2013 APPT Macau Asia Championship of Poker

ACOP Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info

2013 APPT Macau Asia Championship of Poker

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
ak
Prize
4,352,000 HKD
Event Info
Buy-in
95,000 HKD
Prize Pool
19,800,000 HKD
Entries
203
Level Info
Level
28
Blinds
25,000 / 50,000
Ante
5,000

Schulz Leads as 72 Players Survive Day 2

Level 9 : 500/1,000, 100 ante
Kevin Schulz
Kevin Schulz

The 2013 PokerStars.net Asia-Pacific Poker Tour Macau Asia Championship of Poker (ACOP) HK$100,000 Main Event continued on Wednesday at the PokerStars LIVE at the City of Dreams. Day 2 saw 169 of the original 203 players return for five 90-minute levels of play. By the end of that time, the field was whittled down to 72 with Kevin Schulz and his stack of 311,600 leading the way.

Schulz vaulted into the chip lead in the last level of the night thanks to two hands. In the first, he flopped a set of deuces to win a massive pot worth more than 200,000. Then, about ten minutes later, he flopped another set of deuces to eliminate 2011 World Series of Poker Player of the Year Ben Lamb.

The day was characterized by eliminations as more than half the field would hit the rail. One of them was Australia's Didier Guerin, who found himself all in preflop Level 6 (250/500/50) and watching a side pot brew. With roughly 18,000 already in the main pot, Edison Nguyen moved all in over the top for 12,475 more and put the pressure on Guangfu Ye. Eventually a call was made and all three hands were tabled.

Ye: {a-Hearts}{q-Clubs}
Guerin: {8-Diamonds}{8-Clubs}
Nguyen: {9-Diamonds}{9-Spades}

According to the PokerNews Odds Calculator, Guerin was in the worst spot with just a 16.72% chance of winning the hand while Nguyen and Ye would win 38% and 45% of the time respectively. Guerin was poised to exit, but the {k-Clubs}{7-Hearts}{8-Spades} flop gave him pause as he took the lead with a set. Just like that Guerin went from the last to being an 85.38% favorite.

Guerin let a little smile cross his face, but in heartbreaking fashion, it turned into disbelief after the dealer burned and turned the {9-Clubs} to give Nguyen a bigger set! The {5-Clubs} river blanked on the river, which sent Guerin to the rail, gave Nguyen more than a double, and left Ye on a short stack.

One level later, Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin was sent packing. It happened after a preflop raising war resulted in Lin getting her stack in with {A-}{Q-} only to run into the {K-}{K-} of Norway's Tore Lukashaugen. The {9-}{10-}{q-} flop paired Lin's queen, but she needed a little more help to stay alive. The {4-Clubs} turn didn't do it, and neither did the {K-} river.

Others who failed to make it through the day were Kahle Burns, Ping Lin, Patrick Crivell, Kitson Kho, Bryan Huang, Kai Paulsen, Craig Cockburn, Tom Alner, Vivian Im, Jonathan Karamalikis, Lee Nelson, and the defending champ, Xing Zhou.

Zhou’s elimination came in Level 9 (500/1,000/100) when he limped in from under the gun only to have the player two seats to his left bump it up to 6,500. The next player made the call, Zhou did too, and the flop fell {3-Clubs}{8-Spades}{3-Diamonds}. Zhou checked before the original raiser bet 15,500. The other unknown player folded but Zhou called all-in for his last 12,600.

Zhou: {8-Clubs}{7-Hearts}
Opponent: {K-Spades}{K-Clubs}

The turn and river blanked out with the {A-Clubs} and {5-Spades} to see Zhou hit the rail, which ensured a new champion will be crowned in this year's ACOP Main Event.

While many fell, there are still plenty of notables in contention including Jonathan Depa (254,200), Tore Lukashaugen (157,600), Day 1 chip leader Keith Ferrera (122,800), David Ewing (100,600), Keith Gipson (78,500), Jan Bendik (78,300), Tom "hitthehole" Middleton (45,100), Mervin Chan (37,300), and Michael Tureniec (22,300). In addition, Team PokerStars is well represented as Eugene Katchalov, Randy Lew and Naoya Kihara all survived the night.

Day 3 will see 72 players return to the felt at 3 p.m. local time on Thursday. Of course the PokerNews Live Reporting team will be on hand to bring you live updates from PokerStars LIVE at the City of Dreams. Until then, check out Sarah Grant's video of last night's Player Party:

Bansi Busts to Depa in Cooler

Level 9 : 500/1,000, 100 ante
Praz Bansi
Praz Bansi

Praz Bansi opened to 2,200 from middle position and Aidan Tam called on the button before Jonathan Depa raised to 8,800 from the big blind.

