APPT Seoul - Live Updates

This tournament is over and Yoshihiro Tasaka is champion!

We said before these two weren't afraid to mix it up and apparently we were right on the money. The last hand saw a flurry of raises and re-raises with all the money ending up in the middle. The only surprising thing were the cards we saw when the hands were turned over.

Hidenari Shiono opened to $60,000 and Tasaka re-popped to $196,000. Shiono moved all-in and Tasaka made the call.

Tasaka: 9♥ 2♣

Shiono: A♠ 4♣

The board ran 9♦ 8♥ 6♦ J♦ 3♥ and Tasaka's pair of nines was enough to earn him the pot and the title! 

Hidenari Shinio takes runner-up honors and $80,135 while Yoshihiro Tasaka takes the trophy and $128,216!

Yoshihiro Tasaka is slowly but surely grinding down his opponent in this heads-up match and he just took another sizable pot. Tasaka opened from the button for an additional $32,000 and got a call from Shiono in the big blind.

The flop came down J♥ T♠ 3♠ and Shiono fired $50,000. Tasaka made a quick call and the T♦ hit the river. Both players checked and the 6♦ came floating in on the river. Shiono checked again but Tasaka took the initiative and bet a cool $100k.

Shiono folded rather quickly and the pot goes to Tasaka.

Our heads-up players have already been mixing it up and neither of them are showing any fear when it comes to putting chips in the pot. We just saw the biggest hand of the match so far and it was shipped to Yoshihiro Tasaka, further extending his lead over Hidenari Shiono.

Tasaka made it $61,000 to go from the button and Shiono added another $100k on top from the big blind. Tasaka made the call and the flop rolled out T♥ 9♥ 7♠. Shiono checked and Tasaka immediately announced all-in. Shiono looked at his cards once again, tanked for a short minute and dumped his hand in the muck.

We're heads-up here in Seoul. Here are the new counts for our final two players.

Yoshihiro Tasaka	$975,000
Hidenari Shiono	$710,000

 

We just witnessed the most dramatic hand of the tournament so far. It all began with Yoshihiro Tasaka opening to $36,000 from the button and Brian Kang re-popping to $120,000 from the small blind.

Hindenari folded in the big blind and Tasaka announced all-in. The crowd began to cheer and in all the confusion Tasaka must have thought Kang had called because he turned over his hand, A♥ Q♥. The tournament director told him the call was still pending and Tasaka cursed himself for the mistake.

It was $360,000 or so back to Kang and he now had the luxury of knowing what hand he was up against. After doing four or five minutes of mental arithmetic Kang shrugged his shoulders and announced call, tabling the surprisingly weak K♠ 7♣. He was indeed getting the right price and we have to commend him for a gutsy call.

The crowd was pushing in from all directions as the flop came down 9♦ 6♦ 4♣. "You're going to get there on the turn," cried Dan Williams from the audience, cheering for his fellow Canadian Kang. Sure enough, the turn brought the K♥ and Kang jumped out in front.

It was Tasaka's section's turn to call for a card and once again the calls rang true as the A♣ hit fifth street. Kang had turned away from the table as though he knew what was coming and didn't want to witness the brutality with his own eyes.

Tasaka's crew went crazy as the behemoth of a pot was pushed to his side of the table. Kang is crippled with around $75,000 left while Tasaka takes a massive chip lead.

We'll have new counts for you in a minute.

It looks like we might be here a while. Not only do these three players rarely, if ever, three-bet before the flop, they each sit stone still and tank out every decision, whether it's an open fold pre-flop or a bet on any street.

We don't mind people thinking through important decisions but does it really take that long to muck a trashy hand or put in a blind-stealing raise?

It seems the Brian Kang's two Japanese opponents are taking turns beating on him and it's taken it's toll on Kang's stack. Moments ago Kang came in with a raise from the button and got a call from Yoshihiro Tasaka in the big blind.

The flop came out Q-Q-T and Tasaka checked. Kang fired $40,000 and Tasaka check-raised to $120,000. Kang took one last look at his hand and tossed it in the muck.

Just a few hands later Kang opened the pot from the small blind and got a call from Hidenari Shiono in the big blind. The flop came down A♣ 8♠ 3♣ and Kang led out for $40,000. Shiono min-raised to $80,000 which was enough to force Kang out of the hand. 

Kang is now a little under $300,000.

Things have slowed back down at this final table as things cool off from that big hand between Kang and Shiono. Yoshihiro Tasaka just picked up a nice pot, however, with a river check-raise.

Tasaka opened the pot to $30,000 from the small blind and Brian Kang called in the big. The flop came down A♣ T♣ 4♣ and both players checked. The turn brought the 9♣ and two more checks. The 4♠ on the river prompted a check from Yoshihiro and a $30,000 bet from Kang.

Tasaka began counting out chips and announced raise, making it $150,000 total. Kang's cards were in the muck before the bet was across the line and Tasaka rakes the pot. He then said something in Japanese to his section on the rail. We think we caught the phrase "nut flush" in there somewhere.

After a long period of relative inactivity we just saw a monster pot shipped to Hidenari Shiono and with it the chip lead. We don't have all the details but Shiono was the one driving the action in the hand. The money went in on the turn with the board reading J♣ 8♣ 3♣ 6♠.

Brian Kang was Shiono's opponent in the hand and tabled A♠ J♥ which was in rough shape against Shiono's Q♥ Q♣. The river was the 3♠ and the over $700,000 pot is pushed to Shiono. We'll have the exact count when he's done stacking that behemoth.

On one of the first hands back from the break Yoshihiro Tasaka picked up a nice pot, relieving chip leader Brian Kang of a few chips. Tasaka opened to $30,000 from the small blind and Kang called from the big.

The flop came out T♥ 9♥ 8♥ and Tasaka fired $60,000. Kang thought it over for a moment before calling. The turn was the 9♣ and Tasaka immediately moved all-in. After a count we saw it was $235,000.

Kang went into the tank for a few long minutes before mucking his hand and conceding the pot.

This level is over the three remaining players have been sent on a 45-minute dinner break. Here are the approximate chip counts as they go to get some grub.

Brian Kang	$850,000
Hidenari Shiono	$370,000
Yoshihiro Tasaka	$320,000

Yoshihro Tasaka opens the pot to $32,000 from the button and Hidenari Shiono defends his big blind with a call. The flop comes down K♦ Q♣ 7♥ and Shiono quickly checks. Tasaka fires $25,000 which Shiono calls.

The turn is the 9♦ and both players check. The river is the 3♠ and again they both check. Shiono rolls over K♠ K♦ for top set and Tasaka simply mucks. Not exactly the best way to extract value.

Hidenari Shiono just took down a nice pot, although one has to wonder if he could have extracted a little more value. It began with Shiono opening from the button and Brian Kang calling in the big blind.

The flop came down AsJ♥ 9♣ and both players checked. The turn brought the 9♣ and a $30,000 bet from Kang. Shiono min-raised to $60,000 and Kang made the call. They both checked the 4♣ on the river and Shiono tabled A♥ K♣. It was good against Kang's A♣ 2♦ and the pot is shipped to Shiono.

It seems we're losing a player every hand at this final table. The latest casualty was Fam Kai Yat who ended up in an all-in race for his tournament life, one he would be unable to win. He open-shoved for $86,000 from under the gun holding A♦ K♠.

Yoshihiro Tasaka made the call with pocket sixes and after the board ran with no help to Yat's hand he's forced to hit the old dusty trail.

Fam Kai Yat is out in fourth and will receive $32,054 for his trouble.

The eliminations just keep on coming and this time it's Yuji Masaki headed to the exit. Masaki gets the award for hardest to kill in this event. He's been shortstacked all day but managed to finesse his way to fifth place.

Masaki shoved for his last $22,000 holding Q♥ 6♥ and got looked Brian Kang who had him dominated with K♦ 6♣. Masaki hit the flop hard as it came T♦ 7♥ 4♥ but was unable to hit any of his outs as the board finished A♣ 2♦.

Yuji Masaki is out in fifth and will receive $26,043.

We just saw a perfect example of how this game can make you crazy. In what is by far the biggest pot of the tournament so far we just saw Dan Schreiber go broke, shipping his stack to the only other player at the table who had him covered.

It began with Brian Kang opening to $18,000 from the cut-off and Schreiber calling in the big blind. The flop came out J♦ 9♥ 8♣ and that's when the fireworks began. Dan checked and Kang bet out $25,000. Schreiber then check-raised to $70,000 and Kang came back over the top with a raise to $170,000.

Schreiber moved all-in and Kang made the call. They turned over their hands.

