Teng Kuei Hsu

The TWD 20,000 APT Taipei Mystery Bounty has been won by Taiwan's Teng Kuei Hsu after he outlasted 1,053 entries (590 unique) winning a gigantic first prize of TWD 2,193,380 (~$69,460). Hsu defeated Thailand's Phatsapong Thokaew heads-up to claim the lion silhouette trophy plus bounties. Another amazing performance by Hsu who finished 5th in last year's APT Taipei Main Event for TWD 2,595,400 (~$84,345).

The two Day 1 starting flights created a total prize pool of TWD 12,067,380 (~$382,105). All 147 players who made it to Day 2 were guaranteed a min-cash of TWD 21,000 (~$665), while the top Mystery Bounty was set at TWD 1,500,000 (~$47,500).

Final Table Payouts

Day 2 started with 147 survivors, but the action was fierce as players kept busting out. Japan's Sho Katsura was our chip leader at the start of the day, with 1,003,000. Katsura kept busting players in the first levels of the day, which gave the Japanese a smooth ride towards the final table.

Constantin Emil Alexandru

Another player who did very well during the first few levels of the day was Romania's Constantin Emil Alexandru. The Romanian chipped up to over 1,000,000 in chips and pulled the third-highest bounty TWD 568,000 (~$17,790) before bowing out in 46th place.

The luckiest person in the room however would be Taiwan's Chao Ting Cheng who pulled the TWD 1,500,000 (~$47,500) mystery bounty just after he busted in 44th place.

Chao Ting Cheng pulling the TWD 1,500,000 bounty

Familiar names that would make a deep run but missed out on the money were Philippines' Edgar Asehan, 37th place TWD 39,000 ($1,235), Singapore's Liao Chongwei, 25th TWD 62,000 ($1,965), and Taiwan's high stakes specialist Hon Cheong "Ivan" Lee 19th TWD 86,000 (~$2,725).

After an intense final two tables this would be our final table lineup:

In one of the first hands of the final table we would lose Manoe Betrix who jammed his queen-nine into the pocket aces of Yujian Zhou. Betrix took home TWD 165,000 (~$5,225) for his 9th place finish. A few hands later we would lose Shao Hua Tsai from Taiwan who saw his pocket aces get cracked by chip leader Phatsapong Thokaew's queen-jack. Tsai's 8th place earned him TWD 210,000 (~$6,650).

After a double-up from Axel Bayout we witnessed the biggest pot of the tournament between the chip leader Phatsapong Thokaew and the number two in chips Chia Lin Huang. In a blind battle, Huang 5-bet jammed his ace-jack into the middle but was crushed by Thokaew's ace-king. A disappointed Huang had to settle for 7th place, taking home TWD 294,000 (~$9,310).

The worst beat at this final table went to Eugene Zhou, who had his pocket kings cracked by Bayout's ace-king. An ace on the turn meant we lost the Singaporean in 6th place TWD 399,000 (~$12,635). On the other hand, after Zhou's elimination, we lost Australia's Zheming Zhu in 5th place. Zhou lost a race with king-jack against the pocket tens of Teng Kuei Hsu. Zhou's 5th place earned him TWD 543,000 (~$17,195).

Sho Katsura

Our chip leader at the start of the day, Sho Katsura, was hanging in nicely till a failed bluff catcher with ace-five ended his tournament life. Thokaew flopped the nuts against Katsura, who called of the Thai on the river hoping to see a bluff. This meant Thokaew went into the final three with over 50% of all the chips in play.

Bayout's battle for victory ended when he ran his ace-eight into the pocket aces of Hsu. The rail of Bayout still celebrated the amazing performance from Bayout by giving him a loud applause. Bayout will take TWD 941,000 (~$29,800) back to France.

The two finalists started the heads-up with similar stacks but weren't eager to make a deal. Thokaew pulled during a TWD 1,000,000 bounty on his way to the final table, while Hsu was focused on finishing the final table in style. Once the heads-up started, the less-experienced Thokaew stood no chance. In the last hand of the day, Hsu's ace-eight held up against Thokaew's queen-four. Thokaew was awarded TWD 1,338,000 (~$42,370) for his amazing run.

