The ninth season of the Asian Pacific Poker Tour Macau has come to an end with Tony Cheng taking the honors in the Main Event, and Liang Yu doing likewise in the High Roller.
Yat Wai “Tony” Cheng likes playing poker at the City of Dreams.
In 2013 he finished fourth in the 2013 Asian Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Asian Championship of Poker (ACOP) for $191,504. A year later he finished eighth in the APPT Main Event, for $35,214. Now he can say he has finally won one, after defeating Weiye Ye, in heads-up action, to take the first prize of HK$2,525,000.
As Cheng came into the final table with the chip lead, he would have expected big things. But nothing could have prepared him for what happened right off the bat. Only one other player started the final table with more than two million chips. That was Weiyi Zhang, and the pair would get it in, in a six-bet pot, with Zhang holding [Ad] [Kd], and Cheng holding pocket kings. Aces and diamonds stayed in the deck, and Cheng suddenly had the armory to run over the remaining contestants.
“When he raised and I picked up kings I knew I was three-betting him,” Cheng told PokerNews after his win. “When he came over the top I was very excited. Then he showed AK and it held up. That was a big hand for me.”
Cheng would eliminate five of the six other finalists. Only the former Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon winner, Zhenru Xie, met his demise at someone else’s hands.
The heads-up action would fall between Cheng and Weiyi Ye. Cheng held a 2:1 chip lead. The match lasted half an hour before Ye shoved with pocket fives, and Cheng called with KJ. A king on the flop handing Cheng all of the chips, a new title, and the biggest win of his career to date.
Final Table Results (HKD)
1st. Yat Wai Cheng – $2,525,000
2nd. Weiyi Ye – $1,526,000
3rd. Florencio Campomanes – $926,000
4th. Zhenru Xie – $698,000
5th. Chun Liang Kuo – $490,000
6th. Fan Zhao – $381,000
7th. Weiyi Zhang – $310,280
Liang Yu Wins the APPT9 Macau $100k High Roller
Liang Yu moved closer to the million-dollar earnings mark, after defeating Shunu Zang, in heads-up action, in the APPT9 Macau High Roller. Yu defeated 75 entrants to take the first prize of HKD$2,492,500.
It was a final table that included Randy Lew. The Team PokerStars Online pro won the APPT Main Event in Macau back in 2011, and finished seventh in the APPT ACOP Main Event in 2013. He would have to settle for fifth in this one, but consistent form nonetheless.
Both Yu and Zang have performed well in big buy-in events in the past. Yu finished second to Fabian Quoss in the 2014 APPT ACOP High Roller, and Zang finished third in a €10k Turbo event at EPT10 Grand Final in Monte Carlo for $116,939.
This one would end with a bad beat story. Yu getting it in with [As] [7h], Zang held [Ah] [Ks], and Yu would turn a straight to take the title. Former EPT6 Barcelona final tablist Asa Smith also made the money finishing in tenth place.
“I play poker in Macau. There are so many friends here. I played a $2,000 satellite, and then a $14,000 satellite, so I had no added pressure. I enjoyed myself. I got lucky. You saw the bad beat at the end.” Yu told PokerNews after his win.
Final Table Results (HKD)
1st. Liang Yu – $2,492,500
2nd. Shunu Zang – $1,711,000
3rd. Shashank Rathi – $1,124,000
4th. Jack Hu – $929,000
5th. Randy Lew – $782,000
6th. Hao Tian – $684,000
7th. Chang He – $587,000
8th. Marcus Lau – $489,000
