Phachara Wongwichit
The APT High Roller 8-Max - TWD 4,500,000 GTD has been won by Natural8 Ambassador Phachara Wongwichit. Wongwichit topped the 302-player field and takes home TWD 4,800,900 (~$156,930) for his victory after defeating Tsz Him Chan heads-up that saw the Chinese player bag TWD 4,000,000 (~$130,750) for his runner-up finish after the two flattened out the top two payouts.
Record breaking was a trend in Taipei with the APT High Roller being no exception as it set another record with its field size and also the huge TWD 26,364,600 (~$860,930) prize pool that it generated which was the second largest of the series after the Main Event.
As the second day of play got underway there were 84 players still in contention with just 39 spots available in the money. Our unlucky bubble boy would be former Main Event champion Farhad Aghayev when the Azerbaijani player's pocket kings would get rivered by the ace-ten of Junichi Nakagiri with the latter rivering an ace to burst the bubble and guaranteeing all remaining players a payday of at least TWD 181,900 ($5,940).
Some notables to make it into the money were Nguyen Huu Dung (29th), Anton Lu (27th), James Mendoza (24th), Michael Lech (14th), and Hon Cheong Lee (11th).
It was Chan who entered the final table as the chip leader with double the stack of his next rival, Zarvan Tumboli. The other nine players all held a stack within the twenty to thirty big blind range as the aggressive Chan looked to run over the table with his unpredictable style of play.
Zarvan Tumboli
After just nine hands at the final table, it was Australia's Joshua Mccully who fell victim to Chan as he three-bet shoved his pocket deuces and lost a flip to the king-queen of the Chinese player. With that pot, Chan's stack had grown to over eleven million which was over a third of the total chips in play as Mccully exited in ninth for TWD 551,000 (~$17,990)
Chan would send another player to the rail next as he eliminated Kevin Choi. Choi had shoved all in with queen-jack over an open from Chan, only for the latter to make a loose call with jack-nine to put the player from Hong Kong at risk. That loose call from Chan would be rewarded as he flopped a straight to send Choi to the rail in eighth for TWD 664,400 (~$21,700).
Tumboli managed to find a double-up against Wongwichit with ace-jack against the Thai player's ace-deuce but ultimately it would be the Indian player who fell next as he open-shoved ace-king and couldn't get there against the pocket tens of Chan. The three-time APT title holder would take seventh for TWD 904,300 (~$29,530).
Peter Da
Chan kept his chance of a clean sweep of final-table eliminations alive as he sent Day 1 chip leader Peter Da to the rail in sixth. Da had called Chan's river shove with a set of sixes but ran into the straight of Chan who held jack-seven. Da, visibly distraught at what had just played out, takes home a career-best score of TWD 1,231,200 (~$40,200).
Kuan-Han Chen had been keeping out of trouble on the final table but would eventually fall in fifth when his jack-eight was just pipped by the jack-nine of Robert Kiss. Chen was on his second final table of the series after finishing eighth in the Zodiac Classic just a few days prior and takes home TWD 1,626,700 (~$53,120) for his fifth-place finish here.
Chan would pick up his fifth elimination of the final table next as his pocket nines would comfortably hold against the ace-five of Hsuanchao Chen. After three previous cashes in this series, this would by far be the largest for Chen as he finished just shy of the podium places in fourth for a payday of TWD 2,074,900 (~$67,755).
Robert Kiss
It didn't take much longer to bring us to heads-up play when Wongwichit turned trips with four-five to take down the pocket aces of Kiss. Kiss had played some excellent poker to manage his short stack and ladder up the payouts before finally being eliminated in third for a career-best score of TWD 2,570,500 (~$83,940).
It would be Chan who entered heads-up play with a two-to-one chip advantage but that title was swiftly relinquished when Wongwichit scored a full double-up holding ace-six against the king-jack of Chan, with the board giving both players two pair.
Tsz Him Chan
Chan would get a double-up of his own when his jack-eight flopped a pair and held against the flush draw of Wongwichit, who was holding jack-five. In the end, it would be Wongwichit's night as he shoved five-six into Chan who made the call holding queen-nine. The Thai player would flop two pair, and despite Chan turning some outs, he would hold on to seal the title and take home TWD 4,800,900 (~$156,930) for his victory.
Chan made the final table extremely entertaining to watch with his unpredictability and style of play that nobody could seem to grasp. The Chinese player bagged a career-best score of TWD 4,000,000 (~$130,750) for his runner-up spot which is his third cash of the series, and fifth cash of his poker career.
The entire APT crew wants to thank all the players for their massive support throughout the last ten days. Every day new records were set and this wouldn't have been possible without this incredible support. The next APT series will be APT Summer Series in Hanoi, Vietnam. This tour will be held from May 26 to June 4, 2023. We hope to see you there.
This live reporting blog was presented to you by lifeofpoker.com.
