HomeOnce again, Poland’s Michal Polchlopek earned the chip lead at the CHAMPIONSHIPS EVENT. He closed Day 3 with 1,541,000 equivalent to 77 bbs entering the final day.
The APT Kick-Off Vietnam second featured tournament drew 160 entries at buy-in of VND 38,500,000 (~US$ 1,700). Day 3 opened with the final 20 players on the hunt for a piece of the VND 5,820,000,000 (~US$ 250,500) prize pool. 16 were guaranteed to cash. The bubble burst at the fall of Vietnam’s Nguyen Quang Minh; missing a final 8 berth was Korea’s Hyunil Hong.
You can read up on the action via our Live Reports. We also have the results and brief player’s bio below.
Final day info
Chips in play: 8,000,000
Average stack: 1,000,000
Blinds: 10k – 20k ante 20k (20:53 remaining)
Starting time: 130pm
Final 8 race will stream live via our media channels APT Twitch and APT YouTube starting at 2pm.
| Seat | Name | Country | Chips | BBs |
| 1 | Michal Polchlopek | Poland | 1,541,000 | 77 |
| 2 | Hwang Sang Yeon | Korea | 478,000 | 24 |
| 3 | Harry Duong | Vietnam | 807,000 | 40 |
| 4 | Nguyen Thanh Binh | Vietnam | 1,509,000 | 75 |
| 5 | Xiao Yu Cheng | China | 1,257,000 | 63 |
| 6 | David Erquiaga | Philippines | 991,000 | 49 |
| 7 | Terry Tien Thanh Nguyen | Vietnam | 806,000 | 40 |
| 8 | Peng Yang (King) | China | 634,000 | 32 |
Remaining payouts
1st VND 1,550,520,000 (~US$ 66,800)
2nd VND 1,033,680,000 (~US$ 44,500)
3rd VND 718,600,000 (~US$ 31,000)
4th VND 519,030,000 (~US$ 22,300)
5th VND 388,150,000 (~US$ 16,700)
6th VND 299,570,000 (~US$ 12,900)
7th VND 237,890,000 (~US$ 10,200)
8th VND 193,820,000 (~US$ 8,300)
Final 8 players
Michal Polchlopek
Michal Polchlopek leads the final 8 lineup with 1,541,000. This will be his second APT cash having finished 11th at the APT Finale Taiwan Main Event in December. His numerous career accomplishments include a couple of six figure scores; his largest of US$ 266K was for an IPT Main Event victory in Malta back in 2010.
Nguyen Thanh Binh
Trailing the leader by a small margin is Vietnam’s Nguyen Thanh Binh with 1,509,000. Nguyen was seen consistently chipping up throughout Day 2 and Day 3. He railed APT champion Soo Jo Kim in 10th place. This will be his first-ever international major event final table and first APT cash.
Xiao Yu Cheng
Running deep again at the series is China’s Xiao Yu Cheng who finished 10th at the Main Event. Xiao is currently in third rank with 1,257,000. He shipped a huge pot against SJ Kim holding a full house then eliminated Hyunil Hong in 9th place to form the final 8. This is Xiao’s first APT championship final table appearance.
David Erquiaga
Back at the final 8 table is Philippines’s David Erquiaga with 991,000. In July 2019, Erquiaga finished 2nd at the APT Vietnam Championships Event. To help his return, he shipped a monster pile by railing Alex Lee in Day 3 to briefly hold the chip. Erquiaga is decorated with a long list of live achievements however a major victory continues to elude him. He is on the hunt for that first major live title.
Harry Duong
The lower half of the lineup is commanded by two players from host country Vietnam, Harry Duong with 807,000 and Terry Tien Thanh Nguyen with 806,000. Just one yellow chip apart. Out of everyone at the final 8, Duong is the only player decorated with a major APT championship title. He won APT Cambodia Main Event in 2012.
Terry Tien Thanh Nguyen
As for Terry, he runs consistently well at the APT. He won the APT Player of the Series in July 2019 with numerous cashes that include 4th place at the Main Event and 14th at the Championships Event.
Peng Yang
Another Chinese national in the lineup is Peng Yang with 634,000. Peng had a strong Day 2 bagging up one of the largest stacks and continued to rack it up in Day 3. Several hits brought him down but held to reach the final 8. Among his career cashes are deep runs at the APT including two side event victories in Macau in 2017 and 2018.
Hwang Sang Yeon
Korea’s Hwang Sang Yeon completes the final 8 lineup with 478,000. Coming off a big win in Manila, Hwang’s impressive run continued. He reached the final table of the series Main Event and finished 7th. Backtracking to December, Hwang finished 4th at APT Finale Taiwan Main Event and first at the series High Rollers. This will be his third APT championship final table appearance.
Day 3 results
It was a short Day 3 taking only five hours to bring the field down from 20 to the final 8. Money was reached at the fall of Nguyen Quang Minh (Mr. Ngo) to David Erquiaga. Mr. Ngo’s J♣ J♦ was out-flipped by A♥ J♥ with an ace showing up.
From there, it was a race to a final 8 seat. ITM players were:
9th Hyunil Hong – Korea – VND 161,520,000
10th Soo Jo Kim – Korea – VND 134,600,000
11th Seitaro Aso – Japan – VND 112,160,000
12th Alex Wei Xiang Lee – Singapore – VND 112,160,000
13th Michitaka Sekine – Japan – VND 93,470,000
14th Meherzad Munsaf – India – VND 93,470,000
15th Sam Beesley – UK – VND 93,470,000
16th Lok Ching Li – Hong Kong SAR – VND 77,890,000
