APPT Main Event ($1,750)

Nguyen Hoa Thinh of Vietnam opens the action from UTG for 8,000 and gets re-raised on the +1 position by Korea’s Kim Seongje to 24,000. Nguyen calls.

The flop is A 7 3 as the Vietnamese player checks. Kim continues for 12,000 but gets check-raised to 37,000 and still calls. The turn is a J as Nguyen takes over the betting lead for 76,000. The Korean shoves his remaining 101,000 and gets a quick call from Nguyen.

Kim shows A 9 for top pair while Nguyen turns over A 3 for two-pair on the flop. Needing the board to pair or draw a nine, a 5 came on the river to knockout Kim and bring the chip lead back to Nguyen after losing it briefly a few hands back.

In a heavily contested hand that shows a board of 2♣ 4♥ 8♣ J♥ 5♣ and with 30,000 already in the middle, China’s Zhang Lei checks and Kim Seongje of Korea unloads a 13,000 river bet that still gets called.

Kim shows K♥ J♠ for top pair on the turn. Zhang opts to muck and win gives the Korean some much needed artillery as the final level stretches on.

China’s Ye Zhifan opens from the lowjack for 3,000 and gets calls from Leo Soma of France in the cutoff and Korean Kim Seongje on the button before anther Chinese player in Mao Renji makes a bid to pilfer all the dead money from the SB by 3-betting to 20,000.

It works as everyone folds.