The 2014 World Series of Poker Asia Pacific (WSOP APAC) Main Event turned the corner Wednesday as the money bubble burst and the tournament played down to the final 18 players. It almost got down to the desired 16, but the plan was to play to either that number or six 90-minute levels, and the time limit was hit first, so that is where things stand going into Day 4.
Though 52 players were eliminated on Day 3, the top of the chip counts looks very much like it did going into the day. Entering Wednesday, Kyle Montgomery was the chip leader, with Victor Teng on his tail. At the end of the night, Teng was atop the field and Montgomery was in third. Of the top ten going into Day 3, half of them – Teng, Montgomery, Frank Kassela, Brandon Shack-Harris, and Henry Wang – remained in the top ten when the chips were bagged and tagged. Jackie Glazier, one of Australia’s most popular players, finished the day in eleventh place after beginning it in third.
Also interesting (to me, your interest is yours and yours alone), is how top heavy the leader board is. Three players have over a million chips, three have from the upper 700,000’s to the mid-600,000’s, and then nobody else has more than 458,000. Even with the consolidation from 70 players to 18, more than half of the players remaining would not have even ranked third after Day 2. It could be a battle of attrition on Day 4 with so many short stacks in the field.
Victor Teng’s chip stack was greatly aided by a late hand against the great Australian cricketer, Shane Warne. Teng started the betting with a pre-flop raise, Warne three-bet, Teng put him all-in, and Warne made the call with A-K. Teng was in trouble with just A-Q, but he was able to flop a Queen to eliminate Warne in 22nd place and increase his own chip stack by over 300,000.
One player to keep an eye on is Brandon Shack-Harris, who is in sixth place with 648,000 chips. He has been in a back-and-forth battle with George Danzer, who recently won his third bracelet, for the WSOP Player of the Year (POY) award. Danzer entered the WSOP APAC Main Event with a 116.5 point over Shack-Harris, but should Shack-Harris finish first or second, he will take over the lead.
Play resumes Thursday as the tournament will be narrowed to its six-handed final table.
2014 WSOP APAC Main Event – Day 3 Chip Leaders
1. Victor Teng – 1,854,000
2. Jason Giuliano – 1,203,000
3. Kyle Montgomery – 1,196,000
4. Frank Kassela – 783,000
5. Henry Szmelcer – 663,000
6. Brandon Shack-Harris – 648,000
7. Gary Benson – 458,000
8. JJ Liu – 431,000
9. Henry Wang – 378,000
10. Scott Davies – 322,000
