HomeAction-packed day at APT Kick-Off Vietnam with the final 50 players of the MAIN EVENT returning to partner venue Pro Poker Club. The agenda was to reach the money and secure one of the 8 seats of the final day. After nine hours, the coveted spots were claimed with South Africa’s Rayhaan Adam in the lead with a monstrous 2,697,000 stack.
Rayhaan Adam
You can read up on the Main Event Day 3 action via our Live Updates. We also have a brief recap and finalist info below.
Chips in play: 9,114,000
Average stack: 1,012,667
Final Day: Friday, January 17 at 130pm
Resuming blinds: 12k – 24k ante 24k (51:53 remaining)
Final 8 players by seat
Seat 1: Rayhaan Adam – South Africa – 2,697,000
Seat 2: Ho Yin Shek – Hong Kong SAR – 992,000
Seat 3: Tuan – Vietnam – 834,000
Seat 4: Yuwen Pan – China – 1,163,000
Seat 5: Brandon Mifsud – Malta – 567,000
Seat 6: Francis Garson – France – 1,136,000
Seat 7: Sumit Sapra – India – 722,000
Seat 8: Hwang Sang Yeon – Korea – 1,004,000
Final 8 players by rank
Rayhaan Adam – South Africa – 2,697,000 – 112 bbs
Yuwen Pan – China – 1,163,000 – 48 bbs
Francis Garson – France – 1,136,000 – 47 bbs
Hwang Sang Yeon – Hong Kong SAR – 1,004,000 – 42 bbs
Ho Yin Shek – Korea – 992,000 – 41 bbs
Tuan – Vietnam – 834,000 – 35 bbs
Sumit Sapra – India – 722,000 – 30 bbs
Brandon Mifsud – Malta – 567,000 – 24 bbs
Remaining payouts
1st VND 1,731,440,000 (~US$ 74,700)
2nd VND 1,154,300,000 (~US$ 49,800)
3rd VND 802,450,000 (~US$ 34,600)
4th VND 579,590,000 (~US$ 25,000)
5th VND 433,440,000 (~US$ 18,700)
6th VND 334,530,000 (~US$ 14,400)
7th VND 265,650,000 (~US$ 11,400)
8th VND 216,430,000 (~US$ 9,300)
The Final 8 race will stream live via our media channels APT Twitch and APT YouTube.
Main Event info
Buy-in: VND 22,000,000 (~US$ 950)
Entries: 365 (254 unique, 111 re-entries)
Prize pool: VND 7,760,000,000 (~US$ 335,600)
ITM: 37 places
Final 8 info
One thing certain coming final day, the APT will crown a first time APT Main Event winner. The champion will also earn the bragging rights first APT championship title of 2020. Another tidbit, every player in the lineup represents a different flag.
Chip leader Rayhaan Adam is an APT newcomer. He is from South Africa. Rayhaan won a major international event late last year and is looking to do the same here. He is on fire, crushing the competition to amass a stack that dwarfs the rest.
In second rank is China’s Yuwen Pan who was also a force to reckon with in Day 3. Pan emerged into the live scene last year and won his first career title at the APT.
Frenchman Francis Garson entered Day 3 as chip leader and closed it running a strong third rank. He won an APT event in 2018 but his performance here stands out. No matter where he finishes, it will be his largest live career cash.
Out of all the finalists, Korea’s Hwang Sang Yeon is the only player who has reached an APT Main Event final table. At APT Finale Taiwan 2019, he finished 4th and also won a High Rollers event.
Hong Kong’s Ho Yin Shek is another APT newcomer and has already picked up his first cash finishing 4th at the opening event. Regardless of where he places at the main, he is guaranteed to pocket his largest live score.
Vietnam will be represented by Tuan who entered Day 3 as one of the top five. Though he was quieter in Day 3, it is well to know this will be his second final table appearance in a major event.
Waving the torch for India is Sumit Sapra, no doubt the most achieved live tournament player of the pack. Sapra is backed by a long list of cashes but has yet to land an APT victory.
To complete the final 8 is Brandon Mifsud from Malta. This will be Mifsud’s first live cash in Asia and first-ever Main Event final table appearance.
Day 3 recap
Resuming from where he left off in Day 2, Rayhaan Adam continued to crush the competition. But before doing so, the man in charge early on was Yuwen Pan, delivering two harsh defeats to amass a big lead. He came from behind to eliminate Dhaval Mudgal and David Erquiaga, to deny both players any pay. During the bubble round, two short stacks doubled up through Pan to bring his stack down slightly and give Rayhaan the chip lead. The money was guaranteed at the fall of short stacked Meherzad Munsaf to Hwang Sang Yeon.
Bubble!
Immediately after, short stacks began to fall fast. Rayhaan railed Alexander Okruzhnoy to become the first player to breach a million. While his ascent continued, he was joined by Qian Xubo who eliminated two Vietnamese power players, Linh Tran and Minh Le.
Down to the final two tables, 18 remaining, Pan reclaimed the lead with A♦ A♥ getting maximum pay from Xubo on a three-way showdown. Pan proceeded to rail Harry Duong, the last APT decorated champion in the pack. Rayhaan put in his share of heads, booting Pham Trung Kien and Kim Dongkyu.
Up until this time, the day’s entering chip leader – Francis Garson – quietly held up his own. He grinded for chips to keep him well above par then reached a million after eliminating Huu Tuan Nguyen in 13th place. Crashing out on a bad beat was Lin Chen Kun whose A♠ K♠ fell to Rayhaan’s A♦ Q♣ when the board spread Q♦ Q♠ 5♠ 5♥ 10♦. Pan out-flipped Xubo, then the unofficial final table of 9 players was formed at the fall of Xiao Yucheng to Rayhaan. Xiao was pushed all in on the flop and called to his doom .
With one more bust needed to wrap up Day 3, commanding chip leader Rayhaan bullied with his mighty stack and despite players managing to win some pots off him, Rayhaan’s stack was barely dented. The final 8 players emerged at the fall of Terry Siow Kim Foh to Garson.
Full results can be viewed here.