Final 8 set with Spain’s Sergio Aido as the massive chip leader

The Asian Poker Tour Macau 2016 closed up another thrilling day of Main Event action at the Crystal Palace of the Casino Lisboa with the Final 8 now set. Sitting well above the others was Spanish pro Sergio Aido who bagged up a towering stack of 1,398,000.

Sergio Aido maintains chip lead going into the Final 8

Aido entered Day 3 as the chip leader with 29 players returning to the felt. With only 18 of them guaranteed a payout, early action was filled with short stacks shoving yet failing to double up. As the day wore on, a couple of highly decorated pros also joined the railbirds, Hong Kong’s Nick Wong and New Zealand’s Thomas Ward. The bubble finally burst when Korea’s Ko Yuki moved all in with A 4 that stayed behind Hong Kong’s Kevin Tse’s A K.

The first of the payouts was finally claimed when Taiwan’s Terry Fan scalped two players simultaneously, Japan’s Tetsuya Tsuchikawa in 18th place and China’s Zhang Ying Dean in 17th place. During the hand, Fan was sandwiched between the two players and went from the lowest starting hand to the best five-card spread at the end of the three-way showdown. Click here for the hand report. England’s Tom Alner was ousted next, falling in 16th place with A-K failing to improve against Hong Kong’s David Douglas’s pocket nines.

At fifteen players, Aido began his ascent to the chip leader’s throne. He eliminated Filipino Ian Brion when his A K found a friendly face on the board of 5 K 7 6 10 to defeat 9 9. He rose to the million mark with another successful A-K, then zoomed well into a commanding lead with his A Q nut flush. Click here for the hand report.

Delivering the next bust out was Korea’s Lim Yo Hwan whose A 2 outdrew China’s Jiu Bin Cui’s A 9 with bottom pair spiked on the river to finish him off in 14th place. The last woman standing, China’s Celine Lee, ran into Douglas’s aces and bowed out in 13th place. But despite the stack boost, Douglas was railed by Fan in 12th place with a set of tens over a missed flush draw. Click here for the hand report.

Defending champion, Norway’s Henrik Tollefsen, sported a short stack throughout the day and was unable to enter many hands. His patience was rewarded with a big break, scoring a triple up against Aido and Fan. Click here for the hand report. He then ousted China’s Qin Tao in 11th place and the unofficial final table of ten players was formed.

Spain’s Saul Oliver Fortea was in a similar bind as Tollefsen however his stack saw more swings before it entered the danger zone.  After earning a double up on the first hand of the final ten, Fortea eliminated China’s Wei Zhou Zha in 10th place and gained more chips.

While there were many wild stories throughout the day, it was Fan who could not survive the heat during the late stages. When Fan was running well, he was soaring, but when he spiraled down, it was also at the same speed. Click here for some of his hand reports. His final two hands were against short stacked Yo Hwan with 6 6 losing to A K on a very generous board (to Yo Hwan) filled with spades for a king high flush. Yo Hwan finished off Fan in 9th place with a victorious A-Q over A-8. With that, Day 3 ended and the Final 8 was established.

APT Macau 2016 Main Event Final Eight

Here are the Final 8 players:

Sergio Aido – Spain – 1,398,000
Henrik Tollefsen – Norway – 335,000
Winfred Yu – Hong Kong – 537,000
Guo Dong – China – 850,000
Saul Oliver Fortea – Spain – 461,000
Tse Chi Ho Kevin – Hong Kong – 389,000
Daniel Tang – UK – 710,000
Lim Yo Hwan – Korea – 674,000

Congratulations to the Final 8! You can read up on the action of Day 3 and view the Chip Counts and payouts in the Live Updates page. The Final 8 will begin at 130pm on Tuesday, October 25, 2016.

Payouts
9th Terry Fan – Taiwan – HKD 63,000
10th Wei Zhou Zha – China – HKD 54,000
11th Qin Tao – China – HKD 50,000
12th David Douglas – Hong Kong – HKD 50,000
13th Celine Lee – China – HKD 44,000
14th Jiu Bin Cui – China – HKD 44,000
15th Ian Brion – Philippines – HKD 44,000
16th Tom Alner – England – HKD 38,000
17th Zhang Ying Dean – China – HKD 38,000
18th Tetsuya Tsuchikawa – Japan – HKD 38,000