Ramil Tandoc opened with a raise to 15,000 and Tae Jun Noh made the call. The action was then with Lee Nelson, who cut out raising chips, making it 42,000 to go. The blinds folded, as did Tandoc, but Noh made the call.
The flop was and both players checked. The turn brought the and again both players checked. The river was the and Noh checked for a third time to Nelson, who deliberated before checking behind once again.
Tae Jun Noh kicked things off with a raise to 16,000 from middle position. The short stack of the final table, Rainier Aquino made his move, reraising all in from the small blind for a total of 30,000. Hyoung Jin Nam called out of the big blind, bringing the action back to Noh. He also called. It was a three-handed pot, with one player all in.
Noh and Nam checked the action all the way to the river. With the board showing , Noh bet 40,000. Nam quickly called, spelling certain disaster for Aquino. That doom was confirmed when the hands were opened.
Aquino:
Nam:
Noh:
Noh showed down a remarkable hand -- he had raised three-seven suited from middle position and got there on the river! As a result, Aquino was eliminated in ninth place, earning $9,228 in prize money.
Tae Jun Noh, playing his rush, opened once again with a raise to 15,000. Hyoung Jin Nam stomped a stack into the middle with a defiant call in the small blind, and Manish Sansi came along for the ride in the big blind.
The flop landed and the blinds checked to Noh, who made a continuation bet of 40,000. Nam called and Sansi stepped aside.
The turn was the and both checked. The river brought and again both checked.
Noh tabled and his ace kicker played as the best hand, as Nam showed for a counterfeited pair. Noh is certainly mixing things up here and with the cards falling his way, so are the chips!
After some early tough breaks, Hyoung Jin Nam has come storming back. He opened the pot for 15,000 from the button and was called out of the big blind by Michael Chang. Chang checked to Nam after the dealer spread out a flop, prompting Nam to bet 23,000. Change check-raised that bet to 46,000, with Nam quickly calling.
On the turn , Chang fired out a bet of 75,000. Again Nam didn't hesitate to call. When the river fell , Chang shut things down and checked. Nam checked behind, tabling for middle pair. That took down the pot when Chang showed a stone bluff, .
Hyoung Jin Nam limped in from middle position, Ramil Tandoc called on the button and the blinds came along to see a cheap flop of . The play checked to Tandoc who fired out 12,000. The table folded around and Tandoc collects a pot.
Van Marcus is a man on a mission today. He will have bittersweet memories of last year's APPT event in Manila. Marcus held a huge chip lead entering the final table last year, only to see it disappear into a fourth-place finish. He has approached this final table very similarly, after leading this tournament for most of Day 2 and entering today with a healthy chip stack. With several APPT cashes to his credit, including a ninth-place result at this year's APPT Macau High Rollers, Marcus will be looking to go a few places better today and capture that elusive major poker title.
Winning a series of small pots is one of the keys to success in this game. Lee Nelson is demonstrating that today. He raised to 17,000 from middle position and was called by Hyoung Jin Nam on the button. When the flop came , Nelson took down the pot with a bet of 17,000.
Hyoung Jin Nam limped into the pot, not for the first time today. Manish Sansi came along, as did Tae Jun Noh and Lee Nelson in the blinds.
They saw a multi-way flop of and the action checked to Nam who fired out a minimum bet of 6,000. Noh was the lone caller, as the crowd murmured when the hits the turn to put four spades on board. Noh checked to Nam, who fired 20,000 and Noh quickly called.
The fell on the river and Noh checked to Nam, who fired a curious bet of only 10,000. Noh called but Nam tabled for the flush to collect the pot.
Four-way pots must be coming back in vogue, because we've had a second one in a short span. Hyoung Jin Nam and Tae Jun Noh limped into the pot in front of the blinds, Lee Nelson and Van Marcus, who came along for the ride. Nam culled the herd with a bet of 30,000 on the flop, getting called only by Noh. He followed through with a bet of 30,000 on the turn, but again Noh called. Both players checked the river, with Noh showing down for two pair, nines and deuces. Nam mucked.