This article first appeared in the Nov/Dec 2016 issue of WGM.
It’s been three years since the Asian Poker Tour last visited Macau – a wait far too long for a tour renowned as having the best structures of any tournament series in the region. So after a false start in 2015, it was a welcome return for APT Macau as it partnered with Poker King Club at the latter’s new home in the old Casino Lisboa.
Comprising a total of 14 events across seven days from 19 to 25 October, APT Macau attracted 965 buy-ins and combined prize pools of over HK$5 million with the highly anticipated Main Event attracting 108 runners.
Although four-time APT Player of the Year (POY) Sam Razavi was absent, the field was a quality one with Poker King Club boss Winfred Yu joining the likes of current POY points leader Iori Yogo, defending champion Henrik Tollefsen, former APT champions John Tech, Lester Edoc and Feng Zhao and Spanish pro Sergio Aido among the runners.
Aido proved to be particularly prominent. By the end of Day 2, with 29 players remaining, he had soared into the chip lead as one of only two players above 400,000 and he carried that momentum through Day 3 to reach the final table as the clear favorite – his stack of 1.4 million a massive 550,000 more than next best Guo Dong.
Also among the final eight players was Yu – looking to take down the title in his own poker room – and Tollefsen who was aiming to add a record third APT Main Event title to his resume following his victories in Macau in 2013 and Cebu in 2015.
Unfortunately for the Norwegian, he would fall short in sixth place while Yu came agonisingly close before exiting in third place.
Instead, it was China’s Guo Dong who took control as the Main Event reached its crescendo, his cautious pre-flop and aggressive post-flop approach helping him enter heads-up play with a 2:1 chip advantage over Aido. Two hands later it was all over, Dong getting it in with A8 and hitting an 8 on the turn to edge Aido’s AK and claim the HK$530,000 top prize.
Asked about his final table strategy, Dong said he had tried to avoid taking any unnecessary risks.
“For this level of game, it’s not about who plays better but more of who doesn’t make mistakes. So my strategy was to not make any stupid mistakes,” he said.
“I limped in a lot, I was the only one limping in. I am quite confident with my post flop skills so with everyone holding around 30 to 40 big blinds, it is very easy to get three-bet or four-bet and I preferred to stay away from big hands. I didn’t want to put myself in that situation. I try to control the pot so I won’t have big swings. I trust myself so I want to keep it simple.”
While the absence of Razavi saw Iogo slightly extend his POY lead after cashing in one side event, there were some other notable Macau performances – none more impressive than that of Korea’s Lim Yo Hwan. Lim began the week strongly by taking out the Poker King Cup Opening Event, then came within a whisker of adding the Main Event title too with a fourth place finish.
APT Macau champion Guo Dong
And although he didn’t quite pick up his second trophy, there were two players that did achieve the double. American Duy Ho won the No Limit Hold’Em event and the 6-max, while France’s Frederick Fauchereau claimed the Deep Stack Turbo and the Super Deep Stack Turbo.
