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The official 8-handed Poker King Cup Macau Main Event Final Table
Just eight players now remain in contention from the 490-strong field in the Poker King Cup Macau 2017 Main Event.
These final eight will return at 1:30pm local time (GMT+7) to play for the trophy, title and lion’s share of the HK$7.129 million (~$915,295) prize pool, with the winner taking home a massive HK$1,389,500 (~$178,333) first prize.
The man currently leading the charge is China’s Zhong Yuan Hang, who edged into the chip lead on the very last hand of Day 3, eliminating Hong Kong’s Anson Tsang in ninth place to set up the official 8-handed final table and conclude play for the day. You can read a full recap of the Day 3 action here.
Hang finished the day with a huge 4,280,000 in chips, slightly ahead of Longyun Li, who bagged up a very respectable 4,155,000 with the rest of the field stacking up as follows:
Final Table Lineup
Seat
Player
Chips
1
Simon Burns
725,000
3
Zhong Yuan Hang
4,280,000
4
Huang Qien
1,400,000
5
Liu Lifu
1,585,000
6
Michael Soyza
1,130,000
7
Longyun Li
4,155,000
7
Linh Tran
870,000
7
Weizhou Zha
555,000
Play resumes at 1:30pm local time (GMT+7) for the official 8-handed final table and blinds will be rolled back to 20,000/40,000 with a 5,000 running ante and will play down until a champion is crowned. The PokerNews live reporting team will bring you all the action as it happens as we see who has what it takes to emerge triumphant.
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A brutal cooler sees Linh Tran become the first casualty
It took 20-minutes of play on the rolled back level 26 before the first significant pot played out, and it was a big one that saw Linh Tran end up with a bowl of rice.
Pre-flop it was Michael Soyza who opened the action with a raise to 90,000 from middle position, with Tran making the call from the cutoff before the UK’s Simon Burns pulled the trigger and moved all-in for 650,000 from the small blind.
Soyza quickly folded but Tran called immediately and the cards were turned over.
Simon Burns:
Linh Tran:
Burns was in bad shape, and would need some help and duly got it when the flop came down to exclamations from the rest of the table, though Tran just smiled wryly.
With Burns now firmly in front it was Tran who would need to hit, but unfortunately for the Vietnamese-Canadian the turn and river were of no help and he was left with just 65,000 in chips.
That’s a bit of a set up hand that’s impossible to get away from for these two similarly stacked players. Burns climbed to 1.5 million after that timely catch.
Tran was all-in for his last 60,000 the very next hand with blinds Zhong Yuan Hang and Huang Qien making the call and checking the board down the whole way.
Hang turned over the mighty and that was enough to win the hand and Tran headed for the rail in eight place for a HK$189,000 payday, becoming the first casualty of the official final table.
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Michael Soyza edges in front of Zhong Yuan Hang
An interesting played out between Michael Soyza and Zhong Yuan Hang the saw Soyza overtake the one-time chip leader, much to Hang’s displeasure.
Pre-flop it was Soyza who was the initial aggressor, making it 110,000 to go from the cutoff. Action folded around to Hang in the big blind and he peeked at his cards and reached for raising chips, making it 350,000 to go.
Soyza thought it over and slid in the call and it was heads-up to the all black flop, which Hang led for 375,000. Soyza called to keep the action heads-up to the turn, which saw both players slow it down and check.
The river completed a flush for both players and the action went check, check once more. Hang turned over for the rivered top set but this was not enough to beat the board, let alone Soyza’s nine high flush – something that Hang was less than pleased about.
Simon Burns tried to get something going the next hand with a late position raise to 110,000 but folded quickly when big blind Huang Qien moved all-in for 725,000.
Weizhou Zha is still the table short stack and he now has even less chips with which to mount a comeback after folding out a big pot against Michael Soyza. Pre-flop it was Zha who was the man initially driving the action with a UTG+1 open to 130,000.
Soyza made the call from the big blind and both players checked the flop. The Malaysian player decided that Zha couldn’t have much and seized the initiative on the turn with a chunky 410,000 bet. Zha thought it over – it was a big call for nearly half of his remaining chips – but chose to call and the hit the river.
Perhaps sensing weakness, or maybe he was just bullying, Soyza moved all-in and Zha now had a real decision to make.
Zha did not look happy about it but eventually folded to drop to 550,000 while Soyza now has 4 million.
The next hand saw the action fold around to Longyun Li in the small blind. Li could smell the blood in the water and decided to bully Zha, moving all-in but was quickly called and the cards were turned over.
Longyun Li:
Weizhou Zha:
Zha was in bad shape but hit the perfect flop, which came down . Li had a black queen but it was not the meaning Zha’s two pair was now in front. The turn saw Li make trips and Zha improve to a full house and the river saw Zha double to bring himself back in to contention.
Zha now has 1.2 million while Li dropped to 3.7 million, which means Michael Soyza has now edged into the chip lead.
While ace-seven worked out for Simon Burns once, it did not do so the second time and we are now down to six players in the Poker King Cup Macau Main Event.
Burns got his last 850,000 in pre-flop from middle position and Liu Lifu called quickly from the button.
Simon Burns:
Liu Lifu:
The board ran out and Burns headed for the rail to collect the equivalent of US$29,769 for his seventh place finish while Lifi stacked up to a little over 2.3 million.
Just minutes after the departure of Simon Burns and the final table has another casualty with Michael Soyza gunning down the unfortunate Weizhou Zha.
Soyza was the man attacking Zha’s blind once again, only this time the Chinese player played back and moved all-in for roughly 675,000. Soyza decided the chance to thin the field was too good to pass up on and made the call and the cards were turned over.
Weizhou Zha:
Michael Soyza:
While Zha had the best hand pre-flop he was not that far in front but the flop paired his jack to improve his lead. However, this was the calm before the storm as Soyza had a gutshot straight draw which came in when the hit the turn to leave Zha drawing dead and he departed in sixth place, taking home the equivalent of US$35,670.
The action is coming to the boil and the bust outs are now coming thick and fast. Huang Qien is the latest casualty, moving all-in from under-the-gun for a little less than 800,000 and big blind Zhong Yuan Hang called quickly.
Huang Qien:
Zhong Yuan Hang:
It was race time once again, but unfortunately for Qien it was one he took the back seat in immediately with the flop coming down to pair Hang’s ace. The turn and river were of no help and the final table is down to four. Hang stacked up to 2.3 million and Qien headed to the cash desk to collect the equivalent of US$44,394.
The elimination of Liu Lifu takes play three-handed
As the final tables shortest stack Liu Lifu had been playing quite snug and had dropped to 1.2 million. The action was 10-minutes into the new level when the action folded around to the Chinese player on the button. Lifu peeked down at his cards and declared himself all-in and big blind Longyun Li asked for a count.
Lifu had exactly 1.2 million and Li, who had chips to spare with roughly 5.7 million, thought it over and evidently thought the opportunity to take play three-handed was one he could not pass up on and slammed down a huge tower of pink 25k chips to represent the call and the hands were turned face-up.
Liu Lifu:
Longyun Li:
While Lifu grimaced as soon as Li made the call his ace-high was actually the best hand, that was until the flop fell , giving Li the lead and leaving Lifu teetering on the brink of elimination.
The turn was the final nail in Lifu’s coffin and left him drawing dead, meaning the river, while giving Lifu top pair, was irrelevant.
That took the action three-way and Li stacked up to a little over 6 million while Li headed for the rail, stopping by the cash desk to collect the equivalent of US$59,273.
Zhong Yuan Hang busts in third place to take play heads-up
There was a sudden burst of action and Zhong Yuan Hang departed in a flurry of cards and chips. The action started innocuously enough with Hang limping from the small blind but it did not take long for the fireworks.
Michael Soyza peeked at his hole cards and announced a raise, making it 370,000 to go and Hang immediately went to DEFCON 1 and launched all-out global thermonuclear war and shoved for 3 million and Soyza beat him into the pot.
Zhong Yuan Hang:
Michael Soyza:
The hand felt eerily similar to one of the previous all-ins these two played a little earlier, only this time the cards went Soyza’s way. The flop paired Soyza’s jack to further extend his lead. The turn brought in possible chop outs but now there was no way that Hang could win the hand.
The river saw Hang’s tournament come to a close and he headed for the cash desk to collect the equivalent of US$80,193 while Soyza stacked up to 7,995,000 to take the chip lead and take play heads-up for the trophy and the title.
The first few hands of heads up was just blind and ante swapping but the third hand was a significant one. Pre-flop it was Longyun Li on the button and he made it 260,000 to go, with Michael Soyza making the call from the big blind.
Soyza checked the flop over to Li, who continuation bet 360,000 and Soyza did not take long to make the call to swell the pot to over 1.1 million.
The turn saw Soyza check again and Li reached for chips, firing a sizable 780,000 second barrel. Soyza thought it over before reaching for raising chips and check-raised to 2.1 million in total to send Li deep into the tank.
Eventually, he called to grow the pot to over 5 million and the dealer flipped over the river to complete the hand. Soyza now checked and Li did not take long to shove with Soyza folding instantly. Soyza is now down to 5.1 million and Li climbed to 9.6 million to take the lead.
to exclamations from the rest of the table, though Tran just smiled wryly. 
turn and 
river were of no help and he was left with just 65,000 in chips.
board down the whole way.
and that was enough to win the hand and Tran headed for the rail in eight place for a HK$189,000 payday, becoming the first casualty of the official final table.
flop, which Hang led for 375,000. Soyza called to keep the action heads-up to the 
turn, which saw both players slow it down and check.
for the rivered top set but this was not enough to beat the board, let alone Soyza’s 
nine high flush – something that Hang was less than pleased about.
flop. The Malaysian player decided that Zha couldn’t have much and seized the initiative on the turn with a chunky 410,000 bet. Zha thought it over – it was a big call for nearly half of his remaining chips – but chose to call and the 
and Burns headed for the rail to collect the equivalent of US$29,769 for his seventh place finish while Lifi stacked up to a little over 2.3 million.
flop paired his jack to improve his lead. However, this was the calm before the storm as Soyza had a gutshot straight draw which came in when the 
hit the turn to leave Zha drawing dead and he departed in sixth place, taking home the equivalent of US$35,670.
