Terry Fan is in complete control of Table 5. He is opening lots of pots preflop and using position and his large chip stack to apply maximum pressure to his opponent after the flop. Unfortuntaely for Fan his table is the next table to be broken.
Fan's table remains intact for the moment, however. He opened a recent pot to 1,000 and was called by the big blind. That player led into Fan for 1,200 on a dry flop, . Fan called. His opponent bet another 1,200 on the turn, then quickly folded to a raise to 3,000 from Fan.
Dean Coates started the day trending upwards while Andrew Scott, seated to Coates' left, was trending downwards. Both men have seen a reversal of fortunes in the last hour or so. Coates is now trending down while Scott's stack is getting a bit healthier.
Scott opened a recent pot to 1,000 from under the gun and was called only by Coates from the big blind. Coates check-called another bet of 700 on a flop, then check-folded to a 2,300-chip bet when the turn popped off .
The Mongolians are definitely leaving their mark on Day 1a of this tournament. Byambaa Inkhbaatar bet 4,000 on a flop of , then said "alright" and shipped in his last 15,000 after his opponent moved all in. It was a good cold on Inkhbaatar's part; his , top pair with the second-nut flush draw, was in great shape against his opponent's middle pair, . The board bricked out and to double up Inkhbaatar to more than 40,000 in chips.
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Lee Jin has ended yet another players day. Preflop, three players limped in, before a player in late position made it 5,000 to go, leaving just 4,700 behind. Jin three-bet to 10,000 from the blinds, and the other players folded, leaving the original raiser isolated and committed to the pot.
He sheepishly put in his last chips and turned over , and looked shocked when he saw that Jin isolated him with just .
Jin then flopped the nut flush with a flop and left his opponent virtually heading for the rail already. The turn put the hand beyond doubt, with the river completing things.
"The Mongolians are coming! The Mongolians are coming!" ...someone might be tempted to shout based on the results of day 1a so far. We had another Mongolian double-up. Meeneli Bold got all the chips in the middle when the board paired the turn, . He had flopped a small flush, , and that hand held up against his opponent's three aces when the board blanked, .
Michael Shinzaki, who made the final table at APPT Auckland, looks in the zone once again.
Recently he took down a good pot without showing his cards.
Preflop, Shinzaki opened to 1,000 and his opponent popped it up to 2,800. Shinzaki made the call and the players took a flop. Shinzaki check-called a 4,100 chip bet from his opponent on the flop and they both checked the turn.
On the river Shinzaki moved all in and his opponent tanked for a good while before folding. Shinzaki flashed a cheeky smile as he mucked his winner.
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