Yunkyu Song Wins WPT Prime Playground Championship

The 2024 WPT Prime Playground $1,150 CAD buy-in no-limit hold’em championship drew a massive field of 1,587 entries, blowing away the $800,000 CAD guarantee to result in a prize pool worth more than $1.1 million when rendered in USD.

After four starting flights and two more days of action, it was American Yunkyu Song who emerged victorious. The Washington State resident walked away with the trophy and the top prize of $164,251. He now has more than $1.1 million in career cashes to his name.

This was the third-largest score yet for Song, who is having quite the year on the circuit. He has made nine final tables so far, with this being his first outright victory. Among those deep runs were his two largest live cashes. The first of those saw him earn $197,443 for a third-place finish in a $2,000 buy-in at this year’s World Series of Poker. He added another $181,430 for another third-place showing, with this one coming in a $800 buy-in at the Borgata Winter Poker Open.

This latest triumph came with 1,080 Card Player Player of the Year points. With 3,804 total points, Song has surged up the leaderboard and into 36th place in the 2024 POY race standings presented by Global Poker.

Prior to this breakout year on the live scene, Song had only eight recorded cashes for around $60,000 in total earnings.

Song came into the final day of this event in the middle of the pack with 16 remaining, and was the second-shortest stack when the final table of nine was set. He beat A-K with A-Q during eight-handed action to double out of the danger zone, then cracked the pocket aces of Rene Gauvin, flopping trips and rivering quads with 10-9 before all the chips went in. Gauvin was left on fumes and was eliminated in sixth place ($35,413) soon after.

Song doubled with pocket jacks against the pocket sevens of Zeyu Huang during four-handed play. He then got all-in with a set of sixes against the overpair of kings for Huang, holding through the turn and river to send Huang packing in fourth place ($61,430).

Song’s A-J held against the K-J of Alexander Wong (3rd – $81,666) to give him 37,500,000 to the 27,300,000 of Kevin Rivest going into heads-up play. Song was able to pull even further ahead by the time the final hand was dealt. Rivest raised to 1,500,000 from the button with AQ and Song three-bet to 5,500,000 with AJ. Rivest four-bet shoved for 12,500,000 and Song called. The board came down KJ534 and Song’s pair of jacks earned him the pot and the title. Rivest received $109,852 as the runner-up finisher.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Photo credit: World Poker Tour.