APPT Macau kicked off last Wednesday and is now in full swing on the PokerStars LIVE Macau poker room.

The opening five events of the 12-day poker festival drew totals of 1,122 players and HK$4,534,944 in prize money.

"We're sooner than last season's totals with this solid start and it's particularly impressive when considering SCOOP is running this same weekend. It is a great sign and we're optimistic about another big field for the primary Event which starts on Wednesday." said APPT Senior Events Manager Patrick Pun.

The highlight of the hole weekend was the HK$5,000 Warm-up event which set an individual high with 374 players.China's Dan Liu defeated the record sized field to win the tournament and it's HK$375,410 top prize. In total, 45 players cashed for a share of the HK$1,632,510 prize pool.

The final table began with nine Mainland China players so it was no surprise that Liu would go heads up against a fellow countryman, Chen Yuan, for the title.

Liu entered the duel with a big 3m-to-700k chip advantage and it took just over 10 minutes for the overall hand to reach. Both players went all-in pre-flop.

Liu: Q♠5♣ Yuan: K♠5♦

The board ran Q♥3♣3♠7♣9♦ giving Liu two pair to seal the win. It was the 36-year old businessman's first ever live tournament title.

WARM-UP FINAL TABLE RESULTS 1. Dan Liu (China) -- HK$375,410 2. Chen Yuan (China) -- HK$236,700 3. Guoliang Wei (China) -- HK$146,900 4. Thomas Syversen (Norway) -- HK$115,900 5. Man Hin Siu (Hong Kong) -- HK$85,700 6. Donald Lange (USA) -- HK$69,400 7. Phachara Wongwichit (Australia) -- HK$53,100 8. Guanhua Huang (China) -- HK$44,900 9. Yongxiang Guo (China) -- HK$37,500

For all Side Event Results please click here.

The HK$25,000 Main Event begins on Wednesday, May 25 at 2pm local time.

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Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: PokerStars Macau]