Welcome back to our coverage of the PokerStars.net APPT Season 8 Asia Championship of Poker! The starting field of 291 has been whittled down to the final table of nine. Leading the pack heading into the final day is none other then ACOP reigning champion Sunny Jung. Jung bagged the biggest stack on the penultimate day and will hold a lead of 1.81 million coming into the final table.
Jung currently sits in second place on South Korea's all-time money list for live tournament poker. A high finish in today's event could vault this poker professional into the top spot for his country. Last year he won this very event and pocketed a cool HK$4,352,000. This year, as he looks to go back-to-back, the stakes are even higher with a first-place prize of HK$6,300,000. Jung has been in this position before and is certainly a favorite to retain his championship title as he holds the biggest stack at the table.
That being said, recent Aussie Millions Main Event champion Ami Barer is right on Jung's heels. Barer bagged 1.76 million to end the day yesterday and will certainly be a serious force at this final table. He comes into the final table in second place overall.
Also present at the final table is tournament wizard Joseph Cheong, sitting on 1.027 million for fourth place overall in chips. This is Cheong second final table of the week, finishing fifth place in the 2014 ACOP “Macau Billionaire Poker” HK$500,000 Super High Roller just five days ago. Cheong pocketed $528,663 in USD for his efforts at that finale table and surely looks to improve upon his finish today.
Here's a look at the seat draw and chip counts heading into the final table:
Seat
Player
Country
Chips
1
Zuo 'ST' Wang
China
504,000
2
Konstantin Pogodin
Russia
1,165,000
3
Ami Barer
Canada
1,760,000
4
Raiden Kan
Hong Kong
488,000
5
Sunny Jung
Korea
1,810,000
6
Vladimir Troyanovskiy
Russia
576,000
7
Tore Lukashaugen
Norway
369,000
8
Gabriel Le Jossec
UK
1,025,000
9
Joseph Cheong
USA
1,027,000
Play begins at 3 p.m. local time and the field will play down to a winner. As always, be sure to keep your browsers locked on PokerNews for all of the latest updates.
On the third hand of the day it was folded to Vladimir Troyanovskiy on the button who made it 30,000. Tore Lukashaugen was in the small blind and the short stack at the table. He moved all in and when the big blind folded Troyanovskiy quickly made the call.
Action folded over to Raiden Kan in the small blind who tossed out a completion. Sunny Jung was in the big blind and he wasted little time announcing a raise to 54,000. Kan came over the top with a four-bet to 150,000 and Jung instantly moved all in. Kan called for his tournament life of about 450,000 and the hands were turned over.
Kan:
Jung:
The two were flipping for Kan's tournament life heading to the flop. The dealer fanned on the felt, pairing the reigning champion's ace and giving him the lead in the hand. The hit the turn, prompting Kan to give a slight shake of the head. Kan failed to improve with the on the river and he became the eighth place finisher for HK$813,100.
With this pot, Jung extended his chip lead to about 2.5 million.
On the very next hand, Sunny Jung once again opened to 40,000. Action folded to Joseph Cheong on the button and he three-bet the action to 115,000. The blinds folded and Jung wasted little time moving all in over the top. Cheong instantly called for his tournament life of 528,000 and the hands were turned up.
Jung:
Cheong:
The board came down , giving Cheong a winning set of jacks for the double. He now has about 1.1 million in chips.
Joseph Cheong opened under the gun for 54,000 and Sunny Jung made it 150,000 from the button. The blinds folded and Cheong made the call.
The flop was and Cheong check-called a bet of 180,000. The turn card was the and once again Cheong checked and then faced a bet of 325,000 from Jung.
Cheong went deep in the tank. Close to five minutes ticked by as Cheong decided what to do. His decision in the end was to move all in. Jung checked his hole cards to make sure and called.
Cheong:
Jung: .
Cheong would need a king or a jack to survive but the river card was the to award Jung a huge pot and eliminate Cheong in seventh place.
Konstantin Pogodin opened the action for 50,000 under the gun and Ami Barer sat to his left raised him to 144,000. The other players got out of the way and Pogodin made the call.
The flop was and Pogodin checked. Barer bet 72,000 and Pogodin went for a check-raise to 200,000. The stack sizes of the two players were very similar and Barer made the call.
The turn card was the and Pogodin moved all in. Barer’s hands went to his face as if this is what he had been dreading, but he made the call and flipped over .
Pogodin tapped the table and then showed his
The river card was the . No jack for Pogodin and when the stacks were counted down Barer just had the edge to bust the Russian in sixth place.
Ami Barer opened the cutoff to 60,000 and Sunny Jung three-bet to 150,000 from the button. Vladimir Troyanovskiy was in the small blind and he announced a four-bet all in for 915,000. Action folded back to Barer who kick it in as well. Jung went into the tank for about three minutes before he called the raise.
Jung:
Troyanovskiy:
Troyanovskiy was in a dominating position with his pocket queens, but that all change in a flash after the flop came down . Jung jumped into the lead with a flopped set of tens and suddenly Troyanovskiy was two cards away from elimination. The hit the turn and Troyanovskiy started shaking hands with his opponents. The completed the board and Jung scored the elimination, boosting his stack to about 4.2 million in chips.
Gabriel Le Jossec raised to 85,000 from under the gun and action folded over to Sunny Jung in the big blind. He three-bet the action to 220,000 only to have Le Jossec four-bet ship for 1.26 million. Jung called and the hands were exposed.
Le Jossec:
Jung:
Jung was in a commanding position heading to the community cards. The flop came down , keeping Jung's ace high in the lead but giving Le Jossec a few additional outs with an inside straight draw. The fell on the turn, meaning Le Jossec needed to improve in order to stay alive. He did exactly that as the completed the board on the river, giving Le Jossec a winning pair of kings.
Le Jossec doubled to 2.6 million while Jung dropped to about 1.85 million.
After twenty minutes of small ball and swapping pots the following hand broke out.
Ami Barer opened for 100,000 and got called by Sunny Jung on the button and big blind Zuo 'ST' Wang. The three of them saw a flop of . Barer made it 160,000 when it was checked to him and Jung raised to 440,000.
With Wang out of the way Barer announced all in and with a look back at his cards Jung made the call.
Barer:
Jung:
Barer was on the straight draw and Jung had a pair with the flush draw.
The turn gave Barer the better pair but the river gave Jung the two pair and he let out a cry of relief as he got a big double up to stay in contention to win back-to-back titles .
Sunny Jung had first action and opened to 65,000 before the flop. Gabriel Le Jossec called from the button and Ami Barer came along from the big blind. The dealer fanned a flop of and Barer checked. Jung continued for 160,000, prompting a fold from Le Jossec. Barer instantly moved all in for about 800,000 and Jung called him just as quick.
Jung:
Barer:
Jung led with his pocket kings, but Barer was drawing live with both an over card and four to a heart flush. The on the turn removed some of Barer's outs, giving Jung top set of kings. The finished the board and Barer became the fourth place finisher, collecting HK$2,025,000 in prize money.
![[user252447]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
and Lukashaugen was eliminated.
on the felt, pairing the reigning champion's ace and giving him the lead in the hand. The 
hit the turn, prompting Kan to give a slight shake of the head. Kan failed to improve with the 
and once again Cheong checked and then faced a bet of 325,000 from Jung.
to award Jung a huge pot and eliminate Cheong in seventh place.
. No jack for Pogodin and when the stacks were counted down Barer just had the edge to bust the Russian in sixth place.
, keeping Jung's ace high in the lead but giving Le Jossec a few additional outs with an inside straight draw. The 
gave Barer the better pair but the river 
