HomeAfter four days of heated action at the Main Event of the Asian Poker Tour Finale Macau 2016, we are down to the Final 8! The Main Event began with 273 entries, the highest turnout for an APT Main Event in 2016. With a buy-in of HKD11,000, the prize pool grew to HKD2,620,800 with 36 places paid.
Today will see the Final 8 players return to the Crystal Palace in Casino Lisboa for their final race to the last APT Main Event Championship title of 2016. The eventual winner will rake in the HKD647,300 first place purse, the championship trophy, and the APT Championship Ring.
Final 8 Players
APT Finale Macau 2016 Main Event Final 8
Pacing the Final 8 players is China’s Lu Yunye with a monstrous 4,390,000 stack. Yunye crushed the hopes of many players all day including Japan’s Junya Nagano who he eliminated in 9th place, denying him a Final 8 berth. By the size of his stack and his consistent performance these past days, Yunye is well on his way to seizing the championship title.
Coming in second-in-chips is Korea’s SJ Kim with 2,720,000. Kim is currently the race leader in the APT Regional Player of the Year Korea. As one of the APT regulars, Kim has had a big year with 8 titles and 10 additional cashes. However, despite his achievements, he is still looking for that Main Event title. And like his shirt says, his motto is to have “Faith”.
Poker pro Xi Xiang Luo takes the third spot in the rung with 1,950,000. Luo has consistently been one of the players at the top of the chip counts these past days. He made many players very happy when he eliminated Japan’s Jun Saito in the bubble. Luo currently leads the Asia GPI rankings.
China’s Yifan Zheng is in the middle of the pack with 1,775,000, which Is slightly above average stack. Zheng had many big scoops today including the elimination of the aggressive Terminator T before the money round. Like all the players ahead of him in the chip count, Zheng is decorated with numerous wins and cashes throughout his poker career. This is his first APT deep run.
Heading the bottom half of the pack is China’s Yuan Hang Zhong with 880,000. At nine-handed, Zhong averted elimination when his K-Q landed a split pot with Yunye’s pocket kings on a board that gave them both a straight. Zhong was also the reason the defending champion Dong Guo lost a big portion of his chips that eventually sent him out of the running.
India’s Praveen Dwarkanath was the chip leader entering Day 3 but after losing a costly pot to SJ Kim, his stack spiraled down. He managed to recover but continued to seesaw until he settled at 660,000 at the end of the day. Joining him at the Final 8 with the same number of chips is Germany’s Steffen Endres. Endres already has one APT side event trophy under his belt won back in September. He is recording his deepest APT Main Event run right here today. Rounding out the Final 8 is China’s Xie Wei Jian with 640,000 chips. Jian had his fair share of eliminations early in Day 3 but began to slide down in chips. He got back in the running after landing a nut flush against Fabian Geisel with two tables remaining.
The Main Event resumes at 130pm today. Come by and catch the action or read all about it as we post hand-for-hand action in the Live Updates page.
Chip Counts
Lu Yunye 4,390,000
SJ Kim 2,720,000
Xi Xiang Luo 1,905,000
Yifan Zheng 1,775,000
Yuan Hang Zhong 880,000
Praveen Dwarkanath 660,000
Steffen Endres 660,000
Xie Wei Jian 640,000
Side Events Today
In addition to the Main Event action, three side events will be shaking up the floor. The first one is the No Limit Hold’em 3 event which starts at 1pm. Buy-in is HKD5,500.
At 3pm is the festival’s special event, the HKD200,000 entry fee Super High Rollers event. This is the first time the APT has staged a buy-in this high.
Then at 5pm, the Super Deep Stack Turbo joins the floor. Buy-in is HKD2,200.
Hazel Chui wins the Deep Stack Turbo event
Deep Stack Turbo Champion, Hazel Chui
The Deep Stack Turbo event saw China’s Yuen Shan Chu aka Hazel Chui win her second trophy of the festival. A few days ago, Chui won the No Limit Hold’em 1 Day event. Last night, she outlasted a field of 67 entries, defeating Japan’s Rintaro Yamamoto to run away with the first place purse of HKD18,000.
Payouts: prize pool HKD65,000
1st Hazel Yuen Shan Chui – China – HKD18,000
2nd Rintaro Yamamoto – Japan – HKD11,100
3rd Jacque Ramsden – UK – HKD8,100
4th Jun Saito – Jpana – HKD6,300
5th Son Hyun Woo – Korea – HKD5,500
6th Ci Yuan Huang – Taiwan – HKD4,700
7th Jinduk Kim -Korea – HKD4,200
8th Alexander Beresnve – Russia – HKD3,7000
9th Hon Man Wong – Hong Kong – HKD3,400
