After seven hours of sizzling poker action, we are down to the final nine! Michael Kanaan leads the way in the 2012 PokerStars.netAPPT Macau: Asia Championship of Poker Main Event with 1,393,000 in chips. World Series of Poker bracelet winner Andrew Hinrichsen is also among the finalists who will return tomorrow to play for the HKD $4,240,000 (US $547,000) first place prize.
The day started with just 22 players, and James McCarty was the first player to go when he was knocked by Alan Sass. Play picked up near the end of the first level after both Andrew Hinrichsen and Tom Alrner had managed to double through Raiden Kan. After Seungsoo Jeon was knocked out in 21st it was time for the final remaining woman to go. Yuri Ishida got her money in with ace-jack, but she fell to Ying Kit Chan's pocket kings.
Raiden Kan, who started the day fourth in chips, was knocked out in 19th bringing the field down to just 18 players. After the short stacks lingered around for a while it was Zhongwei Wang who got very unlucky. His money went in with top pair and a flush draw against Andrew Hinrichsen's inferior pair. The Aussie hit trips on the turn and knocked out Wang in 18th.
Short stacks Aaron Lim and Paolo Gompagno were next to go as the two remaining tables were getting short handed. Day 1 chip leader Gary Lam had lost a bunch of chips to Chan early on, and he left the tournament in 15th place. Lam ran ten-nine suited into Henry Wang's ace-jack and took home HKD $259,500 for his efforts. Ping Lin busted shortly afterwards as he didn't manage to mount a comeback after starting the day out as one of the short stacks.
One of the most important pots for the outcome of this tournament has to be the one between Kanaan and Mike Watson. Both players were among the biggest stacks in the room for most of the day, and they ultimately clashed when Watson ran his kings into Kanaan's aces. Kanaan grabbed a huge chip lead which he kept heading into the final table. Team PokerStars Pro Raymond Wu busted out in 13th place when his queen-eight suited didn't improve against Xing Zhou's jacks. Watson was knocked down short by Kanaan and he was eliminated in 12th place.
The final table bubble started when Tri Huynh lost his chips to Zhou in an unfortunate turn of events. On an eight-five-three flop it was Zhou who had flopped two pair with five-three. Zhou had called Huynh's raise from the big blind and took all his chips when his queens failed to improve. With just ten players left it was time for the short stacks to double up. Many did, but eventually it was Andrew Gaw who was eliminated in 10th place. This is how the final nine players line up heading into tomorrow.
Seat
Name
Country
Chip Count
1
Jacques Zaicik
France
191,000
2
Michael Kanaan
Australia
1,393,000
3
Tsugunari Toma
Japan
788,500
4
Ying Kit Chan
Hong Kong
348,000
5
Henry Hung Tu Wang
Chinese Taipei
429,000
6
Andrew Hinrichsen
Australia
798,500
7
Tom Alner
UK
826,500
8
Alan Sass
USA
252,000
9
Xing Zhou
China
493,000
Place
Winner
Prize (HKD)
1
$4,240,000
2
$2,855,000
3
$1,731,000
4
$1,384,000
5
$1,125,000
6
$952,000
7
$779,000
8
$606,000
9
$432,000
10
Andrew Gaw
$346,000
11
Tri Huynh
$303,000
12
Mike Watson
$303,000
13
Raymond Wu
$303,000
14
Ping Lin
$259,500
15
Gary Lam
$259,500
16
Paolo Compagno
$259,500
17
Aaron Lim
$216,000
18
Zhongwei Wang
$216,000
19
Raiden Kan
$216,000
20
Yuri Ishida
$173,000
21
Seungsoo Jeon
$173,000
22
James McCarty
$173,000
Tune back in tomorrow at 2:00 PM local time as PokerNews brings you the conclusion of this exhilarating event! For now, we will leave you with a challenge between Donnie Peters and Lynn Gilmartin in the PokerStars Mobile Lounge:
Andrew Gaw was one of the shorter stacks remaining, and he was all in with the versus the for Xing Zhou. Gaw was behind and dominated, but he still had five cards to come to try and stay alive.
