The Asian Poker Tour Macau 2016 resumes another day of Main Event action with Day 1B highlighted on the poker floor of the Crystal Palace located in the Casino Lisboa. The featured event begins promptly at 1pm and has a HKD 22,000 entry fee with unlimited re-entries. Due to Typhoon Haima making landfall in the area yesterday, we have adjusted regulation play of the starting flights down to six levels with late registration open just before Day 2 begins. Below is the complete schedule:
- Day 1A – Friday, October 21st, game time at 5pm
- Day 1B – Saturday, October 22nd, game time at 1pm
- Extended late registration cuts off at 1pm on Day 2
- Day 2 – Sunday, October 23rd
- Day 3 – Monday, October 24th
- Final 8 – Tuesday, October 25th
At the beginning of the calendar year, the APT added a couple of fantastic new incentives to be applied to all the APT Main Events from this year onwards. The first big addition was the APT Championship Ring. This is the only event where players can win the coveted solid silver band. Since the start of the year, eleven of these rings have already been awarded with the first one going to Thailand’s Thongbotho at the start of the year. Playing at yesterday’s Day 1A was Norway’s Henrik Tollefsen, the defending champion of the APT Macau back in 2013. Tollefsen made it through the day and will be looking to repeat his past performance and earn himself the special ring.
The next big perk is the APT Main Event Bubble Protection, which is definitely a “must have” incentive. With this protection, the bubble player will not have to go home empty-handed because the APT will award a generous consolation prize of one free seat to the next APT Main Event of the same value which can also be exchanged for APT tournament credits. These past months, this incentive has proven to be a very big relief for players who finished in that unfortunate bubble spot while under protection. In order to qualify for Bubble Protection, here are a few simple steps that must be completed:
- Pre-register to the Main Event
- Draw for your seat before starting time
- Have your chips put into play on the first deal of round number 1
In regards to the mechanics, players who qualify for Bubble Protection will maintain that status on a same day re-entry. Players wanting Bubble Protection on a next day re-entry will have to repeat the steps to qualify.
There is also one adjustment to keep in mind, the APT will donate 1% of the Main Event total prize pool to Caritas Macau, the charity outreach that has been serving the Macau community and the greater society for over 60 years.
Two side events today
In addition to the APT Macau Main Event, there will be two side events joining the floor, the No Limit Hold’em 1 Day event at 3pm with an entry fee of HKD 2,700 and the Deep Stack Turbo event at 7pm with an entry fee of HKD 1,100.
For the full schedule and details, head to the APT Macau event page.
USA’s Duy Ho takes down the No Limit Hold’em event
Another seasoned pro came out on top at today’s side events, USA’s Duy Ho, who dominated the No Limit Hold’em event to ship in HKD 52,400 in cold hard cash and his first APT trophy of the festival. Huy’s first ever APT trophy was at the APT Macau 2013, winning the 6 Max event.
The NLH event kicked off with 50 players taking to the felt for a total prize pool of HKD 145,500. When the field compressed down to the final ten players, Norway’s Kai Paulsen and Peru’s Yohn Paredes were among the first to fall before seeing any dividends. By the time it reached the bubble stage of six players, action slowed down with Korea’s SJ Kim as one of the leaders while fellow countryman Lim Yo Hwan sitting at the opposite end of the pole.
Before it finally burst, a big shift took place with Kim somehow becoming the ATM machine. His first costly payout was against Ho on a board of 9♥ 5♠ 2♠ that didn’t go any further. Ho showed A♠ A♦. Kim lost another one after doubling up Australia’s Marcus Anthony Maher with pocket fives losing to pocket sevens, then one more big chunk to Ho who held K♥ K♠ on a board that only reached fourth street.
While Ho was on the rise, Yo Hwan had difficulty getting a boost and Ho sent him packing on the bubble. From that moment onwards, Ho pretty much owned it. In an exciting three-way all in massacre, Kim had A-K, Indonesia’s Michael Darryanto had pocket fours, and Ho with pocket nines. The board ran a dramatic K-K-9-7-J giving Ho the dominating win with a full house, ousting both of his opponents, and shipping in over eighty percent of the chips in play.
With three players now remaining, the game was stopped abruptly with Maher and Thailand’s Mongkol Kongpan agreeing to forfeit the match to the massive chip leader and pocket HKD 32,000 each. As an added tidbit, during one of the earlier breaks, Ho was heard saying “I’m gonna finish better than fourth place”. And he sure did. Huy eliminated an impressive 7 out of the 10 players at the final table.
Payouts
1st Duy Ho – USA – HKD 52,400
2nd Marcus Anthony Maher – Australia – HKD 32,000
3rd Mongkol Kongpan – Indonesia – HKD 32,000
4th Soo Jo Kim – Korea – HKD 16,000
5th Michael Darryanto – Indonesia – HKD 13,100