the challenges. Among them were Elmer Kalaquian and Czardy Rivera both players bagging up the second and third largest stacks of the day.  

For Kalaquian, his stack ballooned when he bad beat Sin Lan Chen's pocket Queens with pocket Jacks flopping a set. For Rivera, during the soft bubble, he knocked out Kyung Min Lee who shoved with A ♠️ K ♥️ into his A ♥️ A ♣️. 

Sandeep Mirchandani

The most impressive comeback of the day was by Sandeep Mirchandani who sat with one of the biggest stacks late in the day until two showdowns sent it plummeting. The first loss was against Park Yu “Sparrow” Cheung who called Mirchandani's four-bet shove and got maximum value with A ♥️ K ♠️ dominating A ♣️ Q ♠️. 

Not long after, Yu Chung “Nevan” Chang shaved off a large portion with A ♠️ J ♠️ pairing the ace to survive Mirchandani's 10 ♦️ 10 ♣️. Down to just four big blinds, Mirchandani quickly recovered with back-to-back showdowns. The first was with pocket Jacks overcoming King-Queen, followed by Ace-King cracking pocket Queens. Mirchandani closed Flight D with a healthy 742,000 in chips. 

The flight came to a close on Ming Johnson Lim eliminated on the bubble by Jiang Wang with pocket Kings dominating pocket Nines. 

For the complete Flight D survivor list, click here.

Main Event - By The Numbers

Main Event - Flight D

The inaugural GOP Main Event amassed 481 entries across four starting flights. The largest contingents came from China and Taiwan, with Japan also making a strong showing. Hong Kong and the Philippines added to the international mix, demonstrating how quickly the brand has captured the region's attention. 

• Buy-in: KR₩ 2,000,000 (~USD 1,360)
• Prize pool: KR₩ 1,000,000,000 (~USD 700,000)
• Entries: 481
• ITM: 67 players (one multi-stack)

Flight Results

• Flight A: 98 entries / 14 ITM
• Flight B: 84 entries / 12 ITM
• Flight C: 62 entries / 9 ITM
• Flight D: 237 entries / 32 ITM

66 Players Advance To Day 2

Main Event GOP Gauntlet

All of the flight survivors now merge and return to action on Friday, December 12 at 12:45 PM. Everyone is guaranteed a minimum cash of KR₩ 4,110,000 (∼USD 2,800). Danil Karpov was the lone player that bagged multiple stacks to be the first to collect a payout. 

On the other end of the pole is a handsome KR₩ 203,830,000 (∼USD 138,600) reserved for the eventual champion who will also lock in the stunning Main Event GOP Gauntlet. 

When cards start flying, the blinds kick off at 10K-20K ante 20K. Average stack is 848,823 (42 big blinds). The goal is to play down to the Final 9 if time permits. 

For the complete Day 2 list and Seat Draw, click here. 

For the complete Payout Breakdown, click here. 

Stay updated on the action with our live updates which begins at 12:45 PM all the way through to bagging time.

Other Highlights

As usual, several side events also populated the tournament floor. Among the latest winners was Filipino pro Mike Takayama and Thailand's Thanpisit Manomaphibul for their series second trophy. Jing Jing Li championed the Single Day High Roller to win the lone GOP Spartan of the day. At the Aphrodite's Event, it was Nozomi Ota who outshined to win the GOP Mirror Trophy. 

Jing Jing Li wins GOP Spartan trophy

Day 7 Winners

• Thanpisit Manomaphilbul: Event #50: Limit Triple Draw Lowball Mix
• Hongbo Pan: Event #51: NL Hold'em
• Jing Jing Li: Event #52: Single Day High Roller
• Mike Takayama: Event #54: Titan Stack Turbo
• Nozomi Ota: Event #55: Aphrodite's Event
• Patrick Liang: Event #56: PLO Double Board Bomb Pot
• Ayako Hashioka: Event #57: Hyper Turbo - Super Hold'em (3 Cards)
• Meng Dian Peng: Event #58: Hyper Turbo High Roller

GOP Player Of The Series Update

Mike Takayama

With seven days of games now in the books, the GOP Player of the Series race continues to heat up. Mike Takayama has now taken command of the top spot after his second victory bumping down Jianfeng Sun to second-rank and Sanjay Kumar Chaudhary to third rank. Patrick Liang and Hongbo Pan have now climbed to fourth position and fifth positions respectively after their day's victories.

Listed below are the Top 5 players in points after seven days of games:

To be in contention for the lone GOP Crown Trophy, players need to accrue the most number of points throughout the series and have cashed in at least three point-generating events. 

Along with the trophy, the POS winner will receive USD 1,500 in GOP Tournament Credits.

For second place, USD 1,000 in tournament credits will be awarded and for third place, $500 in tournament credits. 

For all of the GOP Player of the Series Leaderboard and Information, click here.

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