50 players returned for Day 3 leg of the Asian Poker Tour (APT) Phu Quoc Main Event today to battle it out for their spot at the coveted final table, which is slated to be played out tomorrow. An impressive 795 entered the VND 36,000,000 (USD 1,400) buy-in event for a shot to earn a share from the VND 25,000,000,000 ($1 Million) guaranteed prize pool. Out of those, 119 made the money on Day 2, which ended with 50 players advancing to Day 3 of the event.
Those 50 players led by Vietnam’s Nghiem Xuan Thieu into Day 3 went into another intense session of nearly 10 hours until the final table of 9 was formed after the elimination of South Korea’s Dongyeol Choi in 10th place ( VND 288,750,000) officially ending the day’s play with the final 9 players bagging up their chips for tomorrow’s final day. While all the 9 players who return for the final table tomorrow are guaranteed a payout of at least VND 352,000,000, their eyes will be on the APT Main Event grand prize of VND 4,710,000,000 ($185,430) and the coveted Golden Lion APT Trophy.
Leading the charge into the final table is David “Spade” Erquiaga of the Philippines with a stack of 5,470,000 chips. Erquiaga has won several APT titles and other prestigious titles and has $1.8 Million in live earnings. However, he has yet to win an APT Main Event and this might be his time as he is in a strong position to achieve the coveted title.
He is followed by Junseok Oh of South Korea holding the second largest stack with 5,080,000. Oh, who made his way to the second spot by winning huge pots like the straight against Jinlong, has over $ 800,000 in live earnings, but he is yet to bag an APT trophy.
China’s Jinlong Hu holds the third largest with 4,470,000 chips. Hu moved up the ranks after busting Kyosuke Nagami. He has won some APT events in the past. Hu’s Main Event final table appearance will take his earnings to over $ 600k, and even more if he manages to win the title.
Deepankur Gupta Keeps India’s Main Event Title Dream Alive
The only Indian at the final table is Day 1A chip leader Deepankur Gupta. He has bagged up the sixth largest stack. Gupta, a rising star of Indian poker, has already won five titles but he is yet to win an APT title. Maybe this is his time. He carries the hopes of the nation and it will be interesting to see how fares when he returns tomorrow to battle it out for the prestigious title.
A total of three Indians returned for Day 3. Although Shardul Parthasarathi and Amit Kaushik were eliminated in 41st and 46th places, respectively, each taking home VND 87.50 Million, Gupta kept the hopes of the dream title alive for the country.
Some notables on Day 3 who could not make it to the final table were Dylan Foster (34th place for VND 100,500,000), Kyosuke Nagami of Japan (11th place for VND 288,750,000), David Mann of Canada (17th place for 208,250,000), Day 2 chip leader Xuan Thieu Nghiem of Vietnam (22nd for 158,250,000) and Bracelet winner Motoyoshi Okamura of Japan who exited 14th place, earning VND 233,250,000 for his deep run.
| Rank | Player | Chip Counts | Big Blinds |
| 1 | David Erquiaga | 5,470,000 | 109 |
| 2 | Junseok Oh | 5,080,000 | 102 |
| 3 | Jinlong Hu | 4,740,000 | 95 |
| 4 | Do Tien Vu | 4,630,000 | 93 |
| 5 | Minh Truong Thang | 3,900,000 | 78 |
| 6 | Deepankur Gupta | 3,380,000 | 68 |
| 7 | Hao Zhao Wang | 2,025,000 | 41 |
| 8 | Pham Ngoc Quoc Bao | 1,965,000 | 39 |
| 9 | Chu Hao Zhang | 515,000 | 10 |
The APT Main Event Final Table action will begin at 11AM tomorrow, November 16 and will continue until a champion is crowned. Keep following PokerProNews for the latest updates from the ongoing APT Phu Quoc. Follow us on our social media platforms –Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Youtube for all the interesting stories and updates from the world of poker!
Source: Asian Poker Tour
Image Credit: Asian Poker Tour
