2018 APPT Macau Concludes its 12 Day Schedule

Latest stop on the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) was the autonomous region of Macau in China, with the PokerStars LIVE Macau poker room hosting its 26 event schedule from March 14-25.
The series proved a popular affair, too, with its fields packed with Chinese players, as well as numerous pros from all across the globe, many of whom ended up capturing titles, including Canada’s Kristen Bicknell, USA’s Alex Foxen, and Germany’s Rainer Kempe.
Kristen Bicknell Wins $80k High Roller
Last June, Canada’s Kristen Bicknell became a member of Team partypoker, and since then has strung together some pretty impressive results, but none so more than at the 2018 APPT Macau. At the series, she not only defeated a field of 117 players at the HK$80k National High Roller, including David Peters heads-up, to collect a top prize of HK$2,192,000 ($279,549), but a week or so later she finished 4th at the HK$ 100k APPT High Roller for a further HK$1,523,000 ($194,081).
As a result, Bicknell now boasts career earnings of $1,728,084 since 2006, having won $457,778 in 2016, $551,906 in 2017, and $508,166 in just the first quarter of 2018. Commenting on what keeps her motivated to compete at the highest level, Bicknell said:
“I want to do well to represent women in poker, and that drives me a lot. It kind of motivates me to compete with all the guys. And showing that, you know, women are welcome in this industry, I think is a big step; the more women that play and do well it should hopefully turn things around.”
Alex Foxen Wins $400k Super High Roller
Another top pro claiming a title in Macau was US pro Alex Foxen, who took down the HK$ 400k Super High Roller for HK$7.56m ($963,880). A total of 49 entries and 19 re-entries helped create a prize pool worth US$3,295,919, and amongst the top pros then seeing a return on their investments was Isaac Haxton (9th), Brian Rast (7th), Patrik Antonius (6th), Rainer Kempe (4th), and Sam Greenwood (3rd).
In the end, however, the title was contested between Alex Foxen and Chinese player Huang Shan, with Foxen managing to overcome his remaining opponent to give his career earnings a significant boost to $3,709,590
Rainer Kempe Wins $100k High Roller
Meanwhile, Rainer Kempe enjoyed a great run in Macau, having finished 4th in the HK$400k Super High Roller for HK$2.66m ($339,525), and 3rd in the HK$2.1m Super High Roller Bowl for HK$ 16,005,000 ($2,040,533), before capping it all off with victory at the HK$100k High Roller for HK$1,2m ($153,294). Consequently, Kempe is now placed 3rd on Germany’s ‘All Time Money List’ with $14,424,752 in winnings, with just Fedor Holz ($26,701,373), and Christoph Vogelsang ($ 15,571,786) above him.
Lin Wu Claims Main Event Title
A number of Chinese players won titles at the 2018 APPT Macau, including Ho Lun Pang (APPT Kickoff), Shuize Cai (APPT National), Shijian Tang ($3,000 NLH), Dong Chen ($20,000 NLH), Jian Chen (PokerStars Asia Open, DeepStack), Tak Chung Yan ($3,000 NLH), and Dapeng Mu (6 Handed).
Moreover, taking down the Macau HK$40k Main Event was China’s Lin Wu, who bested a tough field of 356 players to claim its top prize of HK$3.1m ($394,549). Along the way, Lin Wu managed to outlast a whole host of top pros, including Davidi Kitai (9th), and John Juanda (7th), before overcoming India’s Aditya Agarwal heads-up to claim the victory.
Next Stop Korea
Next stop on the Asia Pacific Poker Tour is the Paradise City Casino situated in Incheon, Korea. The series will subsequently run from April 6-15, with its KRW 1,800,000 ($1,670) Main Event taking place over four days from the 12th to the 15th of April. The PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour was launched in 2007, and now organizes its live tournaments in China, South Korea, Australia, Philippines and New Zealand. The APPT was also the first poker tour to bring government approved real-money Texas hold’em events to China and Korea.