HK$16,500 Main Event Day 1a | 2018 Oriental Poker Championship

05-24-2018 22:29 UTC+8

Shun Yan Feng Bags Day 1a Chip Lead of OPC 2018 Main Event

[user357898]

Level 11 : 600/1,200, 200 ante

Day 1a of the Oriental Poker Championship (OPC) 2018 Main Event is in the books. A total of 142 players took a shot today, and after 11 40-minute levels that field was more than halved down to 66 survivors. They’ve all now got Friday off, for Day 2 isn’t until Saturday, May 26.

The player who can relax the most out of all of them is Shun Yan Feng, who won a few big pots late in the day to rocket up the counts, ending the day with 186,300. Had Feng not enjoyed some end-of-day run good, it would have been Yang Zhang we’d crown chipleader. Zhang won a huge pot when his ace-king beat Qi Luo’s pocket kings, doubling him up. He ended the day with 146,600 - good for second place.

Yang Zhang ended the day in second place

Li Cheng Bei had a solid day, bagging up 133,000 when all was said and done. Others who ended well include Yongbin Wang - an early chipleader today - with 132,300, Shu Zhang with 116,600, and Andy Chan with 104,200.

Other notable chip counts to make it through include former chip leader Ning Sun (84,300), Phanlert Sukonthachartnant (84,200), Dong Guo (68,600), Sam Cheong (52,000), and down near the bottom of the counts, Dzmitry Rabotkin (14,500).

As for those who didn't make it through - including Joshua Zimmerman, Shiqiang Lin, Hongjun Zhao, and Zhao Yanchao - they can take another shot as this tournament has unlimited re-entries.

All 66 survivors will return on Saturday at 1 p.m. (check out the full chip counts below), but for now, our attention turns to tomorrow’s Day 1b. That kicks off at 1 p.m. on Friday, and at the end of it, we’ll know our entire Day 2 field. See you back here tomorrow.

Tags: Andy Chan Dong Guo Dzmitry Rabotkin Hongjun Zhao Joshua Zimmerman Li Cheng Bei Ning Sun Phanlert Sukonthachartnant Qi Luo Sam Cheong Shiqiang Lin Shun Yan Feng Yang Zhang Zhao Yanchao

05-24-2018 17:03 UTC+8

Wang Extends His Lead

[user357898]

Level 6 : 200/400, 50 ante

As of right now the chip leader is still Yongbin Wang, who since eliminating Joshua Zimmerman earlier has only increased his stack.

He just took down a healthy pot from Shiaqing Lin, the player we saw being very active in the early levels. Picking up the action on a board, there was already a lot of chips in the centre and when Wang checked Lin fired for 12,000. Wang thought for a few moments before calling, and Lin was forced to show his for a busted straight draw. Wang had for a flopped two pair, which secured him the pot.

He's up to 95,000 now, while Lin's stack falls to 36,500.

Player	Chips	Progress
Yongbin Wang	95,000 8,000	8,000
Shiqiang Lin	36,500 4,500	4,500

Tags: Shiqiang Lin Yongbin Wang

05-24-2018 16:26 UTC+8

Early Exit for Zimmerman

[user357898]

Level 5 : 150/300, 25 ante

Joshua Zimmerman is becoming a regular player here in Macau. The American Lawyer who is based in Hong Kong has cashed twice in Macau events this year, marking the only two cashes on his résumé so far.

Unfortunately for him, he'll need to re-enter this Main Event if he's going to add an OPC cash to that list. Picking up the action on a board with a 12,500 pot already out there, Yongbin Wang checked to Zimmerman and he fired for 8,500. Wang was thinking for a good minute or so before he made the call.

The river completed the board, and Wang checked again. Zimmerman snap-shoved all-in for his remaining 19,650, and this time Wang would call very quickly.

Zimmerman:
Wang:

Wang had turned a full house, which left Zimmerman drawing very thin. He made his exit, while Wang now stacks up 87,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Yongbin Wang	87,000 57,000	57,000
Joshua Zimmerman	Busted

Tags: Joshua Zimmerman Yongbin Wang

05-24-2018 12:20 UTC+8

The 2018 Oriental Poker Championship HKD $16,500 Main Event Live Coverage

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Good morning, afternoon, and evening wherever you are in the world, and welcome back to PokerNews’ coverage of the inaugural Oriental Poker Championship (OPC) 2018. We’re here all week at the lavish Venetian Macau Resort & Hotel, and while yesterday saw the HK$100K High Roller kick things off, today they’ll get the ball rolling on Day 1a of the HK$16,500 OPC Main Event.

This event comes with an enticing HK$5million guaranteed prize pool, which is sure to attract some of the top talent to the Poker King Club. The starting stack is 30,000, and the plan today is to play 11 40-minute levels, with a 60-minute dinner break scheduled after Level 8. This event has unlimited re-entries, so expect an action-packed day.

While this is the first event here under the OPC banner, it’s not the first time the Venetian Poker Room has held some big tournaments. Almost a year ago to the day we were here for the Poker King Cup Macau 2017 Main Event, a HK$16,500 event which attracted 490 runners to create a healthy HK$7,129,500 prize pool. It was China’s Longyun Li who took that one down for HK$1,225,500 (~$157K), defeating Malaysia’s Michael Soyza heads-up.

We were also here at the Venetian in November 2017 to cover the Suncity Cup Finale Macau. The HK$6,600 Main Event had a massive HK$8million guaranteed in the prize pool, and after ten days of play the 928-strong field was whittled down to just one. South Korea’s Je Ho Lee emerged victorious, banking HK$1,605,472, while Hong Kong’s Park Yu Cheung finished second.

But who will be victorious this week? We’re here to find out. Tomorrow will be Day 1B, which kicks off at 1pm, and there’s a turbo Day 1C tomorrow evening at 6pm. Saturday will be Day 2, Sunday is Day 3, and the whole thing will come to an end on Monday’s Final Day. Here’s a look at the Day 1 structure (it’s worth noting that levels increase from 40 minutes to 60 minutes from Day 2 onwards):

Day 1 Level Structure