March 11 2012, Donnie Peters

The 2012 PokerStars.net Asian Pacific Poker Tour Seoul Main Event has come to an end. Andrew Kim, from the USA, emerged victorious over the 268-player field. After a deal was made, Kim earned KRW145,000,000 for the win.

When the third and final day began, 16 players remained. After a few hours of play, the field was down to nine and the final table was set. Things had moved along steadily for the first part of the day and the first elimination at the final table was 2012 Aussie Millions runner-up Kenneth Wong.

During Level 21 with the blinds at 8,000/16,000/2,000, Wong was all in preflop with versus Vincent Rubianes’ . The flop, turn and river ran out , and Rubianes sent Wong out the door in ninth place.

He was followed out the door by start-of-the-day chip leader Daisuke Endo, who fell at the hands of Germany’s Moritz Ortmann. Somehow, someway, Ortmann and Endo got all the money in on the flop with Moritz holding to Endo’s . The turn was the and the river the . Ortmann finished with a flush and Endo held just jack high, which meant he was headed out the door in eighth place.

After Endo’s elimination, Taewook Kwon fell in seventh and then Jose Severino in sixth. Severino went out during Level 23 with the blinds at 12,000/24,000/4,000.

Severino moved all in with and ran into Ortmann’s . A quick and painless run of the cards sent Severino out the door as the dealer spread the .

In fifth place, Sasa Zorc was eliminated and that left just four players. Joining Kim, Rubianes and Ortmann was Rafael Rodrigo. The group struck a deal based on the chip counts and left KRW35,000,000 to be awarded to the eventual champion. From there, Ortmann fell in fourth place and then Rodrigo in third, leaving Rubianes and Kim heads up for the title. When the duel began, Kim had the edge with 3.005 million in chips to Rubianes’ 2.12 million.

For nearly all of the heads-up match, Kim seemed to be in control. He picked his spots well and chipped away at Rubianes steadily. When the final hand came up, all of the money went in preflop with Kim holding to Rubianes’ . An ace flopped to put Kim in the lead and he held from there to take the victory. For his runner-up effort, Rubianes was left with the amount he settled for in the deal, pocketing KRW90,500,000.

2012 APPT Seoul Final Table Payouts

*Denotes four-way deal with KRW35,000,000 awarded to the winner.

With the completion of the event, that wraps up PokerNews’ coverage of the 2012 APPT Seoul. It was another great event run by PokerStars and also the staff at the Paradise Casino Walkerhill. Congratulations to Andrew Kim for his win and to all the other winners as well.

Just because we’re done with Seoul, doesn’t mean the live reporting stops. PokerNews’ worldwide leading Live Reporting Team is constantly all over the globe providing updates from the biggest and best tournaments on the circuit, so be sure to check those events out as well.

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March 10 2012, Chad Holloway

March 1 marked the start of the World Series of Poker Circuit’s latest stop, which is happening at Caesars Atlantic City. The 12-ring event stop, which runs through March 12, is among the most anticipated tournament series on the East Coast, as evidenced by attractive numbers in the preliminary events.

The stop will culminate in the $1,600 Main Event beginning on March 10, but there were a number of motivating stories that developed throughout the prelims, though none more interesting than that of Brandon Croft, a 31-year-old recreational player from Sumter, South Carolina.

Croft’s story began in Event #3: $555 No-Limit Hold’em, which attracted 253 players and created a prize pool of $122,705. Croft managed to navigate the field and captured his first WSOP Circuit ring, not to mention the $30,062 first-place prize.

A few days later in Event #5: $555 NLHE, which drew 263 entrants and created a prize pool of $127,555. Croft was at it again. He certainly had momentum and experience as the event was the same buy-in and nearly the same size as his previous win, so watching him capture the gold ring was basically déjà vu.

That win made Croft an early favorite, if not a virtual lock, to claim the Caesars Atlantic City Casino Championship, which would qualify him for the National Championship along with the eventual winner of the Main Event.

Here’s a look at the WSOP Circuit Caesars Atlantic City events completed thus far: