HomeThe APT Taiwan 2021 – MAIN EVENT – is down to the Final 8 players! Sometime today, March 3, the newest APT champion will be crowned. You can catch the action live at the CTP Club Taipei (Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Association) or you can follow the game via the live stream (30 minute delay) on APT Twitch at 2pm. Cards in the air at 130pm.
Seat 1: Po Cheng Yang – Taiwan – 1,372,000 – 85 BB – chip leader*
Seat 2: Chen Yi Liu – Taiwan – 238,000 – 14 BB
Seat 3: Kitty Kuo – Taiwan – 352,000 – 22 BB
Seat 4: Yu Sheng Lin – Taiwan – 531,000 – 33 BB
Seat 5: Chi Ying Tsai – Taiwan – 519,000 – 32 BB
Seat 6: Kun Yu Chiang – Taiwan – 974,000 – 60 BB
Seat 7: Zhi Hao Huang – Taiwan – 380,000 – 23 BB
Seat 8: Kar Wee Chee – Malaysia – 532,000 – 33 BB
Opening blinds: 8,000 – 16,000 – 16,000 ante bb
Chips in play: 4,900,000
Average stack: 612,500
With no past APT Main Event champions in the lineup, we will be crowning a first time winner. The victor will take home the APT Champion’s Ring, APT Golden Lion Main Event Trophy, and a cool NT$ 724,200 (~US$ 25,980). Remaining payouts are listed below.
Final Table prizes
1st NT$ 724,200
2nd NT$ 482,200
3rd NT$ 335,600
4th NT$ 242,400
5th NT$ 181,300
6th NT$ 139,900
7th NT$ 111,100
8th NT$ 90,500
The Final 8 comprises of five men and three women. Seven are from Taiwan and one from Malaysia. Five of the finalists are seeking their first ever APT win. Leading them in is Po Cheng Yang with 1,372,000 in chips.
Chip leader: Po Cheng Yang
Yang was the only player who bagged up over a million at Day 3. He has been solid throughout, first qualifying via Day 1A, ended Day 2 ranked 8th, then topped the counts at the end of Day 3. Yang has cashed at numerous APT events including a 9th place finish at the APT Taiwan 2019 Main Event.
Bringing in the second largest stack is Kun Yu Chiang with a sizeable 974,000 in chips. Given that Chiang only has one small cash to his name, he is a dark horse – with a big stack – at the table. Wherever finishes, he will have claimed his first ever APT cash and largest tournament score.
Kun Yu Chiang
In third rank with 532,000 in chips is Malaysia’s Kar Wee Chee, the only non-Taiwanese player in the lineup. Chee earned his first ever APT cash at the High Rollers event a few days prior and is already guaranteed to pocket a much larger payout no matter where he finishes.
Kar Wee Chee
Wedged in the middle is Yu Sheng Lin with 531,000 in chips. Lin delivered the bubble by knocking out Ting Nan Kuo. Among his few APT achievements is a 12th place Main Event finish at APT Kickoff Vietnam 2019. He is also looking to score his first ever APT win.
Yu Sheng Lin
Commanding the lower half of the Final 8 is Chi Ying Tsai with 519,000 in chips. Tsai doesn’t have that many live tournament cashes however she has cashed at two APT Main Events. Her deepest series result was at APT Finale Taiwan 2019 finishing 8th at the Championships Event.
Chi Ying Tsai
The last three down the rung are the only players that have won an APT event. In sixth rank is Zhi Hao Huang, runner up of the series opener APT Taichung Mini Main Event. In October 2019, he won the APT Taiwan Monster Stack side event. He has been running red hot at the series and has every potential to turn his 23 BB into a silver ring.
Zhi Hao Huang
Just below him is seasoned pro Hui Chen “Kitty” Kuo with 352,100 in chips. Kuo is undoubtedly the most experienced player of the finalists with over US$ 2.3 million in live tournament career winnings earned around the world. She has one APT side event under her belt won back in 2012. Her other APT deep runs were 23rd place at the APT Macau Main Event and 3rd at the High Rollers Single Day this series. Her largest career cash was for US$ 248,380 at the WPT Bobby Baldwin Classic Season XVI Tournament of Champions where she finished in 2nd place.
KItty Kuo
Completing the list is Chen Yi “Serina” Liu with 238,000 in chips. Liu is also an APT side event winner having won the Ladies of Poker tournament at APT Finale Taiwan 2019. In March 2020, Liu ran deep at the APT Taiwan Main Event, finishing 6th out of 82 runners.
Chen Yi LIu
Main Event info and Day 3 recap
The featured Main Event drew a combined 196 entries across four days to obliterate the advertised NT$ 2 million guarantee. In its place, a richer NT$ 2,851,800 (~US$ 102,320) prize pool with the top 20 spots in the money.
Dates: February 26 to March 3
Buy in: NT$ 16,500 (~US$ 590)
Guarantee: NT$ 2,000,000 (~US$ 71,500)
Total Entries: 196
Prize pool: NT$ 2,851,800 (~US$ 102,320)
ITM: 20 places
Day 1A: 19 entries
Day 1B: 68 entries
Day 1C: 63 entries
Day 2: 46 entries
Day 3 action saw the return of 25 players. Despite only five busts needed to start the money round, it took over three and a half hours before it was reached. From utg, Ting Nan Kuo shoved his very short 3.5 BB stack, was called by button Ping Hao Huang and big blind Yu Sheng Lin. The board K♦ 7♦ 8♦ A♠ A♦ was checked down. Kuo had Q♣ 6♣, Huang had better A♣ J♥ trips, Lin won it with 6♦ 4♥ flush to eliminate Kuo on the bubble. Lin went on to reach the Final 8 ranked fourth in chips however Huang just missed it, exiting in 9th place.
Bubble hand
Also in the money were the day’s entering chip leader Cheng How Pan (11th), high roller Chi Jen Chu (12th), Day 1B chip leader Li Su Chi Kwon (14th), and Day 1C chip leader Te Wei Chung (15th).
Payouts
9th Ping Hao Huang – Taiwan – NT$ 75,400
10th Chen Wei Tseng – Taiwan – NT$ 62,900
11th Cheng How Pan – Taiwan – NT$ 52,400
12th Chi Jen Chu – Taiwan – NT$ 52,400
13th Chun Hsiang Yang – Taiwan – NT$ 43,700
14th Li Su Chi Kwon – Croatia – NT$ 43,700
15th Te Wei Chung – Taiwan – NT$ 43,700
16th Hsin Hung Lin – Taiwan – NT$ 36,400
17th Kristof Segers – Belgium – NT$ 36,400
18th En Hao Chan – Taiwan – NT$ 36,400
19th Chien Te Lee – Taiwan – NT$ 30,300
20th Chen Yu Hung – NT$ 30,300
All players in the money earned points towards the APT Player of the Series contest. You can view the leaderboard via the link below.
APT Player of the Series standings
The APT Player of the Series title is the most highly acknowledged title at every APT festival. The player that accrues the most points at the end of the festival is awarded a slew of prizes: the APT POS Trophy, APT POS Ring, a luxury watch, and US$ 800. For 2nd place and 3rd place, an APT POS Trophy and US$ 100.
*All trophy events are point generating except for the APT Taichung Special Event.