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Home / Uncategorized / 2017ACOP: The Race to Three

The Asia Championship of Poker is the Far East’s greatest challenge for a player and the 17-day poker festival returns this October 13-29.

In five years of existence, the ACOP has awarded more than HK$390 million (USD $50M) and those massive prize pools have, in turn, attracted the biggest names in poker to PokerStars LIVE Macau annually.

Winning a single ACOP Spadie trophy takes a combination of skill, heart, and confidence to go up against the world’s best. In fact, until last season no one had ever won more than one of these coveted awards.

Our article today features the exclusive club of three players who have managed to secure two
Spadies and, clearly, are the most likely to win the Race to Three.

1 Celina Lin.jpgCelina Lin

Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin is no stranger to breaking new ground and making history. In 2009, she was the first female to win the Macau Poker Cup’s Red Dragon event. Three years later, Lin became the first person — man or woman — to do it twice.

In similar fashion, Lin became the first female to claim an open ACOP Title Event after claiming the Spadie for her victory in 2013’s $8,800 NLH event. The Race to Two spanned 58 ACOP Title Events but officially ended after Lin captured last year’s Deepstack Championship. She’s still the only player with two titles in open events.

Lin’s all-time ACOP record includes 7 cashes and more than HK$1.1 million in earnings.

2 Pete Chen (left) Wei Zhao (right).jpgPete Chen (left) Wei Zhao (right)

China’s Wei Zhao may not be a household name for those outside of Asia but he’s been a rising star in recent years. The Chinese Mainlander’s first live win came in the form of the 2015 EPT Barcelona 8-Game title.

Later that same year, Zhao went on to win his first Spadie in the Deepstack Championship. He came one spot short of another ACOP title just a few days later. It would be his partnership with Pete Chen in last year’s Teams Championship that would earn him his second Spadie.

Zhao’s all-time ACOP record includes 5 cashes and HK$751,700 in earnings.

3 Jay Tan.jpgJay Tan

Jay Tan is a lady killer but I don’t mean that in the usual sense of the term.

The Hong Kong native owns the distinction of being the only player to win the same event twice – taking down the Ladies Asia Championship in 2013 and 2016. The former poker pro has focused on motherhood in recent years which makes her feat that much more impressive given her lack of volume.

Tan’s all-time ACOP record includes 3 cashes and HK$238,409 in earnings.

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