HomeWe’ve got a huge day ahead of us with a few big events taking place here at the APT Finale Macau Championships 2017 at Macau Billionaire Poker in Babylon Casino. For starters, we will be crowning a new APT Main Event champion today!
The eventual winner will ship in the lion’s share HKD 385,100 first place purse out of the HKD 1,507,200 prize pool. The champion will also be awarded the last APT Championship Ring of the 2017 season, the APT Championship Trophy, and an exclusive Meister Watch.
APT Finale Macau Championships Main Event Final Eight
Here are the Final 8 contenders according to chip sizes:
Jack En-Ching Wu – Chinese Taipei – 940k
Shyh Chyn Lim – Malaysia – 687k
Kai Paulsen – Norway – 549k
Michael Soyza – Malaysia – 495k
Austin Walton – USA – 463k
Varun Gupta – India – 331k
Anson Wong Fuk On – Hong Kong – 247k
Luen Hei Kwok – Hong Kong – 224k
In mileage, only the top half of the roster have gone deep in previous APT Main Events however all are Final 8 virgins making this the closest they’ve gotten to the coveted title. For the leader Wu, he placed 13th back in August 2016; APT regular Paulsen went even deeper with a 12th place finish in August 2010; and second-ranked Lim went the furthest taking 9th place at APT Manila 2017 last month. The most decorated player in the list is undoubtedly Soyza – ranked 4th in Malaysia. He too has an APT Main Event deep showing. He finished 14th here in Macau back in June.
For the other four players in the Final 8, only Kwok has cashed at an APT event while the rest are looking to ship in the big one for their first APT payout. We will have live updates for you throughout so you can keep tabs on all the action as it unfolds.
The Final 8 will begin at 130pm. Players will continue from yesterday’s time with 11 minutes remaining in Level 21. Blinds are at 5,000-10,000 ante 1,000.
APT Championships Event – Day 1A at 1pm
While the Main Event is on its final dash to the title, the APT Championships Event will be taking flight. Day 1A begins at 1pm and we do advise everyone to sign up early to avail of the Bubble Protection.
The APT Championships Event is the second featured tournament of the finale. It is a deep structured No Limit Hold’em tournament with levels increasing every 60 minutes. The event is scheduled for a five-day stint with two starting days, Day 2, Day 3, and the Final 8. Buy-in is HKD 22,000.
APT Championships Event details
Starting stack: 50,000
Opening blinds: 100 – 200
Level intervals: 60 minutes
Late registration / re-entrty: closes at the start of round 7
Day 1A: Wednesday, December 6 – play 8 levels
Day 1B: Thursday, December 7 – play 8 levels
Day 2: Friday, December 8 – play 8 levels
Day 3: Saturday, December 9 – play to the Final 8
Final 8: Sunday, December 10 – race to the title
Bubble protection
For those new to the APT’s Bubble Protection, this is definitely one incentive worth having in your back pocket just in case of that inevitable bubble bursting with you as the unfortunate recipient. If an insured player busts in the bubble then that player will be awarded a consolation prize of one free seat to the next APT Championships Event of the same value or receive the equivalent in APT credits.
Just to give you an idea of how valuable this protection can be, Yoshitaka Okawa fell as the bubble in the Main Event but since he availed of the protection he walked away with APT credits that he immediately used towards the High Rollers event.
To avail of the Bubble Protection, all you need to do is complete these three easy steps:
1. Pre-register
2. Draw for your seat before starting time
3. Have your chips put into play on the first deal of round number 1
One important reminder, players that have qualified for the protection on Day 1A will only maintain that status on that day. In the event that you bust out and re-enter on Day 1B, you are no longer eligible. You will have to repeat the steps above in order to qualify. Same applies to players going for multiple stacks. Bubble protection only applies on the starting day you completed the qualification steps.
High Rollers Final Day
The High Rollers event attracted 31 players to the tables each one forking out the HKD 43,000 entry fee. This generated a HKD 1,202,800 prize pool with five places due to earn a share. The largest piece of HKD 481,800 will of course go to the champion.
Last night, the High Rollers event bagged up with 16 players remaining. They will return at 3pm today for the Final Day. The top three leaders are China’s Guo Dong with 200,000, Japan’s Ken Okada with 138,300, and Qi Xuming with 116,400.
Today’s Events
In addition to all of these events heating up the floor, the No Limit Hold’em 2 tournament will join in at 2pm, buy-in is HKD 3,300. At 6pm, we will have the Last Chance “1 in 5” Mega Satellite to the APT Championships Event. Buy-in is HKD 4,400 with one seat awarded per 5 players.
See the schedule for all the details.