Yuguang Li Chases 2nd APPT Title of 2015; Leads after Day 2 ACOP Main Event
Day 2 of the 2015 PokerStars.net APPT Season 9 ACOP Main Event came and went over five 90-minute levels today. A total of 157 players returned, a few late registering players joined them, and by 10 p.m. local time just 65 remained.
The end of this poker festival also sees the end of the race to become the 2015 Asia Player of the Year, and as it happens, some of those vying for the title are also in the mix at the top of the counts in the Main Event. Yuguang Li has a chance of winning that coveted title, especially considering he ended the day as the clear chip leader with 440,300. The Chinese player loves Macau and won an APPT title here back in March which he followed up 24 hours later by winning the High Roller Event. Going on to win would cap a remarkable year for him.
No other player has over 300,000. Those with more than 200,000 are Zhou Zhou (294,400), "Tony" Yat Wai Chen (288,500), Zhengye Yao (266,300), Bill Argyros (261,300), Ningdan Shi (254,000), Michael Addamo (227,200), Shunu Zang (207,100) and Peiran Liu (201,000).
The final number for the tournament ended up at 260, which created a total prize pool of $24,206,000 HKD.
The winner will take home $5.85-million HKD ($759,232 USD approx) and a min-cash will be worth $193,000 HKD ($24,899 USD approx). Here’s a full break down of the payouts:
| Place | Prize in HKD | Prize in USD (approx) |
| 1st | $5,885,000.00 | $759,232 |
| 2nd | $3,736,000.00 | $481,987 |
| 3rd | $2,411,000.00 | $311,047 |
| 4th | $1,928,000.00 | $248,734 |
| 5th | $1,519,000.00 | $195,968 |
| 6th | $1,205,000.00 | $155,459 |
| 7th | $964,000.00 | $124,367 |
| 8th | $783,000.00 | $101,016 |
| 9th | $603,000.00 | $77,794 |
| 10th | $482,000.00 | $62,184 |
| 11th-12th | $410,000.00 | $52,895 |
| 13th-15th | $350,000.00 | $45,154 |
| 16th-18th | $289,000.00 | $37,284 |
| 19th-21st | $241,000.00 | $31,092 |
| 22nd-24th | $217,000.00 | $27,995 |
| 25th-27th | $193,000.00 | $24,899 |
Those representing the red spade of PokerStars enjoyed great day ones but the Day 2 story was more mixed. Isaac Haxton (77,700), Mikhail Shalamov (161,400) and Bryan Huang (54,300) were the only three to make it through after battling days on the baize.
Whereas, Aditya Agarwal, Yaxi Zhu, Vivian Im and Kosei Ichinose failed to make it through and were joined on the side lines by notables such as Joe Hachem (queens cracked); Xuan Liu (ace-king into aces); Terrence Chan (straight versus flush); John Juanda (bluffed off his stack), and Daniel Neilson.
The good thing about busting today though is that the official player party is happening tonight with the ACOP Beer Pong championship taking centre stage. So there’s plenty of chances for them to drown their sorrows (not in the pool) and they don’t have to worry about getting up for Day 3 tomorrow.
Speaking of, Day 3 starts at 2 p.m. and six 90-minute levels are scheduled. Making the final 27 and the money will be the remaining players’ priority, so make sure you join the PokerNews reporting team for what promises to be an exciting day at the tables.
While you wait, check out this video of the ACOP Players' Party: