HomeAPT Taiwan 2019 crowned its newest and first Championships Event winner on Taiwan soil, and it was none other than China’s Chen Dong! Chen overcame a heavily armed Final 8 table. He entered with the largest stack and closed it out with all the chips. He railed four players along the way, defeating Hong Kong’s Jennette “Jay” Tan at heads up to raise the APT Golden Lion championship trophy, the APT Championship ring, and pocket the TWD 2,955,000 first prize.
Congratulations to Chen Dong for his victory!
Champion – Chen Dong
We caught up with the champ for a few questions. Due to the language barrier, runner-up Jay Tan kindly translated for us.
APT: How does is feel winning this event?
Tan: He feels very honored because from his understanding he is the first Championships Event champion from China for an APT series.
APT: Is this your first APT? Can you describe your APT experience for us?
Tan: Yes it is. He is very happy with his experience because he has been playing tournaments for a couple of years. He doesn’t think he made that many mistakes and he also had quite a bit of luck so he is overall very happy at the turnout.
APT: What does this victory mean to you?
Tan: This is the first champion title he’s received this year. He is hoping this will be the good start to the year for his future poker trips which will include the APT and WSOP.
APT: That’s great! Looking forward to seeing you then! How will you be celebrating this victory?
Tan: He has a lot of supporters and friends and he is looking forward to celebrating with them happy and drinking.
APT: Thank you and congratulations to both of you once again.
You can watch the Final 8 action via APT Twitch
We also have live updates on Day 2 and Day 3 via this link —> Live Updates
The Championships Event drew a record field of 288 entries for a juicy prize pool of TWD 12,571,200 (USD 407,300). The money began at 29 places with the largest portions claimed today. Here’s a brief review on how the cards fell….
Final 8 race to the title
Championships Event – Final 8
Payouts
1st Chen Dong – China – TWD 2,955,000
2nd Jennette Tan – Hong Kong – TWD 1,970,100
3rd Pete Yen Han Chen – Taiwan – 1,369,600
4th Alex Lindop – UK – TWD 989,200
5th Matthieu Lamagnere – France – TWD 739,800
6th En Hao Chan – Taiwan – TWD 570,900
7th Wei Cheng Yin – Taiwan – TWD 453,400
8th Jack Nai Yuan Hu – Taiwan – TWD 369,400
Full Championships Event results
An hour into the Championships Event, Jack Nai Yuan Hu had all his chips in holding A♣ 6♣ with Chen Dong putting up the challenge holding 8♥ 8♠. The board ran well for Hu 6♣ J♠ Q♠ 6♦ for trips but with the river slapping down 8♣, Dong improved to a full house. Hu was eliminated in 8th place.
Jack Nai Yuan Hu
The next three eliminations were delivered by Taiwanese pro Pete Yen Han Chen. His first victim was Wei Cheng Yin whose 5♦ 5♥ was out-flipped by Chen’s A♥ 3♥ with the spread A♣ 2♦ 9♦ 4♠ K♣. Yin took 7th place.
Wei Cheng Yin
The next one was En Hao Chan who shoved with A♣ 6♣ and got one caller in Pete Chen with 8♦ 8♣. No hits on the board for Chan to send him out in 6th place.
En Hao Chan
It took some time before the table trimmed down to half. Falling in 5th place was France’s Matthieu Lamagnere. Prior to his elimination, Lamagnere lost a large portion of his stack to Alex Lindop. Action saw large bets initiated by Lamagnere at every street and called by Lindop. Both players tabled straights with Lindop holding broadway with his K♥ J♥ on a board of 10♣ A♣ Q♦ 4♦ 9♣. Lamagnere had J♠ 8♣.
With blinds high and climbing compared to his stack, Lamagnere pushed all in with K♠ 10♥ and was dominated by Pete Chen A♥ 10♠. The board ran 5♥ 2♥ 9♦ A♠ K♦. Lamagnere took 5th place.
Matthieu Lamagnere
Tumbling in 4th place was UK’s Alex Lindop who couldn’t catch any cards instead the blinds started to gobble up his chips. With a very short stack behind, sb Chen Dong shoved with K♣ 2♥, bb Lindop tanked then risked it with K♣ 9♣. Though Lindop had Dong dominated, the board favored Dong running 4♠ 3♣ 8♠ 6♥ 5♣ for a straight to Dong.
Alex Lindop
This left three players with Chen Dong as the commanding chip leader. Pete Chen was Chen Dong’s next bull’s eye. Pete Chen A♠ 8♥ was all in preflop with Jennette “Jay” Tan and Chen Dong involved for a side pot. The flop 2♣ 5♣ J♣ saw Tan drop out on a bet by Chen Dong for heads up with Pete Chen. Chen Dong had A♦ 5♥ pair. The turn 7♠ and river 2♦ ended the hand and Pete as well in 3rd place.
Pete Yen Han Chen
Heads up took off with Chen Dong up 2:1 to Jay Tan. Despite the big stack, it was not an easy stroll to the title.
Heads up! Jay Tan and Chen Dong
Tan kept the pressure on applying multiple three-bet shoves that Chen didn’t call. Ultimately, his stack was just too large to create a major dent. With blinds eating her up, Tan was all in for the last time with A♥ 3♥, Chen with A♦ Q♥, the board ran 5♠ 9♥ 7♦ 2♠ J♣ and it was all over. Tan finished in 2nd place for TWD 1,970,100.
Jay Tan