Bansi responded by four-betting to 19,800 to force Tam's cards into the muck before Depa announced he was all-in. Bansi called for his 70,000-chip stack and the cards were tabled.

Bansi: {K-Hearts}{K-Diamonds}
Depa: {A-Spades}{A-Clubs}

The board ran out a rather undramatic {J-Hearts}{10-Diamonds}{5-Hearts}{4-Diamonds}{10-Spades} to see Bansi eliminated in a cooler hand while Depa saw his chip count soar up to 230,000 to sit him as a clear second on the chip leader board.

Player Chips Progress
Jonathan Depa us
Jonathan Depa
228,500 192,225
Praz Bansi gb
Praz Bansi
WSOP 2X Winner
Busted

Tags: Jonathan DepaPraz BansiAidan Tam

New Champ for 2013

Level 9 : 500/1,000, 100 ante
Xing Zhou
Xing Zhou

Xing Zhou limped in from under the gun only to have a player two seats to his left bump it up to 6,500. The player following called as the action passed round to Zhou who also called.

The flop fell {3-Clubs}{8-Spades}{3-Diamonds} and Zhou checked before the original raiser bet 15,500. The other unknown player folded but Zhou called all-in for his last 12,600.

Zhou: {8-Clubs}{7-Hearts}
Opponent: {K-Spades}{K-Clubs}

The turn and river blanked out with the {A-Clubs} and {5-Spades} to see Zhou hit the rail which also means a new champion will be crowned in this year's ACOP Main Event.

Player Chips Progress
Xing Zhou cn
Xing Zhou
Busted

Tags: Xing Zhou

Aussie Millions Champ Down

Level 8 : 400/800, 100 ante
Lee Nelson
Lee Nelson

Earlier in the day, 2006 Aussie Millions champ Lee Nelson was down to just 5,000 in chips. He played patiently and managed to work that up to 50,000, but all that hard work just came crashing down.

It happened on a {5-Clubs}{a-Hearts}{9-Clubs}{k-Spades} board with around 10,000 in the pot. Jan Bendik had checked from the small blind and Nelson bet 5,200 from the big. Bendik woke up with a check-raise to 11,500, and that prompted Nelson to move all in for roughly 40,000. Bendik made the call and tabled the {a-Spades}{k-Hearts} for top two pair, and a disheartened Nelson revealed the {k-Clubs}{5-Diamonds} for an inferior two pair.

The {3-Clubs} river failed to help Nelson and he was sent back to New Zealand. For more on Nelson, check out the interview he did with PokerNews last year.

Player Chips Progress
Jan Bendik sk
Jan Bendik
EPT 1X Winner
95,000 95,000
Lee Nelson nz
Lee Nelson
Busted

Tags: Lee NelsonJan Bendik

Paulsen Stacked, Tam Soars to the Top

Level 7 : 300/600, 75 ante
Aidan Tam
Aidan Tam

Kai Paulsen opened from under the gun to 1,500 only to have Aidan Tam three-bet to 5,000 from the cutoff. The action passed back to Paulsen and he four-bet to 11,500.

Tam spent nearly two minutes deliberating before pushing out all his yellow 5,000-denomination chips into the pot signifying a five-bet to 120,000. Paulsen then took his allotted time before eventually opting to commit his 41,500 total as the cards were then placed on their backs.

Paulsen: {A-Spades}{K-Hearts}
Tam: {K-Spades}{K-Diamonds}

With Tam dominating the Norwegian, the {9-Spades}{6-Hearts}{4-Spades} flop furthered Tam's lead but left the gate open for backdoor spades for Paulsen. And that's what would be delivered on the turn as the {3-Spades} fell, but unfortunately for Paulsen, the river landed the {J-Diamonds} and he was forced to head to the rail as Tam soars to 191,000 in chips.

Player Chips Progress
Aidan Tam
Aidan Tam
191,000 106,000
Kai Paulsen
Kai Paulsen
Busted

Tags: Aidan TamKai Paulsen

Lin Falls to Kings

Level 7 : 300/600, 75 ante
Celina Lin
Celina Lin

Team PokerStars is a player light with the recent elimination of Celina Lin.

We missed her final hand, but we were able to find out some details surrounding her elimination. According to a member of the tournament staff, a preflop raising war resulted in Lin getting her stack in with {A-}{Q-} only to run into the {K-}{K-} of Norway's Tore Lukashaugen. The {9-}{10-}{q-} flop paired Lin's queen, but she needed a little more help to stay alive. The {4-Clubs} turn didn't do it, and neither did the {K-} river.

