The PokerStars.net APPT Macau kicked off with a showy display of Macanese theater, but things sort of fizzled out to a dull roar by the time seven levels had come and gone.
A total of 88 players showed up for this opening flight, and the early pace was blistering. A couple dozen players burned through their 20,000-chip stacks within the first three levels, and, despite the late-day slowdown, play concluded with less than 50 players surviving to bag up their chips for the three-night soak.
Among the numerous unknowns were several notable faces from Asia and abroad. Team PokerStars Pros Celina Lin, Raymond Wu, and Bryan Huang were here representing their own continent, and we also had a Singing Dutchman with us as Marcel Luske was on hand to give the starting 'shuffle up and deal'. Huang couldn't make it out of the first half of the day, but the other three Team Pros appear to have made it to day's end with at least a few chips to stick in their clear plastic bags.
Apart from those with PokerStars patches, we also had some other familiar faces in the crowd. Graeme "Kiwi G" Putt was here briefly, but he couldn't get much going and was soon just another set of elbows on the rail. Kai Paulsen was here as well, fresh off his eighth-place showing in the Macau Poker Cup two months ago. Nathanael Seet has had some success on the APPT circuit, and he did well for most of the day until being eliminated in the last couple of levels. Also still in the mix at the end of the day were Julian Powell, Daren Yoon, Albert Kim, and Vladimir Geshkenbein, the latter being in and out of the chip lead for the balance of the day.
Everyone's looking up at Alexandre Chieng though, his late-day rush securing his spot at the top of the overnight leader board. His count of 113,100 puts him atop the pack, and we couldn't find anyone else over 100,000 when the bags came out. We'll post the full official chip counts as soon as they're made available to us.
That's all we have for you from Day 1a. Those who survived will be back in the house on Friday for Day 2, but we've still got two more starting days to polish off before then. Tomorrow's second flight will see a fresh new set of faces take to the felt, and we expect a good number of Team PokerStars Pros and other notables in the field.
So goodnight from Macau; we'll see you right back here at noon local time tomorrow.
From middle position, Vladimir Geshkenbein raised to 1,500. Action folded to the small blind and he called before Raymond Wu reraised from the big blind to 5,500. Geshkenbein called and the small blind folded.
The flop came down and Wu fired 6,500. Geshkenbein raised to 14,000 and then Wu made the call.
The turn put the out there and Wu checked. Geshkenbein checked behind.
The river was the and Wu checked. Geshkenbein fired 15,000 and Wu quickly called. Geshkenbein tabled the , but was no good to Wu's for a straight. Wu moved up to 87,475 after the hand.
Marcel Luske started the day with the "shuffle up and deal," and he just decided when it would end. He drew a four to determine that the field will play four more hands before heading home for the night.
Jessica Ngu has been fairly passive all day, but she pulled out the big guns against Mike Ivin. Preflop, Ivin opened to 1,800, and Ngu called from the highjack. The cutoff, who had three-bet the previous hand, looked like he was going to make a move, but after counting out several different sized bets, decided to fold instead, sending Ivin and Ngu to the flop heads-up. It came all small cards, . Ivin bet 1,500, and Ngu stuck in a small raise, making it 3,500. Ivin flatted. The turn was the , and Ivin bet out 3,500. This time, Ngu opted for a huge raise. She counted out stacks of two T500 chips, then restacked them all and made it 13,000 to go. Ivin quickly gave up on the odd hand.
Vladimir Geshkenbein didn't get the memo about a slowdown in the action. He certainly has a penchant for big pots, and boy does he hate folding. We caught up with one hand as he four-bet all in on the button. The Dbinder Singh snap called in the small blind. "Ooh, I really didn't want that," said Geshkenbein, knowing his was in bad shape without needing to see Singh's . The board ran out , and Geshkenbein paid off Singh to the tune of 25,000.
The very next hand, a player in early position opened to 1,600. Another man flatted the raise, and then Geshkenbein squeezed to 4,000. The original raiser folded, but the second player swiftly moved all in. Geshkenbein called with only to discover that he was up against pocket aces for the second hand in a row. The table groaned at the flop, perhaps knowing what was coming. The on the turn was safe, but the on the river made Geshkenbein's straight. His opponent fell to his knees next to the table, pulling his sweatshirt over his head and rocking back and forth in agony. He composed himself enough to watch the dealer count out the stacks and determine that Geshkenbein had him covered by a few thousand chips. After the suckout, Geshkenbein stacked up 101,000 chips, putting him back atop the leader board.
The action has hit a bit of a wall here in the final level of the evening. Most of the pots are being won with a single preflop raise, and those that progress further are being played exceptionally passively for the most part. We're not sure if the players are eyeing a spot in Day 2, or if they're getting weary from this arduous seven-hour day, or just exactly what the story is.
Either way, there's just not much happening out there right now.
On a hand that went well into the break, Daren Yoon really turned up the heat. Four players saw a flop. Jessica Ngu checked to Yoon, who bet 1,400. Raymond Wu called, one player folded, and Ngu tank-called. The turn brought the , and Ngu checked again. Yoon made a rainbow bet, and one chip of each color added up to 6,625. Wu counted out his entire stack before folding. Ngu had already decided what she would do when it was her turn to act. She min-raised to 13,250. Yoon checked to make sure he had her covered, then moved all in.
The break started while Ngu tanked, and the tournament director came over to announce the action on the microphone. Hearing that Yoon was involved in the hand, Terrance Chan dashed over from the High Roller event on the other side of the room. Ngu's face turned bright red under the scrutiny, and after a few minutes, she mucked. After the hand, Ngu was down to 25,500 and Yoon was up to 58,000.
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
and Wu fired 6,500. Geshkenbein raised to 14,000 and then Wu made the call.
out there and Wu checked. Geshkenbein checked behind.
and Wu checked. Geshkenbein fired 15,000 and Wu quickly called. Geshkenbein tabled the 
, but was no good to Wu's 
for a straight. Wu moved up to 87,475 after the hand.
. Ivin bet 1,500, and Ngu stuck in a small raise, making it 3,500. Ivin flatted. The turn was the 
, and Ivin bet out 3,500. This time, Ngu opted for a huge raise. She counted out stacks of two T500 chips, then restacked them all and made it 13,000 to go. Ivin quickly gave up on the odd hand.
was in bad shape without needing to see Singh's 
. The board ran out 
only to discover that he was up against pocket aces for the second hand in a row. The table groaned at the 
on the turn was safe, but the 
on the river made Geshkenbein's straight. His opponent fell to his knees next to the table, pulling his sweatshirt over his head and rocking back and forth in agony. He composed himself enough to watch the dealer count out the stacks and determine that Geshkenbein had him covered by a few thousand chips. After the suckout, Geshkenbein stacked up 101,000 chips, putting him back atop the leader board.
flop. Jessica Ngu checked to Yoon, who bet 1,400. Raymond Wu called, one player folded, and Ngu tank-called. The turn brought the 
, and Ngu checked again. Yoon made a rainbow bet, and one chip of each color added up to 6,625. Wu counted out his entire stack before folding. Ngu had already decided what she would do when it was her turn to act. She min-raised to 13,250. Yoon checked to make sure he had her covered, then moved all in.