Stanley Weng

The life of a tournament grinder naturally comes with ups and downs, a fact well-known to Stanley Weng, who admitted to not having the best start at APT Jeju.

However, sometimes a single day is all it takes to turn things around, and that's exactly what Weng did after besting an 11-entry field and defeating Ideta Koji heads-up to win the inaugural Single Day Super High Roller for KRW 72,977,500 (~USD 54,460).

The result marks Weng's second APT High Roller title and ranks as the fifth-highest score of his career, pushing his live tournament earnings to over $800,000.

Single Day Super High Roller Final Table Results

Winner's Reaction

Speaking after his win, the American pro said that the result had essentially saved his festival from being a losing one, allowing him to turn things around with one of the more unusual victories of his career.

“I’m feeling great,” Weng said after securing the win. “I had a lot of bad luck in the beginning [of the series], like bust after bust. Actually, winning this tournament helped me a little bit. Results-wise, I’m now up a little bit.”

The victory was especially satisfying given the unusual nature of the event. With only four players taking their seats at the start, Weng said the small, high-quality field actually helped him maintain his focus throughout the tournament.

“When I’m playing good players, specifically, I’m a lot more focused. It’s kind of like a defense mechanism. I’m in danger, I have to be focused and be on my A-game.”

Weng said that mindset can disappear when facing less experienced opponents, where he is more likely to become comfortable and make mistakes. Against the likes of Punnat Punsri and the other accomplished players in the field, however, he found himself in what he described as “fight mode.”

“I actually enjoy playing with the better players because it really makes me a better player,” Weng said. “It also puts me in fight mode, which is very fun, to be honest.”

That focus became particularly important after late registration transformed the tournament and Koji emerged as a dominant force, eliminating player after player on his way to heads-up. Weng admitted he had little information about his eventual opponent before their duel.

“I looked him up on the APT website, and I looked him up on Hendon Mob and everything, but I couldn’t find anything. He seems good. He didn’t make any big mistakes for me to feel like he’s one of the recreational players, so it made me unsure what to do against him.”

Weng also acknowledged that facing an opponent like Punsri heads-up might have presented a tougher challenge had the Thailand star survived the money bubble.

“Probably I would have a tougher time against Punnat, because he probably has a lot more experience than Koji in heads-up. In a way, maybe Koji saved me.”

With his festival now firmly back in the black, Weng has no plans to slow down. He intends to play the remaining high rollers at APT Jeju and see if he can build on his latest victory.

Stanley Weng

Action of the Day

The inaugural Single Day Super High Roller drew just four entrants at the start, but the small field still produced plenty of action at LES A Casino, with Punsri, Weng, Johan Pedersen, and Fabian Gumz battling it out in short-handed play.

After a bit of early jousting saw Punsri pull out to an early lead, Jieming Xu grew the field to five after hopping in during Level 2. However, Xu found himself on the rail just two hands later after running into a bit of a cooler. Xu and Pedersen got heads-up in a three-bet pot, where Xu flopped top pair with ace-queen and then turned two pair, only for Pedersen to spike Broadway holding king-jack. All of Pedersen's chips got into the middle on the river and he doubled up, leaving Xu with crumbs. Xu went on to bust in the very next hand.

Jieming Xu

Despite Pederson's early good fortune, the Danish pro ran into a cooler of his own after rivering trips against Weng's full house. Weng doubled up into the chip lead as a result of the hand while Punsri bled chips in a series of smaller pots to go from the chip leader to the short stack.

Punsri eventually got into a pot against Pedersen and was faced with a shove on the river for his tournament life. Punsri mustered a call after a lengthy tank, and it turned out Pedersen was bluffing — awarding Punsri a much-needed double up and leaving Pedersen with just 20 big blinds.

Without skipping a beat, Punsri woke up with queens and managed to double up for a second time in a pot against Gumz, who committed his stack with a pair and a straight draw against Punsri's overpair. The river bricked out, leaving Gumz on the short stack. On the very next hand, Gumz shoved preflop with jack-ten and ran into Pedersen's queen-jack to be eliminated.

Fabian Gumz

Xiubo Li joined the table in the early evening and wasn't shy about getting his chips into the middle, seemingly in most pots that went to the flop. Li got off to a good start after forcing Weng off a sizable pot, but Weng got his revenge shortly thereafter. Both Li and Weng flopped top pair a few hands later and Weng blasted all three streets, resulting in Li all in by the river. Unfortunately for Li, his kicker was no good and he was sent to the rail.

Short on chips, Pedersen followed Li out the door after committing his stack with a gutshot straight draw against Punsri, who ended up winning the pot for the knockout with just king-high.

As a result of Punsri and Weng being heads-up prior to late registration closing, play was paused while the clock kept running until dinner break. Following the break, Koji, Chaoui Mehdi, Chih Wei Fan, Yuan Lei, and Manuel Fritz all took the opportunity to max late-reg, bringing the remaining field back up to seven players.

