Yunkyu Song Wins WPT Prime Playground Championship

The 2024 WPT Prime Playground $1,150 CAD buy-in no-limit maintain’em championship drew a large discipline of 1,587 entries, blowing away the $800,000 CAD assure to end in a prize pool value greater than $1.1 million when rendered in USD.

After 4 beginning flights and two extra days of motion, it was American Yunkyu Song who emerged victorious. The Washington State resident walked away with the trophy and the highest prize of $164,251. He now has greater than $1.1 million in profession cashes to his identify.

This was the third-largest rating but for Song, who’s having fairly the yr on the circuit. He has made 9 ultimate tables to date, with this being his first outright victory. Among these deep runs had been his two largest reside cashes. The first of these noticed him earn $197,443 for a third-place end in a $2,000 buy-in at this yr’s World Series of Poker. He added one other $181,430 for an additional third-place exhibiting, with this one coming in a $800 buy-in on the Borgata Winter Poker Open.

This newest triumph got here with 1,080 Card Player Player of the Year factors. With 3,804 complete factors, Song has surged up the leaderboard and into thirty sixth place within the 2024 POY race standings introduced by Global Poker.

Prior to this breakout yr on the reside scene, Song had solely eight recorded cashes for round $60,000 in complete earnings.

Song got here into the ultimate day of this occasion in the midst of the pack with 16 remaining, and was the second-shortest stack when the ultimate desk of 9 was set. He beat A-Okay with A-Q throughout eight-handed motion to double out of the hazard zone, then cracked the pocket aces of Rene Gauvin, flopping journeys and rivering quads with 10-9 earlier than all of the chips went in. Gauvin was left on fumes and was eradicated in sixth place ($35,413) quickly after.

Song doubled with pocket jacks in opposition to the pocket sevens of Zeyu Huang throughout four-handed play. He then acquired all-in with a set of sixes in opposition to the overpair of kings for Huang, holding by the flip and river to ship Huang packing in fourth place ($61,430).

Song’s A-J held in opposition to the Okay-J of Alexander Wong (third – $81,666) to offer him 37,500,000 to the 27,300,000 of Kevin Rivest going into heads-up play. Song was capable of pull even additional forward by the point the ultimate hand was dealt. Rivest raised to 1,500,000 from the button with AQ and Song three-bet to five,500,000 with AJ. Rivest four-bet shoved for 12,500,000 and Song known as. The board got here down OkayJ534 and Song’s pair of jacks earned him the pot and the title. Rivest obtained $109,852 because the runner-up finisher.

Here is a take a look at the payouts and POY factors awarded on the ultimate desk:

Photo credit score: World Poker Tour.