Welcome back to PokerNews' coverage of the 2015 PokerStars.net APPT Macau Main Event. Yesterday's Day 1a field saw 207 players come out to action. At the end of the day, 76 of them advanced to Day 2. It was China’s Zhifeng Yao leading the way at the end of the day with 174,700 in chips.
With an expected field of around 300 players today, it would mean that this event will have in excess of 500-runners, which is great considering the popularity of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) that is about to get underway over in Las Vegas.
Play is set to kick off at 2:00pm local time here at the City of Dreams Macau. Be sure to stay tuned for all the live coverage straight from the floor, it's going to be another great day on the felt.
Celina Lin has been eliminated from the main event early in the first level.
The action started with Gab Yong Kim raising to 250 from the cut off and was called by Lin in the small blind. The flop of saw Lin check-call a continuation bet from Kim before the dropped on the turn.
Lin checked once more and Kim threw out 750. Lin then came over the top for 2,000 only to be faced with another raise to 7,500. She then opted to move all in for just short of starting stack and was snap called.
Lin:
Kim:
Lin had run her top two pair into the set of Kim and would find no help on the river resulting in her being one of the first casualties of the day.
The hand started with PokerStars Team Pro Bryan Huang raising to 500 from under the gun. He was called by the player in the cut off as well as the small blind before the three watched the flop come down .
The player in the small blind then bet out 850 and was met with a call from Huang. The player in the cut off then bumped it up to 1,750 which was called twice before the dropped on the turn. This time the action checked to the cut off who reached for his chips and placed out 5,500. The small blind agonised over his decision for over a minute before making the call.
Huang also made the call before the completed the board. All three players then opted to check before cards were tabled. The small blind tabled his for two pair before Huang rolled over his for a higher two pair. The player in the cut off then exposed his for trip fours which was good enough to take down the pot.
Huang drops down to 12,200 in chips following the hand.
The action started with the player in middle position raising to 700 and getting called by five players including Yubin Zheng in the cut off and Steve O’Dwyer on the button.
The flop came down and the big blind checked. The original raiser then threw out a 2,200 continuation which was called a short time later by the player to his left. The hijack folded leaving Zheng to reach for his chips and slide out a raise to 7,700. O’Dwyer paused for a moment before announcing all in for just over 24,000 in chips. A string of folds found it’s way back to Zheng who made the call.
O’Dwyer:
Zheng:
Zheng had flopped a set and was up against O’Dwyer’s flush draw. The board ran out the and to see O’Dwyer miss his spade, leaving him with just 3,000 chips.
HK$50,000 Freezeout winner Sheng Sun started pretty well but before the last hand he was already down to less than the starting stack. The board was already rushed away but Haifeng Xue celebrated after the river and Sun had to leave his chair. According to the Chinese, he flat-called a raise to 700 and so did Xue to see a flop of rainbow.
After two checks and the 1,200 bet of Xue, the other player in the hand raised to 3,400 and Sun just wanted to call before putting in too many chips. It was counted as a raise and Xue jammed with , which Sun called with . A queen on the turn left Xue drawing to four tens only and sure enough one of them popped up on the river to bust Sun.
Geng Liu raised to 1,100 from the hijack before Bryan Huang bumped it up to 3,200 from the big blind. The bet was called and both players watched the flop come down .
Huang threw out a continuation bet of 4,600 which was called before both players opted to check when the fell on the turn.
The river brought the and Huang reached for his chips and cut out a bet totalling 8,500 in chips. Liu stared at Huang and his stack for a moment before announcing all in for 26,800 in chips. The bet had Huang covered who went into the tank for a few minutes.
Huang eventually made the call and watched as Liu rolled over for a flopped full house.
Sheng Sun and Jack Hu had already busted and now the third-placed Scott Davies from yesterday's HK$50,000 Freezeout has also been sent to the rail as well. According to Lester Edoc, he got it in preflop with against the of Wan Zhang and two kings on the flop immediately destroyed all hopes.
We arrived at the table to find around 8,000 in the pot and the board showing .
The player in the small blind had checked and Akira Ohyama had moved all in for his remaining 5,675 in chips. The player in the small blind thought about his decision for a over a minute before finally making the call.
Ohyama then turned over for a pair of nines and was eliminated from the tournament when his opponent tabled for a higher pair.
Randy Lew just tweeted about his elimination, getting the stack in preflop with and receiving a call from Sunny Jung with . His opponent made the nut straight on the flop and the PokerStars Team Online member hit the rail.
As expected, the second starting day of the Season 9 Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau HK$25,000 Main Event at PokerStars LIVE Macau at City of Dreams attracted a bigger field than Day 1a, but last year's record attendance was missed by just one participant. Along with the 207 players from Day 1a, the 286 entries of Day 1b created an overall field of 493 entrants in total.
Out of those, the top 59 spots will get paid at least HK$43,600 whereas the winner can look forward to a shiny silver PokerStars trophy and a first-place payout of HK$2,525,000. In the best position to make a run at the top prize is Jia Liang, who soared into the lead in the last level of the night. Liang knocked out two opponents, including Victor Chong in the last five hands, and bagged up impressive 198,200 chips.
Notables that didn't make it through Day 1b included the entire HK$50,000 Freezeout top four in Sheng Sun, Jack Hu, 2014 World Series of Poker Asia Pacific Main Event champion Scott Davies and Kim Wittendorff. Likewise, poker legend Johnny Chan, who recently won the Poker King Club Grand Opening Charity Event, found himself on the rail.
Celina Lin suffered a shocking exit after less than half an hour, and her fellow PokerStars Team Pros Brian Huang and Vivian Im soon joined her on the rail. Team Online member Randy "nanonoko" Lew also busted in cruel fashion, while Steve O'Dwyer had a tough day and eventually claimed 50,900 chips upon bagging and tagging.
Other Day 1b big stacks include Ke Jing Li (160,800), Sihai Jiang (155,000), Ronald Chun Long Yu (150,200), Fan Zhao (146,000), Wenxiong Luo (132,000) and Geng Liu (110,000). After eight 60-minute levels, just 112 players advanced, which means along with the Day 1a survivors, 188 players will return to the tables at 14:00 local time on Friday.
Another eight levels will be played, and the money should is expected to burst around end of Day 2. The action will recommence in Level 13 with the blinds at 600/1,200/200, and the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be back to provide all key moments of another exiting day from the felt.
While you wait, check out this interview with Winfred Yu, President of the Poker King Club, about moving his poker room to The Venetian: