SPC XII

Event Report

Season 4 of the Singapore Poker Championships breezed onto the high seas last weekend, and what an electrifying start to the season it was. The SPC hit its third consecutive 300+ Main Event field, numbers which augur well for the growth of the sport in our region. The weekend saw Jaden Lim nab the SPC XII Main Event after a deep FT run in SPC XI, while SPC heart-throb ‘Major’ Ricky Foo bagged his first series trophy with a triumph in the Short-Deck. Congratulations are also in order to Lim Min Soon, whom the SPC surprised with its premiere (and it has to be said, long overdue) Triple Crown Trophy - an award for winning the SPC’s High Roller, Main, and Side events.

Also, we would be remiss to not afford (dis)honourable mentions to our merry band of Yellow-Shirts: a group of players in luminous yellow t-shirts with an unflattering (but not indecent) image printed on the front. At first glance they resembled an amateur lion-dance troupe. Or possibly they intended to picket and protest the quality of the SPC’s Copags. Turns out they were merely on the wrong end of a prop bet. It’s heartening to see that poker players, like Lannisters, always pay their debts.

The Natural8 Main Event

The Natural8 Main event field size once again surpassed expectations, with 307 runners accounted for when the dust of late entries and re-entries had settled just before 11pm on Saturday night. Flight 1B would eventually bag and tag at 2am, with the weary survivors trudging off for some well-deserved shut-eye.

88 players survived the unforgiving attrition of Day 1, emerging primed and ready for Sunday’s fight to the finish. Leading the Day 2 charge were Jason Chen (118,000), Tan Tong, (103,000), the uber-popular Bomberman339 (116,800), and Eugene Lim (a staggering 178,000). The road to the final table was a fraught one for many however, laden with traps, pitfalls, and involuntary expletives. Amongst those coming up short were former champions Liew Teck Wee and Lew Yin How, in addition to seasoned talent like Phua Siyang, Eric Soh, and Mohd. Zefirelli.

The much-beloved Aaron Lam, another previous winner of the Main Event, had been nursing a short-stack all day and seemed unable to get any momentum going. With the end of the road beckoning 10-handed, Aaron took a stand, and unfortunately bubbled the final table.

Lim Min Soon, freshly-minted Triple Crown honoree, had amassed a big chip lead when the remaining nine men had taken their seats. With his experience and pedigree, it would be hard to bet against him winning his second SPC ME title.

In what would prove a prelude to the wildest SPC Main Event FT ever, Lu Zheng Hao got all his chips all in middle pre-flop on the very first hand. Zheng Hao’s Jacks were quickly called by Min Soon’s Queens for a nasty cooler. The top card of the flop was a Jack, but Zheng Hao’s momentary glimmer of hope vanished when the second flop card revealed a queen. Drawing to one out with no miracle on the turn and river, Zheng Hao took 9th place.

Another big hand transpired shortly after, when Tan Tong got the lot in with TT. To his horror, Jie Long called and tabled pocket rockets. Tan Tong was all but headed for the rails on the low board, only for the river to deliver a straight and a chopped pot. This would be the first of several unfortunate events for Jie Long.

Another big swing occurred a few hands later. Jie Long to 36,000 pre-flop. Min Soon turned the screws, making it 96,000 to go. After some deliberation. Jaden Lim 4-bet for 225,000 total. Jie Long quickly released his hand, and Min Soon, after a pregnant pause and a few polite questions, followed suit.

More significant action came when Peter de Groot and Joseph Kway got all their chips in the middle with QQ and AA. Joseph’s AA prevailed, giving him a much-needed double through, whilst crippling Peter.

Peter, with just about two big blinds remaining, was forced to gamble on the next hand with Tc5c. Min Soon, KcQc. Suit-dominated but still sporting live cards, Peter’s tournament was on the line. The board brought no help to either players, and Peter was consigned to an 8th placed finish.

With 7 players remaining, Jaden made tried to take charge of proceedings. After taking a 200+k pot from Jie Long, Jaden began the first of his many tangos with Min Soon, in a stuggle for table captaincy. Min Soon won the first skirmish when he out-flopped Jaden for a made straight, dragging a 200+k pot for good measure.

Alex Lee, who had so far been having a quiet final table, finally got into a hand against Jie Long and managed to catch up for a big double through to alleviate the short-stack strain.

Jie Long, who’d not been having the best of it since the final table began, finally managed to find some luck when he eliminated Ben Kyaw’s in 7th position; the latter’s 44 almost holding up against the former’s K9 right until the river.

Min Soon and Jaden soon engaged again. Defending his big blind after a pre-flop raise from Jaden, Min Soon check called the 5c4d6s, before folding to a Jaden’s 2nd-barrel on the 6h turn. A wise move, as Jaden soon established by 66 for quads.

Tan Tong soon found himself all-in again, and must have been aghast to find three callers. The board of 6h9c3s had Alex very interested, and he leads for 200,000. After a lot of hemming and hawing, both Min Soon and Jaden folded. Tan Tong tabled TT and Alex A9. When the turn and river failed to improve Alex’s hand, Tan Tong scooped a very handsome pot.

The players returned from a short break, and for some reason, all hell broke loose. Joseph Kway, short and ostensibly looking to pick up some cheap blinds, made a late position move against Alex Lee. The Malaysian wasn’t having any of it, and quickly called with A5. An ace on the flop meant Joseph would need running cards, and when the turn bricked, he was dispatched to the rails in 6th.

The mighty Tan Tong was next to fall. His 66 was in a tight race against Jaden Lim’s AQ. Neither player connected with flop and turn, but Jaden picked up an additional 4 outs with a gutshot. An improbable T on the river completed Jaden’s broadway straight, sending the unfortunately Tan Tong packing in 5th.

The very next hand proved seismic. Min Soon lead led the river for 100,000, and snapped off Jaden’s 425,000 raise. Jaden tabled a full house, dragging a colossal pot, and crippling Min Soon in the process.

Min Soon wasted no time in trying to get some chips back. On the following hand, he got his remaining chips in with JT, but Jaden had found AhKc in the hole, and the easiest call ever. Min Soon’s JT failed to catch up, and he was eliminated in 4th.

Tornado Jaden Lim was just gathering speed, and would soon be quick enough to wipe out anything in its path. Before Min Soon had even finished gathering his effects, Jaden had snapped off Alex Lee’s all-in with KQ, supremely dominant against the Alex’s KT. A Q on the flop all but made the matter a formality, and the turn 2 and river 4 quickly sealed Alex’s fate. Another remarkable run from the Malaysian, who’s been making deep runs a happy habit.

While the tournament staff were still congratulating Alex, the Jaden tornado had already claimed another victim. Short and looking to make an early statement, Jie Long got all his chips in the middle with QT, and was quickly called by Jaden’s K9. An 8 6 8 3 3 board meant that K high would rule the day, and Jie Long’s excellent adventure had come good for a 2nd-place finish.

Congratulations to Jaden Lim, our SPC XII champion!