John Costiniano

On his Players Series debut, 🇵🇭 John Costiniano emerges as the newest Series Superstar Challenge champion after a three-way deal. Costiniano pockets a cool TWD 1,451,900 along with his first ever PS trophy.

Read up on the action via the recap and live updates below or watch the livestream via Players Series YouTube.

⭐ Event Recap

With two levels of registration open, Day 2 of the Superstar Challenge boosts the field to 60 entries as latecomers make a final dash before closing. Once the gates shut, eliminations come quickly.

The day’s opening chip leader, 🇹🇭 Teeraphat Rangkatekarn, fires off a series of knockouts until he runs into Costiniano, who finally tames his aggression. The bubble bursts on 🇰🇷 Kang Ki Seok, whose pocket queens fall to 🇺🇸  Dohyeok Kim’s ace, setting the stage for the final table.

🇭🇰 Hon Cheong Lee, starting with a very short stack, is the first to hit the payout desk, unable to gain traction. In contrast, fellow short stack 🇰🇷Seunghyuk Jung survives several showdowns and climbs into 5th place.

The last two Thai contenders fall in one-go. Rangkatekarn finishes 8th, and 🇹🇭 Nirunrut Rachburom comes in 7th, both falling to the hot-handed 🇰🇷 Hogyun Kang while back-to-back finalist, 🇹🇼 Kristof Segers, takes 6th place.

Four-handed play is fast and furious with well-timed bluffs and aggressive moves paying off. 🇹🇼  Yu-Chung Chang is unable to keep up and exits in 4th to 🇺🇸 Dohyeok Kim, who takes the chip lead for the first time.

In the closing stretch, Costiniano sets a perfect trap to catapult to the top of the leaderboard, eventually securing the crown after a three-way ICM deal. Kudos as well to Kang who nearly captured a series second high roller title, placing second just after his victory at the Natural8 Open Super High Roller. 

At the break, the final three players agreed to an ICM deal, bringing play to an early conclusion. With the largest stack at the time, John Costiniano is officially awarded the victory.

John Costiniano

With Dohyeok Kim firmly in the driver’s seat, he continues to grind to climb to 7,500,00 until John Costiniano puts a stop to it. Kicking off the hand with a 260,000 raise out of the small blind seat, Kim defends his big blind.

At the flop , both players check for a free turn card of . No more checking for Costiniano who sends out 425,000, Kim answers with a shove, Costiniano snap-calls with his trap holding .

Costiniano is still not out of the woods with Kim’s top pair backed by outs. The river isn’t one of them to pay a costly double up.

Yu Chung Chang

Down to 13 big blinds, Yu-Chung Chang is all in holding and is flipping against caller Do Hyeok Kim who has  .

The board brings no partners for Chang’s big cards, instead running to end his run in 3rd place.

Hogyun Kang widens his range with a raise of 200,ooo holding . Next to act John Costiniano calls with , and after the blinds fold, the dealer spreads a flop of .

Kang continues to represent with a bet of 200,000 again and Costiniano sticks around having hit second pair. The turn gives Kang a gutshot and fires 500,000 but still doesn’t scare away Costiniano who calls again.

Kang finally slows down on the river while Costiniano goes the other direction with a bet of 700,000 to earn the pot without a showdown.

Dohyeok Kim

Yu-Chung Chang looks down at an ace and gives it a min-raise, button player Dohyeok Kim calls, and it’s a three-way with John Costiniano defending his big blind.

The flop d brings a bit more action with a bet of 250,000 from Kim that only Costiniano calls for his open-ended. The turn sees Kim fire another 500,000 and that does the job with Costiniano folding in frustration.

Level 21 is underway with blinds of  50K-100K ante 100K. Only four players remaining.

From under the gun, Dohyeok Kim has good for a min-raise. Out of the small blind, John Costiniano has and fires a three-bet of 460,000. The action gets heavier with big blind Yu-Chung Chang firing a four-bet jam with for a total of 1,2,00,000.

Kim can’t believe it and folds while Costiniano gives it a lengthier decision. After using up two time extensions, he emerges with a call to put Chang’s tournament life on the line.

Chang is ahead and in prime shape for a huge double up. The flop runs a clean , with the   turn changing nothing. The river  seals Chang the win with the best kicker.

