The APT Korea Incheon Championships held in Paradise City from August 8 to August 19 concluded with the Japanese contingent raking in a majority of trophies. Earlier in the festival, Iori Yogo won the Main Event and Masato Yokosawa took the CoinPoker Super High Rollers.
During the latter part of the series, USA’s Jaepil You stepped in and denied a Japan victory at the second featured event, defeating Tamon Nakamura at heads up of the Championships Event. However, wrapping it all up, it was Japan once again with Inotsume Kazuma earning the APT Player of the Series title. We’ve got those closing stories below.
USA’s Jaepil You wins the Championships Event
The ₩1,650,000 buy-in Championships Event attracted 148 entries for a prize pool of ₩215,430,000 (US$192,000). While there were a significant number of notable players in attendance such as Iori Yogo, Samad Razavi, Pete Yen Han Chen, Aaron Lim, Yuri Ishida, and Tetsuya Tsuchikawa, none of them would advance past Day 2.
Instead, it was Japan’s Hideki Izutsu dominating the felt on the first two freezeout stages. Izutsu claimed the chip lead at the end of Day 2 and Day 3 to enter the Final 8 at the helm. This was an impressive showing for Izutsu who entered the live tournament scene just this year and was already looking to ship in his third title. He won two AJPC – Asian Circuit events in Incheon back in May.
Also in the Final 8 were two highly decorated players, Taiwan’s Hung Sheng Lin and New Zealand’s Tae Hoon Han. Han won the PokerStars Festival Korea Main Event in Incheon last year, and also had a previous APT side event win in Seoul. Lin, on the other, was seeking his second APT championship title with his first victory just months ago at the APT Philippines Main Event.
However, the race was not theirs to win. Han fell in 8th place then Lin followed in 4th place. It was at this point that USA’s Jaepil You began to rise. He eliminated Izutsu in 3rd place then proceeded to dominate the heads up round against Japan’s Tamon Nakamura. Despite Nakamura surviving three called shoves, his fourth one ended the tournament with You sending him out in 2nd place. You earned his first live tournament career title and ₩49,770,000 (~US$44,350).
Final 8 payouts
Prizepool: ₩215,640,000 – Buyin: ₩1,650,000 – Entries: 148 – ITM: 25 places
1st Jaepil You – USA – ₩49,770,000
2nd Tamon Nakamura – Japan – ₩33,181,000
3rd Hideki Izutsu – Japan – ₩23,166,000
4th Hung Sheng Lin – Chinese Taipei – ₩16,863,000
5th Hiroyuki Yoshimura – Japan – ₩12,744,000
6th Naoki Morita – Japan – ₩9,961,000
7th Hyun Kyu Bae – Canada – ₩8,023,000
8th Taehoon Han – New Zealand – ₩6,636,000
Japan’s Inotsume Kazuma wins the APT Player of the Series
The APT Player of the Series race is one of the APT’s most sought after titles. Players that usually win this have deep runs in multiple events. Out of the 21 events of the series, Japan’s Inotsume Kazuma accrued the highest number of points – 953.28 – cashing in an impressive six events. He was awarded the 1st place title, trophy, exclusive watch, and US$800. Below are his list of achievements:
32nd Main Event – ₩1,523,000
21st Championships Event – ₩2,654,000
2nd CoinPoker High Rollers – ₩21,486,000
5th Welcome Event – ₩1,064,000
4th Super Deep Stack Turbo – ₩2,450,000
9th Deep Stack Hyper Turbo – ₩246,000
Taking 2nd place was Hong Kong’s Edward Yam Chun Ho with 817.90 points and in 3rd was fellow countryman Lam Cheuk Nam with 812.49 points. Both players won trophies and US$100.
Article by Tricia David
Louis Hartwell
Graduated in Media Communication at the University of Lausanne, Louis Hartman is a co-founder of somuchpoker.com. He began his career in Cambodia as freelance journalist. In same time he was making his living by playing poker every night at that time. Intense learner, he read dozens of poker strategy books to improve his skills during many years. With a strong interest about poker "behind the scene" in Asia and his communication skills, Louis launched Somuchpoker in 2014.
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