Xiang Liu Wins Baby Dragon for ?142,946,000
Concurrently to Day 1 of the ?10,000,000 Super High Roller, the ?1,500,000 Baby Dragon has played down to a champion and it was Xian Liu that emerged victoriously after cutting a deal with Yunsheng Sun in heads-up and winning the duel for the extra money and trophy.
Liu bested a 593-strong field – a new country record for the event – and the top 72 players were guaranteed a portion of the ?776,534,000 (~US$662,815) prize pool after both starting days had played down to the top 12% and money. The victory comes with a payday of ?142,946,000 (~US$122,080) while Sun is taking home ?130,000,000 for his runner-up finish.
One year ago, James Won Lee topped a field of 298 entries to earn himself the Baby Dragon trophy and payday of ?74,310,000 (US$66,361), and the American was also in the running on Day 1 of the ?10,000,000 Super High Roller as well where he bagged and tagged for Day 2. The attendance of the 2018 edition was nearly doubled and increased by a mighty 98.9%.
Final Result ?1,500,000 Baby Dragon
| Place | Winner | Country/Region | Prize (in KRW) | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Xiang Liu | China | ?142,946,000 | $122,934 |
| 2 | Yunsheng Sun | China | ?130,000,000 | $111,800 |
| 3 | Phachara Wongwichit | Thailand | ?64,841,000 | $55,763 |
| 4 | Jun Obara | Japan | ?49,465,000 | $42,540 |
| 5 | Xianglai Li | China | ?34,167,000 | $29,384 |
| 6 | Yu Nozaki | Japan | ?27,179,000 | $23,374 |
| 7 | Sun Guodong | China | ?22,131,000 | $19,033 |
| 8 | Jung Chou Lee | Taiwan | ?18,637,000 | $16,028 |
| 9 | Donghui Xu | China | ?15,531,000 | $13,357 |
| 10 | Hao Chen | China | ?13,201,000 | $11,353 |
Returning notables to come up short of the final table included Day 1 frontrunner Qiuning Zhang (15th for ?8,542,000), Australia's Kelvin Beattie (22nd for ?4,659,000), Taiwan's Chen An Lin (27th for ?4,271,000), Malaysia's Victor Chong (39th for ?3,572,000) and a former Red Dragon Main Event Champion in the form of Dengfeng "Denny" Yu (54th for ?3,261,000).
Phachara Wongwichit, who had cashed in the ?5,000,000 Single-Day High Roller, made it to another final table and nursed a shorter stack for most of the day before going on a heater late on. He was denied the victory and ultimately fell in third place, following Japan's Jun Obara to the payout desk who had to settle for 4th place.