The 2018 Macau Millions was a record-breaking affair as the 2,499-entry field in the Main Event proved to be the largest field ever in Macau.
Despite the recent Chinese crackdown on poker, the APPT Macau was the continuation of a great month for PokerStars on the Asia circuit, which included record-breaking events in South Korea.
It’s All About the Trophy
Coming out on top of the massive Main Event was 33-year-old Taiwanese pro Chen An Lin, who not only won HK$1,159,000 ($147,642) but was also awarded a PSPC Platinum Pass worth $30K.
“I think the trophy means more to me than the Platinum Pass, just because this is the first Main Event title I’ve ever won,” Lin said after the win. “I’ve bubbled three main event final tables so this is a special moment for me.”
The final hand took place in Level 33 (100,000/200,000/30,000) when Lin, who had a 2/1 chip lead, raised the button to 400K with the J♣Q♣ and then called when Xu Huang three-bet to 1.5 million with the A♦10♣.
The 2♥J♦8♣ flop saw Huang check, Lin bet 1 million, and Huang check-raise to 2.5 million. Lin called and then snap-called when Huang moved all in on the 10♥ turn. Lin’s jacks were out in front and held when the 6♠ bricked the river.
Prior to the win, Lin had more than $800K in live tournament earnings, which included six PokerStars Live titles. His previous best cash was $141,434 for finishing eighth in this year’s Aussie Millions Main Event.
“Breaking the record for largest field in Macau history is, clearly, a bigger challenge with each installment of the Macau Millions,” said Mark Blake, Head of Live Events in the Asia Pacific. “The ability to meet that challenge each and every time we’ve hosted this event is a proud achievement for my team and I.”
Others to cash the Main Even were Yazhou Chen (10th for $11,019), Victor Chong (18th for $5,732), Hung-Sheng Lin (30th for $3,503), Alexander Ryskin (45th for $2,586), and Darren Phua (78th for $1,847).
Final Table Results
1 Chen An Lin (Taiwan) HK$1,159,000 ($147,642)
2 Xu Huang (China) HK$683,000 ($87,006)
3 Zhouchang Xu (China) HK$480,581 ($61,220)
4 Max Menzel (Germany) HK$360,000 ($45,860)
5 Aditya Sushant (India) HK$276,000 ($35,159)
6 Fangjie Chen (China) HK$204,000 ($25,987)
7 Guigen Xiao (China) HK$155,500 ($19,809)
8 Wei Lin (China) HK$111,000 ($14,140)
Pan the High Rolling Man
In other Macau Millions news, the HK$30,000 High Roller, which drew 183 runners and created an HK$4,899,276 ($624,435) prize pool, ran concurrently with the Main Event.
That tournament ended in a marathon heads-up match between Yuefeng Pan and Xianglai Li with the former prevailing for HK$1,085,000 ($138,288).
It was the third-largest score of Pan’s career behind two other wins in Macau. The first came back in 2015 when he took down the Macau Poker Cup 23 Red Dragon for a career-high $271,986, and the other in the 2016 APPT10 Event #7: HK$50K NLH for $155,516.
Others to make money in the High Roller were Yang Zhang (11th for $11,853), Tokuho Yoshinaga (16th for $8,412), Phanlert Sukonthachartnant (20th for $7,520), and Eric Wasylenko (22nd for $6,883).
Final Table Results
1 Yuefeng Pan (China) HK$1,085,000 ($138,288)
2 Xianglai Li (China) HK$732,000 ($93,297)
3 Michael Soyza (Malaysia) HK$504,000 ($64,237)
4 Yifan Zhang (China) HK$411,000 ($52,384)
5 Liu Jiaxiu (China) HK$328,000 ($41,805)
6 Junda Yu (China) HK$252,000 ($32,119)
7 Michael O’Grady (Australia) HK$183,000 ($23,324)
8 Seng Leow (Malaysia) HK$133,000 ($16,951)
The APPT continues with the Manila Megastack 9 at PokerStars Live Manila from April 27 to May 6.