Out of the small blind, Hogyun Kang looks down at  and raises 240,000. Big blind John Costiniano defends with   and they go hunting at the flop which spreads

Kang lands top pair and continues for 150,000, Costiniano calls and they go another around to the turn  . Kang bets again for 250,000 and Costiniano flats to complete the spread with the .

Kang dips in his stack once more and counts out 700,000. Costiniano tanks before letting go of his hand.

Dohyeok Kim with opens 160,000 on the button and big blind John Costiniano defends on the big blind with . The flop of gives Costiniano a pair to check-call Kim’s 120,000 c-bet.

On the turn Costiniano checks again and faces another barrel from Kim for 340,000. Costiniano tanks then gives up his hand.

Seunghyuk Jung

Seunghyuk Jung opens with a jam for 1,000,000 from under the gun and Do Hyeok Kim tanks with then folds. Next one over is the chip leader Hogyun Kang who doesn’t spend any time thinking about what to do and snap-calls with .

After the blinds fold, the dealer lays out the board which ends Jung’s run in 5th place.

John Costiniano min-raises from under the gun and Yu-Chung Chang tanks before raising to 600,000. The bet doesn’t scare Costiniano in the least and snap-shoves. Chang snap-calls for his tournament life.

Yu-Chung Chang:  

John Costiniano:

Costiniano has a point higher however it has no clout against Chang’s diamond that find buddies on the board . With his flush, Chang doubles up to 30 big blinds.

Seunghyuk Jung is down to just six big blinds when he gets dealt . He goes all in and big blind Dohyeok Kim donates, calling with .

With no hits on the board for Kim,  , Jung returns to double digit big blinds.

Level 20 is underway with blinds of 40K-80K ante 80K. Only 5 players remaining.

Smal blind Seunghyuk Jung    limps in on the small blind and Dohyeok Kim checks for a cheap look at the flop . Both players improve with Jung landing top pair and gives it respect with a 60,000 bet. Kim tests him with a 155,000 raise. Jung calls and they both check the turn .

The river is checked again by Jung while Kim fires a 350,000 bet for his flush. Jung folds.

Dohyeok Kim has and decides to limp it from the small blind. Hogyun Kang also has a pair  , and tests Kim with a bet of 210,000. Kim calls and to take it to the flop .

Kang continues for 125,00 and Kim check-calls for the turn . Again Kim checks and Kang checks back. The river scares both players to opt to check.

Kim takes down his first decent pot of the day.

Kristof Segers

Everyone folds to the small blind Kristof Segers and he looks down at and goes all in only to run into big blind John Costiniano’s .

The flop of improves Segers though still behind the ladies. The turn changes nothing, and with the river , Segers run ends in 6th place.

Hogyun Kang

Everyone folds to Hogyun Kang on the small blind who min-raises. Big blind Kristof Segers defends and they proceed to check it all the way to the river where Kang bets 400,000. Segers counts out the chips and eventually decides to pay to see Kang’s winning hand.

Teeraphat Rangkatekarn

Hogyun Kang     raises to 125,000, Nirunrut Rachburom flats, then Teeraphat Rangkatekarn three-bets all in for 395,000. Kang defends with a call and Rachburom joins as well risking her tournament life.

A duck on the window all but seals the double knockout and the two Thailand players are eliminated on a board of with Kang’s boat far ahead.

Nirunrut Rachburom

Rachburom finishes in 7th place for TWD 277,000 and Rangkatekarn takes 8th place for TWD 242,000.

Level 19 is underway with blinds of 30K-60K ante 60K. Only 8 players remain on the hunt for the title and the TWD 2,160,000 top prize.

Hon Cheong Lee

Down to just 135,000, Hon Cheong Lee puts it all on the line holding and big blind Hogyun Kang makes the easy call with .

With Kang looking for a jack to trim the field, the board doesn’t give it however it runs to reduce Lee to playing the board. Kang’s jack plays to boot Lee out in 9th place.

Kristof Segers opens the minimum and is challenged with a three-bet to 300,000 by Seunghyuk Jung. Segers four-bet jams his 495,000 stack and it’s a no-brainer snap call from Jung.

Kristof Segers:

Seunghyuk Jung:

With the board running , Segers dodges the ace to double through.

