Congratulations to Albert Paik!

Champion of the APPT10 Seoul Main Event. For his impressive victory this week Paik collects ₩119,097,600 (~$101,000) (including a HK$100,000 ACOP Main Event seat), the coveted APPT trophy and he etches his name in Asia poker history.

Paik overcame a difficult field of 157 here in Seoul, but before he was named champion he needed to overcome Shenghua Qian in a tense heads up battle. Starting that match as a 2:1 chip underdog, he fought his as far back as emerge victorious.

In the tip all of it came all the way down to an enormous flip when Paik and Qian were almost dead even in chips. Paik opened to 60,000 at the button before Qian played back at him for 130,000. Then came the four-bet jam from Paik for 1,571,000, and after some deliberation, Qian called it off with almost identical stack.

Paik: 8♠8♣Qian: A♣Q♠

The flop landed 7♠5♠6♦ and Paik jumped with excitement - not just fading an ace or queen but additionally picking up a straight draw. The 7♣ turn and 6♥ river were also safe and as Paik had Qian covered, the APPT Seoul Main Event was done and dusted.

Before that heads up match we started proceedings with seven players in contention.

It took lower than 10 minutes for the primary of these to be eliminated. Canada's Windsor Nguyen started the day with only eight big blinds and couldn't run it up. He met his demise after running 3♥3♦ into the Q♣Q♦ of Shenghua Qian. The board ran out 5♣4♣K♠K♦7♥ with Nguyen failing to enhance and finishing in 7th place.

Satsuki Ochiai was next to go, also hitting the rail within the first level of the day. It was a flip against Michael Egan that ended his tournament run. Ochiai held A♠K♣ but wouldn't find the assistance he needed against T♣T♦ when the community cards landed 2♥9♦2♠2♣7♠. Ochiai was out in 6th place for ₩23,455,000.

Australia's Michael Egan left us in 5th place. He have been nursing a brief stack and ultimately ran T♥T♦ into Shenghua Qian's K♠K♣. Egan couldn't catch a lucky break and was sent packing when the 7♥6♠Q♥A♦9♠ board came down. He collected ₩28,554,000 for his impressive showing this week.

Next to head was Ken Hirosawa. He moved all in from the small blind holding Q♦8♠ but found himself dominated when Shengua Qian called from the large blind with K♠Q♠. The cards fell 7♠2♠T♦A♠K♣ with Qian turning the nuts and sealing Hirosawa's fate.

Tetsuro Tomita took home the third place prize. He pushed the last of his chips in from the small blind with Q♣8♥ and Paik selected a choice holding A♦5♣. Tomita had live cards but he bricked at the 4♠5♥T♦3♣J♣ run out to be sent home one shy of the heads up match.

APPT Seoul Main Event Final Table Payouts1st: Albert Paik (USA) - ₩119,097,600 (~$101,000)2nd: Shenghua Qian (China) - ₩69,346,000 (~$58,000)3rd: Tetsuro Tomita (Japan) - ₩44,871,000 (~$38,000)4th: Ken Hirosawa (Japan) - ₩34,673,000 (~$29,400)5th: Michael Egan (Australia) - ₩28,554,000 (~$24,200)6th: Satsuki Ochiai (Japan) - ₩23,455,000 (~$19,900)7th: Windsor Nguyen (Canada) - ₩19,736,000 (~$17,600)

Well played to Albert Paik and due to the Paradise Walkerhill Casino for hosting another spectacular tournament. The following stop at the APPT is Manila from July 28 - August 8. We are hoping you'll join us again then!

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Asia Pacific Poker Tour]