HomeGood .morning to all! We are at the penultimate day of the APT Korea Seoul 2018 here at Paradise Casino in Grand Walkerhill. It is going to be an exciting day with a new Main Event champion due to be crowned! Also running are side events not to be missed… the PLO Hi and the CoinPoker High Rollers Day 1.
Main Event Final 8
Yesterday, 21 players returned to the Main Event arena each one gunning for a seat to the Final 8. After a roller coaster day filled with ups and down and wins and defeats, the official final table was determined. We have a short review below on each of those players and how they earned their seat to the Final 8.
Paul Hong – New Zealand – 2,612,000
Masaki Fujitani – Japan – 1,732,000
Jinwoo Kim – USA – 1,328,000
Hyun Kyu Bae – Canada – 738,000
Roman Shcherbakov – Russia – 652,000
Jason Sun – China – 636,000
Teruhisa Aoyama – Japan – 440,000
Okabe Shoei – Japan – 364,000
One of these fine players will soon become the newest APT Main Event champion. All of them are hunting down their first major APT title. The eventual winner will receive the KRW 36,337,000 first place cash, the APT Main Event Trophy, a customized watch, and the exclusive APT Championship Ring.
Let’s meet the Final 8 players.
Paul Hong – New Zealand – 2,612,000
Leading the Final 8 players is Paul Hong with 2,612,000 in chips. Hong was one of the early bust outs of Day 2 but with late registration still open, he re-entered and closed the day running third in chips. At Day 3, Hong proceeded to eliminate four players: Kelvin Beattie (17th), Sang Gu Kim (16th), Fokin Valeriy (11th), and Shota Masuda (9th).
Masaki Fujitani – Japan – 1,732,000
Masaki Fujitani has been consistent since the start. He entered Day 2 running fourth overall then closed Day 3 ranked 6th out of the 21 survivors. During the unofficial final table with 10 players remaining, Fujitani earned a big pot with his higher set of sixes over Jinwoo Kim’s set of fives. He bagged up the second largest stack of 1,732,000.
Jinwoo Kim – USA – 1,328,000
Out of all the Final 8 players, Jinwoo Kim is the only one who has had prior experience at an APT Main Event final table. Last year, Kim finished 2nd at APT Korea Incheon which is his only live tournament cash to-date. Entering Day 2, Kim went from a very short stack – 84th rank out of 85 players, dropped down further to 5 bbs, then turned it 360 degrees to impressively bag up the largest stack. This was also witnessed at the NLH Welcome Event where he went from 2.5bbs to chip leader. In Day 3, Kim held the lead for most of the day, and eliminated two players: Shin Martin (18th) and Alexander Ugay (14th). He enters the Final 8 in third rank.
Hyun Kyu Bae – Canada – 738,000
At Day 2, Hyun Kyu Bae crushed the hopes of two players in particular; he eliminated APT Main Event champion Albert Paik, and delivered the bubble in Luke Romyn. Hyun was one of the most active players in Day 3, always seen going head-to-head against the big stacks. To help secure his Final 8 seat, Hyun cracked Sachiko Harima’s aces to score a big double up, and later eliminated Lei Chen (12th).
Roman Shcherbakov – Russia – 652,000
Roman Shcherbakov claimed a few heads in Day 3. He railed Wang Wei Ping (19th), Shota Hirao (15th), and Sachiko Harima (13th). He enters the Final 8 with 652,000 ranked 5th in chips.
Jason Sun – China – 636,000
Jason Sun first came in our radar having won a side pot during the 4-way all in at Day 2. He proceeded to climb up the chip rank, even enjoying a brief moment in the leader’s seat after getting full pay with his set of aces against Kawamoto Yuya’s A-K top two pair. In Day 3, Sun knocked out the most decorated and experienced live tournament player of the unofficial final table – Kosei Ichinose. He enters the Final 8 in 6th rank.
Teruhisa Aoyama – Japan – 440,000
Teruhisa Aoyama had a great day at the races in Day 2, bagging up just half a blind shy of the leader Jinwoo Kim. At Day 3, Aoyama had a tougher time; he dipped down well below average stack but stayed in the running after shipping in a double with aces against Sang Gu Kim’s queens. Aoyama was also seen shoving numerous times throughout the day earning himself decent pots including a sizable one against Shota Masuda.
Okabe Shoei – Japan – 364,000
Okabe Shoei’s stack swung wildly throughout Day 3; he started off as one of the shortest, managed to become one of the big stacks at his table, then tumbled down again after losing a thick chunk to Paul Hong’s straight. He brings up the rear with 364,000.
For more details on the exciting Day 3 action, just click on Live Updates. See how players soared and how others fell. We posted as much of the action as we could for your review and enjoyment.
