High Rollers Event | 2008 PokerStars.net APPT Macau

09-09-2008 12:01 UTC+8

Final Table Lineup

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Seat 1: Nam Le - 107,000
Seat 2: Quinn Do - 105,000
Seat 3: David Steicke - 391,000
Seat 4: Wei Will Ma - 186,500
Seat 5: Johnny Chan - 60,500
Seat 6: Charles Chua - 47,000
Seat 7: Ivan Tan - 61,000
Seat 8: Andrew Scott - 226,000
Seat 9: Van Marcus - 43,000

09-09-2008 12:14 UTC+8

Seat 1: Nam Le - 107,000 chips

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Nam Le has a record that stands up on any final table in the world. Nam rose to fame and fortune when he won the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Stars event in early 2006 for $1.2 million and since then he hasn't looked back. One of the most successful tournament players on the circuit over the past few years, his 11 WPT cashes and 15 WSOP cashes, including four this summer, have seen Nam accumulate over $4 million in career earnings.

Nam credits everything he knows in poker to his cousin, Tuan Le.

Nam has made steady progress throughout the tournament without being involved in too many big clashes. He starts the day in the middle of the pack with 107,000 chips.

Tags: Nam Le

09-09-2008 12:27 UTC+8

Seat 2: Quinn Do - 105,000 chips

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How many WSOP bracelet winners are there at this final table? You may not realize that besides Johnny Chan, we have another bracelet winner here today in Quinn Do.

Quinn's victory in the $2,500 Limit event in 2005 kick-started a career that now includes six WSOP cashes and three WPT cashes, with his biggest score coming earlier this year when he finished runner-up to Phil Ivey in the WPT LA Poker Classic worth $900,000.

Quinn has been another quiet accumulator in this tournament to enter today's final table with a comfortable 105,000 chips.

Tags: Quinn Do

09-09-2008 12:34 UTC+8

Seat 3: David Steicke - 391,000 chips

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The man with the colorful caps and mispronounce-able surname, David Steicke has entertained us all week with his dominant performance on the felt.

A relative newcomer to the poker scene, in less than 12 months Steicke has already etched himself as a force in the Asian poker region. With cashes at the Aussie Millions and WSOP, including a fourth-place finish in the $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em event worth $166,000, Steicke returns to the table where he first came to prominence. Last year in this same event Steicke collected third place and over $110,000, and will be looking to go a couple places better today. Steicke also finished tenth in the 2008 APPT Macau Main Event just a few days ago.

Steicke has demonstrated some amazing reads and unpredictable play at the table that has thrown off his opponents and ensured his place at the top of the chip count leaderboard throughout the entire tournament. This Australian, who now resides in Hong Kong, enters as our chip leader with 391,000.

Tags: David Steicke

09-09-2008 12:36 UTC+8

Seat 4: Wei Will Ma - 186,500 chips

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Wei "Will" Ma is a Canadian who may be one of the least-known players at today's final table, but that doesn't mean he's a stranger to poker success. Ma finished first in the 2007 Grand Prix de Paris, collecting over EUR 422,000 in prize money for doing so. He's also well-known online, where he goes by the screen name "CutiePi314" and has over a quarter-million dollars in MTT earnings to his credit.

Ma has played this tournament quietly but effectively, chipping up without drawing much attention to his increasing stack size. He will start the final table in third place, behind only Andrew Scott and chip leader David Steicke.

Tags: Wei Will Ma

09-09-2008 12:38 UTC+8

Seat 5: Johnny Chan - 60,500 chips

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Johnny Chan is a poker player who needs no introduction. Chan has been playing poker since before many of today's players were born, racking up almost $7 million in career earnings in that time. He has an impressive 42 WSOP cashes on his poker resume, covering all different types of poker variants: hold'em, Omaha, stud, and lowball. Ten of Chan's cashes were first-place finishes; he shares the record for most WSOP first-place finishes with Phil Hellmuth, Jr. Chan also won the Main Event of the WSOP in 1987 and 1988, and is one of only four players to ever win the Main Event more than once.

Chan successfully lobbied last night for play to be consolidated into one ten-handed table rather than two five-handed tables. He will start the day with just 20 big blinds and will need to chip up aggressively if he hopes to take down this tournament.

Tags: Johnny Chan

09-09-2008 12:38 UTC+8

Seat 6: Charles Chua - 47,000 chips

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Charles Chua is well known in Australian poker circles, after living in Melbourne for a number of years. He currently resides in Malaysia where he now embarks on a mission to earn a place in Asian poker history. He already has one APPT Macau cash to his credit, coming in second place at the 2008 APPT Macau Main Event and pocketing almost $300,000 in prize money. Chua has a major online tournament victory to his credit this year and should bring plenty of color and aggression to today's final table, although as the second-smallest stack he will need to pick his spots carefully.

Tags: Charles Chua

09-09-2008 12:42 UTC+8

Seat 7: Ivan Tan - 61,000 chips

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Zhong Wei "Ivan" Tan is playing at his second APPT Macau final table in two years. Last year, during the inaugural season of the APPT, Tan made it to the final table of the Main Event, where he eventually finished in second place, winning about $130,000 in prize money. Originally from Singapore, Tan has played this tournament carefully, but without fear. He will start the day grouped at the bottom of the chip counts with a few other players, but don't count him out. Tan has shown the ability to rise quickly to the top throughout this tournament.

Tags: Ivan Tan

09-09-2008 12:43 UTC+8

Seat 8: Andrew Scott - 226,000 chips

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For Australian Andrew Scott, who now resides in nearby Hong Kong, this is his biggest live tournament result. Previously part of a successful blackjack team, he has now moved his attention onto poker, with his previous cashes coming at the Aussie Millions and WSOP worth close to $20,000.

Andrew came to our attention early in the tournament after winning a couple of races to eliminate Yevgeniy Timoshenko, and despite slipping to a short stack during Day Two, he played aggressively around the final table bubble to enter today with the second biggest chip stack.

An entertaining player to watch and one who isn't afraid to talk the talk, we'll soon see if he can walk the walk this evening.

Tags: Andrew Scott

09-09-2008 12:44 UTC+8

Seat 9: Van Marcus - 43,000 chips

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Van Marcus is one of four players with strong ties to Australia at today's final table. He has had as much poker success as any one of them. Marcus has four WSOP cashes to his credit, including a final table and third-place finish in the 2007 $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event. He also has reached three final tables just this year -- two at the Aussie Millions in January and one at the Canadian Poker Open Championship in March -- and he final-tabled the APPT Manila event in 2007. The one thing that has eluded Marcus thus far in his illustrious poker career is a first-place finish in a major live event. Marcus will be looking to change that today, but he comes into the final table as the shortest stack.

Tags: Van Marcus