Seunghyuk Jung opens from early position for 100,000 and two spots over at hijack, Hogyun Kang flats with and it’s a three-way with Hon Cheong Lee defending on the big blind with  .

When the flop comes , action is checked to Kang who bets 100,000 and only Jung continues with him to the turn .

Again Jung checks to Kang, he maintains control with a bet of 250,000. Jung tanks then shoves for a total of 835,000. Kang opts to fold his aces.

On the second hand of the day, Teeraphat Rangkatakern open-jams and now, for hands later, he open-jams again. Seunghyuk Jung calls the cards go on their backs.

Teeraphat Rangkatakern:

Seunghyuk Jung:

Jung doubles up again when the board runs .

Immediately following the hand, Rangkatakern is dealt and jams. No one calls and he shows them the hand.

Hogyun Kang min-raises on the button and Nirurut Rachburom defends her big blind.

The flop comes  , and Kang continues for 75,000. Rachburom check-calls and they go to the turn where Kang barrels another 105,000. With her top pair, Rachburom calls again to complete the board with the  river.

Rachburom checks again, Kang is unrelenting firing a 400,000 bet. Rachburom tanks then finds a fold to preserve her chips.

First hand of the final table opens with a 105,000 raise from the chip leader John Costiniano out of the hijack seat and big blind Seunghyuk Jung calls with . As one of the shortest stacks, entering with only six big blinds, it is no surprise to see Jung jam on a flop of  with top pair.

Easy call for Costiniano as it only costs him another two big blinds. With the turn and river . Jung quickly doubles up.

Shuffle up and deal! Final table is underway. Blinds continue at 25K-50K ante 50K with 36 minutes remaining in the clock.

Front (L-R): Hogyun Kang, Nirunrut Rachburom, Yu-Chung Chang, Hon Cheong Lee; Back (L-R): John Costiniano, Kris Segers, Seunghyuk Jung, Teeraphat Rangkatekarn, Do Hyeok Kim

Chip Counts

The final 9 players are guaranteed a piece of the TWD 6,220,800 prize pool. At the minimum is TWD 220,000 and for the champion, the TWD 2,160,000 top prize awaits. Spectators can follow the race via the livestream in the Players Series YouTube channel. Action resumes 6:50PM. Livestream is on a 30-minute delay.

Payouts

Kang Ki Seok

Kang Ki Seok open-jams with and is shocked to hear a call from Dohyeok Kim who turns over .

Battling for his tournament life, Kang’s hopes vanish when the flop comes . The turn  brings him a sliver of hope with outs to split but it is not to be with the on the river. Seok falls on the stone cold bubble.

Darren Wee is all in for his last 355,000 and isn’t going to skate through with small blind Hogyun Kang making the call.

Darren Wee:

Hogyun Kang:

Upon seeing Kang’s cards, Wee shakes his head in disappointment as only his jack is live. His outs don’t materialize on the board to fall two spots from the money.

Level 18 is underway with blinds of 25K-50K ante 50K. Only 11 players remain from a field of 60 entries. ITM begins at the final 9 players with each one guaranteed a piece of the TWD 6,220,800 prize pool.

Darren Wee open shoves his last 405,000 on the button and Kristof Segers makes the call. When they turn them over, Wee has the superior kicker with against  . The jack-high board keeps him ahead to rake in a double up.

Chia Yun Wu raises 425,000 leaving himself just 10,000 behind. Not realizing that Wu isn’t all in yet, Kristof Segers puts the chips in and flips open his hand . Wu says “no all in” and Segers flips back his cards face down.

Both players check the flop and when it reaches the turn , Segers has a pair  . They proceed to check it all the way through then Wu mucks and is down to half a small blind..

Shortly after, Wu is eliminated but not before scoring a triple up to just under two big blinds.

John Costiniano continues to deny Teeraphat Rangkatekarn with another big pot going his way. By the turn board , up for grabs is around 600,000 with Costiniano making a bid for 360,000. Teeraphat tanks then folds again.

Seunghyuk Jung opens 400,000 and is forced all in for his last 5,000 by Kang Ki Seok who three-bet jams with a covering stack.

Seugnhyuk Jung:

Kang Ki Seok: 

Jung needs to fade the overcards but doesn’t need to with the flop coming down a beauty quads to secure him the double up. The turn is and river .

