Hao Tian shoved from early position and also stole the blinds and antes one hand later with a raise to 215,000.
Then, Yuan Zhou moved all in and was called by Liang Yu from two seats over whereas everyone else folded.
Zhou:
Yu:
The board ran out and the straight for both players made for a split pot.
Yet one hand later, Zhou shoved again, this time for 490,000. Chip leader Shashank Rathi made the call and nobody else was interested in the hand.
Zhou:
Rathi:
The Canadian had gotten it in ahead but the board ran out to give Rathi a pair of kings on the turn and Zhou the exit in 9th place for a payday of HK$391,000.
From early position, Marcus Lau moved all in for his last 270,000 chips and the action reached to chip leader Shashank Rathi in the small blind. He double checked his cards and then made a triangle sign to announce all in himself. Jack Hu folded with the words "I was gonna call with queen high" and the showdown proceeded as follows:
Lau:
Rathi:
The flop was a sweat for the Malaysian with an additional flush draw, but he found no help anymore on the turn and river. Lau takes home HK$489,000 for his efforts and Rathi extended his lead.
Shashank Rathi raised to 225,000 from under the gun and Chang He moved all in from two seats over. The action reached back to the chip leader and he asked for a count. He was at risk for 740,000 and Rathi announced the call.
Rathi:
He:
The Chinese had two over cards and immediately improved on the flop. The turn even gave He two pair but also opened the possibility of a straight. On the river, the appeared and gifted yet another bustout to the resume of Rathi, who made it three for three on the final table thus far.
He didn't believe his bad luck and then exited to the cashier in order to collect his HK$587,000.
Shunu Zang moved all in from early position and Hao Tian called all in for his last 730,000 from two seats over. The action folded to chip leader Shashank Rath in the big blind and he was not going for four in a row.
Zang:
Tian:
The board didn't run out without a sweat, but ultimately stayed save for Zang with . Tian collected HK$684,000 for his efforts and Zang moved into second place with around 2.4 million in chips.
Moments into the new level, PokerStars Team Online member Randy Lew moved all in from early position for what appeared to be five big blinds and Jack Hu looked him up out of the big blind.
Hu:
Lew:
It was not meant to be for "nanonoko", as the board ran out and the American was eliminated in 5th place for HK$782,000.
Liang Yu moved all in for 1,190,000 chips as first to act and Jack Hu reshoved out of the small blind with the superior stack and better hand preflop.
Yu:
Hu:
The board ran out and Yu spiked a lucky double up to leave Hu short on just under seven big blinds. Those chips were in the middle of the table shortly after and again, the runner-up of the HK$50,000 Freezeout held the dominating hand. His opponent was chip leader Shashank Rathi:
Hu:
Rathi:
The flop and the turn were save for Hu, but the on the river let the rail erupt. Hu was still smiling when leaving the tournament area and joked "alright, show me the money". It is the second big score within a few days for Hu and he takes home just under 1 million Hong Kong Dollars.
Shashank Rathi limped from the small blind for 100,000 and Shunu Zang raised to 275,000. After the three-bet to 800,000 by Rathi, Zang quickly made the triangle sign and Rathi called as quickly.
Zang:
Rathi:
The didn't help Rathi at all and the turn gave him just three additional outs with the nines except the to stay in. The dealer then burned and turned the river to give Zang a winning flush. Rathi was eliminated in 3rd place for HK$1,124,000 and Zang will start the heads-up with an overwhelming lead.
Quick break before the start of the battle one-versus-one!
Shunu Zang made a raise to 225,000 and Liang Yu moved all in to receive a snap-call by Zang:
Yu:
Zang:
The let the rail gasp, as Yu had picked up a gutshot straight draw. Sure enough, the dealer burned and turned the turn as next card and shouts emerged as yet another possible bad beat changed things dramatically. Only a seven could have avoided Zang's elimination, but the river was a blank and the winner was crowned.
No deal was made and the three-handed and heads-up action went as fast and furious as the start of the tournament during the rebuy period. Zang takes home HK$1,711,000 for his efforts and Yu will shortly lift the silver trophy and then collect HK$2,492,500.
The second and last day of the HK$100,000 High Roller Event of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau Season 9 stop at the PokerStars LIVE Macau at City of Dreams saw 30 of the 75 participants return to the tables and within the first three levels the field was already whittled down to the last two tables.
It took about seven hours of play to determine the winner, and Liang Yu emerged victorious to claim the first-place payout of HK$2,492,500 (US $321,519.14) after defeating Shunu Zang in heads-up.
The hot run of Shashank Rathi started with the elimination of Sunny Jung, and the player from Hong Kong proceeded to dominate the action at the tables from there on. Meanwhile, JP Kelly's bustout brought the field to the money bubble, and Japan's Hajime Haraikawa ended up being the last participant to leave the tournament area empty-handed.
Hao Tian fell in sixth place after failing to improve with pocket nines against the pocket jacks of Zang while "nanonoko" had to settle for fifth place after a preflop all-in situation against Hu.
Rathi was still the by-far chip leader, but bluffed away most of the chips to Zang before losing the remaining chips against the same player, ultimately finishing in third place. A failed bluff also gave Yu the chip lead, and the tournament ended in bad-beat fashion after Yu turned a straight with the to better the of Zang.
Final Result APPT9 Macau High Roller:
Place
Winner
Country
Prize (HKD)
1
Liang Yu
China
$2,492,500
2
Shunu Zang
China
$1,711,000
3
Shashank Rathi
Hong Kong
$1,124,000
4
Jack Hu
Chinese Taipei
$929,000
5
Randy Lew
USA
$782,000
6
Hao Tian
China
$684,000
7
Chang He
China
$587,000
8
Marcus Lau
Malaysia
$489,000
9
Yuan Zhou
Canada
$391,000
10
Asa Smith
United Kingdom
$293,000
11
Zhou Zhou
China
$293,000
You can check out the winner interview with "Leo" Yu below:
The next APPT stop takes place from July 30th through August 9th in Manila, and with that the PokerNews live reporting officially comes to an end here in Macau. I hope you enjoyed the show and will tune back in soon again!
*Winner picture by Kenneth Lim Photography courtesy of PokerStars LIVE Macau