HomeFrom 377 entries down to the Final 8 players! The APT Macau Championships 2018 saw 59 players return to Macau Billionaire Poker for Day 3 of the Main Event race. After 8.5 hours of play, the Final 8 was established.
All of the Final 8 contenders will be hunting down their first APT Main Event title. Up for grabs is the HKD 587,000 first place purse, the APT Championship Trophy, and the exclusive APT Championship Ring. Whoever wins it will be pocketing his largest-ever live tournament payout.
Main Event: Final 8
Positioned at the top of the chip rung is Russia’s Evgeny Kurilenko. Kurilenko is a newcomer to the APT circuit but is by no means a newbie to the game.
Evgeny Kurilenko, Final 8 chip leader
Kurilenko was one of the top 10 players entering Day 3 traveling only in one direction, upwards. When the field downsized to two tables, he catapulted to the top by eliminating Yoichi Uesugi and Sony Liang Liang simultaneously. Both players were all in holding A-Q that didn’t improve against his K♠ K♥. This was the biggest pot shipped in Day 3. Kurilenko comes in with a towering 2,421,000 stack.
Hele Liu
One of the more aggressive players of the Final 8 is China’s Hele Liu. Entering Day 2, Liu was hidden somewhere in the mix of the 182 qualifiers but by mid-day he was one of the leaders. By bagging time, he hailed high above in third rank. At Day 3, Liu continued to dominate the felt with his big stack, capitalizing especially at short-handed with 12 remaining. He is situated in second position with his 2,086,000 stack.
Sai Ho Philip Chiu
Hong Kong’s Sai Ho Philip Chiu is ranked third-in-chips with 1,244,000. He was the executioner of several players in Day 3 including Phachara Wongwichit whom he railed in 10th place. Wongwichit four-bet shoved with A-Q only to fall flat to Chiu’s A♥ K♥. That elimination drove Chiu’s stack to the million range which he maintained to secure a Final 8 berth.
Hung Sheng Lin
Out of all the players in the Final 8, Taiwan’s Hung Sheng Lin has the most APT experience. He has been frequenting the APT since 2016 and is a decorated APT 2016 Regional Player of the Year champion.Last year he finished 8th at the APT Macau Championships Event.
At Day 3, Lin shipped in a huge double up in a set over set win against Lim Min Soon. Lin had A♣ A♥, Lim with 5♠ 5♥, and a board of 5♦ A♠ 3♦ 6♥ 8♦ with the shoves happening at the flop.
To close Day 3, Lin denied Germany’s Piet Pape a spot in the Final 8, knocking him out in 9th place with 6♦ 6♠ over 8♠ 7♦. Lin comes in right smack in the middle of the lineup with 1,040,000, just slightly below average stack.
Toshimitsu Kamei
The bottom half of the chip rung is led by Japan’s Toshimitsu Kamei. Another newcomer to the APT tour, Kamei flew under the radar at the start of Day 3 with his stack wedged within the chasing pack. All of that changed when he railed several players late in the day, namely Michael Ermie (18th) and Suzuki Takuya (12th) to earn his Final 8 seat. He enters with 925,000.
Wang Jun
China’s Jun Wang has already broken a personal record at the series. By securing a Final 8 berth, he has well-surpassed his deepest APT Main Event run of 15th place earned back in 2013 at APT Jeju. In Day 3, Wang railed one of Asia’s top pros, Raiden Kan, very early in the tournament to amass a healthy stack for the rest of the day. He is ranked 6th in chips with 737,000.
Hiroshi Matsumoto
Despite a below average stack for most of Day 3, Japan’s Hiroshi Matsumoto held on to earn his seat. During the bubble round to the Final 8, Matsumoto claimed a double up through the last Final 8 qualifier, China’s Wang Meng. who attempted to steal the blinds but failed. Meng shoved with 2♥ 8♦ from the small blind and ran smack into big blind Matsumoto’s Q♣ Q♥. Matsumoto enters the Final 8 round with 534,000. He is not a newcomer to the APT however he is looking for his first Main Event title having run very deep in a couple of other major events in Asia.
Wang Meng
Completing the Final 8 is Meng. Meng started Day 3 as the chip leader but swung wildly prior to the Final 8. One of his shining moments was delivering a double knockout. With his 10♣ 10♥, he railed Tetsuya Tsuchikawa A♦ 8♦ in 27th and Benedict Koh A♥ K♥ in 26th. Meng enters with 438,000.
Read up on all thrilling Day 2 and Day 3 action along with the players that pocketed some cash right here.
The Final 8 will take place on Wednesday, May 2 starting at 130pm. One of these fine players will be crowned the newest APT Main Event Champion. Action resumes at Level 25 with blinds at 12K -24K ante 4K. Average stack is 1,178,125. There are 9,425,000 total chips in play.
We will have live updates running from start to finish so you can track all the action.
Xin Chen wins the No Limit Hold’em event
The No Limit Hold’em event drew in 84 entries for a sizable prize pool of HKD 325,900. The event took two days to wrap up with China’s Xin Chen awarded the title after an ICM deal with 2nd placer Tim Shum Kwok. Chen earned HKD 77,400. Also cashing in was Japan’s Daichi Tatsumi, the festival’s Welcome Event champion. He finished in 5th place.
Wednesday, May 2: EVENTS
In addition to the grand finale of the Main Event, we have several events taking place. The second featured tournament, the Championships Event, sets off at 1pm. This is one of the APT most prestigious events equipped with the best structure this side of the world. Buy-in is HKD 22,000.
All You Need to Know on the Championships Event
14:00: Event 10 – No Limit Hold’em 2
We have one side event for players to jump into, the No Limit Hold’em 2. The first edition of this event turned up over 80 entries so we expect this one to drag in more players for some mid-week poker enjoyment. Buy-in is HKD 3,300.
18:00: Last Chance “1 in 5” Championships Event Mega Satellite
The Championships Event can cost a pretty penny to some players so we’ve offered satellites leading up to the event. The last one takes place at 6pm. Buy-in is HKD 4,800. One seat worth HKD 22,000 will be awarded per 5 players.
Full APT Macau Championships 2018 schedule
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