Player Chips Progress
Tore Lukashaugen no
Tore Lukashaugen
47,000 6,150
Celina Lin cn
Celina Lin
Busted

Tags: Tore LukashaugenCelina Lin

Huang Hits the Rail

Level 6 : 250/500, 50 ante
Bryan Huang (from Day 1a)
Bryan Huang (from Day 1a)

Bryan Huang just ventured over to the PokerNews blogging desk to tell us about his elimination.

Facing a raise from a player in middle position, Huang pushed his last 15-big blinds into the middle with {A-Diamonds}{5-Diamonds} and the original raiser looked him up with {A-}{10-}. No help came for Huang and was sent to the rail.

Tags: Bryan Huang

Guerin Eliminated in a Three-Way All In

Level 6 : 250/500, 50 ante
Didier Guerin
Didier Guerin

We arrived at Table 12 with a big hand already in progress. Australia's Didier Guerin was already all in and there was roughly 18,000 in the main pot. Guangfu Ye was contemplating what to do as Edison Nguyen had moved all in over the top for 12,475 more. Eventually Ye made the call and all three hands were tabled.

Ye: {a-Hearts}{q-Clubs}
Guerin: {8-Diamonds}{8-Clubs}
Nguyen: {9-Diamonds}{9-Spades}

According to the PokerNews Odds Calculator, Guerin was in the worst spot with just a 16.72% chance of winning the hand while Nguyen and Ye would win 38% and 45% of the time respectively. Guerin was poised to exit, but the {k-Clubs}{7-Hearts}{8-Spades} flop gave him pause as he took the lead with a set. Just like that Guerin went from the last to being an 85.38% favorite.

Guerin let a little smile cross his face, but in heartbreaking fashion, it turned into disbelief after the dealer burned and turned the {9-Clubs} to give Nguyen a bigger set! The {5-Clubs} river blanked on the river, which sent Guerin to the rail, gave Nguyen more than a double, and left Ye on a short stack.

Player Chips Progress
Edison Nguyen au
Edison Nguyen
45,000 27,000
Guangfu Ye
Guangfu Ye
8,000 -32,375
Didier Guerin au
Didier Guerin
Busted

Tags: Didier GuerinEdison NguyenGuangfu Ye

Day 2 Sees Keith Ferrera Lead 169 Survivors

Keith Ferrera
Keith Ferrera

Welcome back to PokerStars Live at the City of Dreams for Day 2 of the Asia Championship of Poker (ACOP) HK$100,000 Main Event!

203 players took to the felt over the two Day 1 flights to form a HK$19,800,000 prize pool that will the see top 25 players guaranteed a HK$198,000 payday. Keith Ferrera topped Day 1a and the 78 survivors while Day 1b saw Satrya Teja top the 92 survivors as 169 total players survived into Day 2. Ferrera holds a substantial chip lead over the field with 117,825 while PokerStars Qualifier Aidan Tam sits second with the only other stack in the six-figure club.

Rounding out the top ten are two WSOP bracelet winners in Praz Bansi from the UK who won a 2006 $1,000 No Limit Hold'em event and Ben Lamb who won the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship as well as the 2011 WSOP Player of the Year.

Top Ten Chip Counts

PlayerCountryChip Count
Keith FerreraUSA117,825
Aidan TamCanada102,375
Peter Ping San ChanHong Kong99,550
Satrya TejaIndonesia83,300
Praz BansiUK79,950
Chane KampanatsanyakornThailand78,900
David MartirosyanRussia77,675
Kumimaro KojoJapan77,350
Chongxian YangChina75,000
Ben LambUSA74,425

Also surviving into Day 2 include Xing Zhou (62,350), Ami Barer (60,850), Michael Tureniec (53,700), Mervin Chan (44,600), Billy Argyros (39,925), David Vamplew (36,875), Jarred Graham (33,700), Aaron Lim (25,275) and Tom Middleton (31,275). Team PokerStars Pros Eugene Katchalov (49,325), Vivian Im (36,900), Naoya Kihara (36,875), Randy Lew (44,900), Bryan Huang, (23,500) and Celina Lin (15,425) also survived along with Full Tilt Poker Ambassadors Tom Grigg (40,425) and Jonathan Karamalikis (40,150).

Day 2 is set to begin at 5:00 p.m. local time to give every play (along with staff and media members) a chance to recover from an epic player party last night that featured a beer pong competition, boat racing and lots of food and drinks. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand to provide extensive live updates, so make sure to keep your browser locked on to PokerNews.com for all the ACOP Main Event action!

Tags: Keith Ferrera