HomeDay 2 of the CHAMPIONSHIPS EVENT ended with Singapore’s Ajitpal Singh sitting with a towering stack of 915,000. That’s 114 times tomorrow’s opening 8k big blind. Singh won a multitude of big pots today. One was a set over a bluff. Then late in the day, he seized an even bigger one off SJ Kim. There was no showdown but Kim did show his big set of jacks fold. You can read up on the hands in our Live Updates.
Ajitpal Singh
One of the day’s entering top 5 leaders was Korea’s Lim Yohwan aka Boxer. Boxer is a well-known ex-gamer turned poker pro. In his short poker career, he already has an APT Championships Event title won last year. He is well on his way to another one with his second-ranked stack of 856,000. Boxer had some thrilling hands including a double knockout on the last level of the day with pocket tens turned set over two A-Q hands.
Lim Yohwan aka Boxer
Closing Day 2 in third rank was USA’s Stephen Schumacher with 845,000 in chips. Schumacher was another mover and shaker at the tables. He entered the day as the overall leader from the starting heats, held the lead for a majority of the day until Singh surged far ahead. Schumacher railroaded numerous players and tanked Tung Nguyen out of a big pot with pocket twos.
Stephen Schumacher
In addition to the leaders are a few players decorated with an APT major title: SJ Kim (378,000), Tetsuya Tsuchikawa (149,000), Huu Dung Nguyen (105,000), and Linh Tran (337,000). Other notables advancing to Day 3 were: GPI 2018 Player of the Year Thailand – Phachara Wongwichit, Norbert Koh, Le Ngoc Khanh, Quang Nguyen, and Kunal Patni.
The final 34 players will return on Saturday, January 19 for Day 3. They will race to the money of 25 places then to a Final 8 seat. Average stack is 364,235 with 12,384,000 total chips in play. Blinds open at Level 17: 4000-8000 ante 8000. Cards in the air at 1pm.
The APT Kickoff 2019 Vietnam has been running since January 9 at Pro Poker Club and will conclude on January 20. The Championships Event drew 222 entries on the combined starting days and an additional 26 in Day 2 for a total of 248 entries. With each entry at VND 38,500,000, the 6BN guarantee was easily exceeded, settling at a a richer VND 8,419, 600,000 (~USD 363,000). Only 25 players will get paid with the eventual winner pocketing a very healthy VND 2,040,542,000 (~USD 88,000). Follow the action via our Live Updates.
