HomeThe APT Macau 2017 had a slow start for its opening day with only 49 players signed up to the first flight of the Opening Event HKD 300K Guaranteed. However, by the end of the second flight’s late registration, another 90 players were added to the tally bringing the total numbers to 139 entries. This produced a small overlay to ensure the advertised prize pool.
Flight A and Overall Chip Leader, Ryota Hisayama
The opening heat started off with a majority of players fairly new to the APT. Later in the day, recognizable faces made their way to the felt such as Tetsuya Tsuchikawa, Aso Seitaro, and Alex Lee, all of them finishing the day with chips to bag. For Japanese player Ryota Hisayama, he claimed the role of chip leader with a stack of 135,600 followed by Hong Kong’s Sam Pak Shing Wu with 118,200. There were 12 players who survived this flight.
Flight B Chip Leader, Kwok Luen Hei
The final flight saw double the number of survivors with 24 remaining at the end of regulation play. Hong Kong’s Kwok Luen Hei topped the heat with 131,500 in chips. Kwok will enter Day 2 running second in command to Hisayama. Making a late run for chips was Tian Xiao Chen (Andy) who tanked a player on the final hand of the night to win a substantial pot and bag 107,900 for a second position finish in the heat.
The Opening Event will resume at 1pm on Thursday June 15th for the race to the first trophy of the series and the first place purse of HKD 74,300. Only 18 places will see the money which means half the field will leave without a profit.
Side Events on Thursday June 15th
Tomorrow, while the Opening Event resumes, also filling up the poker floor are two side events. The first one is the Warm Up event with a HKD 7,700 entry fee. This event offers the same structure as the upcoming Main Event however the blinds increase a little faster, at 30 minutes per round. Starting stack is 50,000 with opening blinds at 100-200. Cards will be in the air at 2pm.
At 6pm, the Ante Up for Charity event joins the battlefield with players chipping in for the benefit of the Holy House of Mercy Macau. This organization focuses on social service assistance to those in need, especially for both the children and the elderly. A third of every buy-in will be donated to the organization while the rest will be pooled into a prize pool for the event. Buy-in is HKD 1,500.
If you are looking to get in the Main Event at a much lower cost, there will be a Main Event Mega Satellite at 5pm. Buy-in is HKD2,200. Players who win seats via this satellite will be confirmed to play on Day 1A which takes place on Saturday June 17th.
Full APT Macau 2017 schedule here.