Main Event

The live poker scene in South Korea has crowned a new winner for a brand new series in the first-ever Super Cup Seoul 2024 Main Event. Only nine players out of a field of 248 entries returned to battle for the title and a home victory was the final outcome at the COEX Convention & Exhibition Center.

Yu Young Jin entered the live-streamed final table inside of Studio 159 as the dominant chip leader ahead of Su Min Im and Jae Seok Sim. It came as little surprise that the top three in chips heading into the showdown also ended up on the podium spots when all was said and done.

Ultimately, it came down to the duel between Jin and Im, the only two players to hold the chip lead for the entire duration of the final table. With a rather large average, it still only took 15 minutes to determine a winner. Jin topped off a very dominating performance at the tables for KRW 60 Million while Im had to settle for the runner-up spot.

The Isabelle Group was hosting the event in the heart of Gangnam, one of the richest districts in the entire country and the No-Limit Hold'em competition was held as part of a mind games festival that also included the board games Baduk, Janggi and Chess. Several main stream sponsors supported the new sports paradigm such as Samsung Medicos.

For the final two days, the thrilling conclusion of the Super Cup Seoul Main Event was live-streamed inside of Studio 159 and it will also be shown as TV broadcast later on as well with the Mind Sports Show as partner. Several international stops are planned for next year with further details to be announced soon.

The first level of the Main Event final table brought no casualty but Kwang Jin Park dropped to the bottom of the leaderboard. He doubled once only to see his pocket kings cracked by Geun Seop Ban, who then knocked out Park soon after.

Young Kyu Kim experienced a quite similar time line. He first doubled, then suffered a setback by doubling Su Min Im and bowed out shortly thereafter to reduce the field to the final seven contenders. That barely lasted five minutes, as the next short stack hit the rail in Man Woo Park.

Yu Young Jin was the runaway chip leader for an extended period but then suffered two set backs as the stack sizes started to get closer atop the leaderboard. Longhao Shen doubled through Su Min Im with kings versus tens and then doubled through Jin as well, only to send all of chips chips right back to Im soon after. That massive pot vaulted Im into the lead and he pulled further ahead.

Joo Hee Oh lost most of her chips in a battle of short stacks against Geun Seop Ban and the last three and a half big blinds vanished when her pocket queens were cracked by the ace-deuce of chip leader Im. The Isabelle Group ambassador bowed out in fourth place as the last woman in the field.

During four-handed play, the smooth sailing of Im hit a major setback when he paid off the flopped nut flush of Jin, who jumped back into the top spot. With two chip leaders and two distinct short stacks, it was Ban who three-bet jammed ace-six into the ace-queen of Jin and bowed out just shy of the podium.

Jin was also responsible for the next elimination as he claimed the short stack of Sim to enter the heads-up stage with an advantage of more than two and a half times to one over Im. The opening stages of the duel saw Im gain some momentum, only for it all come to a crashing end within 15 minutes. Jin pulled further ahead, then jammed two pair and was called by worse to go wire-to-wire in five hours on the final day.

Final Table Result

1st Place: Yu Young Jin (South Korea) – KRW 60 Million (~$42,891)

2nd Place: Su Min Im (South Korea) – KRW 40 Million (~$28,594)

3rd Place: Jae Seok Sim (South Korea) – KRW 25 Million (~$17,871)

4th Place: Geun Seop Ban (South Korea) – KRW 18 Million (~$12,867)

5th Place: Joo Hee Oh (South Korea) – KRW 13 Million (~$9,293)

6th Place: Longhao Shen (China) – KRW 9 Million (~$6,434)

7th Place: Man Woo Park (South Korea) – KRW 7 Million (~$5,004)

8th Place: Young Kyu Kim (South Korea) – KRW 5.4 Million (~$3,860)

9th Place: Kwang Jin Park (South Korea) – KRW 4.2 Million (~$3,002)

Su Min Im raised the button to 100,000 with 8♦ 4♠ but folded when Yu Young Jin three-bet to 350,000 holding the Q♦ Q♣ .

