Play had not long resumed following the break before there was another casualty. Down to his last 400,000 Korea’s Soojo Kim moved all-in from the button and after the small blind folded the action was on big blind Huang Qien.
Qien looked torn between calling and folding but the chance to thin the field was just too good to miss and he eventually chose to make the call.
Soojo Kim:
Huang Qien:
Kim was in great shape with a dominating hand and the flop kept his nose in front. The turn gave both players the gutshot straight draw and they both had each other’s out. Unfortunately for Kim he hit top pair on the river, which gave Qien Broadway and we lose one more.
The 14 remaining Main Event players are now on a 15-minute break. We need another 6 casualties to set up the 8-handed final table so join us after the break to see who goes the distance. Chip counts to follow...
Anson Tsang and Zhong Yuan Hang have just played a massive pot that has seen the chip lead change hands, though not quite in the way you imagine.
We only arrived in time to catch the aftermath as the stacks were being counted down but Tsang was kind enough to fill us in on the details.
Hang had opened the action with a raise and Tsang tried to leverage his monster stack and re-raised in position, with Hang making the call to take play heads-up to a flop of and this is where the fireworks happened.
Hang now led out for a pot-sized bet, Tsang continued the aggression with a raise and Hang did not take long to get the rest of his sizable 860,000 stack into the pot and with chips to spare Tsang made the call and the cards were turned over.
Zhong Yuan Hang:
Anson Tsang:
While Hang had top pair he would need to fade Tsang’s hearts and did so when the turn and river completed the hand. Tsang took a big hit and dropped to 1.7 million while Hang climbed to a little over two million.
This now makes Longyun Li our current chip leader as he has a stack of 2.3 million currently.
Michael Soyza moved all-in for 337,000 from the cutoff and a short-stacked Zhou Jia made the call from the small blind and found himself racing for his tournament life.
Zhou Jia:
Michael Soyza:
The board ran out and Jia headed for the rail while Soyza stacked up to 600,000.
Linh Tran has just earned himself a double courtesy of Zhong Yuan Hang with both players getting all the chips in pre-flop. While Hang had this was trailing to Tran’s .
The board ran out to see Tran climb to 1.25 million while Hang dropped to 1.1 million.
Yuhei Sanada’s Main Event is now over with Zhong Yuan Hang the man to send the Japanese player to the rail. Down to 400,000 Sanada moved all-in from the button and Hang made a speedy call from the small blind and big blind Liu Lifu got out of the way.
Yuhei Sanada:
Zhong Yuan Hang:
Sanada found himself racing for his tournament life but unfortunately, the board ran out and while both players made a flush Hang had the nuts and we lose one more.
There are now five players who currently have membership in the seven-figure stack club with over 1 million in chips, with the UK’s Simon Burns becoming the most recent member courtesy of Yuhei Sanada.
Pre-flop Sanada made it 50,000 to go from under-the-gun with Burns the only caller from the big blind. Both players checked the flop and when the landed on the turn Burns decided to take a stab for 55,000.
Sanada tossed in the call and the hit the river to pair the board. The action went check, check and Burns turned over for a turned pair of nines, which was enough evidently as Sanada mucked.
Anson Tsang is still most definitely the chip leader with what looked to be 2.9 million, with the next closest stack belonging to Longyun Li, who has around 2.5 million.
flop kept his nose in front. The 
turn gave both players the gutshot straight draw and they both had each other’s out. Unfortunately for Kim he hit top pair on the 
river, which gave Qien Broadway and we lose one more.
and this is where the fireworks happened.
turn and 
river completed the hand. Tsang took a big hit and dropped to 1.7 million while Hang climbed to a little over two million.
and Jia headed for the rail while Soyza stacked up to 600,000.
this was trailing to Tran’s 
.
to see Tran climb to 1.25 million while Hang dropped to 1.1 million.
and while both players made a flush Hang had the nuts and we lose one more.
landed on the turn Burns decided to take a stab for 55,000.
hit the river to pair the board. The action went check, check and Burns turned over 
for a turned pair of nines, which was enough evidently as Sanada mucked.