Superstar Challenge - Day 1

Tianyuan "Terry" Tang

China's Tianyuan "Terry" Tang will take the chip lead into Day 2 of the KRW 30,000,000 Superstar Challenge after he accumulated a stack of 2,580,000 chips which puts him in pole position to win his maiden APT title and get his hands on the exclusive Black Lion trophy.

Of the 36 entries (28 unique), only seven players remain in contention for the title but two of them will go home empty-handed as just five players will make the money and guarantee themselves a payday of at least KRW 96,200,000 (~$69,875).

APT Jeju 2024 continues to break records and the prize pool of KRW 1,012,680,000 (~$735,655) is the richest the Superstar Challenge has generated in South Korea. Prize pool records usually go hand-in-hand with the largest first prize and this is no exception as the KRW 374,700,000 (~$272,160) winner's purse also sets a new APT country record for the tournament.

Tang got off to a flying start moments after he sat down after he flopped a full house with pocket fives and got a full double-up against Kosei Ichinose's ace-deuce, who had flopped trips. The very next level saw Tang eliminate Malaysia's Anson Ewe when they got the chips in the middle on the turn with Ewe holding an overpair to the board with pocket tens. Tang had turned an open-ended straight draw with pocket threes and improved to a set on the river to boost his stack to the one-million chip mark which set him on his way to Day 2.

Thomas Ward

Thomas Ward will bring the second-biggest stack of 1,820,000 chips into Day 2 but had a rollercoaster of a day that saw his stack yoyoing up and down the leaderboard. The player from New Zealand busted Team GG China's Weiran Pu which sent his stack in the right direction mid-way through the day. Ward was all in with ace-five to Joseph Cheong's ace-jack during level fourteen but managed to flop trip fives which kickstarted his recovery and allowed him to make Day 2.

APT Taipei 2024 Main Event winner Daisuke Ogita made it into the final day with 1,505,000 chips, which is good for fourth in the counts. The Japanese player navigated his way through the day comfortably and even managed to burst the final table bubble by eliminating Thailand's Phanlert Sukonthachartnant towards the end of the day.

Taiwanese duo Chi-Jen "Justin" Chu (750,000) & Pete Chen (495,000), who both sit in the top ten on Taiwan's All-Time Money List, also made the final table as did Natural8 Ambassador Danny Tang (325,000), the latter of which is the short stack and has some work to do in order to make the money.

The chip counts for the final seven players can be found below.

The payouts can also be found below.

Play will resume at 12pm local time on Tuesday, April 30 and hand-for-hand updates will be posted on the APT blog to keep you up to date.

The final table will also be live-streamed and is accessible via the APT social media channels or by following the links below.

Youtube

Twitch

Day 1 of the Superstar challenge has come to an end with seven players still in the running.

A full write-up of the day's action will follow shortly.

Hand 30 Joseph Cheong raised to 60,000 from under-the-gun and Justin Chu defended his big blind. On the 3♦ A♠ 4♠ flop, Chu check-called a bet of 50,000 from Cheong. Then 2♣ hit the turn and Chu bet 30,000, which Cheong called. The 6♠ completed the board and both players checked. Chu took it down with A♦ 7♦.

Anson Ewe

Hand 29 Thomas Ward raised from the cutoff to 60,000 and Anson Ewe shoved from the big blind for 490,000. Ward made the call which put Ewe at risk in the second-to-last hand of the day.

Ewe A♦ 8♥

Ward 4♥ 4♣

Ewe didn't connect with the board after it ran 7♣ K♠ 9♠ J♠ Q♦ which kept the pocket fours of Ward in the lead.

Hand 25 Anson Ewe raised to 60,000 and Joseph Cheong made the call from the cutoff. On the A♥ A♦ K♦ flop, both players checked to the T♥ turn. Ewe checked, Cheong bet 60,000, and Ewe called. A 3♥ landed on the river and Ewe led for 225,000, which Cheong called. Ewe showed K♥ T♣ and Cheong tabled the winner with A♣ J♦.

Hand 26 Cheong raised to 60,000 from the hijack and Thomas Ward called from the big blind. The flop came 6♣ J♦ 2♦ and Ward check-folded to a bet from Cheong.

Hand 27 Cheong opened to 60,000 and won the pot.

Hand 28 Daisuke Ogita limped from the small blind and Tianyuan Tang checked his option to see a 5♦ 6♠ Q♠ flop. Ogita bet 30,000 and Tang quickly called. An 8♥ hit the turn which Ogita checked, Tang bet 80,000, and Ogita called. A 3♥ completed the board and Ogita checked again. Tang fired a bet of 250,000 and Ogita made the call. Tang tabled 9♣ 7♦ for the nuts and won the pot as Ogita mucked.

