The TWD 14,400 + 1,600 Mystery Bounty Hunter - Sponsored by Natural8 has been won by Kiwanont Sukhum of Thailand. Sukhum outlasted a record-breaking field of 670 to take home a career-best score of TWD 1,173,100 ($38,100) and an all-new APT trophy to add to his collection. Sukhum defeated France's Anthony Cierco in an entertaining heads-up duel that saw them both all-in on numerous occasions. Eventually, Sukhum would emerge victorious and add a second APT title to his name after winning a No Limit Hold'em event in Danang for $7,730.
The 95 survivors of the two opening flights returned for the second day of play and they all had one thing on their mind - hunting bounties. The biggest bounty of them all had been won by Yi-Sheng Wang who bagged TWD 1,000,000 to go along with his 34th-place finish.
It took ten 30-minute levels to whittle the Day 1 survivors down to the final table of nine and when we got there the first to fall would be South Korea's Jaemoon Seok. Seok's ace-jack could not overcome the ace-king of eventual champion Sukhum when both players had flopped top pair. Seok would bag TWD 96,400 ($3,130) for his ninth-place finish.
Japan's Toshio Kataoka was the next player to hit the rail when he shoved with ace-six and was called by the king-seven of Thailand's Pitipong Posri. Despite being ahead pre-flop, Kataoka's opponent flopped a pair which was enough to win the pot and eliminate the Japanese player in eighth for a payday of TWD 121,700 ($3,950).to
Bao Qiang Ho
Posri would then fall at the hands of Bao Qiang Ho when he shoved from the small blind with king-deuce but ran into the king-jack of Ho in the big blind. Ho flopped trip jacks meaning Posri was drawing dead and he headed to the cashier to collect his prize of TWD 178,100 ($5,785).
When played was six-handed we saw Cierco slowly pulling away from the field in the chip counts after a hand in which he had bet two million chips on the river into Yu-Tang Hu with a straight holding ace-deuce. Hu had a set of fives and couldn't make the laydown which sent Cierco to the top of the leaderboard.
Not long after that, Cierco would score a knockout by eliminating Ka Chun Fu when the Frenchman's pocket sevens won a flip against the king-nine of Fu, rivering a full house. Fu would take home a career-best score of TWD 244,500 ($7,940) for his sixth-place finish.
Hu was the next player to hit the rail when his king-ten fell short of the ace-nine of Cierco, with the latter flopping a pair of aces which was enough to earn the knockout. Hu's payday of TWD 313,900 ($10,200) in this event is equivalent to his entire live-career earnings - a fantastic result for the local player.
Anthony Cierco
Chien-Te Lee had been extremely quiet during the final table and manage to ladder his way up to fourth place before finally busting when his ace-three couldn't beat the pocket tens of Sukhum. Lee also scored a career-best cash by pocketing TWD 396,200 ($12,870) for his run.
Cierco and Ho would clash multiple times when play was three-handed with Ho coming out on top more often than not. Ho rivered a straight with king-queen to take down Cierco's pocket queens, then rivered another straight with the same hand to undo the ace-ten of the Frenchman. Cierco won a flip with pocket sevens against the ace-queen of Ho, only for the Singaporean to immediately hit back with queen-jack to defeat his pocket tens. After an insane back-and-forth between the two, Ho pushed all-in with ace-jack and couldn't beat the ace-king of Cierco and he was out in third for a payday of TWD 517,200 ($16,800), adding another APT final table appearance to his already impressive resume.
When heads-up play began, Cierco had a commanding chip lead with his seventeen million chips towering over the three million of Sukhum's. Cierco was one card from victory with ace-queen against the Thai player's ace-ten but Sukhum found a miracle ten on the river to stay alive and ignite the comeback. Cierco had another shot to take the title when his king-eight put the ace-queen of Sukhum at risk but failed to make it count. In the final hand of the tournament, Cierco shoved five big blinds with jack-ten and was called by Sukhum's seven-eight. Both players flopped monsters with Cierco having top two pair but Sukhum took the victory with a straight. Sukhum takes home TWD 1,173,100 ($38.100) for his win and a second APT title.
This live reporting blog was presented to you by lifeofpoker.com.