HomeThe next two side events of the APT Southeast Asia were the main course at the felt earlier today and just before the midnight hour, both of them wrapped up with China’s Hailong Huang finishing at the top of the Head Hunter event and Japan’s Jun Saito claiming the Ante Up for Charity title. Have a read below on some of the exciting action that took place during those events.
China’s Hailong Huang outlasts the Head Hunter pack
Head Hunter Champion, Hailong Huang
The Head Hunter tournament drew in 30 players to the felt, each one immediately gunning for the USD 50 bounty reward per bust out. By the time the bubble round was reached, China’s Hailong Huang already amassed a big chip lead while on the opposite end of the rung was Vietnamese pro Linh Tran.
With only 4 players guaranteed a payout, Tran battled for chips and for several orbits he was successful. He doubled up twice through the leader Huang and won several pots off other players. His efforts though would eventually run aground. He still fell as the bubble when Kota Nakano’s A♥ 2♥ outdrew his 9♦ 9♥ on a board of 6♥ 5♠ 2♦ 3♥ A♦.
Kicking off the money round, Huang and Cambodia’s Hun Sok Meng got involved in a couple of heated big pots that did more damage to Huang than to Meng. This however didn’t slow down Huang one bit. He quickly made up some ground by crippling Vietnam’s Hung Nguyen Viet with K♦ J♠ defeating Nguyen’s 7♦ 7♠ on a board of 4♠ 9♥ J♥ 3♠ Q♣. The shoves were at the flop. Immediately after, Nguyen fell in 4th place.
At three-handed, Huang was back on top with a massive stack and ballooned it even more by sending Nakano packing in 3rd place. It was another winning King-Jack hand with both of his cards pairing up on the flop.
Facing Meng at the final head-to-head round, Huang had a sizable 3.5: 1 chip advantage. He lost a few pots to Meng but in the end, he was still too difficult for Meng to overcome. The final hand saw Meng with A♦ 7♦ and Huang with his favorite two cards of the day K♠ J♣. The board landed 4♥ J♠ 4♣ 5♥ 10♠.
Huang claimed the USD 1,820 first place purse and the event trophy. This is Huang’s second cash of the series. He placed 5th at the NLH Welcome Event.
Payouts
1st Hailong Huang – China – USD 1,820
2nd Hun Sok Meng – Cambodia – USD 1,200
3rd Kota Nakano – Japan – USD 700
4th Hung Nguyen Viet – Vietnam – USD 600
Japan’s Jun Saito wins the Ante Up for Charity
Ante Up for Charity Champion, Jun Saito
The Ante Up for Charity event for the benefit of the New Samarkum Center – Goutte d’Eau Poipet (Damnok Toek) attracted 17 players to generate a donation of USD 850 while the rest went to the prize pool. We caught the action at the bubble round with eventual winner Jun Saito railing Norbert Koh. The short-stacked Koh was all in with Q♣ Q♥ while Saito held 6♣ 7♣. When the flop dropped K♥ 5♣ 4♣, Saito was still behind but picked up a straight flush draw. The 6♦ was not what he needed but the A♣ river was a winner.
At three-handed, So Yan Da put his tournament life at risk with A-8 against Saito’s A-J, and with the board turning up blanks, Da took 3rd place setting up the final heads up round between Saito and Vinod Saundararajan.
The round began with both players even in stacks. Saito took the early lead by claiming the first sizable pot however Saundararajan replied by taking down an even bigger pot. From there, Saundararajan muscled Saito with his larger stack and grew to a 6:1 chip lead.
But then the tides shifted. With his short stack, Saito doubled up with Q♥ Q♣ then proceeded to ship in multiple pots until he eventually claimed the chip lead. By this time, the blinds were quite high forcing both players to either shove or fold. The final hand Saundararajan held J♣ 10♣ and Saito with K♦ Q♦. The board ran A♦ A♣ 9♦ 7♣ 3♥ and with both players missing the board completely, Saito had the better spread and was declared the Ante Up for Charity champion.
Payouts
1st Jun Saito – Japan – USD 850
2nd Vinod Saundararajan – Malaysia – USD 500
3rd So Yan Da – Singapore – USD 350
That concludes the second day of the APT Southeast Asia 2017! We will be back tomorrow for the highlight tournament, the USD 1,100 buy-in Main Event which begins promptly at 5pm. Click here for all the details.
For those looking to get into the main at a lower cost, there will be a Main Event Mega Satellite at 6pm. This is the last satellite offered. Buy-in is USD 220, one seat will be awarded per five players.
Just before those begin, there will be a NLH One Day Event at 1pm with a buy-in of USD 220.
APT Southeast Asia 2017 full schedule