Main Event Day 3 | PokerStars.net APPT Season 8 Asia Championship of Poker

11-06-2014 14:04 UTC+8

Mizzi Leads Final 62 Heading into Day 3

Josh_Cahlik

Welcome back to our ongoing coverage of the PokerStars.net APPT Season 8 Asia Championship of Poker! After two exciting days of poker it was Sorel Mizzi who bagged up the largest stack of the returning 62 players. Mizzi will bring a stack of 439,900 into the third day and hopes to ride his momentum through six more levels.

Registration closed after cards were in the air yesterday, allowing for a grand total of 291 entires. This meant for a total prize pool of HK$27,092,100 where the top 31 players make the money. Each player is vying for the HK$6,300,000 first-place prize and the title of ACOP Season 8 Main Event champion.

While Mizzi leads the pack, he's joined by many of poker's elite. Some of the players returning for play on Day 3 include Terry Gonzaga (309,700), Terrence Chan (284,400), reigning champion Sunny Jung (273,200), Ami Barer (226,300), Joseph Cheong (179,500), Raymond Wu (178,600), Scott Davies (166,600), Byron Kaverman (142,200), Dimitar Danchev (136,000), Celina Lin (135,100), Daniel Colman ( 130,400), Mike McDonald (125,400), and Thomas Muehloecker (80,700).

With six 90-minute levels on the menu for today, play will likely reach the money bubble at some point. As always, PokerNews will be on hand to provide all of the latest updates from the tournament floor. Stay tuned!

Tags: Sorel Mizzi

11-06-2014 16:37 UTC+8

Wu Eliminated by Chotikul

Josh_Cahlik

Level 14 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante

Jeffrey Chotikul opened with a raise to 4,800 and action folded over to Team PokerStars Pro Raymond Wu in middle position. He three-bet shipped for 26,200, eliciting folds from the rest of the players at the table. Action was back on Chotikul and he called.

Chotikul:
Wu:

The board ran out , keeping Chotikul's cowboys out in front. Wu hit the rail and Chotikul increased his stack to 185,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jeffrey Chotikul	185,000 78,100	78,100
Raymond Wu	Busted

Tags: Raymond Wu Jeffrey Chotikul

11-06-2014 16:57 UTC+8

Danchev Marches On, Lin Not Pleased

[user252447]

Level 14 : 1,200/2,400, 400 ante

Celina Lin opened the action from under the gun, got a call from Dong Guo and then Dimitar Danchev bumped it up to 15,300. The blinds folded and when Lin called Guo mulled it over but left them to it.

The flop was and Lin check-called a bet of 11,100 from Danchev. The turn card was the and a further bet of 25,200 saw Lin make the call to see the river card . A final check from Lin saw Danchev stare at the board before betting 50,100.

The bet represented nearly half of Lin’s remaining stack but call she did and mucked upon seeing Danchev table the . Lin indicated to Guo that she had and wasn’t best please about the result. Danchev just quietly stacked the chips to his ever growing pile.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dimitar Danchev	365,000 140,000	140,000

Celina Lin	55,000 -80,100	-80,100

Tags: Celina Lin Dimitar Danchev

11-07-2014 01:34 UTC+8

Mike McDonald Eliminated in 25th Place (HK$202,000)

Josh_Cahlik

Level 18 : 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante

Yaxi Zhu raised to 12,000 from the cutoff and found calls from Vladimir Troyanovskiy from the button and Mike McDonald from the small blind. The flop came down and McDonald checked. Zhu continued for 18,000 prompting Troyanovskiy to fold. McDonald, however, stuck around.

The hit the felt on the turn and McDonald checked for a second time. Zhu continued her aggression with a bet of 39,000. McDonald came over the top with a check-raise to 110,000 and Zhu flatted.

The finished the board and McDonald moved all in for about 240,000. Zhu snapped him off, rolling over for the nut straight. McDonald tabled before his cards were pulled into the muck. He was eliminated in 25th place and Zhu assumed the chip lead with about 940,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Yaxi Zhu	940,000 350,000	350,000
Mike McDonald	Busted

Tags: Mike McDonald

11-07-2014 02:14 UTC+8

Yaxi Zhu Leads Final 24; Sunny Jung Looks for Title Defense

Josh_Cahlik

Level 18 : 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante

On Thursday, the final 62 players returned to the felt for Day 3 of the PokerStars.net APPT Season 8 Asia Championship of Poker. After six full levels of play, just 24 players remain. Leading the field heading into Day 4 and the only player with over one million in chips is Yaxi Zhu, who bagged an impressive 1.019 million to end the day.

Zhu consistently thrived throughout the day, but truly hit her rush in the final level. A large confrontation that allowed her to soar into the chip lead occurred with just 30 minutes left in the day. During this hand, Zhu opened with a raise and found calls from Vladimir Troyanovskiy on the button and Mike "Timex" McDonald in the small blind. The trio took a flop and action checked to Zhu who continued out for 18,000. Troyanovskiy folded and McDonald stuck around to see the on fourth street. McDonald checked, Zhu continued her aggression for 39,000, and McDonald came over the top with a check-raise to 110,000. Zhu called and the finished off the board. McDonald moved all in for approximately 240,000 and was instantly called by Zhu who rolled over for the nut straight. McDonald's was pulled into the muck and Zhu soared to the chip lead.

Zhu, of course, was not the only player to thrive on Day 3. Konstantin Pogodin is close behind with 901,000 in chips. Rounding out the top three is Meng Dian Peng who put 834,000 in the bag.

Reigning ACOP champion Sunny Jung will also return for Day 4, bagging 822,000 in chips which is good for fourth place overall. Jung pocketed HK$4,352,000 for his victory just one year ago and is now a mere 23 eliminations away from a bigger payday and a title defense. Other notable players to survive the day include Joseph Cheong (527,000), Raiden Kan (405,000), Terrence Chan (365,000), start-of-day chip leader Sorel Mizzi (362,000), 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event champion Dimitar Danchev (361,000), Ami Barer (252,000), PokerStars Team Pro Celina Lin (91,000), and Byron Kaverman (73,000).

The day began with each returning player hoping to be among the top 31 players and score a guaranteed cash of at least $HK202,000. Unfortunately for exactly half of the returning field, that was not the case. Players like PokerStars Team Pro Raymond Wu, Jack Salter, Connor Drinan, Scott Davies, Dan Smith, Buyanjargal Bold, Billy Argyros, and Daniel Colman all saw an unfortunate end to their day before the money was reached.

The money bubble burst when EPT 10 Barcelona High Roller champion Thomas Muehloecker fell at the hands of Zuo 'ST' Wang. Muehloecker found himself all in holding against Wang's . A runout that read ensured that the bubble would burst and Muehloecker would be the last player to leave the tournament empty handed.

Players will return on Friday at 3 p.m. to play down to an official final table. Be sure to check back in with PokerNews as we provide all of the updates from the tournament floor.

Tags: Sunny Jung Yaxi Zhu