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APPT Korea: Scott Janik leads Main Event Day 1A

The first starting flight of the APPT Korea Main Event saw 182 players (including 45 re-entries) ante up the KRW1,800,000 entry fee and fight it out at the tables of the luxurious Paradise City poker room.

This is the third of three events offering players a chance to get their hands on a PSPC Platinum Pass. Players had an extra incentive to make it through to Day 2 as, in addition to the PSPC Platinum Pass on offer to the eventual champion, there is a second one to be won.

The second pass will be awarded via a random draw with any Day 2 qualifier in with a shot at being awarded poker’s hottest ticket to the Bahamas.

When the dust settled after twelve 40-minute levels, a total of 58 players had successfully circumnavigated the tournament minefield and locked themselves up a Day 2 berth.

It was the USA’s Scott Janik who topped the Day 1A chip counts, bagging up 307,500 in chips – the only player to reach and breach the 300k mark.

Janik’s next closest rival was Japan’s Koshiro Motodate who concluded play with a stack of 271,500. China’s Xingbao Zhu (213,000) rounded out the top three stacks.

Team PokerStars Pro’s Celina Lin and Randy ‘nanonoko’ Lew were the only two player’s representing the Red Spade.

Lin endured a torrid day at the baize, eventually succumbing to variance mid-way through the Day 1A action and will have to try her luck again tomorrow for Day 1B. Lew on the other hand, managed to make it through to Day 2 with a stack of 125,400.

Other notables to make it though included defending champion Taehoon Han (204,700), Hong Kong’s Andy Chan (177,300), Malaysia’s Michael Soyza (151,700) and New Zealand’s Thomas Ward (120,100).

TOP TEN STACKS :

1. Scott Janik (USA) – 307,500 
2. Koshiro Motodate (Japan) – 271,500 
3. Xingbao Zhu (China) – 213,000 
4. Taehoon Han (New Zealand) – 204,700 
5. Jingming Zhang (China) – 198,100 
6. Andy Chan (Hong Kong) – 177,300 
7. Calvin Lee (USA) – 163,700 
8. Michael Soyza (Malaysia) – 151,700 
9. Hiroki Kobatake (Japan) – 150,600 
10. Teruhiro Aritake (Japan) – 149,200

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