Seonguk Huh emerged victorious in the World Poker Tour Prime main event held in Taiwan, a collaborative effort between the WPT and the Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Association. The South Korean poker player secured his inaugural WPT Prime title and claimed the substantial prize of $197,741, marking the most significant earnings he had ever achieved in his poker tournament career. As a reward for his triumph, Huh also earned a $10,400 entry to the WPT World Championship scheduled for December at the Wynn Las Vegas.
The no-limit hold’em tournament, featuring a buy-in of NT$33,000 ($1,064 USD), garnered substantial attention with an impressive turnout of 1,359 participants across three initial flights. This set a new record for the largest attendance in a WPT Prime main event. Among the contenders, the top 173 players each secured at least $821 in winnings from the total prize pool, which exceeded the $1 million guaranteed amount, reaching a sum of $1,237,387. Notable poker figures were eliminated on the path to the final table, including WPT Beijing champion Pete Chen (94th) and former WPT Prime Cambodia champion David Erquiaga (161st).
The final table consisted of players representing six different nations. Seonguk Huh, starting with a respectable chip count, immediately engaged in the action by eliminating Guillem Segura in ninth place, allowing him to climb the rankings. He continued this momentum by knocking out Feng Wen Chen in eighth place, and further extended his dominance by eliminating Dongkyu Kim in sixth place. Huh’s involvement in key eliminations persisted, as he contributed to the exit of Jacky Wang in fourth place, amassing around three-fourths of the total chips in play by that juncture. In a significant move, Huh ousted Seung Hun Ko in third place, propelling him to a nearly 4:1 chip advantage as he entered the ultimate showdown against Yannick Leonard.
The heads-up battle, which transpired in under thirty minutes, witnessed Huh’s rapid and unrelenting progress. He emerged victorious in every showdown, securing his route to the championship. In the final hand, Yannick Leonard went all-in with K♠J♣, and Huh held A♣K♦. The community cards displayed K♥8♠3♦A♦2♦, leading to Leonard’s elimination in second place, accompanied by a prize of $131,790. This remarkable achievement marked Leonard’s most substantial tournament earnings due to his impressive performance in this event.
