HomeIt was an all-star cast at the APT Finale Macau Championships 2017 with a long list of well-known Asian poker pros, APT decorated players, and circuit regulars jumping in on the last starting day of the APT Main Event held at the Macau Billionaire Poker in Babylon Casino. Though we expected to see one of them rise to the leader’s status by night’s end, it wasn’t the case. Instead a new face stole the spotlight, India’s Kalyan Chakravarthy with the largest stack bagged of 95,700.
Main Event Day 1B Chip Leader, Kalyan Chakravarthy
Throughout the day, Chakravarthy was definitely not anywhere near our radar. His stack didn’t give us much reason to either. It wasn’t until the last half hour of regulation play that we began to notice him and his sizable stack. It’s a good thing we stuck around too. On the last hand of the night, Chakravarthy secured the high status by winning a hefty pot against fellow countryman Nishant Sharma. On a completed board of 5♥ K♠ 6♦ J♦ 9♥ with Chakravarthy betting at every stage, he earned just over 16K from Sharma with his K♣ J♣ two pair. Sharma also finished strong with 78,225 for third rank.
The only other player within the range of the leader was China’s Shiqiang Lin with 91,225. He claimed the second spot in the pecking order. Other players also through the starting day were Yoichi Uesugi, Ken Okada, Hung Sheng Lin, Michael Soyza, Kilian Loeffler, Yohwan Lim, Victor Chong (Natural8 qualifier), Kosei Ichinose, Pete Chen, Kai Paulsen, Sparrow Cheung, Sangjun Lee, and Anthony Hope.
Of course we can’t forget the five APT Main Event champions that attended Day 1B – Andre Moracchini, Albert Paik, Guo Dong, Soojo Kim, and Iori Yogo – all of them also advancing to the next round. While we kept a close eye on each of them at every round, it was Moracchini who we paid most attention to with his big stack amassed mid-way through the event.
Unfortunately we missed his winning moments however we did catch a sick hand between him and Stephen Nathan – who also made it through to Day 2. On a flop of Q♦ 6♣ 9♦, Nathan pushed all in with a very healthy stack to induce a fold from Moracchini. Upon folding, the New Caledonian revealed his K♣ K♥. This instantly produced a shock from everyone at the felt, and even more so after Nathan returned the gesture by showing his A♦ A♥.
On the flip side, the day also had a number of casualties; that list included Jin Yong, Hiromi Sato (Ladies Event winner), Mahjung Fu (Natural8 qualifier), and WSOP bracelet winner Japanese pro Naoya Kihara.
All of today’s survivors will merge with those from Day 1A for the next round at the felt on Monday, December 4 at 1pm. Below is a list of all the Day 1B qualifiers.
APT Finale Macau 2017 Main Event Chip Counts (Click image to enlarge )
Wei Guoliang wins the No Limit Hold’em 1 Day 2
Just a day after topping the Main Event Day 1A heat, China’s Wei Guoliang is back in the headlines for his victory at the No Limit Hold’em 1 Day 2 event. Prior to his win, Wei’s deepest run at an APT event was a 4th place finish at one of the side events. Well, he has now gone the full distance. Wei defeated Lai Heng Tse at the heads up round and claimed the HKD 38,800 first place purse.
NLH One Day Event 2 Champion, Wei Guo Liang
Prior to facing Lai for the title, Wei ousted short-stacked Yan Wang (3rd) with A♠ 9♣ running a better five-card spread over Wang’s A♦ 6♦ on a board of 10♠ 3♥ A♥ Q♣ 4♥. Despite the added chips, Wei was still down 2.5:1 against Lai. The lead switched after Wei won two pots that went to the river, and from there he closed it out with 8♣ 8♠ besting A♥ 3♠ with a community board of 6♥ 6♣ J♦ 9♦ 4♠.
Payouts
Prizepool: HKD 97,000 / 50 total entries
1st Wei Guoliang – China – HKD 38,800
2nd Lai Heng Tse – Hong Kong – HKD 24,200
3rd Yan Wang – Hong Kong – HKD 14,600
4th Zachary Hammong – China – HKD 10,700
5th Chin Weng Lai – China – HKD – 8,700