After a tough heads-up battle, Dicky Siu Hang Tsang completed a stunning comeback to win his 4th APT tile in the APT Incheon Mystery Bounty Hunter Event - Sponsored by Natural8 for KRW 32,561,200 (~$24,585). Tsang’s win denied Shiina Okamoto her first APT title, although Okamoto will console herself with the KRW 33,300,000 (~$25,145) she earned through her bounties and final table position.
Day 2 Action
Going into Day 2, all eyes were on the Russian player Vladislav Klepikov who held a commanding chip lead with 900,000 chips. However, after losing a few pots early on, the field opened up, and multiple players were suddenly in contention for the chip lead.
The chips were flying early on, as the short-stacked players did their best to double up and get some momentum going, and the big stacks were calling them off to try and win a bounty. We saw six players bust in the first five minutes, and that momentum would continue for the rest of the tournament!
By the first break of the day, 31 players had hit the rail, including the once chip leader Klepikov and Natural8 Team Hot Pro Hua-Wei Lin. Sitting at the top of the chip counts with over 1.5 million chips was two-time APT winner Tae Hoon Han, followed by Hong Kong’s Tung Wing Wong with just over 1 million chips.
The eventual winner was nowhere to be seen at the top end of the chip stacks, as he had a pretty rough start to the day. However, that changed quickly after the break as he doubled up with AK against the AT of Yuta Morikawa to get himself up to 780,000 chips and into the top five chip stacks.
Notable tournament pro Hsing Hsiung Tai had a top-three stack from Flight B but soon found himself in all-in against Shiina Okamoto and Ryosuke Mitsihashi. After Ryosuke folded the turn, Okamoto and Tai showed down - Tai having two pair against the top pair of Okamoto with one card to come. However, Okamoto hit a bigger two pair on the river to take her stack above 2 million and eliminate Tai in cruel fashion. However, he could console himself with the second biggest bounty, as he pulled the KRW 15,000,000 (~$11,330) envelope after being eliminated.
The fast pace of play continued, and after losing five players in five minutes, we were at the final table bubble. We didn’t have to wait long for that bubble to burst, as almost instantly Yuta Morikawa was eliminated in 9th place.
Final Table
Shiina Okamoto topped the chip stacks going into the final table with 3.3 million, while Tsand was in the middle of the pack with 1.45 million. With several short stacks making it through, it seemed like the chips would continue to fly.
It didn’t take long to find our 8th place finisher, as the shortest stack at the table, Daichi Tsuji, shoved his last 6bb with T8s and was called by the 86o of Okamoto. Unfortunately for Tsuji, Okamoto rivered a straight to eliminate him in 8th place for a total of KRW 3,950,000 (~$2,980). However, that disappointment soon turned to elation, as Tsuji managed to pull the biggest bounty, netting himself an extra KRW 20,000,000 (~$15,100).
One hand later, we had our second bust-out of the final table, as Tung Wing Wong shoved KK into the 88 of Joon Hee Park. However, an 8 on the turn ended up eliminating Wong in 7th place for KRW 5,460,000 (~$4,120).
After the break, Okamoto claimed her second victim and third victim, as she eliminated Kyosuke Nagami and Joon Hee Park in quick succession, the two finishing 6th and 5th respectively. Just two hands later, we had our 4th place finisher, as Ryosuke Mitsuhashi shoved his straight draw into the top pair of Tae Hoon Han. The board didn’t help Ryosuke, and he was eliminated in 4th for KRW 12,040,000 (~$9,090).
With three players left, Dicky Siu Hang Tsang was by far the shortest stack at the table, but he quickly put those chips to work, doubling up against Tae Hoon Han. Han then bluffed off the majority of his chips to Okamoto, before shoving AQ into Okamoto’s KK to finish 3rd for KRW 14,890,000 (~$11,250) plus bounties.
Tsang had done well to ladder up to second, considering where he started the final table, and it almost seemed inevitable that Okamoto would win. However, he wasn’t going to give up easily, and after doubling early, he ground it out, winning multiple hands to eat into Okamoto’s lead.
His hard work was rewarded when Okamoto shoved with Q2o from the small blind, only to be snap-called by Tsang with AQ. The board ran out favourably for Tsang, as Okamoto was left with less than three big blinds. While Okamoto managed to double up three times in a row, she was eventually eliminated in second, after her AJ ran into the QQ of Tsang.
This victory marked Tsang’s fourth in the APT and is his fourth largest tournament cash of his career.
Event #8 APT Incheon Mystery Bounty Hunter Event – Sponsored by Natural8 Final Table Results
Place | Name | Country | Prize (KRW) | Prize (~USD) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Dicky Siu Hang Tsang | Hong Kong | 32,561,200 | $24,585 |
2 | Shiina Okamoto | Japan | 33,300,000 | $25,145 |
3 | Tae Hoon Han | New Zealand | 18,290,000 | $13,810 |
4 | Ryosuke Mitsuhashi | Japan | 12,040,000 | $9,090 |
5 | Joon Hee Park | South Korea | 9,530,000 | $7,195 |
6 | Kyosuke Nagami | Japan | 8,940,000 | $6,750 |
7 | Tung Wing Wong | China | 6,260,000 | $4,725 |
8 | Daichi Tsuji | Japan | 23,950,000 | $18,085 |
Will Okamoto bounce back from her heads-up defeat to claim her first APT win at APT Incheon? Who do you think is favourite for the APT Incheon Main Event? Let us know on social media and stay tuned for all the latest poker news and events.
Image Source: The Asian Poker Tour