HomeTaiwan’s Zong Chi He is the Asian Poker Tour‘s newest Main Event champion! He started the final 8 race in fourth rank and finished the day with all the chips. Zong was awarded the APT Main Event Trophy, APT Championship Ring, and the lion’s share TWD 1,949,000 (~USD 63,500).
APT Taiwan 2019 – Main Event – got underway at the Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Association on October 10 and ran for six days. The featured event pulled in 285 entries for a prize pool of TWD 8,293,500 (~USD 270,400). 29 players earned a share of the pot with the largest cuts claimed today.
The final 8 race streamed live and has been uploaded in APT Twitch for your viewing pleasure. You can also read up on the previous days action via the Live Updates.
Final 8 recap
The final 8 players returned today for the last leg to the Main Event title. Entering with a commanding stack of 2,231,00 (111 bbs) was Singapore’s Ho Bao Qiang. To give you an idea how large that was, there were 7,125,000 total chips.
Ho Bao Qiang
Within the first two hours of play, the short stacks departed: Wilson Lim (8th), Shao Hung Lee (7th), and Roman Shcherbakov (6th). Chia Yun Wu followed in 5th place but not before doubling up with A♣ A♥ on a board 5♦ 8♣ 9♦ 9♣ 5♠ through leader Qiang who had 8♠ 6♣. Chia later fell to Jinho Hong with A♠ 7♣ unable to improve against A♣ 10♣.
Shao Hung Lee out in 7th place
Midway into the third hour, Wei-En Shih shipped a double up with 4-4 holding against A-10. Once again it was Qiang paying causing his status to slide down to second rank while Zong Che Hi quietly took the lead.
Into the fourth hour, Qiang was sent to the rail in brutal fashion. On a turn board 7♣ 8♣ A♠ 9♠, big blind Hong check-raised all in with K♠ 7♠ flush draw, Qiang snap-called with the nuts J♦ 10♠ straight. However, the river was unkind to the Singaporean pro with a 4♠ spiked to complete Hong’s flush. This big win skyrocketed Hong to top rank with three players remaining.
Heads up was reached within ten minutes of Qiang’s elimination. Shih called for his tournament life on a turn board Q♠ 5♣ 10♦ 6♦ holding A♦ 6♥ but Zong had better with 10♥ 8♥. The river 9♥ secured the win for Zong and Shih 3rd place.
The final duel began with Hong at 4.7m and Zong at 2.425m. After an hour of play, Hong distanced himself further climbing to 5.5m. Then the tides turned. Zong won two big pots without a showdown to tighten the gap then took the lead with J♣ 9♠ two pair on a board 4♥ Q♥ 9♦ 2♦ J♠. From there, he pulled away earning every weighted pot.
One of the biggest he claimed saw Hong with aggressive bets only to fold to a check-raise from Zong on a board K♣ Q♣ 3♣ A♥. Hong showed his hand A♠ J♥ which was a good fold with Zong returning the gesture showing 3♦ 3♠ set.
The final hand soon arrived with Hong all in holding K♠ 4♠ and Zong challenging with 5♥ 5♠. When the board ran 8♥ A♠ 4♣ 10♥ 2♦ it was game over. Hong settled for 2nd place and Zong lifted the trophy.
Congratulations to Zong Chi He! He is the newest APT Main Event champion! He now takes the lead in the APT Player of the Series race.
APT Player of the Series standings
Final 8 payouts
1st Zong Chi He – Taiwan – TWD 1,949,900
2nd Jinho Hong – Korea – TWD 1,299,700
3rd Wei-En Shih – Taiwan – TWD 903,500
4th Ho Bao Qiang – Singapore – TWD 652,600
5th Chia Yun Wu – Taiwan – TWD 488,000
6th Roman Shcherbakov – Russia – TWD 376,700
7th Shao Hung Lee – Taiwan – TWD 299,100
8th Wilson Lim – Singapore – TWD 243,700