Chia Yun Wu is down to 405,000 when he is all in holding   that finds one caller in Yu-Chung Chang who has . As soon as the full board tables , Wu roars in celebration.

Level 18 is underway with blinds of 20K-40K ante 40K. Only 12 players remain out of a field of 60 entries. ITM begins at the final 9 players which will earn a piece of the TWD 6,220,800 prize pool.

Yu-Chung Chang opens on the button then calls for his tournament life after small blind Hon Cheong Lee jams.

Yu-Chung Chang:

Hon Cheong Lee:

Chang is looking prime for a double up and with the board cooperating , he happily scoops up the reload.

With a pot of around 630,000 by the time the board completes , chip leader John Costiniano fires 420,000 sending Teeraphat Rangkatekarn deep in the tank. After using up a time extension, Teeraphat can’t find the call and tosses his hand to the muck.

After plunging to six big blinds, Kristof Segers shoves three consecutive times to steal the blinds and ante on the first two then finds a caller in Hon Cheong Lee.

Kristof Segers:

Hon Cheong Lee:

The flop gives a slight scare with a gutshot to Lee but no more as the rest come  turn   river for Segers to double up.

Yu-Chung Chang opens then quickly gets out of the way following the heavy action with Hon Cheong Lee all in for 705,000 and Kristof Segers joining in with 895,000.

Hon Cheong Lee:

Kristoff Segers:

The board runs clean for Lee to drag in a full reload.

Kristof Segers open shoves holding and is in trouble against caller Yu-Chung Chang with  .

Seems his luck bank has is full as the flop runs and with the runout  , Segers survives and apologizes for the bad beat.

Level 17 is underway with blinds of 15K-30K ante 30K with 12 players remaining. ITM begins at the final 9 players each one guaranteed a piece of the TWD 6,200,800 prize pool.

Chihwei Fan

Following a raise from the button Nirunrut Rachburom, small blind Chih Wei Fan jams and gets a call from big blind Hogyun Kang. Rachburom assesses the situation then opts to get out of the way.

Seungmook Jung

Shortly after railing Methavee Taveekitvatee, Seungmook Jung enters three consecutive hands that ends his day six spots from the money. The first hand is a double up through Rangka Teeraphat who calls Jung’s three-bet shove of 550,000.

Seungmook Jung:

Rangka Teeraphat:

Flipping for his tournament life, the flop nearly ensures Jung the win with a set and with the turn  , he doubles up. The river is a meaningless .

Following that hand, Jung three-bets all in and initial raiser Dae Gyu Hwang calls for his tournament life.

Seungmook Jung:

Dae Gyu Hwan:

Jung is ahead with a superior kicker and with no bad beats on the board , he cleans up as Hwang packs up.

On the next hand, Jung is all in preflop again for 995,000, Do Hyeok Kim three-bets all in. Jung snaps and sees the bad news.

Seungmook Jung:

Do Hyeok Kim:

Kim’s aces hold throughout the board to send Jung plunging to just 20,000 (1 big blind).

Jung manages to quadruple up to 105,000 then loses it immediately after.

Methavee Taveekitvatee has been sitting on a short stack and gets it all in with   then goes on to fall to Seungmook Jung’s on an ace-high board.

Out of the cutoff seat, Dae Gyu Hwang min-raises, next door neighbor Teeraphat Rangkatekarn three-bets to 120,000, back on Hwang, he four-bets to 325,000, and Teeraphat flats to tame the action.

At the flop of , both players check then betting resumes on the turn  with a 200,000 delayed c-bet from Hwang. Teeraphat calls nd the river comes . Both players go back to checking.

Hwang has ace-high, Teeraphat takes it down with which gets a shock from his tablemates.

Teeraphat Rangkatekarnlimps in on the small blind and gets to play the flop cheap with big blind John Costiniano checking. The flop of brings light action with Teeraphat’s 40,00 bet called.

Teeraphat checks the turn and Costiniano continues to mimic to bring the river .

Teerapahat checks once more, Costiniano bets 110,000, Teeraphat answers with a raise to 250,000, and Costiniano calls. \

Teeraphat has for top pair, Costiniano has  two pair to clam the pot.