Schreiber: T♣ 7♣

Kang: J♣ J♠

Kang had flopped the the straight and Kang was in need of a redraw with top set. The turn answered Kang's prayers, bringing the 8♥ and ending the hand right then and there.

With that sick turn of events Dan Schreiber is out in 6th for $20,033.

Here are the newest counts for our final six.

Brian Kang	$505,000
Dan Schreiber	$455,000
Hidenari Shiono	$255,000
Yoshihiro Tasaka	$233,000
Fam Kai Yat	$70,000
Yuji Masaki	$30,500

Another shortstack has hit the road. David Horvath had just $26,000 left in his stack and shipped it in from the button when action folded to him. Brian Kang thought for a moment before making the call in the big blind, turning over A♠ T♥ as he did.

Horvath saw he was in awful shape with T♦ 9♥ but picked up a few additional outs with the 7♦ 6♣ 5♣ flop. The 7♣ on the turn was no help, nor was the 2♣ on the river.

David Horvath is out in seventh and will receive $16,027.

Here's a look at the updated counts after Dan Williams' elimination.

Brian Kang	$440,000
Dan Schreiber	$434,000
Hidenari Shiono	$270,000
Yoshihiro Tasaka	$230,000
Fam Kai Yat	$92,000
David Horvath	$43,000
Yuji Masaki	$42,000

Dan Williams of Guelph, Ontario did a good job manipulating a shortstack to get to this final table but the blinds and antes finally caught up with him, forcing him into action. Williams moved all-in for just $13,000 and got calls from David Horvath and Yoshihiro Tasaka.

The two players still with chips checked down the T♣ 6♣ 5♠ K♦ Q♣ board and Tasaka tabled pocket eights which were good for the pot and the elimination. Williams mucked A-7 as he got up to go.

Dan Williams takes $12,020 for his eighth place finish.

We have our first elimination at this final table and it is the recently-crippled Sam Faqiryar headed out the door in ninth place. Left with only $25,000 after his crippling Sam was in the big blind with one fifth of his stack invested.

Dan Schreiber popped in a raise from the small blind and Faqiryar was forced to call. A♠ 7♠ for Schreiber was leading Sam's 6♠ 4♥ but fell behind on the 9♥ 5♦ 4♣ flop. The turn and river reversed the situation once again, however, going 8♠ 6♣ and runner-runnering Dan the winning straight.

Sam Faqiryar is out in ninth and will receive $8,013.

Sam Faquiryar has just lost the bulk of his once-mighty stack, getting Dan Schreiber all-in but failing to hit his draw to win the hand. It began with Sam opening to $16,000 and Schreiber re-popping to $39,000 from the cut-off.

Sam made the call and the flop came out 5♥ 2♥ 2♦. Faqiryar min-bet $5,000 and Schreiber came over the top, making it $53,000 to go. Faqiryar thought for a moment before pushing all-in. 

Schreiber made the call, putting his tournament life on the line and tabling J♣ J♠. He was near even against Sam's A♥ J♥ but would need to dodge a ton of outs. The board finished out 9♦ K♦ and Rekrul's jacks were enough to earn him the monstrous $415,000 pot.

Faqiryar is crippled with around $25,000.

Play has come to a dead stop here in Seoul with zero action to report since going nine-handed. We do have some shortstacks so there's a good chance we'll see either an elimination or a double-up in the near future.

For a full rundown of everyone who's cashed in this event, along with their positions, click through to the results page.

Yuji Masaki is proving very hard to eliminate as he's been well below the ten big-blind mark for the last few levels. Earlier he blinded himself down to just 2.5 big blinds before getting it all-in with 2-4 and doubling up.

He came into this final table with just $13,500 and managed to pick up a monster to double up once again. The hand began with David Horvath limping and Yuji moving all-in for what amounted to a standard raise.

It was folded back to Horvath who made the call. When the cards were on their backs we saw Horvath was in terrible shape with K♥ Q♥ against Masaki's pocket kings. The board ran with no change to the situation and Masaki is now on about $35,000.

Dan Williams came into this final table as one of the shortstacks, with just $42,000. The blinds and antes reduced that number to right around $26,000 which he shipped in from the small blind over the top of a Hidenari Shiono button-raise.

Shiono seemed priced into the call but after some reflection he opted to let it go. Williams picks up a few much-needed chips and we carry on to the next hand.

