In an effort to bring the fun and excitement of the Chinese Zodiac tournaments to the live arena, Natural8 has hosted its very own version of the Zodiac Classic at each stop at the APT. Here at APT Incheon, the KRW 1.5 million buy-in tournament attracted a total of 189 entries, of which 54 have survived and are ready to battle it out for the KRW 54,865,500 first-place prize on Day 2.
Notable Survivors
As with every event here at APT Incheon, the Zodiac Classic event attracted plenty of big-name players, and a number of them have made it through to Day 2.
The third-place Main Event finisher in our last stop at APT Summer Series Da Nang Daiki Shingae had a productive Day 1, bringing forward 104,000 chips to battle it out on Day 2. The two-time APT champion with over $2.7 million in career earnings, Marc Richelieu Rivera bagged a similar amount and will have 108,000 to work with tomorrow.
Karen Ka Yan Tsang, the winner of Event #31 here at APT Incheon is looking to win her second APT title after bagging an impressive 187,000 at the end of Day 1. The two-time WSOP bracelet winner Yang Zhang from China has plenty of live tournament experience and will be looking to utilise that on Day 2 after bagging 264,000.
Chip Leaders
Japan’s Hiroshi Nishiyama had the best Day 1 of anyone, bagging an incredible 444,000 - that’s eleven starting stacks - for Day 2. Nishiyama is looking to win his second APT title after a succession of second-place finishes.
His countrymate Hattori Masato is just behind him in the chip standings, having bagged 369,000. Masato came close to winning his first APT title earlier in the series but lost to Karen Ka Yan Tsang heads-up in the Deuces Wild Hyper Turbo event. He’ll be looking to put that right after bagging an impressive stack for Day 2.
Rounding out the top three we have Suparerk Totsaponvisad from Thailand who’s bringing 352,000 chips into Day 2. Suparerk will surpass his biggest live tournament cash with a final table appearance, and he’ll be hoping that his hard work on Day 1 will help him achieve that.
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Image Source: The Asian Poker Tour
