APT High Roller - 8 Max - KRW 350,000,000 GTD - Day 1

Milos Skrbic

Milos Skrbic is the Day 1 chip leader of the KRW 4,500,000 (~USD $3,375) APT High Roller 8-Max. The Serbian poker professional won two massive pots during the final few hands of the day to catapult himself into the chip lead.

A total of 207 entries (145 unique) ensured this is the second-biggest APT High Roller event in the tour's 15-year history, with the total prize pool standing at a mouth-watering KRW 813,199,500 (~USD $616,930) and the eventual winner taking home a KRW 171,939,500 (~USD $130,420) top prize.

Skrbic accumulated a total of 1,413,000 in chips over the sixteen 40-minute levels played. The Serbian's impressive poker resume boasts a total of $3,083,139 in live tournament cashes, with Skrbic claiming his first APT trophy earlier this week when he won Event #59 No Limit Single Draw Mix Turbo for KRW 4,196,900 (~$3,184).

Japan's Wataru Kosugi ended the day second in chips with 1,087,000 after busting the Main Event in 14th place for a KRW 17,200,000 (~USD $13,050) payday, jumping straight into the APT High Roller. The Japanese player already holds an APT title, claimed back in 2016 during a Hyper Turbo Deep Stack event.

In 5th place on the leaderboard, we find Jeffrey Lo. The Hong Kong player had a solid day at the office; in the last level played, Lo won a big hand against compatriot Wing Po Liu to end the day with 841,000.

Jeffrey Lo

Veleriy Pak must be one of the players of the series. The Uzbeki finished in 4th place during the Main Event, winning KRW 110,900,000 (~$83,850) and was another who jumped right into the APT High Roller just before the close of the registration. Pak finished the day ninth in the chip counts, bagging a stacl of 730,000.

Poker superstar and Team GGPoker ambassador Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier once again made a Day 2 at an APT High Roller event. During the APT Hanoi Summer Series High Roller 8-Max, Elky made his maiden APT final table, where he busted out in 8th place taking home ₫ 337,370,000 (~$14,369). Elky's goal for tomorrow is easy: Win his first APT Lion. The Frenchman will need a bit of run good, bringing in a stack of 270,000 (18 big blinds) to Day 2.

Other notables that made it to Day 2 are Hong Kong's Dicky Siu Hang "Tricky Dicky" Tsang (822,000), Malaysia's Kokwai "The Deuces Magnet" Sim (591,000), China's Xixiang Luo (424,000), and Japan's Hiroshi Nishiyama (331,000).

Top 10 APT High Roller - 8 Max Chip Counts

Final Table Payouts

Play will start Sunday 12:15 PM local time. Follow this live blog to keep up to date on all the outer tables. A live stream will be available at the start of Day 2. Tune in to our channels to not miss any of the exciting action.

Youtube

Twitch

Facebook

This live reporting blog is brought to you by Life of Poker.

Day 1 of the High Roller Event is in the books.

We followed the action at Table 3 when the dealer at Table 4 declared an all-in and call. The action was between CO Chao Li and big blind Katsuhiro Inaba. It was a classic flip:

Inaba: 8♠ 8♥.

Li: A♥ Q♠.

The 2♥ Q♥ 8♦ flop gave Inaba a hammerlock on the hand. When the Q♠ hit the turn the table started buzzing. Li was still not dead! Inaba was looking on in fear and jumped out of his chair when the 2♣ completed the board. Li made a runner-runner to knock out Inaba from the High Roller event.

Jeffrey Lo

A big pot was brewing at Table 3 between high-stakes regulars Jeffrey Lo and Wing Po Liu. We picked up the action post-flop. From the small blind, it was Jeffrey Lo that fired 80,000 on a flop off K♥ T♦ 8♣. Liu from the button made the call.

The pot grew to 350,000 and Lo put ultimate pressure on Liu when he jammed allin on the 9♠ turn. Lo covered Liu, who still was playing 430,000. Liu used a timebank before he mucked his cards.

Jeffrey Lo is entering the top-10 of the leaderboard after winning this pot.

The final 40 minutes of the day. We have 46 players remaining.

Kannapong Thanarattrakul

We joined the action at Table 6 on the river. The action was between two Thai players Kannapong Thanarattrakul and Thanisorm Saelor.

The board ran A♣ J♣ 5♣ 2♠ 4♣. Saelor jammed all-in for 160,000 while the pot ballooned to almost 300,000 chips. Thanarattrakul was in the tank and only had 145,000 behind. If he made the call, his tournament life was at risk.

Thanarattrakul used six timebanks before he tossed in his last chips. Saelor showed K♣ 4♠ for the nut flush only two-three of clubs would beat Saelor's hand, but Thanarattrakul showed 3♣ 3♠ for the hero call. A brutal battle between Team Thailand ends in the bust of Thanarattrakul.

The players are in reach for Day 2 of the High Roller, and it seems to affect their play. Everyone wants to make it to Day 2 and big pots are not being played at the moment.

Largo Sebastian

From UTG, the action was opened by Xixiang Luo to 20,000, Largo Sebastian, Seiya Komuro, and Yan Li all came along for the ride.

Big blind Li and UTG Luo checked their option on a 5♦ K♠ J♥ board. However, Brazilian poker professional Largo Sebastian fired 25,000 from the CO, and button Seiya Komuro was the only player who tagged along.

Both checked the 8♦ turn, but the 3♠ was the sign for Sebastian to jam all in. Komuro quickly folded.

Natural8 Team Hot member Hua Wei "Wei Wei" Lin has been chipping nicely in the past 40 minutes.

She won several pots non-showdown and now sits on a top-10 stack. Can she keep it up in the last two levels of the day?

We are almost going into level 15. This means we will play two more levels before the day ends.