Hong Kong poker pro Alan Lau has completed an astonishing double by winning the prestigious Asia Championship of Poker (ACOP) Main Event in Macau on Sunday – just eight months after taking down the Macau Poker Cup “Red Dragon.”
Lau is the first player ever to win both titles and the fact that he accomplished the feat in the same year makes his performance all the more remarkable. His victory over a strong ACOP field of 308 players also saw him break multiple records in winning the 2017 Asia Player of the Year race including most points earned and most trophies won in a single season.
Lau’s incredible year included another major victory at the PokerStars LIVE Manila Super Series 4 Main Event for Php1,166,000 (US$22,843), becoming the first player to accrue more than 10,000 Player of the Year points in a single season.
“To say that I have been super lucky is not false modesty,” he said. “To be able to win three big-field main events in one calendar year is simply unreal.”
“I’ve put a lot of hard work into poker over the last few years and I really enjoyed the process involved with making it to this point in my professional career.”
Lau earned HK$5,600,500 for his ACOP triumph, pushing his total tournament winnings for 2017 over HK$10 million (US$1.28 million).