The bubble burst in the APT main event last night, with the remaining 18 players returning today all in the money and hoping to make it through to tomorrow’s final table.
A dramatic day on the felt saw the likes of Nam Le, Iori Yogo and Casey Kastle among the big names hoping for a deep run but by the time South Africa’s Marc Joseph became the unlucky bubble boy – running AJ into the KK of Bryan Huang – it was Peter Nguyen sitting atop the chip counts with an impressive 352,000 in chips.
Nguyen endured a roller-coaster afternoon, losing a pile of chips to World Gaming Group COO Michael Mariakis early before regaining most of them just a few hands later and never looking back. He leads the way from Huang, while David Steicke, Sam Razavi and Ben Abrahams are among those still dreaming of becoming the inaugural APT Vietnam champion. Razavi’s presence is particularly notable as he looks to stake his claim for a fourth consecutive Player of the Year title. He currently sits fourth in 2015.
Chip leader Peter Nguyen
One player who couldn’t get anything going on Day 2 was Nam Le, who rode a critically ill short stack for a good three hours early on before eventually running out of time. He was joined by Kasey Castle, Azusa Maeda and Khac Trung Tran on the rail.
The 18 remaining players are all guaranteed a payday of at least US$2,200 with the winner taking home US$29,500. Play resumes at 13:00 local time today.
