Taro Kimura shoved from the cutoff for his last 35,000 and was called by Yutaro Sukegawa in the small blind.
Kimura:
Sukegawa:
Kimura had the preflop advantage with the better ace but needed his hand to hold up in order to preserve his tournament life. The flop came to pair Sukegawa's ten, giving him the lead and leaving Kimura in bad shape. The on the turn changed nothing and the on the river sealed the deal to give Sukegawa the pot and eliminate Kimura to break the money bubble.
Kazuto Sato opened under the gun for 13,000 and got three-bet to 38,000 by Wei Hsiang Yeu, who was in the cutoff. Sato came back with 80,000 and Yeu shoved all in, putting Sato to the test for about 180,000 total. Sato quickly called.
Sato:
Yeu:
Yeu needed a king and found not one but two on the flop. The turn and river completed the board.
Hiroyuki Noda opened for 6,500 in middle position and called a three-bet to 18,100 from Bryan Huang, who was on the button. The flop came and Noda led right out with 18,500. Huang called. They both checked the and , and Noda showed down for a set.
Huang was left with about 60,000 and busted moments later.
PokerStars Team Pro Celina Lin had recently lost the majority of her stack and was left with just 3,600 chips, which she moved into the pot from middle position. Hirai Junko three-bet to 9,000 from the button, the blinds got out of the way, and the two players tabled their hands.
Lin:
Junko:
Lin had the preflop advantage with the better ace, but Junko took the lead when the flop fell to pair Junko's four, although Lin also picked up an open-ended straight draw. The on the turn was no help to Lin and neither was the river, so Junko took the pot to eliminate Lin.
Dmitrii Kovalevskii raised from middle position and Randy Lew three-bet to 12,000 from the button. Kovalevskii four-bet shoved to put Lew to a decision for his stack and he quickly called.
Lew:
Kovalevskii:
Lew was way behind with the smaller of the two Broadway pairs and needed help from the deck in order to preserve his tournament life. The board ran out which changed nothing and Kovalevskii took the pot to eliminate Lew.
With 197 unique entries and 88 reentries for 285 total, PokerStars has released prize pool information. The total pool is ₩427,500,000, or roughly $382,000. The winner of the event will bank ₩83,130,000, equivalent to a bit more than $74,000. A min-cash in 39th will be worth ₩2,860,000, or about $2,500. Check the "Payouts" tab above for a full breakdown of the prize money.
After four starting flights in the inaugural PokerStars Festival Korea Main Event, 98 players out of the 285 total entries remain in contention, and they'll take their seats at Noon local time on Sunday to battle it out on Day 2 for the top prize of ₩83,130,000 and trophy.
Leading the way is Japan's Yuki Ko with 226,300, a familiar face on the Asian tournament scene with over $250,000 in live earnings to his name. Close behind him is Scott Janik with 215,800, one of the few American players in the field. Daniel Demicki (209,500), Justin Chan (203,700), Naohito Tamaya (204,800) and Dmitrii Kovalevskii (201,000) were the only other players to bag stacks north of the 200,000-chip mark after the first day of play, but with the likes of Sparrow Cheung (158,100), Takashi Ogura (140,200), PokerStars Team Pro Celina Lin (73,900), PokerStars Festival Korea High Roller winner Boyuan Qu (66,800), PokerStars Team Online Pro Randy Lew (52,700), and 2014 Asia Player of the Year Pete Chen (41,900) still in the hunt, victory won't come easy for anyone.
The field will play 12 one-hour levels on Day 2 or until eight players remain, whichever comes first. There will be a ten-minute break every two levels and a one-hour dinner break after level 18. A total of 39 places will be paid with a mincash good for ₩2,860,000 and the eventual champion taking home ₩83,130,000. Keep it here for coverage of the PokerStars Festival Korea Main Event, presented by the PokerNews live reporting team.
to pair Sukegawa's ten, giving him the lead and leaving Kimura in bad shape. The 
on the turn changed nothing and the 
on the river sealed the deal to give Sukegawa the pot and eliminate Kimura to break the money bubble.
river completed the board.
and Noda led right out with 18,500. Huang called. They both checked the 
, and Noda showed down 
to pair Junko's four, although Lin also picked up an open-ended straight draw. The 
on the turn was no help to Lin and neither was the 
