HomeChina’s Zhou Yueyang entered the Final 8 running third in chips, proceeded to eliminate five players to seize the last APT Main Event title of 2019. This was Zhou’s first-ever live victory. He was awarded the APT Main Event champion’s trophy, the APT Championship Ring, and a large payday of NT$ 2,138,200 (~US$ 70,000).
“I feel amazing! This is my first time in Taiwan and I came to play the Main Event.”
The NT$ 33,000 buy-in Main Event drew 319 entries to partner / host venue Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Association for a prize pool of NT$ 9,282,900 (~US$ 304,000). The money flowed in Day 3. The bigger cuts were claimed today. The final race streamed live and has been uploaded on APT Twitch and APT YouTube. We also have a recap below.
Final 8 payouts
1st Zhou Yueyang – China – NT$ 2,138,200
2nd Hsiao Yun Yang – Taiwan – NT$ 1,425,500
3rd Takao Shimizu – Japan – NT$ 991,000
4th Hwang Sang Yeon – Hong Kong SAR – NT$ 715,800
5th Luke Kuang Hung Lee – Taiwan – NT$ 535,300
6th Hsu Piying – Taiwan – NT$ 413,100
7th Jeff Davis – USA – NT$ 328,100
8th Lau King Lun Alan – Hong Kong SAR – NT$ 267,300
Final 8 recap
Action got underway with Hsu Piying aka Billy (seat 2) quickly doubling up through second chip leader Hsiao Yun Yang (seat 1) with K♣ K♠ full house. This bumped up his short stack to 20 bbs. Hong Kong pro Lau King Lun Alan (seat 3) was not as fortunate. He three-bet all in with K♦ Q♠, got called by initial raiser Hwang Sang Yeon (chip leader) with A♦ 7♣, then missed the board to exit first in 8th place.
Hwang Sang Yeon
Zhou Yueyang (seat 4) claimed his first victim by denying USA’s Jeff Davis (seat 6) in 7th place. Davis had K♥ Q♥, Zhou dominated with A♦ 9♣, the board 8♠ 5♥ Q♠ A♣ 4♣. Joining to the rail was Billy who shoved with K♣ 10♣ on a flop 9♣ 4♣ K♠ but chip leader Hwang delivered the bad news with K♥ Q♦ higher kicker. The turn 5♦ and river K♦ ended Billy in 6th place. Hwang shipped it and amassed a monster lead.
Lee swings at five-handed
Five-handed ran for 3.5 hours. During that time, Luke Kuang Hung Lee (seat 5) landed two double ups to bring his stack to fighting form. He won a flip against Hsiao with A♥ Q♣ pairing the ace to overtake pocket sixes. Several hands later, he banged heads with Hwang and caught a lucky one card flush to climb to second ran. Lee had A♥ Q♦, Hwang A♣ K♥, the cards spread K♦ 8♦ 7♣ 4♦ 10♦.
Luke Kuang Hung Lee
With Hwang and Hsiao taking hits, Takao Shimizu (seat 8) took the lead winning pots with hardly a showdown. Lee pressed on by winning a big pot holding A♣ J♦ against Zhou K♠ Q♦. Zhou triple barreled on a board 2♠ 3♠ 6♣ 2♣ A♥, Lee called it down. This sent Zhou down the totem pole alongside Hwang.
However, Lee’s rise was put to a stop. Hsiao retaliated from his earlier loss and doubled up with A♦ A♠ to Lee’s K♠ 7♣. Lee continued to head south then met Zhou again to end his run in 5th place. Zhou A♥ 6♠, Lee Q♦ 10♥, the flop granted Lee a pair but it didn’t hold. The board was 2♠ 10♣ 9♠ 7♦ A♦ for a higher pair rivered by Zhou.
Zhou rushes to triumph
Immediately after, Hwang bit the bullet in 4th place. He was all in with A♣ 6♠, challenged by Zhou with J♥ 10♠, the board ran K♥ 4♥ 9♠ J♠ 2♦. Three remaining, Hsiao doubled up his short stack through Shimizu with A♦ J♥ over 8♠ 6♠ on a board 4♦ 9♠ A♠ 7♣ 3♣. Then Shimizu bumped the rail in 3rd place with A♥ 8♠ running into Zhou’s A♣ A♦.
Entering heads up, Zhou had a near 10:1 chip lead. Hsiao doubled up twice with the second one a gorgeous straight flush. Hsiao 7♣ 5♣, Zhou A♠ 8♥, the run out 8♣ 4♣ 5♦ A♥ 6♣. Two hands later, it was all over. Zhou limped, Hsiao checked. Hsiao triple barreled the board A♣ Q♦ 3♥ 10♣ 2♦. Zhou shoved on the river. Hsiao tanked then called for his tournament life with Q♣ 3♠ two pair. Zhou had him with A♠ Q♠ higher two pair.
Congratulations to Zhou Yueyang! He captured the last APT Main Event title of 2019 and his largest-ever live score! He jumped to the lead in the APT Player of the Series race.
APT Player of the Series standings
Full APT Finale Taiwan 2019 event results