APT Macau Day 2: Casey Kastle Heads Final

August 30, 2008

John Hartness

APT Macau Day 2: Casey Kastle Heads Final 0001

Sixty-seven players returned to the Galaxy StarWorld Hotel and Casino in Macau for Day 2 of the APT Macau Main Event. By the time the dust settled on Day 2, only eight players remained to fight for the title and the event's $500,000 first-place money. Mel Judah, Grant Levy, Tony Dunst and a host of others fells by the wayside on the day, as Chicago native Casey Kastle finished up the day with a slight chip lead over Chong Wing Cheong at the final table.

Action was fast to begin the day, as the short stacks tried to make something happen early. Judah was one of the early eliminations when his K♦J♥ couldn't outrun Martin Stewart's 10♥10♦ on a board of 3♦6♥4♠A♥Q♦. He was joined on the rail early by Wooka Kim, James Honeybone and Adutya Agarwal.

With the rapid pace of eliminations in the early going, it didn't take long for the bubble to approach. J.J. Liu took the unfortunate designation of "bubble girl" for the APT Macau Main Event after she was all in for the ante on the bubble. Liu and four other players saw a board of 3♣J♠10♠10♣K♦ as Liu's opponents checked it down in hopes of eliminating her and bursting the money bubble. Once the river was dealt, one opponent revealed A♣Q♠ for the Broadway straight, and Liu's pocket eights were no good as she was eliminated in 41st place. Piotr Gruzcynski was the most immediate beneficiary of Liu's elimination, as he had just one chip left before her elimination, and picked up $6,000 for hanging on a little longer.

Once the bubble burst, the pace of eliminations picked up again, with several former big stacks heading to the rails as the blinds and antes escalated. Julian Powell busted when he moved all in preflop with Q♥5♥ only to find Kai Paulsen waiting with K♦K♥. The board ran out A♦4♦Q♦J♠9♦, giving Paulsen the four-flush and sending Powell to the rail. Powell was joined on the rail by Tony Dunst, Day 1a leader Guray Turkay and Tom Guise before the field thinned to two tables.

Once the field thinned to 18, Yevgeniy Timoshenko went on a huge rush to lock up his spot at the final table. Timoshenko bounced Ryan Gentry in 18th ($11,250) place just before the dinner break, and then continued to build his chip stack without too many big confrontations through the rest of the evening.

Players returned from dinner highly caffeinated and motivated to sling chips around, with three eliminations in just a few minutes after the end of the dinner break. William Te, Jr. headed to the rail in 17th ($11,250) when Quang Nguyen called his preflop all-in move with K♥Q♥. Te looked to be in good shape with A♦J♣, but when the Q♦ came on the river, Nguyen made two pair and sent Te packing.

Kent Hunter headed to the payout line moments later when his pocket sevens lost a coin flip to Michael Pedley's A♣Q♥ on a board of Q♠10♣9♣5♦10♠. Hunter picked up $15,000 for 16th place while Pedley moved on to a spot at the final table. Kou Vang then ran pocket tens into Quang Nguyen's pocket aces to bust in 15th place ($15,000).

As the evening wore on, Carter Gill moved the last of his chips into the middle with Q♦8♦, and was called by Joon Hee Yeah, who tabled A♦10♥. The flop came A♠4♣4♦, and Gill was drawing to runner-runner to stay alive. One of those runners came on the turn with the Q♣, but the J♣ river sent him home in 14th place ($15,000). Moritz Schmejkal was eliminated in 13th place when his A♠10♠ couldn't hold off the K♦Q♦ of Joon Hee Yeah on a board of 2♣A♥Q♣J♥Q♠.

With the blinds moving up, Grant Levy put the last of his chips in the middle with A♥10♦. He found one caller in Rober Karian, who picked up 9♥9♣ in the big blind. No help came for Levy on the 8♠5♥7♦2♣J♠ board, and he picked up $18,750 for 12th place. Yevgeniy Timoshenko bounced Matsukawa Shoichi in 11th place, and the remaining ten players positioned themselves for the final table.

Julius Colman ran into a cooler to end his tournament in 10th place ($22,500). Colman re-raised Chong Wing Cheong preflop with J♣J♥, and Cheong called to see a flop of J♠K♦Q♠. Colman led out at the flop, and Cheong moved all in. Colman quickly called with his set, only to see Cheong table 10♥9♥ for the flopped straight. No paired board showed for Colman, and he was left with not enough chips to completely post his small blind on the next hand. In a three-way hand, Colman ran into top pair and was eliminated in 10th place.

Michele Ferrari was the final-table bubble boy when he busted in ninth place ($22,500). Ferrari moved all in with 6♣6♥, and Casey Kastle called with 10♠10♥. The 5♣2♥J♥Q♠3♣ board missed both players, and Kastle's pocket tens eliminated Ferrari and moved him into the chip lead as the final table was set. As the chips were bagged the counts of the final eight were as follows: