After three intense days of poker inside Paradise City Casino, we are down to the final 16 players of the KRW 1.3 billion (~USD $1 million) guaranteed APT Incheon Main Event. A total of 930 entries were made during this Main Event, smashing the tour’s country record.
The final 16 players are playing for a share of the KRW 1,867,347,000 (~USD $1,413,000) prize pool. The 16 players who made it to Day 4 are guaranteed a payday of KRW 15,300,000 (~USD $11,570), while the winner of this event will walk away with the top prize of KRW 346,647,000 (~USD $262,090) and the prestigious golden lion trophy.
You can follow the action through the APT live stream:
So, who are our final 16 players and what interesting poker CV’s can our Day 4 players present? The players are categorized from the largest stack size to the smallest stack size:
- Shoichiro Tamaki
Country: Japan
Chip Count: 6,740,000
Japan’s Shoichiro Tamaki is our Day 4 chip leader after he doubled up twice through Veleriy Pak in the last level of the day. In the first double up Tamaki’s pocket kings stood strong versus the Uzbeki’s pocket sevens; the second double up saw the duo saw the Japanese player holding ace-king and spiking an ace on the river to beat Pak’s pocket jacks. Tamaki will bring 6,740,000 into the final day – worth 84 big blinds. Tamaki has a total of $4,288 in live tournament cashes to his record. Most of this was won during this series when he finished runner-up in a Midnight Tick Tock Event for KRW 5,120,000 (~$3,875).
- Abraham Ceesvin
Country: Singapore
Chip Count: 6,210,000
For Abraham Ceesvin this series has been a massive success after making three final tables already. The Singaporean banked his biggest-ever live tournament score after finishing fourth in the Superstar Challenge for KRW 89,920,000 (~$67,917). On top of that Ceesvin won a Single Day High Roller for KRW 37,398,000 (~$28,263) and scored a 5th place finish in a Turbo event for KRW 750,000 for $566. Ceesvin’s total live poker earnings of $159,818 could more than double if he wins this year's Main Event.
- Tsz To Wan
Country: China
Chip Count: 3,170,000
Wan was able to stay under the radar most of the day. The Chinese player did have lady luck on his side when a big part of stack went into the middle with ace-king versus the pocket kings of the Netherlands’ Martijn Gerrits. Wan hit a deuce on the turn to spike a wheel. Wan has a total live tournament earnings of $28,984. Making it into the top-seven would see Wan make a career-best score.
- King Wai Cheung
County: Hong Kong
Chip Count: 2,535,000
Cheung experienced a solid day at the tables, slowly growing his stack without showdown, and when it mattered most, he picked up ace-queen against Ryo Kanemura’s ace-ten. Cheung has scored multiple APT cashes, but this deep run in the Main Event will be the biggest cash of his career. The Hong Kong resident has a total of $37,976 in live tournament cashes.
- Masahiro Adachi
Country: Japan
Chip Count: 2,515,000
Japan’s Masahiro Adachi is another player that stayed under the radar most of the day. A spectacular hand against Hon Cheng “Ivan” Lee ended in a chopped pot as both players were dealt pocket aces. Adachi has two live tournament cashes to his name for a total of $4,410 in career tournament winnings. One of those was achieved this week after he cashed KRW 1,740,000 (~$1,314) for his 13th place finish in Event #36 NL Hold’em Freezeout. Adachi will bring 2,515,000 into Day 4.
- Adrian Boon Chye Chua
Country: Singapore
Chip Count: 2,515,000
Adrian Chua will come into Day 4 with the exact same chip count as Masahiro Adachi. Chua is another player who did not play tons of big pots during Day 3 but was able to grind himself to an above-average stack. Chua has scored $13,633 in live tournament cashes in his career and this will be his very first cash in Asia!
- Veleriy Pak
Country: Uzbekistan
Chip Count: 2,340,000
Pak is a regular on the Asian poker scene. The man from Uzbekistan has multiple APT scores to his name but making it to the final table here in the Main Event would be one of his absolute poker highlights. Pak earned a total of $521,371 in live tournament cashes and made it to the final table this week in a Single Day High Roller taking 4th place for KRW 12,650,000 (~$9,560). Pak grinded himself to a top-3 stack in the last levels of the day before he lost two big pots to end of day chip leader Shoichiro Tamaki.
- Artem Sofronov
Country: Russia
Chip Count: 1,835,000
Sofronov is the last Russian standing in this year’s Main Event. An experienced player with a total of $49,295 in live total cashes on Day 3 Sofronov moved up in the chip counts after his pocket kings held on against the pocket queens of Kazuma Kambayashi. Making the final table would be the biggest cash in his live poker career.
- Tran Tu
County: New Zealand
Chip Count: 1,695,000
One of the most experienced players to make it to our final day is New Zealand’s Tran Tu. The poker professional has a total of $438,172 in live tournament cashes to his name, but this is his first ever cash in Asia!
- Napat Chokejindachai
Country: Thailand
Chip Count: 1,555,000
Chokejindachai is part of the Thai entourage that has descended on APT Incheon and bagged up 1,555,000 which is good for tenth on the leaderboard. The Thai player scored his maiden APT title at the record-breaking APT Taipei where he won a Turbo event for TWD 548,655 (~$17,890) and is looking to take the golden lion trophy back to Thailand here in the Main Event.
- Zhanhui Zheng
Country: China
Chip Count: 1,540,000
Zheng was the chip leader of the online qualifiers that made Day 3 via Natural8. The experienced Chinese grinder has already cashed in two tournaments during this series taking 4th place in Event #36 NL Hold’em Freezeout for KRW 8,330,000 (~$6,292) and a 25th place in the Sunday Super Stack. Zheng’s total live tournament earnings are $131,089.
- Milos Petakovic
Country: Serbia
Chip Count: 1,345,000
Milos Petakovic is having his breakout season with multiple cashes all around the world. The Serbian won this Series’ Super High Roller, taking home KRW 145.650,000 (~$109,990). Petakovic’s total live poker earnings are $572,913 and he is also a fierce online player with almost $5,000,000 in cashes to his name.
- Jason Lau
Country: Malaysia
Chip Count: 1,145,000
Jason Lau is an APT regular with $96,519 in live tournament cashes to his name. He will come into Day 4 as one of the short stacks with just under 15 big blinds. Lau stayed under the radar for the entire day but was able to keep his stack alive without much showdown.
- Raul Martinez Gallego
Country: Spain
Chip Count: 850,000
Martinez Gallego is a high-stakes cash regular in Macau and one of the most experienced players left in the field. He grinded a short stack for most of the day but was able to win some big pots on the feature table. Martinez Gallego has a total of $517,069 in live tournament cashes on his poker resume.
- Wataru Kosugi
Country: Japan
Chip Count: 580,000
Another APT regular, Japan’s Wataru Kosugi boasts multiple cashes to his name including 1 APT title. Kosugi has already claimed a 6th place finish in Event #45 Single Day High Roller – 8 Max for KRW 24,090,000 (~$18,233). Kasugi has a total of $89,865 in live tournament cashes to his name.
- Inaba Katsuhiro
Country: Japan
Chip Count: 425,000
Inaba Katsuhiro will be going into Day 4 as the absolute underdog as the Japanese player only has 5 big blinds. A dark horse going into the final table as this will be Katsuhiro’s first-ever live tournament cash. During Day 3 she put her opponent Xiaolu Li in such a tough spot that he ran out of time banks.