Armed with just 25 big blinds each, the new arrivals didn't have the luxury of being very selective with their spots. In what appeared to be a bluff gone wrong, Lei tried to pressure Koji by betting all but one chip on the river, only for Koji to move all in. Lei folded and was eliminated on the very next hand.

Yuan Lei

The pot was a preview of what was to come, with Koji going on an absolute tear from that point forward. Over the next couple of orbits, Koji proceeded to eliminate Fan with a set followed by Fritz after calling his shove preflop with king-jack and catching a pair.

The money bubble was a brief affair, with Punsri shoving over an open by Koji with pocket sixes, only to get snapped off by pocket eights. The runout was of no help to the Thai poker phenom and he was forced to surrender his stack one spot shy of the money.

Punnat Punsri

Mehdi had managed to sneak into the money with a short stack and didn't take long to shove preflop holding an ace. Unsurprisingly, Koji woke up with a bigger ace in the big blind, called, and held up to bring the tournament down to heads-up.

In sharp contrast to the swift action that led up to it, heads-up play was methodical and deliberate, with both players happy to keep the pots small for the most part.

Koji held a slight chip lead entering their duel and slowly pulled out a 2:1 advantage after winning the majority of the smaller pots early on. Following a short break, however, the momentum shifted in Weng's favor.

Ideta Koji and Stanley Weng

Weng got back to nearly even against Koji after turning top pair, and he then took over the lead by getting paid off on a double-paired board.

Things only got worse for Koji, who attempted a triple-barrel bluff that got called by Weng to be left short. Several hands later, Koji took a stand against Weng's preflop shove holding queen-jack, but the runout left Weng with trip kings — ending the tournament with Weng as the champion.

Stanley Weng

This concludes coverage for the Single Day Super High Roller event. For ongoing coverage of select APT Jeju tournaments, be sure to check out the APT blog.

Ideta Koji

Ideta Koji chipped down to his last 150,000 and called all in after Stanley Weng shoved on the button to put himself at risk.

Ideta Koji: Q J

Stanley Weng: K 2

Koji would need to connect with the board to keep his run alive, but the K 5 6 4 K runout left Weng best with trip kings to eliminate Ideta and put an end to the tournament.

Stanley Weng

Ideta Koji limped on the button and Stanley Weng checked his option.

Weng proceeded to check-called bets from Koji on every street. First for 20,000 on the Q T A flop, then for 50,000 on the 8 turn, and finally for 110,000 on the 6 river after a lengthy tank.

Koji could only show J 2 for a bluff, and Weng revealed K T for a pair of tens to take over a solid chip lead.

Ideta Koji limped on the button and Stanley Weng checked his option.

Weng check-called a 16,000 bet from Koji on the 4 K 4 flop and then both players checked on the T turn.

Weng led out for 50,000 on the K river and Koji looked him up. Weng showed Q T for kings and tens and Koji mucked.

Stanley Weng

Ideta Koji raised to 32,000 and Stanley Weng defended his blind.

Both players checked on the 8 7 3 flop and then Weng check-called a 42,000 bet from Koji on the K turn.

Neither player bet on the Q river and Weng tabled K 4 for a pair of kings. Koji mucked and Weng collected the pot.

Ideta Koji

Ideta Koji and Stanley Weng appear content to play small ball poker, with most pots being taken down preflop or to a single bet postflop. However, Koji has gotten the best of it in recent pots to extend his chip lead.

In a recent hand, Koji raised to 25,000 on the button and Weng called.

Weng check-called a 15,000 bet from Koji on the 8 2 3 flop, but check-folded facing a 45,000 barrel from Koji on the 7 turn.

Stanley Weng and Ideta Koji have agreed to take a brief break before continuing their heads-up duel.

Koji maintains the chip lead, with 710,000 to Weng's 440,000.

Stanley Weng raised to 20,000 on the button and Ideta Koji called.

Both players checked on the 8 8 2 flop and then Weng called a 17,000 bet from Koji on the 4 turn and a 45,000 bet from Koji on the 7 river.

Koji tabled 8 7 for a full house and Weng mucked.

On the very next hand, Koji raised on the button and called a three-bet from Weng.

Koji called a 40,000 bet from Weng on the 3 9 4 flop, but folded facing an 80,000 barrel from Weng on the 4 turn.

Chaoui Mehdi

After blinding down for a few orbits, Chaoui Mehdi shoved for his last 114,000 on the button and was called by Ideta Koji in the big blind to be put at risk.

Chaoui Mehdi: A 2

Ideta Koji: A 9

Koji had Mehdi dominated, and the 3 6 9 flop saw Mehdi get up from his seat upon seeing he was drawing to runner-runner.

The K turn left him drawing dead and the 7 river made Mehdi's elimination in third place official.

Stanley Weng

Stanley Weng called in the small blind and Ideta Koji checked his option in the big blind.

Weng check-called an 8,000 bet from Koji on the J 2 4 flop and then both players checked on the 5 turn.

Weng bet 12,000 on the 6 river and Koji quickly raised to 35,000. Undeterred, Weng made it 60,000 to go and Koji called.

Weng revealed K 8 for a flush and Koji mucked his cards.