Soon after, Jin raised the K♥ 2♥ and Im defended 6♦ 5♥ to the A♠ T♣ 7♥ flop. Im check-raised from 120,000 to 340,000 and got the move through

There are 55 minutes left in the level and when the blinds go up, the level duration will decrease to 30 minutes each until a winner has been crowned.

Only four full levels have been played so far, yet the final table is already down to the final three contenders. Jae Seok Sim will have a mountain to climb as he only has nine big blinds for the next level.

Chip leader Yu Young Jin raised to 45,000 with the J♠ 8♠ and Joo Hee Oh called from the next seat with the 9♠ 9♣ . Longhao Shen called in the cutoff with 4♣ 2♣ before Su Min Im jammed for 625,000 on the button with the A♣ T♠ .

It folded back to He and she briefly considered the option but folded, as did Shen.

Joo Hee Oh raised to 80,000 first to act with the K♠ J♠ and Jae Seok Sim called in the hijack with the T♥ T♣ while Geun Seop Ban reluctantly called from the big blind with the 5♠ 5♦ . The 8♥ 7♦ 7♣ flop was checked to Sim and he bet 100,000 with his overpair.

Ban folded and Oh did so as well for Sim to reach seven figures.

Yu Young Jin raised to 45,000 with the A♥ 6♣ and Longhao Shen three-bet to 125,000 on the button with K♣ J♣ . It folded back to Jin and he four-bet to 245,000 in order to force out Shen, further increasing his large stack.

After some brief technical issues were solved, the cards are in the air and the full level 21 is played with blinds of 10,000-20,000 and a big blind ante of 20,000.

Eight Koreans versus one Chinese. Will the stunning trophy stay on home soil for the inaugural Super Cup Seoul 2024 Main Event at the COEX Convention & Exhibition Center? Only nine players remain out of a field of 248 entries and they will be battling for the largest slice of the KRW 248 Million prize pool in Studio 159 as of noon local time today.

The man to beat is Yu Young Jin with a staggering 2,100,000 to his name. Su Min Im (955,000) and third-placed Jae Seok Sim (920,000) have fewer chips combine than the chip leader, but they are only one double-up away from taking over the top spot.

Longhao Shen from China is the only one to put a dagger into the home victory and the player from China sits in fourth place with a stack of 845,000. He also eliminated fellow countryman Junsheng Qiao in 11th place last night en route to making the final table.

Furthermore, Isabelle Group ambassador Joo Hee Oh is the last woman standing in this tournament and returns in the middle of the pack with 770,000 to her name.

Final Table Seat Draw

Seat 1: Longhao Shen (China) - 845,000 (42 BB)

Seat 2: Su Min Im (South Korea) - 955,000 (48 BB)

Seat 3: Man Woo Park (South Korea) - 470,000 (24 BB)

Seat 4: Jae Seok Sim (South Korea) - 920,000 (46 bb)

Seat 5: Young Kyu Kim (South Korea) - 340,000 (17 BB)

Seat 6: Kwang Jin Park (South Korea) - 455,000 (23 bb)

Seat 7: Yu Young Jin (South Korea) - 2,100,000 (105 BB)

Seat 8: Geun Seop Ban (South Korea) - 590,000 (30 bb)

Seat 9: Joo Hee Oh (South Korea) - 770,000 (39 bb)

All nine finalists have locked up KRW 4.2 Million ($3,002) for their efforts, whereas the winner can look forward to a top prize of KRW 60 Million ($42,891).

There are 35 minutes left in level 21 at blinds of 10,000-20,000 with a 20,000 big blind ante and all levels thereafter will be 60 minutes long. If a deal will be cut or during the heads-up stage, the level duration is cut in half to 30 minutes.

The conclusion of the Main Event gets underway at noon local time inside of Studio 159 and the live stream action on the Super Cup YouTube channel with cards-up coverage and commentary in Korean will run on a 30-minute delay. All SoMuchPoker live updates will be published accordingly to not spoil any of the action.