The HK$2 Million GTD Main Event during the 2018 APT Championships Macau finished Wednesday with Hung Sheng Lin winning the trophy and the first place prize of HK$587,000. This was just one of the many tournaments during the current season of the Asian Poker Tour which is still underway at the Babylon Casino in Macau.
With an impressive entry field of 377 players, the HK$11,000 Buy-in Main Event surpassed its guarantee by more than HK$1.5 million, totalling HK$3,619,200 after late registration was closed. The event kicked off Saturday, April 28, and reached its culmination on Wednesday when Day 4 saw eight finalists fighting for the lion’s share of over half a million. A total of 63 poker players finished in the money and among them, there were familiar names such as Piet Pape (9th), Phachara Wongwichit (10th), Yoichi Uesugi (13th), Tetsuya Tsuchikawa (27th), Zhang Chenxu (32nd), Lim Min Soon (34th), Park Yu Sparrow Cheung (39th), and En Ching Wu (49th). Norwegian poker pro Henrik Tollefsen also took part in the tournament, finishing 60th.
Russia’s Evgeny Kurilenko entered as chip leader on the final day but soon lost some of his chips to Hung Sheng Lin from Taiwan. The first player to hit the rails was China’s Wang Meng who finished 8th and took home HKD 79,300. Lin eliminated Hiroshi Matsumoto (7th, HK$93,700) from Japan and later took all of Hele Liu’s chips (China), who banked HK$146,900 for his 5th place. Before him, Japanese grinder Toshimitsu Kamei busted in 6th place, receiving HK$115,100. The next player to leave the table was Wang Jun (4th, HK$195,800) from China who was sent home by Kurilenko. Lin then started shaving down the stacks of both the Russian player and of Hong Kong’s Sai Ho Philip Chiu.
Chiu (3rd, HK$271,100) could not keep up and was eventually defeated, leaving Lin and Kurilenko to compete for the 2018 APT Macau Championships Main Event trophy. Lin dominated in the final heads-up, winning several big pots in a row while at the end, his two pairs (Jacks and eights) defeated Kurilenko’s single pair of Jacks. Taking the runner-up position, Evgeny Kurilenko banked a nice consolation prize of HK$391,200, while the winner took home the trophy and the first place cash reward of HK$587,000 (approx. US$74,780).
2018 APT Macau Championships Event
The poker festival that is currently running at Macau Billionaire Poker in Babylon Casino launched its HK$22,000 Buy-in Championships Event on Wednesday. During the two starting days, it attracted 89 poker players who contributed to the total prize pool of over HK$1.7 million. The amount is expected to climb as late registrations are open Friday. Chinese players were dominating, with Xian Xiao emerging as the overall chip leader with 268,700 in chips, followed by Jinqiong Shi (237,200) and Shi Zhikui (194,000).
Next in the chip count are Tso Wei from Hong Kong with 159,700, Chinese pro Guo Dong with 146,000, and Kazuhiko Yotsushika from Japan who has 133,000 in chips. Other players who are returning to their seats today for Day 2 of the Championships Event include APT Macau Main Event champion Hung Sheng Lin, as well as finalists from last year’s final table such as Michael Soyza, Park Yu Cheung Sparrow, En Ching Wu, and Justin Pak Kwan Chan.
