INTERVISTE/ARTICOLI

Asian Poker Tournament live report - JAN 16

• 37 players remaining
  We have just entered a new level with 37 players remaining. GACKT leads with over 400k in chips.
• GACKT goes over 500k
  GACKT entered the day as the chip leader and continues to hold on to his status. In a hand that we caught on a flop of 4♦ 10♦ 9♦, Yoichi Uesugi checked, GACKT bet 7k, Iori Yogo folded, and Uesugi called. On the turn of K♣, Uesugi checked again then called GACKT’s 16k bet. On the river of J♠, Uesugi jumped out with a 35k bet only to face a raise to 75k. Uesugi called and GACKT turned open A♦ 5♦ nut flush.

• Current chip leaders
  GACKT 655k
  Yoichi Uesugi 380k
  Czardy Rivera and Tien Quyet Pham over 300k

• Current chip leaders at the break:GACKT 550k
  Yoichi Uesugi 350k
  Tien Quyet Pham 300k
  Czardy Rivera 290k

• We are on the last break of the day. There are 23 players remaining.Current chip leaders:Hyung Taek Jo 580k
  Czardy Rivera 520k
  GACKT 500k

• Chip leader GACKT just picked up a hefty pot against the two other big stacks. The hand kicked off with Czardy Rivera raising to 12k on the utg seat, GACKT called in late position, and Hyung Taek Jo callled.At the flop of Q♥ 4♠ 8♣, Jo checked, Rivera continued with a 16k bet, and both GACKT and Jo called. On the turn of 3♠, everyone checked for a free river card of J♥. Jo checked again, Rivera bet 52k, GACKT flat called, and Jo folded.Rivera A♦ K♣
  GACKT K♦ Q♥ top pair

• There are 18 players remaining.Hyung Taek Jo 680k
  GACKT 650k
• Czardy Rivera vs GACKT
  Czardy Rivera and GACKT went head-to-head in this hand. Action began with utg GACKT raising to 23k and cutoff Rivera called. The flop ran Q♥ 5♥ 3♠ and both checked. On the turn of 10♦, GACKT checked again, Rivera laid out a 16k bet, and GACKT called. On the river of 6♥, GACKT checked, Rivera bet 22k, and this time, GACKT folded and Rivera was awarded the pot.

Source: theasianpokertour.com/live-reporting

• APT Kick Off 2017 Main Event Day2
  GACKTさん 729000
  TAKUMIさん 126000
  蘭さん 149000
  琥珀さん 147000
  上杉 238000Please do your best on Day 3 too!

Source: APT group Japan

Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA

by SaiKaiAngel

THE ASIAN POKER TOUR.COM: GACKT rules Main Event Day 1A

GACKT rules Main Event Day 1A; Hung Sheng Lin wins Head Hunter event

Several days ago, the Asian Poker Tour opened its calendar year with the nine-day APT Kickoff 2017 at Resorts World Manila. Today saw the highlight tournament, the US$1,650 buy-in APT Main Event, enter its first day. After a scheduled eight rounds of play, it was Japanese player GACKT who ruled with a massive stack of 474,300.

Main Event Day 1A Chip Leader, GACKT

While no one came close to the leader’s arsenal, finishing in second position was Vietnam’s Van Sang Nguyen, the champion of the Head Hunter event. Nguyen surged on the last hand of the night turning up a full house to oust a player and bag up 234,600 in chips. Rounding out the top three was another Japanese player, Yoichi Uesugi with 204,900 in chips.

The APT Main Event kicked off fairly quiet with only a few tables filled up. Despite the low numbers, there were many notable players coloring the field. Among those who made it through to Day 2 were APT POY 2016 champion Iori Yogo, past APT Main Event champions John Tech and Czardy Rivera, and notable players Tetsuya Tsuchikawa, Alex Lee, Kunal Patni, Lester Edoc, and Terry Gonzaga.

As for notable players Mike Takayama, In Chul sin, Mark Amparo, and Michael Kim Falcon, they were less fortunate however they do have the opportunity to get back in the running with Day 1B kicking off tomorrow, Sunday, January 15th.

Day 1A finished up with 24 players remaining. Chip counts can be found in the APT Facebook page.

Hung Sheng Lin takes down the Head Hunter event

The Head Hunter US$100/Bounty event resumed early today with 7 players out of the 74 entries back for their final duel. APT Regional POY 2016 Greater China bracket winner, Hung Sheng Lin, came out victorious to claim the US$5,900 first prize and the event trophy.

