Chen Yi Liu keeps the Ladies title; Cheng Chao Ting wins PLO Hi; High Rollers open for last level

Another two events completed on the second day of APT Taiwan 2020 which meant two players lifted one of the APT Guardian Trophies off the shelf. The first champion wasn’t exactly the winner of the event. Taiwan’s Chen Yi Liu was the last woman standing at the Ladies of Poker tournament eventually departing in 3rd place for TW$ 21,700. Liu was also the defending champion. The other champion was Taiwan’s Cheng Chao Ting at the Pot Limit Omaha Hi event. For those in the money, points were earned towards the APT Player of the Series race. Make sure to check your standing.

Ladies of Poker “last woman standing” – Chen Yi Liu

The Ladies of Poker got off to a slow start with only a few interested however the ladies agreed on opening it up to the guys to build a larger prize pool. There was one condition though, the trophy would still be awarded to the last woman remaining no matter where she placed. At the close of registration, 7 men joined the action. 

Buy-in: TW$ 7,700 (~US$ 260)
Entries: 21
Prize pool: TW$ 142,600 (~US$ 4,700)

Payouts
1st Chan Lok Ming – Hong Kong – TW$ 53,600 (deal made)
2nd Lee Po Wei – Taiwan – TW$ 53,600 (deal made)
3rd Chen Yi Liu – Taiwan – TW$ 21,700
4th Fulin Tseng – Taiwan – TW$ 13,700

Breaching the money bubble took some time with the five remaining players muscling for every chip. The lead switched from player to player and at one point, defending champion Chen Yi Liu nearly fell on the bubble. The only other lady remaining was Fulin Tseng called Liu’s three-bet shove. Tseng with A J, Liu with A A, the board came 8 9 4 K J for a winning nut flush to Liu and a double up to the chip lead. 

Chan Lok Ming finally emptied out a short stacked player for the money round to begin. Tseng enjoyed a double up with A 2 two pair against Liu’s A J on a board 3 9 2 Q 9, but her boost was short-lived with A J failing her against Ming’s 7 7

Just before Tseng’s bust, Liu paid out another double up, this time to Lee when his A 8 both paired up to dust her J J. Liu’s was down in chips and pushed it in with A K, Lee had her number with 10 10 that held. The final two players, Lee and Ming opted to split the remaining cash down the middle to abruptly end the game. 

**Only the women that reached ITM were awarded points in this event.

Cheng Chao Ting wins the Pot Limit Omaha Hi

38 jumped on the saddle for the first Pot Limit Omaha event offered. After nearly ten hours of play, Taiwan prevailed with Cheng Chao Ting railing USA’s Jason Saaristo for the title. 

Buy-in: TW$ 8,800 (~US$ 295)
Entries: 38
Prize pool: 294,900
ITM: 7 places

Payouts
1st Cheng Chao Ting – Taiwan – TW$ 76,300 (deal made)
2nd Jason Saaristo – USA – TW$ 60,000 (deal made)
3rd Yang Tsu Yun – Taiwan – TW$ 55,000 (deal made)
4th Philip Wang – Taiwan – TW$ 50,000 (deal made)
5th Kuo Chun Liang – Taiwan – TW$ 22,700
6th Tsai Xang Ching – Taiwan – TW$ 17,300
7th Kristof Segers – Belgium – TW$ 13,600

Recapping the action from the bubble round, Yang Tsu Yun K K 4 9 outdrew a player’s K K Q 3 when the board ran 9 J 2 3 4 for two pair. 

From there, short stacked Kristof Segers visited the cage first in 7th place, he was followed by Tsai Xang Ching (6th) and Kuo Chun Liang (5th). The final 4 players agreed on a deal that guaranteed each player a certain amount plus TW$ 21,300 and the trophy to the eventual champion.

As soon as the deal was sealed, Philip Wang exited in 4th place. Three-handed last for some time that the players opted to increase the blinds at a faster rate. This led to the fall of Yun in 3rd place.

Ting entered heads up 1.5:1 in chips against Saaristo. After two double ups, Saaristo jumped ahead. Ting began to grind for chips then landed his own double up with K Q Q 10 staying strong against Saaristo’s 10 10 6 2. With a commanding lead, the final hand came quickly. Ting won with A A 7 5 to Saaristo’s J J 8 2 on a dry board. 

High Rollers Day 1

The High Rollers event had 11 sign up with 5 remaining at bagging time. Registration is still open for one level tomorrow. Game resumes at 1pm. 

Hamish Crawshaw – New Zealand – 170,000
Lin Chen An – Taiwan – 98,000
Chi Jen Chu – Taiwan – 82,000
Vincent Huang – Australia – 63,000
Pete Yen Han Chen – Taiwan – 17,000

Opening blinds: 1000-1500 ante 1500 (Level 10)
Level intervals: 40 minutes
Buy-in: TW$ 86,000 (~US$ 2,900)
Starting stack: 40,000
Chips in play: 440,000
Average stack: 88,000