HomeThe APT Korea Incheon 2017 ended another round of Main Event action as Day 3 closed with the Final 8 players established and USA’s Albert Paik at the helm once again. Paik bagged up 1,971,000 in chips.
Main Event Final 8 Chip Leader, Albert Daik
Day 3 got underway with the final 27 players out of the 185 total entries back on the beat. With each one now guaranteed a return, it was time to ladder up and secure one of those Final 8 berths.
Starting the day with the largest stack was Paik though he was fairly quiet in the early rounds. His first big pot only turned up just before the unofficial final table of ten players. Paik edged Andy Li Xueyan with a higher full house to send his stack surging way over a million. To earn the leader’s seat, he eliminated Shigeho Yoshioka in 9th place, marking the end of Day 3.
Final Table action
While Paik may be the man on top, it was USA’s Jinwoo Kim who first crossed into the seven-digit range. After the first two casualties of the day, Shunsuke Tsuji in 27th and Kwok Luen Kwan in 26th, Kim eliminated past APT Main Event champion Hisashi Ogi in 25th place. From then on, he never dipped below that range. If there was anyone who truly dominated the felt, it was Kim. Not only did he rail four players in total, he challenged players with his massive stack and sent many of them deep into the tank several times. Kim closed Day 3 second in command with 1,619,000 in chips.
The only other player in the million range was Japan’s Kitauchi Yoshihiro. Yoshihiro delivered the first bust out of the day however his presence was clearly felt after winning three successive pots that in turn sent Yuki Ko, one of the day’s entering chip leaders, out of the running. Yoshihiro bagged up a stack very close to Kim’s for a total of 1,611,000.
Finishing at the bottom of the upper rung was Xueyan with 970,000 in chips. Xueyan performed just as consistently as in Day 2, and even crossed over a million chips after railing Takato Ariake in 13th place. Early in the day, Xueyan delivered Masato Shinizu a big boot out in 19th place with his full house over nut flush.
While the bottom half of the Final 8 earned their spot just as deservedly, it was the reigning APT Player of the Year champion, Iori Yogo, who had the toughest climb. Yogo entered Day 3 at the bottom of the chip rung and needed to boost his stack five times over just to reach average stack. One of the wildest moments of the day must be accredited to Yogo who eliminated Shimooka Yuichiro in a roaring full house over full house hand. Yogo bagged up 914,000 in chips, slightly below average stack.
One of Day 3’s entering chip leaders, Taehoon Han is not in the running for the championship title anymore. Han was unable to match his previous day’s performance, spiraling downwards instead. He met his end in 14th place at the hands of Kazuto Sato who caught a lucky nut flush against Han’s set. Speaking of Sato, he closed his day securing one of the Final 8 seats with 788,000 in chips.
Other notables that exited before the final table were Japan’s Yoichi Uesugi, the second ranked APT POY 2017 runner, and Thailand’s Paphawin Laodee. Uesugi exited in 15th place while Laodee dropped out two spots deeper in 13th place.
The Main Event will resume with the Final 8 back on the felt at 130pm on Saturday, August 19th. They will all be racing for the first championship title of the APT Korea Incheon 2017, the exclusive APT Championship Ring, and the KRW 44,860,000 first place purse.
Here are the chip counts of the Final 8 players:
Albert Paik – USA – 1,971,000
Jinwoo Kim – USA – 1,619,000
Kitauchi Yoshihiro – Japan – 1,611,000
Andy Li Xueyan – Singapore – 970,000
Iori Yogo – Japan – 914,000
Kazuto Sato – Japan – 788,000
Kimihura Nakamura – Japan – 762,000
Yuichi Sumida – Japan – 616,000
APT Korea Main Event Final Eight
We will be reporting all the action of the Final 8 in the Live Updates section along with all the payouts. You can also relive all the action of Day 2 and Day 3 in that section.