Massive field taking shape at the APL Main Event in Beijing

Poker is in full swing at the Beijing Poker Club with the second edition of the Asia Poker League (APL) burning hot the past two days. Scheduled to run for seven days, from April 15th-21st, the series features a highly affordable Main Event, which only costs CNY 5,500 to enter (approx. US$800), plus thirteen side events.

The Main Event has already cleared two out of the seven days of action with a fantastic turnout of 284 players – 127 players for Day 1A and 157 for Day 1B – and as it stands, there were a combined 75 players that advanced into Day 2.

Last year, the first APL Beijing Main Event attracted 465 players, which is currently the number they are looking to overtake. With three more starting flights to follow and players allowed a maximum of two re-entries each, they are well on their way to achieving that goal. Additionally, the host venue, the Beijing Poker Club has previously succeeded in attracting huge numbers with an enormous 1568 field at one of the Beijing Poker Cup events (though with a smaller buy-in).

We will post the final tally, including the prize pool and payouts by Wednesday, at the end of Day 1E. Below is a short recap and the top ten chip counts of Day 1A and Day 1B.

Day 1A leaders

The first entry flight saw 32 players make the cut with Yang Tao storming to the top of the charts with 245,300 at bagging. Zhao Yu also survived the heat with a stack of 92,500. Yu made last year’s final table and finished in a respectable 7th place. One well known player at the felt was last year’s champion, Jing Wang. Wang was seen eager to defend his title however the champ couldn’t hold on to any of his chips.

Top 10 chip counts – Day 1A

1 – Yang Tao – 245,300
2 – Liu Shi Hao – 155,900
3 – Liu Zhong Shen – 151,900
4 – Wang Jian – 144,500
5 – Liu Zhi Yong – 139,200
6 – Guan Hai Teng – 116,600
7 – Xu Chen Yi – 114,700
8 – Fu Liang – 113,700
8 – He Wei – 113,700
10 – Wang Liang – 104,800

Day 1B leaders

The second entry flight saw more notable Chinese players in the field such as poker pro Zhou Quan, ranked 5th in China, who recently won the PokerStars Championship Macau HK$206K buy-in NLH High Roller event; pro Wei Guoliang, who won the Tencent Poker Tournament Sanya Main Event back in December; pro Chen Hao who won the WPT National China (Sanya) Main Event in late October 2016; and Changting Chen aka Peggy, a regular on the Asian circuit. All of them however would fail to advance.

For the 43 remaining players at the end of the night, it was Wang Peng on top with 222,400 in chips. Notable players also making it through were Yao Hui with a healthy stack of 157,200, and Chen Guangcheng with less at 72,500.

Top 10 chip counts – Day 1B

1 – Wang Peng – 222,400
2 – Cao Yuliang – 197,000
3 – Qi Wentao – 170,500
4 – Yao Hui – 157,200
5 – Shen Chao – 122,100
6 – Fan Chunsan – 116,900
7 – He Rui – 114,900
8 – Kong Xiaodui – 107,400
9 – Fu Bo – 103,000
10 – Ma Rao – 101,000

International Contingents

There were several international players who made the trip over however only a few of them decided to enter the Main Event. Among those who finished with chips to bag were two Korean nationals, Seakyun Yoon and Tae Joon Cho.

Side Events

Running alongside the main was an NLH Re-entry side event with a CNY 2,200 buy-in. There were 52 entries for a prize pool of CNY 104,000 (approx. US$15,096). Here are the payouts:

1st Su Jie – CNY 34,300 (approx. US$4,979)
2nd Wang Xuefei – CNY 21,800
3rd Cai Guangcheng – CNY 14,500
4th Wu Can – CNY 11,500
5th Li Zhe – CNY 8,300
6th Pu Weiran – CNY 7,300
7th Alex Park – CNY 6,300

More action to come

In addition to the main, there are some side events to surely look forward to. The CNY 22,000 buy-in High Roller event has already held two satellites with the game getting underway on Tuesday, April 18th.

Other variety of events on the roster include:

Event 4: Heads Up 64 players max – CNY 5,500 entry fee – Monday, April 17th
Event 5: KO Bounty (1,000 RMB per kill) – CNY 4,400 entry fee – Monday, April 17th
Event 6: Pot Limit Omaha – CNY 2,200 entry fee – Tuesday, April 18th
Event 10: Team Tournament – CNY 4,000 entry fee – Wednesday, April 19th
Event 12: Deep Stack (2-day event) – CNY 7,700 entry fee – Thursday, April 20th

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More: Asia Poker League Reloaded – Schedule

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Somuchpoker is on site and will continue to bring you updates on all the action throughout the event.

Article by Triccia David