Ki Young Kim Wins PS Championship III Taipei Main Event For Double-Major Sweep
"… the turn is a king!" That was the moment 🇰🇷 Ki Young Kim sealed the PS Championship III Taipei Main Event title. He defeated 🇵🇭 David Erquiaga after one of the most evenly fought heads up battles, with both players tugging at the chip lead to keep the stacks close throughout.
The victory was even more impressive as it came just days after Kim captured the PS Championship Super High Roller title, completing a stunning double-major triumph.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Payout (TWD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 🇰🇷 Ki Young Kim | 3,010,000 |
| 2nd | 🇵🇭 David Erquiaga | 2,500,000 |
| 3rd | 🇭🇰 Dicky Siu Hang Tsang | 1,615,000 |
| 4th | 🇨🇭 Fabian Rolli | 1,180,000 |
| 5th | 🇦🇺 Loy Abdo | 888,000 |
| 6th | 🇸🇬 Sean Tan | 680,000 |
| 7th | 🇹🇼 Kuo Kai Ma | 528,000 |
| 8th | 🇰🇷 Sung Jin Yun | 413,000 |
| 9th | 🇲🇾 Ming Ken Thoo | 327,500 |
Winner's Story
Kim's road to victory was not without its swings. Entering the final table with 33 big blinds, he dropped to 14 big blinds and was nearly out in seventh place holding J♦J♣ against Erquiaga's K♠K♣ when a lucky jack came on the river to launch to 40 big blinds.
After Kim was saved, he helped thin down the table, eliminating three players on his way to heads up: 🇹🇼 Kuo Kai Ma (7th), 🇸🇬 Sean Tan (6th), and 🇨🇭 Fabian Rolli (4th). This led to a heated three-way battle that ended with Erquiaga eliminating 🇭🇰 Dicky Siu Hang Tsang.
Before heads up began, Kim and Erquiaga agreed to adjust the payouts then played on. Both players started nearly even, with Erquiaga holding a slight edge. The chip lead traded back and forth multiple times however only by a slim margin.
On the final hand, with the average stack at 60 big blinds, Kim shoved with king-jack offsuit and Erquiaga snap-called with ace-nine offsuit. A king came on the turn. After the counts, Kim was ahead by just four big blinds.
Final Day Rundown
Across six flights, the Players Series Championship III Main Event attracted 749 entries at TWD 33,000 each to bring the prize pool to TWD 22,245,300. A total of 115 players advanced to the money round with 14 players returning to the Asia Poker Arena for the final day.
Ki Young Kim began the final day near the bottom of the counts, but still with a workable stack of 18 big blinds. After David Erquiaga eliminated 🇰🇷 Jun Yeong Park in 14th place, Kim did the same to 🇯🇵 Koji Nagasaka in 13th place. This boosted Kim's stack to a healthy 41 big blinds, putting him firmly back in contention.
🇹🇼 Chung Tang Lin extended his incredible festival run with a 12th place finish. Prior to reaching the final two tables of the PSC Main Event, Lin captured back-to-back Natural8 majors, successfully defending his Natural8 Open High Roller title before going on to win the Natural8 Open Main Event as well.
🇹🇼 Sin Ren Chen was the first to double up then lost two flips, both of them against Fabian Rolli to end his tournament run in 11th place.
🇸🇬 Shixiang Khoo just missed the final table in 10th place. His solid run since Flight C was stopped cold by Sung Jin Yun who cleaned him out in two hands. Khoo's final hand was pocket sixes behind Yun's pocket eights.
In just over an hour of action on the final day, the final table took shape, with 🇦🇺 Loy Abdo and 🇵🇭 David Erquiaga maintaining their dominant stacks. Abdo started the day as the chip leader with Erquiaga in second. By the time the final table was set, the lead switched with Erquiaga up top.
The final table featured a diverse international lineup with eight flags represented. It took 156 final table hands before 🇰🇷 Ki Young Kim emerged victorious.
Final Table Eliminations
The first to fall was 🇲🇾 Ming Ken Thoo who entered with just seven big blinds after taking several hits before the final table. He was all in on the first hand with pocket sixes that fell to Erquiaga's king-jack.
🇰🇷 Sung Jin Yun's strong run was given a hard halt by Abdo in 8th place. Abdo's ace-four bluff materialized into top pair on the turn to dust Yun's missed straight flush draw.
