For the sixth time in tour history, the World Poker Tour was in Sanya, a city on the southern end of China’s Hainan Island. After a week full of poker action, 36-year-old Shanghai poker pro Qian Zhi Qiang emerged victorious in the WPT Sanya Main Event to win CNY 1,600,000 ($242,555).
International Affair
The tournament took place at the MGM Grand Sanya and drew 888 entries, which created a prize pool of $1,339,882. Among those to participate were WPT Tournament of Champions victor Daniel Weinman, two-time WPT champ Sam Panzica, and WPT Beijing winner Pete Chen. WPT President Adam Pliska was also in attendance to oversee proceedings.
The majority of the field was comprised of Chinese players, but there were also representatives from Russia and France, as well as neighboring Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, and Singapore.
That said, the final table was an all-Chinese affair, including 2015 Red Dragon and Macau Poker Cup High Roller champ Li Yu Guang.
Li Yu Guang exited in seventh place when action folded to him in the hijack and he jammed with J♦9♦. Qian Zhi Qiang three-bet all-in from the button with a dominating K♦10♦, which got both blinds to fold. The board ran out Q♥5♣8♠K♠5♠ and that was all she wrote for Guang, who took home $39,400 for his efforts.
Closing It Out
Qian Zhi Qiang soon found himself playing heads-up against Hu Ling Fei. The two would jostle for an hour before Qian, who held a 4:1 chip lead, raised with K♠2♦ and then called a three-bet from Hu Ling, who held the 4♦4♠.
When the flop came 10♠5♣2♣, Hu Ling bet, Qian Zhi raised all-in, and Hu Ling called. It turned out that he got it in good, but a K♥ on the turn gave Qian Zhi the lead. A 2♥ on the river improved Qian Zhi to a full house, and Hu Ling, a 38-year-old businssman, hit the rail in second place for $166,700.
The win brought Qian Zhi Qiang’s lifetime tournament earnings up to $489,491 and vaulted him into 37th place on China’s all-time money list. Prior to the win, his biggest score was $162,000 for finishing runner-up in the 2016 CPG China Championships, while he also earned $40,576 for winning the 2016 ACOP Macau Event #15: NLHE Turbo Championship.
In addition to the Main Event, the WPT Sanya held several side events. For instance, Xiong Huang took down Event #2: NLHE War-Up Turbo, while Guancheng Wu was crowned the WPT Sanya Online Champion. Likewise, Yutong Zhang won the Hublot High Roller event, while Zhenlai Duan was victorious in the Open-Face Chinese Poker Pineapple tournament.
The WPT’s next event in Asia will be the WPT Japan, which is being held in conjunction with the Japan Union Corporation, and will feature a JPY 25,000 Main Event from Nov. 23-26.
Final Table Results
1 Qian Zhi Qiang CNY 1,600,000/$242,555
2 Hu Ling Fei CNY 1,100,000/$166,700
3 Li Cheng Bei CNY 700,000/$106,000
4 Huang Deng Dong CNY 520,000/$78,800
5 Tang Ying CNY 400,000/$60,600
6 Chen Ke CNY 309,300/$46,900
7 Li Yu Guang CNY 260,000/$39,400
8 Chen Sui Yu CNY 205,000/$30,100
9 Fu Peng CNY 150,000/$22,700