Yuzhu Wang

Hand 24 Justin Chu raised to 60,000 and Pete Chen shoved all in for 155,000. Yuzhu Wang called off his last 230,000 and Chu was priced in and made the call to put two players at risk.

Chen K♦ K♠

Wang K♥ T♠

Chu J♦ T♦

Chen secured a triple-up which also eliminated Wang on the A♣ 3♥ J♥ 3♠ 6♥ runout.

Hand 18 Joseph Cheong min-raised to 60,000 and took down the pot.

Hand 19 Thomas Ward opened the button to 60,000 and Tianyuan Tang called from the big blind. The flop came K♣ J♠ K♥ which Tang checked, Ward bet 30,000, and Tang raised to 90,000. Ward let it go.

Hand 20 Justin Chu raised to 60,000 from under-the-gun and Cheong three-bet to 165,000 from the next seat. Ward then four-bet shoved for 940,000 which got Chu to lay it down. Cheong used a few time-bank chips before he eventually folded.

Hand 21 Yuzhu Wang min-raised to 60,000 and Tianyuan Tang three-bet to 160,000. When the action got back to Wang, he folded.

Hand 22 Danny Tang raised to 60,000 and Ward three-bet to 150,000. Everybody else folded and Ward won the pot.

Hand 23 Danny Tang raised for the second consecutive hand to 60,000 and Justin Chu shoved all in for 555,000 which won him the pot.

Hand 13 Pete Chen raised to 50,000 from under-the-gun and Joseph Cheong called from the big blind. On the 6♥ 8♥ 8♣ flop, Cheong check-called a bet of 40,000 from Chen. An A♠ hit the turn and Cheong check-folded to a bet of 70,000 from Chen.

Hand 14 Daisuke Ogita raised to 50,000 and took down the pot.

Hand 15 Chi-Jen "Justin" Chu raised to 50,000 from the cutoff and won the blinds.

Hand 16 Tianyuan Tang raised to 60,000 and won the pot.

Hand 17 Chen opened to 50,000 from the cutoff and Thomas Ward called from the big blind. The flop came 5♣ Q♠ J♠ and Ward check-called a bet of 40,000 from Chen. On the 8♥ turn, Ward checked and then faced a bet of 75,000 from Chen, which he called. A 6♠ completed the board and both players checked. Ward took it down with Q♣ 4♣ for a pair of queens.

Hand 10 Danny Tang raised to 50,000 from the cutoff and his namesake Tianyuan Tang called from the big blind. On the A♦ 5♣ J♦ flop, Danny bet and Tianyuan snap-folded.

Hand 11 Daisuke Ogita raised to 50,000 on the button and Tianyuan Tang three-bet from the small blind to 175,000. Ogita let it go.

Hand 12 Tianyuan Tang opened to 55,000 from the button and Anson Ewe shoved all in from the small blind for 430,000. Chi-Jen "Justin" Chu shoved from the big blind and Tang made the fold.

Ewe K♣ J♦

Chu A♥ Q♦

The board ran out 7♦ T♠ Q♠ A♠ 6♠ and Ewe's turned straight took down the two pair of Chu.

Thomas Ward

Hand 7 Thomas Ward raised to 50,000 from early position and Danny Tang called from the big blind. Both checked the 5♦ 9♥ 2♥ flop to see the 9♠ turn, which was also checked. The river brought an A♠ and Tang checked it over to Ward, who bet 35,000. Tang folded.

Hand 8 Tianyuan Tang raised to 55,000 from early position and Joseph Cheong made the call in the hijack. Ward called from the big blind and they saw a flop of 7♦ K♦ 3♠. Tang continued for 55,000 once it checked to him and Cheong called, as did Ward. A flush-completing 2♦ hit the turn which both Ward and Tang checked. Cheong fired 120,000 which only Ward called. The river brought a 2♣ and Ward checked, Cheong bet 175,000, and Ward raised all in for 970,000. Cheong laid it down.

Hand 9 Ward opens to 75,000 from the small blind and Daisuke Ogita called from the big blind. The flop fell K♦ J♠ 7♦ and Ward bet 80,000, which Ogita quickly called. A 6♦ landed on the turn and Ward checked it over to Ogita, who fired 225,000. Ward made the call and both saw an 8♥ land on the river. Ward checked again and Ogita bet an even 500,000. After thinking for some time, Ward made the call and mucked when Ogita showed 8♦ 5♦ for a turned flush.