APT Taiwan 2019: Zong Chi He ships the Main Event; early winners include Daniel Tang and Mike Takayama

Poker is buzzing in Taiwan with the Asian Poker Tour hosting their ninth festival of the year at the Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Association. APT Taiwan 2019 kicked off on October 9 and is scheduled to conclude on October 21. At this time, half of the games have been won and the Championships Event is underway. Two days ago, the Main Event was captured by local pro Zong Chi He. We have the highlights including all the side winners to date: Daniel Tang, Mike Takayama, Philip Wang, and more. Have a read below.

Main Event: Zong Chi He – NT$ 1,949,900 (~US$ 63,600)

The Main Event ran a course of six days, from October 10 to 15, drawing 285 entries for a prize pool of NT$ 8,293,500 (~US$ 270,400). At ten percent payout, 29 players gained. Taiwan’s own Zong Chi He earned the enviable first place purse worth NT$ 1,949,900 (~US$ 63,600) for his victory.

Zong is having a tremendous year on the poker green. Back in April he triumphed at the first-ever Hong Kong Poker Players Association (HKPPA) Premier League Main Event in Taiwan then in late-July, he won the Taiwan Millions Tournament (TMT) Main Event. Now on his third Main Event victory, Zong pocketed his largest live tournament cash and crossed over US$ 150K in live earnings.

Winner story and brief recap

Reviewing the action at the end of Day 2, Zong was in everyone’s radar having bagged a stack second only to Korea’s Jinho Hong. In Day 3, both players went on to reach the Final 8 table, Singapore’s Ho Bao Qiang led the race. The bid for the title heated up when it was down to the last four players: Qiang, Hong, Zong, and Shih Wei-En. All four started the day with the largest stacks and all of them held the chip lead at one time throughout the tournament.

Hong stole the lead after knocking out Qiang in 4th place. Hong shoved on the turn with , Qiang snap-called with . The brutal river came to crack Qiang’s straight with the flush. Shih fell in 3rd place to Zong and it was heads up with Hong ahead nearly 2:1.

Within the first hour, Hong widened the gap between them, then the momentum shifted. Zong picked up multiple big pots to slide into the leader’s seat. Once there, he never relinquished. The final hand saw Hong push with that failed to defeat Zong’s .

In addition to this win, Zong cashed in 3rd place at the Monster Stack 1 opener. For runner-up Hong, this was another impressive performance at the APT. At APT Philippines 2019 last month, Hong cashed in four events, one of which was a victory, and two near wins at the High Rollers.

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

Other notable players reaching the money were: Tetsuya Tsuchikawa (12th), defending champion Chow Cliff (14th), and Guo Dong (20th).

Event #2: Monster Stack 1 – Daniel Tang – NT$ 448,200 (~US$ 14,500)

The Monster Stack 1 opened the series and coming out with a bang was Hong Kong pro Daniel Tang overcoming a field of 127 entries to pocket NT$ 448,200. Although this was nowhere near the seven-figures he has won this year at the WSOP and Triton, it was still his first-ever APT victory.

Prior to his triumph, Tang nearly met his end during the bubble round against Philip Wang. But as luck would have it, with all the chips in at the flop, he caught a runner runner two pair to avoid elimination. Tang had , Wang , the board .

Once the final table was reached, Tang brought in one of the largest stacks. He seesawed until a triple up at five-handed sent him to the driver’s seat. From there, he proceeded to knock out each player to face Wang at heads up as chip leader. Tang went on to victory with over on a dry board. With this win, Tang inches closer to frontrunner Stanley Choi in the Hong Kong All Time Money List.

Final 8 payouts
Prize pool: NT$ 1,847,800 (~US$ 60,000) – Buyin: NT$ 16,500 (~US$ 540) – Entries: 127 – ITM: 22 places

1st Daniel Tang – Hong Kong – NT$ 448,200
2nd Philip Wang – Taiwan – NT$ 298,700
3rd Chun Kit Leung – China – NT$ 207,700
4th Chan Tsun Ming – Hong Kong – NT$ 150,000
5th Wang Chien Yu – Taiwan – NT$ 112,200
6th Chung Wei Lee – Taiwan – NT$ 86,600
7th Chia Yun Wu – China – NT$ 68,700
8th Park Yu “Sparrow” Cheung – Hong Kong – NT$ 56,000

Mike Takayama wins back to back events

Filipino pro Mike Takayama is always a big threat at any poker green and at the series, he displayed prowess shipping back to back events. His first takedown was at the NT$ 11,000 buy-in Head Hunter event overcoming the 75 runners to pocket NT$ 159,800 (~US$ 5,200) along with 12 bounties worth NT$ 2,000 each. Takayama knocked out six players at the final table of 8.

Final 8 payouts
1st Mike Takayama – Philippines – NT$ 159,800
2nd Frederik Kerckhof – Belgium – NT$ 106,700
3rd Zong Chi He – China – NT$ 74,200
4th Wilson Lim – Singapore – NT$ 53,600
5th Kan Ming Zhou – Singapore – NT$ 40,100
6th Ma Chun Yu – China – NT$ 30,900
7th Long Ip Seng – China – NT$ 24,500
8th Lee Chang Gon – Korea – NT$ 20,000

Immediately after the win, Takayama jumped in the already ongoing High Rollers Single Day event as one of the 48 entries putting up the NT$ 54,000 (~US$ 1,700). The prize pool came to NT$ 727,500 (~USD 23,700) with 13 players paid.

Unlike the Head Hunter event, Takayama had a rough climb. He averted the bubble when his dominated hand ended on a split pot with Wayne Heung. At three-handed, he was able to break the short stack struggle and catapulted to chip leader on a double up through Kazuhiko Yotsushika. From there, he proceeded to eliminate the players in his path to grab his second title.

