APT TPC 2024 SCHEDULE| OFFICIAL RESULTS | IMAGES | WINNERS | PLAYER LISTS
TAIPEI, TAIWAN, September 30, 2024 – The second of the four APT Main Event TWD 65,000,000 GTD starting flights played out at the tournament tables of the Chinese Texas Hold'em Poker Club (CTP) Asia Poker Arena, with the action getting underway at 11am local time.
This saw a further 439 entries (349 unique) ante up the TWD 50,000 buy-in and fight it out at the felt over ten action-packed levels—six 45-minute levels and four-45-minute levels—in an attempt to make Day 2, bringing the total number of entries up to 901, with a further two flights left to play out.
While 181 players made the Flight B cut–more than the 157 who fought their way through Flight A–none of the survivors were able to come close to catching Flight A frontrunner Keigo Kubo.
It was Chee Yong Sim who concluded play atop the summit of the Flight B chip counts bagging up a stack of 308,400, with the Malaysian the only player to crack the 300K milestone.
Singapore's Ryan Kim only narrowly missed however, concluding play with 298,500, closely followed by Malaysia's Jeremy Chan (270,300), with other notables to bag a top ten stack including Bulgaria's Slaven Popov (225,200), and Japan's Tetsuya Tsujisaka (205,200), with the top ten as follows:
MAIN EVENT FLIGHT B TOP TEN STACKS
- Chee Yong Sim (Malaysia) – 308,400
- Ryan Kim (Singapore) – 298,500
- Jeremy Chan (Malaysia) – 270,300
- Gilsoo Kim (South Korea) – 259,400
- Tien Nguyen (Vietnam) – 230,400
- Slaven Popov (Bulgaria) – 225,200
- Iat Man Leong (Macau) – 214,700
- Tetsuya Tsujisaka (Japan) – 205,200
- Siu Ki Leung (Hong Kong) – 202,700
- Soo Bum Kim (South Korea) – 199,000
Malaysia's Isaac Phua continued the run of form that saw him claim gold in the record-breaking Mystery Bounty Hunter, bagging 155,400 with other notables to bag big including Taiwanese poker Youtube sensation I-Chun "I.C Charlie" Chiu (147,400), and Hong Kong’s Andy Ying Kit Chan (143,000).
Other notables to bag big included Taiwan's Chi Jen Chen (187,000), Singapore's Jereld Sam (141,200) Thai actor and TV host Napat "Toptapp" Chokejindachai (130,600), Hong Kong's Sparrow Cheung (73,000), and the USA's Benjamin Jacobs (63,800).
Natural8 Ambassadors Phachara Wongwichit (47,900) and Natural8 India Ambassador Kunal Patni (46,600) were two more who made the cut, but will have to get busy building when they return for the two Day 2 Flights on Wednesday, October 1.
For Main Event Flight B Player List please CLICK HERE
For Main Event Flight B Survivors please CLICK HERE
The 181 Flight B survivors will unite with the survivors of Tuesday's Flight D and return to action at 5:30pm for Day 2 B/D, while the 157 Flight A survivors will be joined by the Flight C survivors for Day 2A/C which starts at the earlier time of 11am local time.
The final two starting Flights C & D—both boasting six 30-minute levels and four 40-minute levels each—get underway on Tuesday, October 1 at 11am and 6:30pm respectively.
You can read how all the APT Main Event Flight A action played out via the APT Blog.
All tournament information can be found on the APT Main Event Flight A tournament page.
Australia’s Daniel Neilson is on the Hunt for Big Game in the Superstar Challenge
Australia’s Daniel Neilson is hunting the exclusive black lion APT Superstar Challenge trophy after topping Day 1
In juxtaposition to the Main Event, which drew the days largest field, day one of the two-day TWD 800,000 Superstar Challenge drew the smallest, though with the biggest buy-in on the schedule by some margin that's understandable.
While the 27 entry field (23 uniques) was not the biggest, it was the most stacked and featured two former Superstar Challenge champions in the form of the USA's Joseph Cheong and Australia's Josh McCully.
Natural8 Ambassador and former APT Taipei 2023 Main Event champion Punnat Punsri was joined at the felt by fellow finalist and local legend Chih Wei Fan, with Punsri's fellow Ambassador Kannapong "Tent" Thanarattrakul also in the mix.
APT Taipei 2024 APT High Roller champion Stanley Weng was also in the running, as was APT regular Jun Obara, with APT Super High Roller finalists Mikael Andersson and the USA's Ethan "Rampage" Yau both looking to repeat chance.
With a TWD 20,454,525 (~USD 647,910) prize pool up for grabs, in addition to the exclusive black lion Superstar Challenge trophy and a TWD 8,590,525 (~USD 272,110) top prize for the eventual winner, the opening day showcased some scintillating poker action.
Of the aforementioned notables, only Fan made the cut for the Final Day, with the departure of former champion McCully to compatriot Daniel Neilson on the last level played bringing play to a halt and guaranteeing the four survivors a TWD 2,455,000 (~USD 77,760) payday.
That hand catapulted Neilson to the top of the counts, and the high stakes crusher will return with the chip lead and a stack of 3,145,000 (~126 big blinds) when action resumes at 11:15am local time on Tuesday, October 1.
Before he can raise the trophy however, Neilson must contend with the accomplished Stephen Song, who boasts over USD 7.9 million in live tournament cashes.
Charles Waymel rounds out the third spot and is something of an unknown, and with only two prior cashes on his resume the Frenchman is already guaranteed his largest-ever live cash. The always exciting Fan rounds out the last of the four players remaining, with the final table stacking up as follows:
SUPERSTAR CHALLENGE FINAL TABLE STACKS
- Daniel Neilson (Australia) – 3,145,000 (126BB)
- Stephen Song (United States) 1,705,000 (68BB)
- Charles Waymel (France) – 1,200,000 (48BB)
- Chih Wei Fan (Taiwan) – 695,000 (28BB)
For Superstar Challenge Player List please CLICK HERE
The Final Day gets underway at 11:15am local time on Tuesday, October 1 with coverage available on the APT Blog. The Final Day's action will also be live streamed on the APT's official YouTube channel.
All tournament information can be found on the Super Challenge Day 1 tournament page.