Nick Lai Wins First-Ever Players Series Taipei Main Event

Running from December 13 to 23 at CTP Asia Poker Arena in Taipei City, Taiwan, the first-ever Players Series in Taipei has concluded with a bang. Featuring an impressive 38 events across its 11-day run, the inaugural live poker series was highlighted by the NTD 15 Million GTD Main Event, which crowned its first-ever champion in Taiwan’s Nick Lai. 

Lai topped a field of 748 entrants, overcame a strong final table, and came from behind in the heads-up against Sin Lan Chen to take home the coveted title and an ICM payout worth NTD 1,884,000 ($57,950). While Lai walked away with the title, Chen, the sole lady at the final table, stole the show as the runner-up with a bigger payout of NTD 2,200,000 ($67,671). This marked her career-best score, boosting her live earnings to $73,397.

Player Series Main Event Quick Recap

The Player Series Main Event ran from December 15 to 23 and drew 748 entries across five flights. Sporting NTD 16,500 ($525), the event had a massive NTD 15,000,000 in guaranteed prize pool, which was finally shared by the top 112 players. The money was reached midway through Day 2, and the field narrowed to the final 9 by the end of Day 3. On the final day, the remaining 9 players, each guaranteed at least NTD 246,000 ($ 7,657), returned to battle it out for the coveted title and top prize.

Taiwan’s Zong Chi He, one of the country’s most decorated players, began the final table with a commanding 55 BB chip lead, which Nick Lai admitted made him nervous as he started the table in the middle of the pack.

Following the first elimination of Jonathan Looi (9th) whose king-queen failed to get there again ace-seven of Zong Chi He, Lai was nearly out when he ran his queens into aces of YuCheng Hsu but he got lucky as a queen landed on the turn, giving him a lucky double up to stay alive.

Lai’s momentum surged when he picked up cowboys and crushed the ace-queen suited of Hong Kong’s Lee Shun Hei, ending the latter’s run in 8th place. Following Hei was Erwin Ng (7th) whose pocket Kings were outdrawn by YuCheng Hsu’s big slick on a board running with two aces.

The next elimination was scored by the eventual runner-up Sin Lan Chen who busted her fellow countryman Ruei Jiun Liang (6th). The latter held ace-eight against the king-queen of Chen, who clipped a queen on the turn to win the pot and bust Liang from the final table. She continued her momentum and eliminated YuCheng Hsu, who held the ace queen but got unlucky against the king-queen of Chen, who spiked a king on the river.

The next player to fall was Zong Chi He who entered the final table as chip leader but lost his lead in between. He eventually pitted his ace deuce against the ace-ten of the eventual winner Lai to finish in 4th place.

Lai then eliminated Chang Ming Hung in 3rd place to move into the heads-up against compatriot Chen, who was running hot and held a 2:1 advantage against Lai. In the heads-up, the final two players reached a deal guaranteeing the chip leader Chen the larger payout. Chen entered with a huge chip lead but could not go all the way. On the final hand, Chen shoved with 3♥3♣ and Lai snap-called with Q♠Q♦. With the board running 5-6-2-8-8, Chen’s dream for the title ended in second place. While she could not win the title, she took home a career-best payout of $67,670.

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Image Credit: PS & SoMuchPoker