KKPoker ambassador David Dongwoo Ko is a 24-year-old professional poker player traveling the world competing in high-stakes live poker tournaments.
Having recently experienced his first full poker summer in Las Vegas and then competing in the WSOP International Circuit, Calgary, Canada, where he cashed four times in 10 days, David had some hard-earned rest and traveled to his home nation of South Korea to visit friends.
Being a traveling poker professional takes dedication, but as David mentioned in his Vegas diary, having time to relax, unwind, and remain healthy is vital.
Fully refreshed, David had plans to attend another of his bucket-list live poker tournaments, the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona.
Could David continue his momentum and once again put his name on the list of the best upcoming poker talents in the world? Read David's diary now to find out!
SUN, SEA & SUCCESS?!
Hey guys, David Ko here, back with another post-event diary, this time from my first-ever trip to an EPT.
I went to EPT Barcelona because I heard really good things about it. The first event I played was the €5300 Main Event!
Ultimately, i fired the maximum two bullets and did not cash, not a good result, which was a shame. The Main Event created a prize pool of over €9.5M, and the winner, Stephen Song, won a huge €1.2M! Stephen is not only an incredible poker player but also an amazing person to be around. Well deserved, I couldn't be happier for him!
As for me, I decided to hop into the €5200 8-Max Mixed Game, which i really, really love. These days, I love mixed games; they are really good fun, and this time, it was a very small field of only 18 players. Only the top 4 players got paid, with a €37,550 top prize. I got to battle with players like Benny Glaser and Canada's Mike Watson, both of whom are legends in the mixed game field and just in general, with their poker knowledge.
So, I got into the final four. Vladimir Troyanovskiy and Benny were eliminated, and I ended up winning against Mike heads-up!
I was really glad to even be able to compete with them and to end up taking a win is just such an honor. I think winning the Mixed Game was actually very special, especially coming in this small very tough field. I'm relatively new to this game, so it really boosted my confidence. I'm really, really hooked on mixed games, and you will see me more at these events, for sure.
Mixed Game Madness Memory
In the Mixed Game heads-up match with Mike Watson. Once again, he is an absolute legend, and for me, my worst game out of the eight games was 2-7 Triple Draw, but I ended up beating him in that game.
I coolered him twice in really big pots, and that's what got me the title, and I feel very, very lucky about it.
I think I was playing very well at the limit games and stud games, but I definitely need to work on more on Triple Draw. You know, draw games are very, very difficult, I found out.
Draw Games are drastically different from the board games or flop games. As I play mostly the flop games (Hold'em & Omaha), draw games were way more difficult to learn than the rest of the games.
Another Title?
After the win, I cashed in two more events, the €2,425 + 275 No Limit Hold'em - EPT Second Chance in 18th place for €12,750, and the €3000 No Limit Hold'em - EPT Mystery Bounty, taking 28th place for €15,900 including my bounty wins.
I also explored, as Barcelona is a beautiful city. They have great food, and nice views, especially as the casino is right beside the beach with really good restaurants around it too.
On the final day, I decided to play the €9,700 + 500 High Roller No Limit Hold'em tournament. There were quite a few tournaments like this buy-in, but on the final day the field was a little bit smaller, getting 48 entries and a €465,600 prize pool.
The top 7 got paid, and I made it there!
I managed to finish in 2nd place for €100,100!
Although I have to say, in the heads-up match, I made some crucial mistakes. I played some passive hands, which I'm not really proud of, so I am going to have to work on my heads-up more. In fact, I bought a new heads-up training course the very next day. I will never lose a heads-up like this again!
But the €100K score, six figures, it is amazing, so no complaints, and I am still proud of this!"
BARCELONA TOP TIP
As I mentioned, Barcelona is beautiful, and the casino is literally next to the beach. My top tip and the best thing is to take your time for a 75-minute dinner break, walk around, or drive with the extra time, visit a nice restaurant, and relax during the break. So plan it well, get a nice dinner, and then play again. Good, right?!
MY UPCOMING POKER PLAN
Alright, so after EPT Barcelona, I'm gonna go back home to Canada for a few days, and then i have the WSOPE in Rozvadov. I'll be there for a few events.
After that, I'll be in Montreal for the WPT Montreal Playground again, where I won my first WPT Main Event earlier this year. Let's see if we can defend the title and go back-to-back!
And don't forget, KKLIVE MONTREAL is coming up soon! Play Online Day 1 at KKPoker, and join me and the KKPoker Team in Montreal for fun on Day 2!
WIN LIVE EVENT TICKETS AT KKPOKER
KKPoker offers live poker tournament satellites to events around the world! We've had players from South America travel to Japan and players from Japan travel to Europe courtesy of winning a package at KKPoker.
View our live event partnerships here and learn about the KKLIVE tour.
Head to the KKPoker app now to explore the satellites, and you can win live poker prizes just like David!