We have our final table with the elimination of Wooka Kim in tenth place. She'd been fighting with a shortstack for some time and when it folded to her on the button she moved all-in. She didn't have enough chips to push Sam Faqiryar off his hand in the big blind but saw she had picked a great spot when the cards were rolled.

A♣ 4♣ for Kim had Sam's 7♠ 4♥ dominated but things changed quickly when the flop came down 9♠ 7♥ 2♦. The board finished out 3♠ 4♦ and Wooka Kim is out in 10th for $6,010.

The players are now redrawing for seats at the nine-handed final table.

With just one more elimination to go before we make the final table the remaining ten players have all tightened up their games in a big way. In addition to the bubble there's also the fact that the average stack has a whopping 50 big blinds.

We do have a number of shortstacks, hovever, so it's just a matter of time before one of them is forced into action.

It seems there are a few players intent on folding their way to the final table, no matter how short they get. Yuji Masaki is one of them but was forced to call all-in a moment ago. Masaki was down to just $8,000 when this hand began.

Action folded to Wooka Kim who raised enough to put Masaki all-in. He made the call and turned over 4♠ 2♣ which was trailing Wooka's 8♣ 3♠. The board ran K♣ 6♣ 4♦ 9♣ J♠ and Yuji's pair of fours is enough for the double. He's not out of the woods yet though as he's only on about $20,000.

Dan "Rekrul" Schreiber. who made the final table here last year, just picked up a nice pot courtesy of picking off a bluff attempt by Yoshihiro Tasaka. Tasaka fired $15,000 on each street of a K♥ K♦ 4♦ T♣ 6♣ board. Rekrul showed pocket eights which were good against Tasaka's A-J. Schreiber is now on around $230,000.

Here's an approximation of the final ten's chip counts at the moment.

Brian Kang	$450,000
Yoshihiro Tasaka	$275,000
Hidenari Shiono	$175,000
Dan Schreiber	$170,000
Sam Faqiryar	$125,000
Fam Kai Yat	$125,000
David Horvath	$105,000
Dan Williams	$35,000
Wooka Kim	$25,000
Yuji Masaki	$25,000

Kwok Gi Yeung was getting dangerously short on chips, with just $21,100, but managed to get it in in a great spot. Unfortunately for him he was unable to make the best hand hold up and is now on his way out the door in 11th place.

He shoved all-in when it folded to him on the button and David Horvath made the call from the big blind. A♠ T♦ for Horvath was in a bad spot against Yeung's A♥ K♣ but improved drastically when the flop came down Q♦ 8♦ 7♦. 

Horvath was looking for a ten or a diamond and got it when the Q♦ hit the turn. The river was irrelevent and Yeung is gone in 11th for $6,010.

PokerStars player Diwei Huang has been eliminated. He came into the day well-stacked with $131,000 but picked the wrong time to make a move against chip leader Brian Kang. The hand began with Huang opening to $8,000 from the button and Kang re-popping to $25,000 from the small blind.

Huang made the call and the flop came down J♠ 4♠ 3♠ and Kang led out for $25,000. Huang moved all-in over the top and after a bit of thought Kang made the call. A♠ A♥ for Kang was way ahead of Huang's K♥ Q♥ and after the turn and river bricked it was time for Huang to go.

He's out in 13th and will take $4,006.

We weren't in attendance for the hand but we do know Japan's Michiyushi Kondo has been eliminated. He's out in 14th place and will take home $4,006.

Robert Campitiello came into the day shortstacked with just $20,900 and didn't wait long to put those chips to work. On the very first hand of the day he moved all-in holding A♥ K♠ and got an insta-call from Kwok Yeung who tabled A♣ A♦.

The board ran Q♥ 4♣ 3♣ 7♠ 7♥ and Campitiello becomes our first casualty, hitting the rail in 16th and earning himself $4,006.

After a marathon night at one of Seoul's elite booking clubs PL.com has somehow made it to our post for Day 3 of this year's PokerStars.com APPT Seoul main event. We suspended play last night when the money bubble broke which means all 16 who remain are guaranteed at least a bit of cash for their time here in Korea.

The cards will be in the air in just a few minutes and we;ll be playing until we have a winner. Brian Kang is in the lead but there are 15 others who might have something to say about his plans for victory. 

For a full rundown of the chip counts click through to the dedicated page. If you want to check out what kind of cash in on the line click through to the payout structure.