Join us again tomorrow at 11 AM local time live from the Asia Poker Arena for Day 1B of the Main Event.

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

Teng Kuei Hsu has won the APT Taipei Mystery Bounty. A full recap coming to you soon.

Phatsapong Thokaew has been eliminated in second place. The Thai started the heads-up battle with a slight lead, but two lost pots in a row saw him sliding down to 20 big blinds.

In the last hand of the day, Thokaew jammed all in for around 8,000,000 and was called by Teng Kuei Hsu.

Thokaew: Q 4 .

Hsu: A 8

Thokaew in need of help, but the 7 J K flop did not help the Thai. Hsu is only two cards away of becoming the APT Taipei Mystery Bounty champion. The A on the turn meant Thokaew was down to four outs. The Thai rail was silently rooting for a ten to come, but the 4 on the river meant Thokaew finished in second place.

There was no deal made during the heads-up which means Thokaew will take home TWD 1,338,000 (~$42,370). Thokaew also pulled a bounty worth TWD 1,000,000 (~$31,670) and many smaller bounties. A fantastic payday!

Teng Kuei Hsu has taken the lead in this heads-up after winning two massive pots without a showdown.

In the biggest pot Hsu opened to 800,000 and Thokaew raised to 1,600,000. This was not enough for Hsu who 4-bet to 4,000,000. Thokaew made the call.

The 5 2 3 flop was checked by Thokaew. Hsu kept the man from Thailand under pressure with a bet of 1,000,000, Thokaew made the call. Another check by Thokaew on the 6 turn. Hsu saw his chance and pushed all in. Thokaew released his hand quickly.

The players did not discuss a deal so we are playing for a first prize of 2,193,380 (~$69,460).

The remarkable run of Axel Bayout has come to an end. Bayout dodged an important bullet earlier this final table, but after he pushed all in with A 7 he was snap-called by Teng Kuei Hsu A A .

The worst situation for Bayout who immediatly stood up from his chair and knew he needed a miracle to survive.

When the Q 9 J flop was tabled, Bayout looked defeated but satisfied at the same time. The J on the turn ended his fantastic run and he was hugged by his French rail.

Axel Bayout is our 3rd place finisher banking TWD 941,000 (~$29,800).

The action started with a preflop raise by Sho Katsura from the button. Phatsapong Thokaew from the big blind made the call and we go headsup to the flop.

Katsura made a continuation bet on A Q 9 flop. Thokaew made the call. The 2 on the turn is fired on by Thokaew for 1,500,000. Katsura looked confused but made the call. The Japanese now only had 3,100,000 behind.

When the Q river hits the felt Thokaew goes all in. Katsura leaned back in his chair and pushed out his 5 timebanks. Two and half minutes later Katsura only had a few seconds left. He took one last deep breath before he desperately pushed in calling chips.

Thokaew turned over K 6 for the flopped nuts. Katsura stood up from his chair and flashed A 5 for a pair of aces.

Sho Katsura is eliminated from the Mystery Bounty Event in 4th place winning TWD 706,000 (~$22,350).

Another blind battle, another bust out. This time Australia's Zheming Zhu was sent to the rail after a coinflip against Teng Kuei Hsu.

Hsu jammed all in from the small blind and Zhu called from the big blind.

Zhu: K J .

Hsu: T T .

The board ran out 5 K 2 T 7 . Zhu flopped a king to take the lead but was sent to the rail after a T appeared on the turn.

Zhu will take home TWD 543,000 (~$17,195) for his deep run.

After a raise from Eugene Zhou it was Axel Bayout that moved all in and after all other player went out of the way Zhou made the snap call.

Zhou: K K .

Bayout: A K .

A massive cooler will decide which player will make the top-5 and who will end up in 6th place as both player have the exact same chip stack.

The flop came Q 4 2 . Bayout's rail was rooting for an ace, and the poker gods again listened when the A rolled off on the turn. Zhou stood up from his chair and did not even see the 8 river.

Bayout covered Zhou by only 200,000, but it was enough to end Zhou's deep run. Eugene Zhou out in 6th place winning TWD 399,000 (~$12,635).