The flop kept Zhou in front when the fell. There was only one club on the flop, and the on the turn got rid of any chances of a backdoor flush for Gaw.
Needing a jack on the river, the wouldn't do it and Gaw was out the door in 10th place. He earned HKD$346,000 for his effort, and now the day was done.
Action folded over to Tri Huynh in the small blind, and he put in a raise to 20,000. In the big blind was Xing Zhou, and he called to see the flop come down. Huynh bet 45,000, and Zhou raised all in. With about 130,000 behind, Huynh quickly called.
Huynh tabled the for an overpair of queens. Unfortunately, Zhou out-flopped him with the for two pair.
The turn was the , and the river was the . Huynh's queens went down in a blaze, and he was sent to the payout desk to collect his 11th-place money.
Action folded to Mike Watson in the small blind, and he raised all in for his last 70,000 or so. Alan Sass looked down at the and quickly made the call. Watson was all in with the .
The flop gave Sass top set wtih the falling. Watson was now looking for a ten to complete a straight draw, but couldn't find it when the and fell on the turn and river.
Watson was eliminated in 12th place for HKD$303,000, and Sass climbed to over 400,000 in chips.
The final Team PokerStars Pro standing was just eliminated in 13th place. Raymond Wu grinded his short stack for quite some time before he decided to move all in. Xing Zhou raised to 16,500 from the cutoff after which Wu put his 117,500-chip stack into the middle. The other players folded and Zhou quickly called.
Raymond Wu:
Xing Zhou:
The board ran out and Wu was knocked out. Just 12 players remain.
Ying Kit Chan opened with a raise to an unknown amount out of middle position, and Michael Kanaan reraised to 41,500 in the cutoff seat. Action then moved to Mike Watson in the small blind, and he reraised to 86,000. Play folded back to Kanaan, and he took his time before moving all in. Watson called, but his was no good against the for Kanaan.
The board ran out , and Kanaan's aces held up. He was all in for 470,500, which netted him a massive double and left Watson with just 79,000 in chips.
On the last hand before the break, action folded to Ping Lin in the small blind, and he raised all in for 27,500. Xing Zhou made the call from the big blind with the . Lin was all in with the .
The flop, turn and river ran out , and that ended Lin's tournament.
From under the gun plus one, Gary Lam raised all in for 59,500. Henry Wang made the call on the button and said, "If I double you up, it's my pleasure," as he put in the chips. Everyone else folded and the cards were on their backs.
Lam was all in and at risk with the . Wang held the .
On the flop, the rolled out and Wang's pair of jacks were in the lead. Lam did pick up an open-ended straight draw, so he was still very much in this.
The turn brought the , then the river completed the board with the . Both of those missed Lam and the original Day 1 chip leader was out the door in 15th place. Lam earned HKD$259,500 for his finish.
Today wasn't Raiden Kan's day. He started the day as one of the big stacks, but he was just knocked out in 19th place bringing the field down to just two tables. Kan ended up all in for his final 78,000 chips and Xing Zhou made the call.
Xing Zhou:
Raiden Kan:
The window card was the and Kan jumped up. He was quickly knocked down again when the showed up. Now it was Zhou's turn to show some emotion as he almost sealed the deal when the completed the flop. The on the turn did it for Kan who left the tournament area when the completed the board. Just 18 players remain, and the table draw will follow shortly.
Ying Kit Chan just raised to 10,000 preflop after which the last woman standing, Yuri Ishida, moved all in for 75,500. The action was folded to Gary Lam in the big blind, and after about two minutes he decided to make the call. The action was now back in Chan who quickly decided to four-bet to 151,000. Chan didn't seem too happy, but he ended up calling.
The flop brought out and Lam check-folded to Chan's shove.
Ying Kit Chan:
Yuri Ishida:
The board ran out , and Ishida was knocked out while Lam took a huge hit to his stack. Chan is now among the chip leaders.