HomeIt was a day of ups and upsets at Paradise City Casino with APT Korea Incheon 2019 seeing another round of eliminations at the featured tournament. What started as 35 players returning to the Main Event race, closed with 10 walking away denied a piece of the pot and 8 players on their way to the final day.
Final 8 by chip count
| Seat | Player | Country | Chips |
| 5 | Koichi Haruta | Japan | 1,616,000 |
| 6 | Daicho Ryo | Japan | 900,000 |
| 1 | Du Ming Tsai | Taiwan | 632,000 |
| 7 | Tsang Dicky Siu Hang | Hong Kong | 617,000 |
| 2 | Kunimaro Kojo | Japan | 590,000 |
| 4 | Hashimoto Akira | Japan | 584,000 |
| 3 | Eduard Pak | Russia | 552,000 |
| 8 | Graeme Siow | Singapore | 411,000 |
The Main Event kicked off on August 4 and is scheduled to conclude on Thursday, August 8. Over the course of registration, it drew a series record 236 entries. At KRW 1,320,000 (~USD 1,100) each, the advertised guarantee was more than exceeded for a fatter prize pool worth KRW 274,704,000 (~USD 226,300).
Day 3 was when the money flowed. The bubble burst at two separate tables which meant the 24th place cash was split between two players. One of the winning hands was quite the shock with 7-7 landing a set on the flop K-7-J against K-10 top pair only to fall to a runner runner straight with the 9 and 8 tabled. The day eventually concluded with the final 8 formed. One of the players below will be crowned the newest APT Main Event champion!
Main Event Final 8 players
Final day info
Opening blinds: 6K – 12K ante 12K (Level 22) with 40:33 countdown
Total chips in play: 5,900,000
Average stack: 737,500
Final 8 payouts
1st KRW 67,142,000 (~USD 55,300)
2nd KRW 44,763,000
3rd KRW 31,118,000
4th KRW 22,476,000
5th KRW 16,809,000
6th KRW 12,973,000
7th KRW 10,302,000
8th KRW 8,393,000
Final 8 player profile
Steering his way to the top once again was Japan’s Koichi Haruta and with a mighty stack to boot. Haruta was the only player to bag up over a million, sporting an impressive 1,616,000 in chips roughly 134 times the opening big blind. The gap between him and the next player is over 700,000, which is also more than the stacks of the other six contenders. If he continues his strong performance on the final day, he may just surpass his previous APT Main Event 5th place finish in Seoul two months prior.
With Japan fielding a large contingent at the ongoing series, it was not much of a surprise to see four out of the 8 final players hailing from there. Daicho Ryo will enter the final day with the second largest stack of 900,000 (75 times the big blind). He is the only other player with an above average stack. A few days ago, Daicho placed 2nd at the NLH Single Day 1 event for a KRW 4,244,000 payout. Wherever he finishes at the Main Event, he will be pocketing his largest live tournament APT cash.
Down the rung is Kunimaro Kojo with 590,000. Kojo is one of the most experienced players at the final table. He is decorated with a long list of live tournament deep runs around the world however he is still on the hunt for his first Main Event title. Alike Ryo, wherever he places at the Main Event, he will have claimed his largest APT cash. The fourth Japanese player is Akira Hashimoto with 584,000. This is Hashimoto’s first-ever APT cash and it is going to be very memorable no matter where he lands.
Representing Taiwan is Du Ming Tsai with 632,000 in chips. He enters the final day ranked third and in good shape as well with 53 times the opening big blind. Tsai has already surpassed his deepest APT Main Event run of 10th place at APT Philippines 2017.
Hong Kong also has one player fielded with Tsang Dicky Siu Hang running fourth with 617,000 in chips. Hang won a couple of APT side events in Seoul two months ago and is back to claim the big one. This will be his first-ever APT Main Event cash.
Completing the final 8 are Russia’s Eduard Pak and Singapore’s Graeme Siow. Pak entered Day 3 running second in chips and though he didn’t beef up his stack too much from there, he was able to hold on to join the finalists with 552,000 (46 times the big blind). Wherever he lands, it will be his largest live career cash.
As for Siow, he is an APT regular with numerous deep runs in various side events including a victory at a Turbo event at the APT Macau 2017. However, the Main Event title has always eluded him. With 411,000 (34 times the big blind), he is a serious threat despite having the shortest stack.
The Main Event gets underway at 130pm local time. If you are in the area, drop by and catch the action. One player will lift the coveted APT Golden Lion Main Event Trophy, the APT Championship Ring, and the KRW 67,142,000 (~USD 55,300) first prize.
The Dafabet APT Survivor promo is still up for grabs. Several players are vying for the prize – one Main Event seat to APT Philippines 2019 in September.
Good luck to all the players!
Notable players in the money
The Main Event pays out 24 places. Just missing the final table was USA’s Michael Fan busting out in 9th place. Fan had an impressive run picking up his first-ever APT Main Event cash. He entered Day 2 as chip leader then closed that heat third in chips. For his finish, he earned KRW 6,994,000.
Other players in the money were: Tae Hoon Han (11th), Dom Choi (20th), Kevin Song (23rd), and splitting the bottom cash were Diana Koszegi and Xixiang Luo.
Day 3 opener
Day 2 results
Day 1B results
Day 1A results