Payouts
1st Mike Takayama – Philippines – NT$ 730,500
2nd Ko Hsing Ni – Taiwan – NT$ 487,000
3rd Kazuhiko Yotsushika – Japan – NT$ 338,600
4th Wu Yu Jui – Taiwan – NT$ 244,500
5th Ting Heng Kai – Taiwan – NT$ 182,900
6th Chung Yuan Yu – Taiwan – NT$ 141,100
7th Wilson Lim – Singapore – NT$ 112,100
8th Wayne Heung – Hong Kong – NT$ 91,300

Event #5: Pot Limit Omaha Hi – Philip Wang – TWD 115,700 (~US$ 3,800)

For those following the race for the Most Cashes in 2019, Taiwanese pro Philip Wang is currently running 2nd to Hong Kong’s Edward Chun Ho Yam. Excluding this series, Wang is only 10 cashes behind Yam. He is fast tightening that gap though adding in a few more cashes the past days.

Wang placed 2nd at the Monster Stack 1 (won by Daniel Tang), 5th at the Short Deck event, and championed the Pot Limit Omaha Hi event for NT$ 115,700 (~US$ 3,800). His combined winnings amounted to NT$ 474,400 (~US$ 15,500).

PLO Hi – Payouts
1st Philip Wang – Taiwan – NT$ 115,700
2nd Chi Chung Ho – Hong Kong – NT$ 77,000
3rd Patrick Pun Hang – Portugal – NT$ 53,500
4th Tsai Tsan Lung – Taiwan – NT$ 38,700
5th Ching Ling Chu – Taiwan – NT$ 28,900
6th Itzak Tamir – Israel – NT$ 22,300
7th Liang Chih Ying – Taiwan – NT$ 17,700
8th Iori Yogo – Japan – NT$ 14,400
9th Yik Yin “Ray” Chiu – Hong Kong – NT$ 12,000

Event #8: High Rollers – Hwang Sang Yeon – NT$ 1,071,400 (~US$ US$ 35,000)

The largest side event pot of NT$ 3,414,000 (~US$ 111,300) was generated at the High Rollers with 44 heavyweights shelling out the NT$ 86,000 (~US$ 2,800) buy-in. The top 8 players got a piece of the pie. Among them were Yang Zhang (7th) and Sparrow Park Yu Cheung (8th). Claiming the lion’s share was Hong Kong’s Hwang Sang Yeon after a commanding performance at the final 8 table. Hwang knocked out five of his opponents to pocket the NT$ 1,071,400 first prize, his biggest score of the year.

Payouts
1st Hwang Sang Yeon – Hong Kong – NT$ 1,071,400
2nd Chi Jen Chu – China – NT$ 714,300
3rd Pan Cheng How – Taiwan – NT$ 496,600
4th Kannapong Thanarattrakul – Thailand – NT$ 358,600
5th Wang Wuyi – China – NT$ 268,200
6th Chan Tsun Ming – Hong Kong – NT$ 207,000
7th Yang Zhang – China – NT$ 164,400
8th Park Yu Cheung – Hong Kong – NT$ 133,900

Event #12: High Rollers Single Day – Ho Bao Qiang – NT$ 868,000

62 heavy hitters attacked the High Rollers Single Day felt. At NT$ 54,000 each, the NT$ 3,007,000 (~USD 98,000) pot brought about a hefty first prize NT$ 868,000 (~US$ 28.200) well worth fighting for. Recognizable pros bared their skills on the table and in the end it was Singapore’s Ho Bao Qiang capturing the victory. This was another impressive finish for Qiang who jumped in after placing 4th at the Main Event. In combined winnings, Qiang is up to NT$ 1.5 million (~US$ 49,000).

Payouts
1st Ho Bao Qiang – Singapore – NT$ 868,000
2nd Mike Takayama – Philippines – NT$ 578,600
3rd Yang Zhang – China – NT$ 402,200
4th Lee Kun Han – Taiwan – NT$ 290,500
5th Wei Cheng Yin – Taiwan – NT$ 217,300
6th Sheng Chien Cheng – Taiwan – NT$ 167,700
7th Nathalie Siew Po – Malaysia – NT$ 133,200
8th Chi Chung Ho – Hong Kong – NT$ 108,500
9th Graeme Siow Wei Lik – Singapore – NT$ 90,400
10th Kwun Li – Hong Kong – NT$ 75,300
11th Kwok Ting Shum – Hong Kong – NT$ 75,300

Other events

Event #6: No Limit Hold’em Single Day
Buy-in: NT$ 7,700 (~US$ 250)
Entries: 92 entries
Prize pool: NT$ 624,700 (~US$ 20,300)
Winner: Chi Kwon Li Su (Costa Rica) – NT$ 109,500 (~US$ 3,500)

Event #7: No Limit Hold’em
Buy-in: NT$ 9,900 (~US$ 320)
Entries: 123
Prize pool: NT$ 1,073,800 (~US$ 35,000_
Winner: Park Yu “Sparrow” Cheung (Hong Kong) – NT$ 175,700 (~US$ 5,700)

Event #9: Short Deck
Buy-in: NT$ 9,900 (~US$ 320)
Entries: 43
Prize pool: NT$ 375,400 (~USD 12,000)
Winner: San Yi Hsiao – NT$ 79,800 (~US$ 2,600)

Event #11: Pot Limit Omaha Hi
Buy-in: NT$ 11,000 (~US$ 360)
Entries: 43
Prize pool: NT$ 417,100 (~USD 13,600)
Winner: Kristof Segers – NT$ 112,300 (~US$ 3,700)

Article by Tricia David