ACOP Main Event Begins!
Welcome to the live coverage of the PokerStars.net APPT Season 8 Asia Championship of Poker! The PokerNews Live Reporting team is on hand from Macau to provide all of the latest updates from this exciting and prestigious event!
It was just one year ago when Korea's Sunny Jung rose to the top of this very event to take home a first-place prize of HK$4,352,000. On his path to glory, Jung bested a final table that included eventual PokerStars.net APPT Season 8 Seoul champion Chane Kampanatsanyakorn (9th) and PokerStars Team Online pro Randy Lew (6th). Ultimately, Jung found himself heads up with Devan Tang for the title. Jung's ace-king outlasted Tang's ace-queen, and the Korean was awarded the first place prize and poker immortality. A full recap of last year's coverage of the event can be found here.
The excitement in the tournament area is mounting, following Steve O'Dwyer's impressive championship run in the 2014 ACOP “Macau Billionaire” Poker” HK$500,000 Super High Roller. The event, which drew a total of 102 entries, (52 unique players; 50 rebuys) allowed for a first-place prize of HK$14,050,000 ($1,811,638 in USD). O'Dwyer bested a final table that included the likes of Davidi Kitai, Daniel Colman, Joseph Cheong, Connor Drinan, and Praytush Buddiga. Ultimately, O'Dwyer found himself heads up with Ryan Fee for the title and over $1.8 million in prize money. O'Dwyer sealed the deal and laid claim to the title. We expect to see most, if not all of these players at the tables for the start of the Main Event this evening.
Players will start the Main Event with 30,000 in chips. The first four levels of play will be 60 minutes, with levels increasing to 90 minutes in length from that point onward. Play will last a full seven levels before bagging and tagging for the evening.
Play kicks off at 5 p.m. local time, so be sure the stay tuned for all of the latest from the tournament floor!