APT Main Event - Day 4 - TWD 65,000,000 GTD

Safwane Bahri

The record-breaking APT Taipei Main Event has reached the final table with France's Safwane Bahri holding the chip lead going into the final day of play after he bagged up 11,925,000 chips. From the 1,182 entries, just nine remain in their quest to take home the monstrous TWD 12,944,020 (~$409,730) winner's purse — the largest first prize ever offered in a poker tournament in Taiwan.

There were 40 players that started the penultimate day and it took eight levels of play to reach the final nine with a lot of action in between. Lester Edoc (22nd), Dicky Tsang (19th), and Mike Takayama (15th) were the three former Main Event champions left in the field but they all fell just shy of making the final table which means a new name will be etched in APT's history books come tomorrow.

Several other high-profile players were still in contention at the start of the day with Wing Po Liu (37th), David Erquiaga (34th), Yan Shing "Anson" Tsang (31st), Jun Obara (29th), John Perry (27th), Kevin Choi (21st), Asa Smith (17th), Junzhong Loo (16th), Jin-Hoon Lee (14th), and Quang Thai Ha (10th) all failing to make the final table.

Bahri raked in chip after chip in the early stages of the day and scooped a big pot which eliminated two players in level thirty to send his stack north of ten million chips. Rui Lu shoved all in with king-seven, and Bahri reshoved behind with pocket nines. Yung Bing Chu was sitting in the big blind and he called off with ace-king to put himself at risk. An ace on the flop looked to have won Chu the pot but Bahri improved to a set on the turn to eliminate Lu (13th) and Chu (12th).

Xi Guo Zhang

Xi Guo Zhang won a crucial pot in the last level of the night which crippled the stack of bracelet winner Ha, who sits second on Vietnam's All-Time Money List. Zhang shoved all in after rivering a flush with king-jack and Ha, after taking a lot of time, made the call with trips holding ace-nine. That left just five big blinds in the Vietnamese player's stack and despite doubling up once, his run in the Main Event came to an end at the hands of Daisuke Ogita. The two players got the chips in on the flop with Ha having flopped a pair with four-deuce, but Ogita had a huge lead holding nine-four after he flopped two pair. Ha was drawing dead by the turn which meant he was out in tenth and brought an end to the day's action.

Taiwan's Chi-Jen "Justin" Chu sits fifth in the counts and will bring 3,260,000 chips into the final table as he looks to add a third APT title to his resume. Chu already has a trophy from this series after he won the Single Day High Roller Mystery Bounty for TWD 1,341,300 ($42,500). The Taiwanese player currently sits ninth on Taiwan's All-Time Money List and would overtake Natural8 Ambassador Yu-Chung "Nevan" Chang with a finish of sixth or better. A top-four finish would also see him bag a career-best score which currently sits at $120,980.

South Korea's Seungmook Jung bagged up 2,305,000 chips and will come into the final table with the second-shortest stack. Just like Chu, Jung is also seeking his third APT title after he won his first two at APT Manila two years ago. A podium finish would lock up a new career-best score for Jung who sits eleventh on South Korea's All-Time Money List.

Day 3 chip leader Li Wei Sun had a rollercoaster day but managed to make the final table with the shortest stack of 1,960,000 chips. Late in the day, Sun's pocket kings were cracked by the king-six of Steve Ng who turned a flush. Sun was left with just two big blinds but two quick double-ups brought him back into contention.

Jung Chuan Liao, Pitipong Posri, and the aforementioned Zhang, Sun, & Ng, are all guaranteed a career-best score.

The stacks for the final table can be found below.

The payouts for the final table can be found below.

Join us tomorrow for the final day of the APT Taipei Main Event where we will crown a new champion. The action gets underway at 1pm local time and live updates will be posted here. The action will also be streamed live (with a 30-minute delay) and you can tune in by clicking through the following channels.

Youtube

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Day 4 of the APT Main Event has ended.

A full day's write-up will follow shortly but we will leave you with the chip counts for the final table.

Quang Thai Ha

Quang Thai Ha has been eliminated in 10th place for TWD 795,000(~$25,165).

Daisuke Ogita completed from the small blind and Quang Thai Ha checked from the big blind.

The flop fell 9♣ 6♠ 4♠ and Ogita fired the minimum bet of 160,000. The shot clock was ticking and with two seconds to spare, Ha shoved all in for his last 600,000. Ogita wasted no time in making the call which put Ha at risk again.

