KING POKER CUP WRAP UP

So, I just finished my live reporting and media coverage duties for Somuchpoker.com at Jeju for the KPC x King Poker Cup series, which went on for a 17-day marathon. A lot happened in the following days since I first gave out my early report on my first week in the series.

Daniel Neilson

Daniel Neilson won the Sovereign 50K event for a career-best score of USD 1,006,000 and had one of the best title celebrations ever caught on livestream. You can watch the final table or just scroll to the end to see what I'm talking about. Neilson defeated Sean Ooi on the final heads-up, which was retribution from when Ooi defeated Nelson heads-up in a Single Day High Roller event just a few days prior. Of course, this one just had a juicier pot up top.

Punnat Punsri

Punnat Punsri also won the last event of the series, capturing the final Single Day Super High Roller of the series. Punsri had so many final tables, but finally bagged a championship on the last day to take it to the end. When I see Punnat at the tables, I always make it a point to wish him well, especially when I first see him take a seat. When he's on his second bullet, or maybe third, then I just hope I get to congratulate him when he bags or makes a final table. He is truly such a respectful person and just exudes that positive energy. 

Joshua Mccully, Ryan Plant, Yita Choong and Bella Mccully

Ryan Plant topped the Crown Hunt, also after making several final table appearances in the series. Plant  had won the event but there were three bounty bottles yet to crack with one of them containing the second biggest prize of USD 40,000. Runner-up Eric Tsai asked if he could go first and Plant kindly obliged. Tsai had Tony Ren Lin represent the breaking of the bottle and found the 40K to the slight disappointment of Plant and company. But still, Ryan took it like a gentleman and collected the last two bounties for 12K on top of his first prize cash. What a nice guy.

The Final Coronation was in close reach for Tony Ren Lin, but had to settle for a runner-up finish behind BQ Ho, the bestie of our dear pal Abraham Ceesvin. I was saddened when Ceesvin bused as the bubble boy. That's never a fun thing. I gave him a hug after that, and he said, "Thanks, I needed that." And sometimes, being there apart from covering the poker action, is a thing in itself.

Anyway, Tony Ren Lin, , won the King Poker Cup Player of the Series title and took home a unique custom gold ring to commemorate the occasion. While he's happy about it, he confessed - "It would've been better if I came first."

At one point in the series, I had to go shopping for my daughter and get her some Korean beauty products. I ended up also finding an hour to go sight-seeing at the Teddy Bear Museum, Fun stuff. They had historical dioramas that featured teddy bears as characters. They had recreated famous art works with teddy bears as characters. Then, there was also this giant 9 meter teddy bear. At the end of it all, you could even customize your own teddy bear - color, eyes, nose, ribbon, patches or embroidery - then give it a name and it comes with a birth certificate. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to wait for that stuff since I had to get back to work. It's a nice find though and I keep forgetting that there are other things sometimes worth exploring instead of getting stuck at the hotel and the casino all the time.

Off the felt, life was also memorable in Jeju. Had the honor of hanging out with Wesley Chen, Joseph Cheong, Kety Lee, Nixon Chan and Cooper for some refreshments. Thank you, Joseph, for the treat. In other instances, I also got to hang out with Danny - one of the production crew based out of China - who had a lot to say about life, art, reinvention and dreams. Nice to have made a brother. In one of the last nights, Cooper bought me a beer and we got to sit down with Samuel Mullur.

Of course, I had the honor of working with my dear brother Denis Lucindo, whom I have known for over 30 colorful years. He was happy when we landed in Manila that he "survived" 19 days with me and several nights of having to deal with each other's crazy snoring.

My gratitude to the people behind KPC x King Poker Cup - all the dealers, floor managers, tournament directors, media team, production crew, the players. A big thank you also to Somuchpoker for providing such a wonderful opportunity to take part in poker history.

Until the next reporting adventure.