With 13 players left in this tournament, Tian Hao found himself all in and up against two opponents, comfortably covered by one of them and almost with the same stack as the other. Hao only had pocket fives, but somehow managed to win the pot and nearly triple up. It gave him all the ammunition he needed to make it to the final. Hao has been playing poker for three years and is now a professional, mostly multi-tabling online. His biggest score was a US $35,500 tournament win online, but he has adjusted well to the live environment and says he has enjoyed playing on the exceptional facilities at ‘PokerStars LIVE at the City of Dreams’. Away from poker, he plays table tennis and watches films.
ShuYang Yu learned poker online on PokerStars and generally plays HK $25/50 stakes.
The 26-year old considers poker his occupation after five years in the game. Yu’s live tournament resume shows a lone result after placing 13th in a Macau Poker Cup side event earlier this year for HK $11,200. The min-cash in the APPT Macau Main Event alone has tripled those career earnings and he’s now well exceeded that by making the Final Table. Yu is certainly the unknown come Sunday and he’s hoping that could be an advantage he exploits.
Tong Ling has been playing poker for three years and started playing online in China and with friends. The 25 year old business man plays mainly cash games and this is his first big result in tournament poker. Ling was a quiet achiever throughout today steadily building his stack. He did have a moment early on when he cracked kings when his pair of tens turned to a set on the flop, this impetus allowed him to build his stack and he will return tomorrow with 889,000 chips which puts him right in the middle of the field.
Jay Tan didn't need to think long to describe her defining moment of this tournament so far. "Crushing all the boys who came in my way on day two," she said. Tan was one of the dominant forces for both of the opening days and although she will be the short stack going into the final table, her appearance among the last nine caps an excellent display for women at this tournament. Four made the money. Tan was introduced to poker two years ago, by her boyfriend Kenny Wong, who watched her from the rail after his own elimination here. This is her second final table of the year having finished seventh at the Aussie Millions in January. She says that this is her favourite poker location in Macau, however, and is also a big fan of the structure of the APPT events.
This is it ladies and gents, the final day of the 2013 PokerStars.net APPT Macau Main Event!
Only nine players remain from a starting total of 388 with Hong Kong’s very own, Kenneth Leong leading the way. Following Leong is Alexandre Chieng, while some prominent names who will be hitting the felt are Dinesh Alt and Trung Tran.
Alt and Tran will arguably bring the most experience to the table, with both capturing major titles in recent months, but there are still plenty of other players who will be right up there with a chance.
Jay Tan will be the lone female at the table, and even though she has the shortest stack, will prove difficult to eliminate. Add the four others who are all representing China, and we’re in for an exciting final table.
Be sure to join PokerNews in just over an hour at 2:00pm local time as we bring you all the action from the final day of play here at the City of Dreams, Macau!
