Main Event
Day 1b Started
2015 PokerStars.net APPT Season 9 Seoul
Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2015 PokerStars.net APPT Season 9 Seoul
Buy-in
2,760,000 KRW
Prize Pool
645,205,200 KRW
Entries
241
Level
24
Blinds
15,000 / 30,000
Ante
5,000
Day 1b set to begin at APPT Seoul!
Welcome back to the Paradise Walkerhill Casino to PokerNews' Day 1b coverage of the 2015 PokerStars.net APPT Seoul.
Yesterday's Day 1a action saw 116 players take to the felt, but only 44 will return tomorrow for Day 2 action. United Kingdom’s Alex Ward bagged up the biggest stack at 133,800, followed by Tyler Jennens (101,900) and Yunye Lu (101,100) as the only three players to end the day with six-figure stacks.
We expect a similar sized field to take part in today's action which would surpass last years total of 222 entrants. Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin should take her seat, as will 2014 Asia Championship of Poker Main Event champion Gabriel Le Jossec and Taiwanese rap artist MC HotDog.
Be sure to stay tuned here throughout the day for updates on all of the exciting action as it takes place! See you in just over an hour!
Level: 1
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
Shuffle Up and Deal!
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
After a brief announcement about today's play we are underway with Day 1b of APPT Seoul.
Today's Plan
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
Yesterday we had 116 total player enter the tournament and 44 of them made it through to Day 2. Today we've started with 80 players right off the bat with late registration open throughout the second break of the day, which be finish around approximately 4:20 p.m. local time.
In total eight 60-minute levels will be played today with a 10-minute break after every second level. This means play will finish at 8:35 p.m. local time.
Who's Here
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 |
Ladies on the Felt!
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
Early in proceedings we've noticed several notable female pro’s take their seats.
PokerStars Team Pro Celina Lin is the most known of the group. Her resume includes several victories including taking down two Macau Poker Cup main events in 2009 and 2012.
Sixiao ‘Juicy’ Li finished 5th in the event back in 2013 and will be looking to go a few places better in this years quest for the title.
Yu Kurita made her presence felt at the 2014 World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific in Melbourne when she finished on the final table of the NLHE 6 Max event before making a deef run in the main event just three days later.
And finally Manami Hayamizu. The consistent Japanese player has made a name for herself in Macau with half a dozen final table finishes in various events.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
20,000 | |
|
||
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
|
20,000 | |
MC HotDog is in Da House!
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
It's an understatement to say that not speaking a Chinese language, whether that's Mandarin or Cantonese, makes you miss out on lots of stuff. Movies, books and music are largely wasted on us English speakers, but traveling to international poker tournaments gives us at least a little insight into what happens on this side of the world.
While we are mostly familiar with Jay-Z, Kanye West and Snoop Dogg, the Chinese youth knows all about MC HotDog's latest hits. Today we're getting a chance to cover this Taiwanese superstar in the APPT Seoul Main Event, and Taiwan's country manager Calvin Shueh told us how the man known as the 'Godfather of Chinese Hip-Hop' loves the game of poker.
"Back in Taipei he plays poker probably once a week," Shueh said about his love for the game.
"He can't just take the subway in Taipei and also, when he's in Macau he's constantly taking pictures and signing autographs for fans."
In 2007 Chung-Jen Yao, MC HotDog's real name, won the prestigious Golden Melody Award Album of the Year Award and his latest album titled Ghetto Superstar took down the Album of the Year award at the Golden Indie Music Awards in 2013. A new album is currently under construction, and perhaps the following song will even make an appearance.
In order to celebrate his ties with PokerStars MCHotDog released a song called Pokerstar, which currently has close to 250,000 views on YouTube. While that might sound like a lot, for someone like MC HotDog it's not much at all. His 10 most famous videos on YouTube all have over a million views, and the highest ranked one comes in at 4.5 million.
With references to poker being a sport and not a gamble, NBA super stars LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, and raising under the gun it's clear that MC HotDog knows what he's talking about.
While a busy touring schedule keeps him away from the big tournaments tables it's understandable that a big score might be lacking from his poker resume, but a man talented as he is will clearly have his moment in the poker spotlights at some point.
Level: 2
Blinds: 100/200
Ante: 0
Yu Can Do It
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
Winfred Yu is no stranger to the felt with some impressive scores including his 5th place finish in last years APPT Seoul main event and his 3rd place finish at the 2013 World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific Main Event as well numerous high-roller deep runs rocketing him up to 2nd in Hong Kong’s All Time Money List rankings.
Recently Yu watched as his opponent limped into the pot from the hijack before he bumped it up to 350 from the small blind. The bet was called and both players watched the flop come down 
.
Yu threw out a 500 chip and was snap called before the 
dropped on the turn. Another bet of 1,100 from Yu was quickly called before the dealer produced the 
on the river.
Both players checked their options prompting Yu to show his 
first. The hand was good enough to take down the pot as his opponent mucked his hand.
Yu is up to 22,500 early in today’s proceedings.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
22,500 |