Ogita 9♦ 4♦

Ha 4♣ 2♠

Ha was in a world of pain and needed some kind of backdoor draw to roll off on the turn and river if he wanted to survive in the Main Event as Ogita had flopped two pair.

It was all over by the turn as the A♦ left Ha drawing dead. The 8♦ completed the board to confirm Ha's elimination in tenth place.

Quang Thai Ha shoved for 285,000 and Pitipong Posri 3-bet from the button to 1,100,000. The blinds folded and the cards were flipped up.

Ha Q♠ 7♠

Posri A♥ K♥

The computer hand helped Ha on his journey to recovery as he made two pair on the 7♦ 6♣ 3♣ T♦ Q♣ board.

Will we see another comeback just like Li Wei Sun earlier?

After winning that gigantic pot, Xi Guo Zhang opened to 400,000 and got three callers in Daisuke Ogita, Pitipong Posri, and Jung Chuan Liao.

The four players saw a flop of 7♥ 7♣ 4♠ and Liao led for 300,000. Zhang got out of the way but Ogita and Posri both stuck around to see a turn card.

The 4♦ double-paired the board and Liao checked. Ogita then fired a bet of 500,000 which got Posri to fold, and sent Liao into the tank. It took some time for Liao to make a decision but eventually, he folded.

Xi Guo Zhang

Bracelet winner Quang Thai Ha's stack has just been decimated by Taiwan's Xi Guo Zhang.

Ha opened to 320,000 and Zhang 3-bet to 1,000,000 from the small blind. When the action got back to Ha, he made the call.

The flop fell 9♠ Q♣ 4♥ and both players checked to see a T♥ hit the turn. Zhang then made a delayed continuation bet of 700,000 which got Ha thinking. It took a while but Ha did make the call and the two went to a river.

The board texture changed significantly on the 9♥ river as the backdoor flush draw came and the board paired. Zhang wasn't phased at all by the scary river as he announced a shove for 3,000,000 exactly. Ha looked gobsmacked and couldn't believe the situation he had been put in on the APT Main Event final table bubble. The Vietnamese player was well into the tank, using several time extensions before he finally elected to call.

Zhang flipped up K♥ J♥ for a turned straight that rivered a flush and Ha looked dejected. Ha had rivered trips with A♦ 9♦ and made a big call on the river that didn't work out for him. It's now time for Ha to use his short-stack skills to try and make a comeback.

Conrad Lumaban

Conrad Lumaban has been eliminated in 11th place for TWD 795,000(~$25,165)

On the next hand after his failed bluff attempt, Lumaban shoved all in for 900,000 from the small blind, he only had to get through Quang Thai Ha in the big blind to win the pot. But after Ha had looked at his cards he made the call to put Lumaban at risk.

Lumaban Q♦ T♥

Ha K♣ T♠

The board ran out A♥ A♠ 6♠ J♦ 7♦ which meant Lumaban's impressive deep run in Main Event had come to an end.

Xi Guo Zhang opened the button to 320,000 and got called by Conrad Lumaban from the big blind.

After Lumaban checked the A♦ Q♣ 5♠ flop he faced a continuation bet of 200,000 from Zhang. Lumaban then raised to 550,000 which was called by Zhang.

Both players checked the board-pairing Q♥ turn to see the K♦ fall on the river. Lumaban then fired out a bet of 500,000, which Zhang called. Lumaban turned over 7♥ 8♠ for eight-high which was beaten the A♠ 4♣ of Zhang.

Li Wei Sun

Li Wei Sun has weathered the storm and is well and truly back in business in the Main Event.

Sun was all in and at risk again with Chi-Jen Chu the man who was seeking to eliminate him.

Sun T♦ T♣

Chu A♠ 4♦

The dealer fanned a flop of 2♣ 3♠ 7♣ which gave Chu some extra outs as now any five would complete his wheel draw.

A 7♦ turn paired the board which left Sun one card away from what surely would be a huge feeling of relief.

Sun looked relieved to see the Q♦ land on the river which kept his pocket tens in the lead and got him back in the game.

Is the comeback on for Li Wei Sun?

Sun shoved all in for his last 270,000 and the action folded to Safwane Bahri in the big blind who called without even looking at his cards.

Sun K♦ 4♥

Bahri J♣ 2♠

Sun won the pot after his king-high held up on the 3♥ 9♣ T♠ 9♠ 6♣ runout.