After a long final table, poker influencer Kirk “K7” took down the Natural8 Poker Influencer Challenge, and took home one of the coveted APT trophies, along with an extra $500 to go with his Main Event seat.
Influencer Challenge Recap
We put the word out, and you answered; we looked for 100 of the best poker social media influencers and streamers to take part in our exclusive freeroll where nine lucky winners would win an expenses-paid trip to APT Incheon - and that’s what we got!
While we had hundreds of submissions, we were able to whittle it down to 100 of our favourites, who all took part in the Natural8 Influencer freeroll for a shot at an APT Incheon Main Event seat and $850 travel expenses, and an exclusive live-streamed final table, where the final 9 players would compete for a $1000 prize pool. Let’s take a look at the action.
Final Table Action
We had a wide variety of chip stacks coming into the final table; Taiwan’s K7 was our shortest stack, sitting on just 22,500 with a 1,500 big blind, and Hong Kong’s AJ had the biggest stack, sitting on 131,000. We also had a repeat appearance for Barry W., who’s made his second Natural8 influencer final table after winning the event in APT Taipei earlier this year.
Given that only the top three places were paid at this final table, we expected there to be plenty of action from the short stacks, as they tried to build a stack to make a run at the first-place prize. However, things were pretty tame early on, and the players seemed to take some time to adjust to playing on stream.
First Elimination
Despite a couple of very short stacks coming into this final table, it took over an hour before we saw our first elimination - and it came from the most experienced player at the table. Barry W. had been bleeding chips and was down to under 3bb when he shoved with pocket sixes. He was called by the AT of Angel, and the two would run it out. The A hit the flop, putting Ace in the lead. Neither the Q nor the 7 could help Barry W., as he was eliminated in 7th place.
It took until after the break before we saw our second elimination, as ColourMC hit the rail. After losing KJ vs. A9s for a 6bb all-in, he called all-in with Q6s from the BB against the SB shove of AJ for his remaining 5bb. Unfortunately for ColourMC, he was unable to improve, and he was out in 6th place.
Down To Four
Just a few hands after ColourMC hit the rail we looked set to see another elimination, as Kirk “K7” was all in and at risk with AQ against the AK of Angel. With one card to come K7 needed a queen and a queen only, and was relieved when he saw the Qd hit the river - giving him a much-needed double up.
After doubling up through ColourMC, GoodLuck2US found himself in a great situation to double up again. He called the shove from AJ in the small blind with AQ and was pleased to see AJ turn over the A6. However, two hearts on the flop made things a bit sweaty, before the 6 on the turn gave AJ the lead. Another 6 on the river sealed the deal and eliminated ColourMC in 5th place.
Money Bubble
That elimination meant that we were now on the money bubble, with 3rd place set to receive $200 and 4th place getting $0. Peace found herself in the unfortunate position of being the short-stack on the money bubble, so she needed to find a way to accumulate some chips.
She thought she saw an opportunity when she 3bet A7s from the BB against the Button open of the aggressive AJ, but AJ decided to 4bet shove. This put Peace in a tricky decision, and after deciding that she was pot-committed, she made the call and found out the bad news when AJ turned over two aces!
Peace needed some major help in the form of spades or some sevens - the 842 flop didn’t offer much help, but the K gave her some outs going into the river. Unfortunately for Peace, the 3 hit the river, eliminating her in 4th place, and guaranteeing everyone else at the table a $200 payday.
Three-Handed Play
That hand gave AJ a commanding lead going into three-handed play; his 231,000 chips was more than both Angel and K7 had combined. However, AJ couldn’t hold onto that chip lead, and after losing a series of small pots to both Angle and K7, the stacks were almost level.
After losing a couple more hands to Angel, AJ found himself as the shortest stack at the table and got into a big hand with the new chip leader - Angel. Angel min-raised out of the small blind with A9o, and AJ defended the big blind with 93o. A flop of A93 guaranteed there would be fireworks - Angel started with a check, and faced a 19K bet into a 30K pot from AJ. Angel decided to smooth call, and the 8 hit the turn. This time Angel led out for 30K, and facing the bet, AJ made the shove with his worse two pair. Angel quickly made the call, leaving AJ needing a three on the river. The river came the 7, eliminating AJ in 3rd place, taking home $200 in Natural8 dollars.
Heads-Up Play
Having started as the shortest stack, K7 must have been delighted to find himself heads-up, but he found himself at a more than 2:1 chip disadvantage. However, he wasn’t going to go down without a fight. K7 managed to chip away at her stack by winning a series of small pots to almost draw level with Angel.
In fact, the two had barely any significant pots heads-up. Arguably the biggest hand of the match took place when Angel had 88 against the QJ of AJ. K7 limped from the Button, and Angel bumped it up to 3bb from the big blind. The flop came JKT, giving K7 a huge advantage.
After both players checked, Angel bet 30K on the 3, and K7 quickly called. The river was the 5, both players checked, and K7 took down the pot. This was the hand that gave K7 the chip lead, and once he had it, he never looked like losing it.
Angel wasn’t able to find an aggressive gear to try and gain some momentum and ended up bleeding down to under 2bb after making some very tight folds. In the end, the two managed to get it in preflop - Angel holding the J2, and K7 holding pocket fives. The TT3 flop was a good one for K7, but the ace on the turn gave Angel a few more outs. However, the T gave K7 a full house and sealed his victory.
K7 took down one of the fabulous APT Lion trophies, as well as an extra $500 in Natural8 dollars.
We’d like to thank all of our influencers for their participation, and we can’t wait to see you all at the next stop!