Action folds to button Nirunrut Rachburom, she opens for 50,000 and is denied the steal with big blind Hogyun Kang defending. Rachburom tries again at the flop , but still Kang sticks to her with a check-call to head to the turn .

Rachburom tries again with another 50,00 bet and still, Kang denies her and check-calls to bring the river .  With three failed attempts, Rachburom checks back instead then mucks to Kang’s top pair.

Level 16 is underway with blinds of 10K-25K ante 25K. Only 16 players remaining on the hunt out of a field of 60 entries. The final 9 players are guaranteed a piece of the TWD 6,220,800 prize pool.

Following a raise from cutoff Nirunrut Rachburom that’s called by button Chih Wei Fan, big blind Yu-Chung Chang defends with a three-bet to 135,000. Rachburom tank-folds while Fan gives him some action.

They go to a flop of where Chang continues for 125,000, Fan tanks then thinks best to lay it down.

Table 27

Table 28

It’s not looking good for Dennis Kim who is all with only to see big stacked Rangka Teeraphat flip over  .

No help comes of any kind on the board and Kim packs up and Teeraphat continues to rebuild.

Level 15 is underway with blinds of 10K-20K ante 20K. Only 18 players remain from a total field of 60 runners. ITM starts at the final 9 players.

Under the gun player min-raises and to his immediate left, Do Hyeok Kim three-bets 75,000. After action folds around back to utg, he calls to take the bout to the flop.

After the dealer fans , Kim continues the aggression for 55,000 and it’s called again for the turn .  No bets land with Kim checking back. The river  sees action resume with a 30,000 lead out bet that Kim calls.

Under the gun shows , Kim wins it with   .

Hogyun Kang

In a battle of the blinds and a big pot already brewed by the time turn comes , small blind Hogyun Kang jams   and Seunghyuk Jung snaps showing . With Kang hunting down hearts and all the eights in the deck, one of them arrives on the river in the form of the to give him the flush and a double up.

Fabian Rolli

Fabian Rolli doubles through with further improving on the board to get past Chih Wei Fan’s   . The board is  .

On a board of and a pot that bloats to 385,000, Seungmook Jung jams and takes it down as Hogyun Kang folds.

After moving to a new table, Rangka Teeraphat has a bit of trouble, losing a large chunk to John Costiniano who is now the new chip leader. However, Teeraphat has recovered some of the drop by knocking out Wang Chihyuan.

Chihyuan opens from under the gun with , action folds around to the big blind Teeraphat who jams , and Wang calls with a covering stack.

The flop brings a scare to Teeraphat who is now behind , then a dramatic  on the turn gives Teeraphat back the lead and sealed with a victory with the river for broadway.

Wang is down to five big blinds and proceeds to lose it to Teeraphat as well.

With a hefty 225,000 pot in the middle and board at its limit , Do Hyeok Kim has 320,000 out front that sends Seungmook Jung into the think tank. He emerges with a fold to award the big stacked Kim more chips.

The numbers are in! The Superstar Challenge was one hot ticket with the prize pool doubling up past the guarantee to settle at a richer TWD 6,220,000. The players are now on the hunt to reach for the glory and the top prize of TWD 2,160,000. ITM begins at the final 9 players.

Dae Gyu Hwang has a dominating kicker   to oust one player when the board bricks. He now joins the upper ranks with 900,000 in chips.

Level 14 is underway with blinds of 8K-16K ante 16K. Only 23 players remain from a total field of 60 entries. ITM begins at the final 9 players.

Two days ago, Parit Ovadhana was all smiles after taking down the HOPS Sunday Superstack. A second victory will not be, at least not in this event, having busted to Hogyun Kang.

Parit Ovadhana:

Hogyun Kang;

The board runs out   .

Kang ships it and rises to 450,000.

Within the first ten minutes of the level, eight players have already gone bust. One of the casualties is courtesy of the day’s entering chip leader Rangk Teeraphat who is been on attack mode. According to tablemate Seungmook Jung, Teeraphat is running very hot as proven by his massive stack.

Catching his latest takedown, his paired on the board to outdraw . He now sits with 1,700,000 in chips.

After two levels with registration open, the Superstar Challenge closes with 60 entries. Stay tuned for the official prize pool and payouts. From here on, the agenda is to play on until a champion is crowned. Good luck to all!