Japanese wins 5th Baccarat Challenge

 TINIAN-Kimio Ando of Japan won over a field of 127 players to win the top prize and $80,000 after the conclusion of Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino’s 5th Baccarat Challenge held over the weekend.

Other winners included runner-up Kensaku Higashi, third place finisher Go Seino, and fourth place’s Seong Gil Kang, also all of Japan.

Higashi, Seino and Kang each won, $25,000, $12,000, and $4,000, respectively, while the remaining finalists were all awarded $1,000, which helped cover their entrance fees.

Notably fourth place finisher, Jin Hee Park, led the finals for the majority of the match, but was out-duked in the pivotal last two hands.

With a stack of 10,700 in chips, Park led Seino by 1,000 checks heading into the second- to-last hand.

Everyone except for Ando and Higashi bet on the player during the hand, however the banker won with a natural 9-to-1 draw by the player.

As a result, Ando moved into first place with 12,900 in chips thanks to a healthy 3,500 secret bid on the bank; Kensaku (10,100) also appreciated his stack by 2,300 and moved into the third chair.

With the lead, Park played conservatively through the home stretch. She came away from the fall in good shape, trailing Kimio only by 2,400 in chips with just one hand to go, however, assuming she was a lock for a cash sum finish, Park kept to her game plan in the finale as the others swung for the fences.

At this time, Kang was positioned in seventh place out of the eight remaining players.

Everyone placed secret bets, where in the end, the banker won the last hand, 4 to 1. Watari Junichi Nakano and Masao Momoi were the only ones who bet on the player and both shoved away their piles for a last-ditch effort for glory.

Ando bet 10,600 on the bank and reaped his reward for the aggressive high-risk play; Higashi followed suit with an even 10,000 wager and graciously accepted second prize.

Meanwhile, Seino similarly doubled-up in clutch for a strong third place finish and Seong Gil came out of nowhere and stole the fourth spot from Park when the dust cleared.

The event used an eight-deck shoe per 12-player table format and buy-in values were set at a minimum of 100 chips with no maximum, however each round was set at 40 hands.

Saturday’s elimination rounds consisted of two heats made of 11 tables.

After Day 1 of the event the field dwindled down to 55 players, thus Sunday’s semifinals featured five tables that sat 11 competitors apiece.

From there, finalists were issued a starting bank of 10,000 in chips for the main event; all other rounds started players with a bank of 5,000.

Later this year, TDHC’s 2nd Black Jack Challenge is scheduled from Dec. 10 to 11.