*Final 8 day resumes today – Saturday, June 23 at 130pm. Clock counts down at 44:30 remaining in Level 22 blinds 12K-24K ante 4K. Average stack is 1,062,500. Total chips in play is 8,500,000. Stay with us as we continue to bring you live updates or come on over and watch the action from the rail.
*Additionally, there are two players still in the running for CoinPoker’s “Last Man Standing” promo – chip leader Paul Hong and 5th-ranked Roman Shcherbakov. Both players must wear the CoinPoker patch at the Final 8 to continue eligibility for the prize. One of these players will win a seat to the next APT Main Event.
FINAL 8 seat draw and chip counts
| Rank | Name | Country | Chips | Seat |
| 5 | Roman Shcherbakov | Russia | 652,000 | 1 |
| 1 | Paul Hong (DB) | New Zealand | 2,612,000 | 2 |
| 7 | Teruhisa Aoyama | Japan | 440,000 | 3 |
| 4 | Hyun Kyu Bae | Canada | 738,000 | 4 |
| 8 | Okabe Shoei | Japan | 364,000 | 5 |
| 6 | Jason Sun | China | 636,000 | 6 |
| 2 | Masaki Fujitani | Japan | 1,732,000 | 7 |
| 3 | Jinwoo Kim | USA | 1,328,000 | 8 |
APT Korea Seoul 2018 drew in 170 entries to the Main Event for a prize pool of KRW 164,900,000. A total of 29 players pocket a share of that pie. The featured tournament kicked off on June 19 and will conclude today.
Payouts (9th – 21st)
9th Shota Masuda – Japan – KRW 3,900,000
10th Kosei Ichinose – Japan – KRW 3,348,000
11th Fokin Valeriy – Russia – KRW 3,348,000
12th Lei Chen – China – KRW 2,874,000
13th Sachiko Harima – Japan – KRW 2,874,000
14th Alexander Ugay – Russia – KRW 2,874,000
15th Shota Hirao – Japan – KRW 2,468,000
16th Sang Gu Kim – USA – KRW 2,468,000
17th Kelvin Beattie – Japan – KRW 2,468,000
18th Shin Martin – USA – KRW 2,468,000
19th Wang Wei Ping – China – KRW 2,119,000
20th Pak Vyacheslav – Kazakhstan – KRW 2,119,000
21st Kam Ip Yuk – USA – KRW 2,119,000
Main Event payouts in Day 2
Payouts (22nd-29th)
22nd Chung Iwakura – Japan – KRW 2,119,000
23rd Carlo Calingasan – Philippines – KRW 1,819,000
24th Jae Kyung Ro – USA – KRW 1,819,000
25th Takuya Suzuki – Japan – KRW 1,819,000
26th Ken Okada – Japan – KRW 1,819,000
27th Benedict Koh – Singapore – KRW 1,819,000
28th Otsubo Yosuke – Japan – KRW 1,819,000
29th Ognjen Jakara – Bosnia – KRW 1,819,000
SIDE EVENTS today, Saturday, June 23
For those not in the main, enjoy more fantastic games this weekend. Running alongside the Final 8 are two high caliber side events equipped with the best structures in the region. You can view the format here.
PLO Hi: starts at 2pm – Buyin KRW 550,000
CoinPoker High Rollers: starts at 3pm – Buyin KRW 2,150,000
Full APT Korea Seoul 2018 schedule
Han Min Cho wins the Ante Only
Han Min Cho, Ante Only winner
Han Min Cho made waves once again. Last night, Cho went from half a big blind at the Deep Stack Turbo event (and still far from the money) all the way up to 3rd place. He returned to the tournament scene tonight and topped the 14 player entry Ante Only Turbo event. He defeated Takuya Suzuki at heads up to capture his first APT event trophy.
Payouts
1st Han Min Cho – Taiwan – KRW 1,181,000
2nd Takuya Suzuki – Japan – KRW 550,000
3rd Anthony Trujillo – USA – KRW 306,000
Links:
APT Korea Seoul 2018 Event Results
APT Player of the Series race update
Festival winners:
Stephane Blouin: NLH Welcome Event
John Young Lee: Ante Up for Charity
Kelvin Beattie: Main Event Warm Up
Calvin Lee: PLO High Rollers
Andrew An: No Limit Hold’em 1
Artur Gaynanov: Head Hunter
Anthony Trujillo: Super Deep Stack Turbo
Stephen Nathan: No Limit Hold’em 1
Andrew Lunde: WeLoveSport Deep Stack Turbo
Eric Ahn: Deep Stack Turbo 1
Ryan Park: No Limit Hold’em 2