HomeIt has been a great year for the Asian Poker Tour with fourteen poker festivals in the books. Several days ago, the last festival of the season began, the APT Finale Macau 2016, and today, the highlight tournament, the HKD11,000 buy-in APT Finale Macau Main Event, takes center stage at the Crystal Palace in Casino Lisboa.
Since the start of the year, the APT Main Event champions were treated to a special prize, the gorgeous solid silver APT Championship Ring. The first player to capture one of these bands was Thailand’s Thongbotho. The year also saw the first female APT Main Event champion, Korea’s Kim Na Young, and a second APT two-time champion, Korea’s Jeon Seung Soo. Two months ago, Chinese poker pro Dong Guo joined the exclusive group of ring winners after capturing the APT Macau 2016 Main Event championship. At the ongoing finale, Guo was spotted playing some of the side events and will likely be at the main to defend his title.
The APT Championship Ring
Starting promptly at 1pm today, the first of two Main Event entry flights gets underway. Buy-in is HKD11,000. Players will begin with a deep 50,000 starting stack, which is 250x the opening big blind, and will compete for eight levels. Blinds escalate every sixty minutes. Late registration and re-entry closes at the start of round 7.
Main Event Bubble Protection
Players who register early and have their chips in play by the starting buzzer of round one will be entitled to a special incentive, the Main Event Bubble Protection. Throughout the year, many players have taken advantage of this protection as it ensures the qualified player a consolation prize of one free seat to the next APT Main Event of the same value in the event that he/she falls as the bubble.
One important rule to keep in mind is that any player who qualified for the protection at Day 1A but was eliminated, he/she will still be qualified for the protection on a same day re-entry. If the eliminated player opts to re-enter at Day 1B, he/she will no longer be protected. They will have to register early again at Day 1B and have their chips in play by the start of round one in order to qualify.
Last Chance Main Event “1 in 5” Mega Satellite
For those still on the hunt for a discounted seat to the Main Event, there is one more satellite offered, the Last Chance Main Event “1 in 5” Mega Satellite. Buy-in is HKD2,400 with one seat awarded for every five players. Game time is at 6pm.
Side Event Today: No Limit Holdem 1
There will also be one side event running alongside the main today, the No Limit Hold’em 1 event. Buy-in is HKD3,300.
For more detailed information on the events, head to the APT Finale Macau 2016 event page.
High Rollers and Head Hunter resumes at 1pm
Yesterday saw two side events heat up the room, the High Rollers and the Head Hunter event. Both events wrapped up with players still remaining and will resume today for the battle to the trophy.
The High Rollers event saw 29 players, each one coughing up the HKD33,000 entry fee, for a prize pool of HKD843,900. Only four players are guaranteed a payout with first place claiming the largest piece of the pie, HKD362,800.
The Head Hunter event drew in 76 entries for a total prize pool of HKD218,900. The event closed up last night with 8 players remaining; all of them guaranteed a profit. Ten players in the money. The eventual winner will receive HKD59,600.