Dbinder Singh started the action with an early-position raise to 800. Marcel Luske made the smooth call, and the table folded around to Chin Wei Yeong's big blind. The triangle-shaped all-in button came out as Yeong committed his final 8,050 chips to the pot. Singh grimaced and surrendered his cards, but Luske made the quick call to put his opponent to the test.
Showdown
Luske:
Yeong:
The board ran out safe for the at-risk Yeong, coming . The set of ladies is good, and Yeong faded the four-outer on the river to double his way up over 17,000. Luske has dropped right back to his starting stack, sitting with about 20,400.
Carl Christer Andersson raised from the small blind, and went heads up with big blind Daren Yoon. The flop came a tricky . Andersson bet 1,750, and Yoon made it 4,000. Andersson came back over the top, moving all in. Yoon didn't need a count, instantly calling and flipping over for the flopped second-nut flush. "That's so sick," Andersson said as he showed for a set of aces. He'd need the board to pair (or the case ace) in order to stay alive, but the on the turn and on the river were no help. Andersson shook hands with Yoon, wished his table luck, and made his exit. Yoon is up to 32,000.
Jeffrey Gregor raised from the cutoff, and only Vladimir Geshkenbein called on the button. The flop came , and Gregor checked. Geshkenbein bet 4,100, and Gregor called. On the turn, Gregor again checked, but this time, when Geshkenbein bet 7,500, Gregor clicked-it back with a min-raise to 15,000. Geshkenbein called. The on the river completed a flush draw and put four to straight on the board. Undaunted, Gregor moved all in. Geshkenbein snap-called, showing for the rivered flush. Gregor looked miserable as he slid his chips to Geshkenbein. "I just couldn't fold," Vladimir told him as he headed for the rail. After busing Gregor, Geshkenbein took over the top spot in the chip counts with 77,500.
That's another two levels behind us, and Day 1a is now 4/7ths complete if you're into odd fractions. Or 57.14% if you're a percentage kind of person. Either way, it's time for another one of those pesky 10-minute breaks.
Dao Xing Chen limped into the pot under the gun, and the player next door wanted to play for more. We'll call him Player 2 since he was a late-breaker whose name we're not sure of. In any event, Player 2 raised it up to 1,600, and the table folded back around to the limper. Chen quickly moved all in for 9,350 total, and Player 2 sunk in his chair.
"S'pose you have aces," he said, and with that he promptly plunked the calling chips into the pot. He was right. But wrong. You know what we mean.
Showdown
Chen:
Player 2:
Board:
That spells a double up back to about 20,000 for Chen, while Player 2 slips to just under 6,000. We'll try to grab his name when the frown wears off over there.
Marcel Luske isn't known to risk his chips lightly. Vladimir Geshkenbein raised to 1,100 from late position, and Luske called on the button. The flop came . Geshkenbein checked, and Luske checked behind. The turn brought the classic bluff card, the . Geshkenbein bet 1,000, and Luske called quickly, and Geshkenbein instantly gave up on the hand. He checked the on the river, and as soon as Luske began the motion of counting out chips, Geshkenbein mucked, saving the table some time.
Vladimir Geshkenbein opened the action with a raise to 1,025 from late-middle position. Alex Loon made the call from the button and then action fell on Marcel Luske in the small blind. He fired in a three-bet to 4,200. The big blind folded, as did Geshkenbein. Loon also mucked and Luske picked up some chips.
If you haven't heard about Alex Loon, you better start soon. Loon has been crushing the APPT Macau series this year. After 11 events of play, Loon made six final tables. Out of those final tables, he won one event and came in second place in three others. That's a pretty amazing streak so far for the series. He's looking to top it all off with an awesome run in the Main Event here. He's amassed himself about 55,000 chips on Day 1a and looks poised to go deep. We'll see how he can do.
One table seems to be keeping itself above the frenzied action around it. Perhaps it's because some of the players would rather not tangle with Julian Powell, Celina Lin, and Joachim Chia, and are waiting to get broken to softer pastures. But the raise-and-take-it pattern is boring Powell. He raised to 1,100 from middle position, and action folded to Chia in the big blind. Chia is a star in Singapore, where he won his buy-in to the APPT Macau Main Event on the reality show Asian Poker Showdown. "Come on, gamble Singapore," Powell goaded. "So close," Chia said as he mucked, earning some more chiding from Powell.
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. The set of ladies is good, and Yeong faded the four-outer on the river to double his way up over 17,000. Luske has dropped right back to his starting stack, sitting with about 20,400.
. Andersson bet 1,750, and Yoon made it 4,000. Andersson came back over the top, moving all in. Yoon didn't need a count, instantly calling and flipping over 
for the flopped second-nut flush. "That's so sick," Andersson said as he showed 
for a set of aces. He'd need the board to pair (or the case ace) in order to stay alive, but the 
on the turn and 
, and Gregor checked. Geshkenbein bet 4,100, and Gregor called. On the 
on the river completed a flush draw and put four to straight on the board. Undaunted, Gregor moved all in. Geshkenbein snap-called, showing 
for the rivered flush. Gregor looked miserable as he slid his chips to Geshkenbein. "I just couldn't fold," Vladimir told him as he headed for the rail. After busing Gregor, Geshkenbein took over the top spot in the chip counts with 77,500.
. Geshkenbein checked, and Luske checked behind. The turn brought the classic bluff card, the 
on the river, and as soon as Luske began the motion of counting out chips, Geshkenbein mucked, saving the table some time.