Head Hunter Champion, Hung Sheng Lin

The final action began with short-stacked Anh Tuan Nguyen quickly getting the boot in 7th place. It followed with the entering chip leader, Van Sang Nguyen, shaken with a nasty bad beat against Neil Lawrence. The hand saw both players all in at the flop of A♣ 9♥ 9♦, with Lin ahead A♦ Q♥ and Lawrence with J♥ J♣. When the J♠ spiked on the turn, Lawrence hit his two-outer and improved to a full house which held on to the end with the river of 4♦. A few hands after, Nguyen was downed in 6th place.

Out in 5th place was Julius Aldave who had difficulty rising out of the dregs and moved all in with a mediocre hand. Anthony Gabitan joined the rail in 4th place after his A♥ J♥ lost to Lin’s J♦ 8♥ on a board that ran 7♥ 9♥ 9♣ 8♣ 6♣. Gerard Bringley packed up in 3rd place with Lawrence’s A-9 besting Q-9.

The heads up round began with Lin on a 2:1 chip advantage, and in no time, the final showdown was reached. Lawrence held J♠ 10♠ and Lin with Q♠ 7♦. The board came J♥ K♠ 9♥ 10♣ A♠ for a winning straight to Lin.

Payouts
1st Hung Sheng Lin – Chinese Taipei – US$5,900
2nd Neil Lawrence – Malaysia – US$3,640
3rd Gerard Bringley – Japan – US$2,660
4th Anthony Gabitan – Philippines – US$2,070
5th Julius Aldave – Philippines - US$1,790
6th Van Sang Nguyen – Vietnam – US$1,560
7th Anh Tuan Nguyen – Vietnam – US$1,360
8th Charles Moss – Ireland – US$1.210
9th Kenjo Ohashi – Japan – US$1,120

You can watch all the Final 8 action in the APT Twitch channel. Daily Highlights are also ready for your viewing enjoyment in the APT YouTube channel.

Source: theasianpokertour.com

by SaiKaiAngel

EXCITE.CO.JP: GACKT's newest MV 「SEASONS」 became a hot topic

GACKT's newest MV is an official cover of Hamasaki Ayumi's 「SEASONS」 became a hot topic right after release, with comments like "makes you cry"

GACKT’s latest music video 「SEASONS」was released right on New Year. There has been an endless chorus of voices calling for this song to be distributed as a track or made into a CD.

GACKT sang this song to commemorate the 「NesCafe Dolce Gusto」 surpassing 2 million units in cumulative sales, and is currently one special song that can only be viewed on the Nestle Japan Official YouTube Channel. 「SEASONS」, which GACKT took up the challenge of covering, was released by Hamasaki Ayumi in 2000, and sold around 1.36 million copies, it is a mega hit song that has been heard by everyone.

「GACKT」「Hamasaki Ayumi」. With regards to this song that was created due to them having known each other for a long time, Hamasaki Ayumi commented 「I was overwhelmed by Gaku-chin’s singing voice and presence, and was so astounded that I almost forgot it was my own song」. GACKT too, commented, saying 「Since it’s actually the first time I’m doing a cover of Ayu’s, I’m very happy about it. This MV depicts the slightly sad changes in a relationship between a man and a woman as time passes. Also, the 「Dolce Gusto」appears as a key item in the video. Everyone, please do look forward to it」.

The music video beautifully expresses the painful relationship between a man who dreams of becoming a movie director and a woman who dreams of becoming an actress. The boldly-arranged rock version of 「SEASONS」 along with GACKT’s singing voice, and the warmth of 「Nestle Dolce Gusto」 strikes the hearts of viewers.

Also, GACKT’s comment video and the making-of video for the much talked about 「SEASONS」 music video, is currently being shown on Nestle Dolce Gusto’s brand site, so please do check it out.

◆ 【Watch】GACKT 「SEASONS」 Music Video

And this time, we will be giving away one 「NesCafe Dolce Gusto Eclipse」 and one 「NesCafe Dolce Gusto Genio2 Premium」 to readers of Excite Music.

To grab a chance to win one, follow our Twitter and retweet
(1) Follow the official Twitter account for Excite News (@excite_music)
(2) Retweet the following tweet

Valid period for joining in: January 9 (Mon) ～ 20 (Fri) 2017
※Please take note that private accounts (with a key) are not eligible.
※Winners will receive a direct message from Excite Music’s account (@excite_music). When this happens, please enter your delivery details through our form.
※The information that winners input will be used by Excite Co., for the delivery of the gift. In addition, the personal information provided will only be used by the company for contacting about services.

■ NesCafe Dolce Gusto brand site

Source: excite.co.jp

Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA

by SaiKaiAngel