The aim for Day 4 of the 2015 Asia Championship of Poker Main Event from Macau was to make the final table of nine and then play on until six remained. The first half of the target was reached, but, 30 minutes into Level 26, play was suspended with seven remaining. The eliminations were sparse, and that had a lot to do with the even spread of chips across the remaining players.
At the end of play, Connor Drinan was on top. He started the day as chip leader and ended it on 1.755 million in the same position.
Drinan won lots of little pots on Day 4, but also benefitted from winning two big ones, both with full houses.
He took most of Wat Yai Cheng's chips when he flopped a set and rivered a full house. Cheng turned a straight and couldn't get away from it on the river.
Then, Drinan flopped a set and rivered a full house versus Patrick Mahaoney. Drinan managed to get in a river raise that was called, and that landed him another pile of chips.
Mahoney started the day third in chips, but he was left short after the confrontation with Drinan. From there, he earned the unfortunate tag of "final table bubble boy" when he moved his short stack in with pocket threes, but Hsien Kui Yang was behind him with pocket jacks.
Guoliang Wei was the first player out at the final table. He ran queens into aces to be left with fumes and busted the very next hand. The only other player to fall from the final table was the last Russian standing, Sergey Lebedov. He three-bet all in with ace-queen, but couldn't come from behind to beat Thomas Ward, who had raised with pocket jacks.
Play will resume on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 2 p.m local time tomorrow and will continue until a champion in crowned. Join the PokerNews Live Reporting team back here for what promises to be a fun day on the felt.
Just when it looked like Thomas Ward was going to make another massive jump up the leaderboard, Nan Tu won a 1.2-million chip pot.
Ward raised to 55,000 and Tu called, leaving the two players heads up to the flop of . Ward led out for 75,000 and Tu called.
The turn was the and both players checked. The river was the and Ward checked to Tu. Tu bet 375,000. Ward didn't take too long to call, but when Tu turned over for a boat Ward too far less time to muck his after showing it to Tu.
Guoliang Wei busted the very next hand but on the turn thought he we was good for a pot win. The river ruined his day though.
Xixiang Luo opened to 50,000 before Wei moved all in for 2,000 more. Sergey Lebedev called from the small blind and Luo called the extra too. The board came and Lebedev waited until the river before he bet 50,000. Luo raised to 170,000 and Lebedev folded showing the for a straight.
Wei also had a straight with (nuts on the turn) but Luo rivered the better straight with .
Patrick Mahoney was eliminated in 10th place. He got all in against Hsien Kui Yang for all of his chips.
Mahoney had and Yang had . The board came and Mahoney was eliminated in 10th place. Yang broke the 1-million mark, after spending much of the day among the shorter stacks.
The players are now going on a 40-minute break. When play resumes the final nine will come back and play down to six.
Thirty-two players have registered so far in the HK$500,000 (US$64,516) Super High Roller event, with 29 of them shown up. Conor Drinan and Sergey Lebedev are two of those registered but they're still in the Main Event.
Some of the more recent players to have taken their seats include: Ivan Luca, Sam Trickett and Erik Seidel. John Juanda, David Peters, Stephen Chidwick and Zuo Wang are the four players who have re-entered, meaning 33 entries are in the prizepool.
The chip leader midway through Level 4 is Anton Astapau on 955,000 chips (players started with 500k).
The HK$500,000 (US$64,516) three-day Super High Roller Event got underway this evening in the City of Dreams, Macua and it's attracted a star-studded field.
So far, 29 (21 of which have taken their seats) players have registered but that number is sure to grow as registration is open until the end of level 8, which is the first level of Day 2. Players can re-buy/re-enter up to two times so the prizepool could end up being considerable.
Steve O'Dwyer is the reigning champion and he'll be taking his seat later after busting from the Main Event a short while ago. Christoph Vogelsang and Mikhail Shalamov are in the same boat and when they take their seats they'll be joining the likes of Fedor Holz, Isaac Haxton, Pratyush Buddiga, David Peters, Jason Mo, John Juanda, Mustpha Kanit, Stephen Chidwick, Ivan Luca and live satellite winner, Andy Andrejevic.
PokerNews will bring you occasion updates from the event and full coverage from the final table on Sunday.
Thomas Ward overtook Connor Drinan as the current chip leader after getting paid off with a full house on the river.
Russell Thomas raised on the button to 30,000. Thomas Ward called reraised to 80,000 from the small blind. Zhou Zhou folded in the big blind and Thomas called after about 20 seconds of deliberation.
The flop came and Ward led out for 116,000. Thomas didn't take long to follow and called. The turn was the and both players checked. The river paired the board with a and Ward bet 167,000.
Thomas called fairly quickly and Ward turned over for a full house and took down the pot. With that pot he also took the chip lead from Connor Drinan.
Connor Drinan's drink of choice throughout most of the ACOP Main Event has been red wine. On this hand, Drinan took a massive pot off Wat Yai Cheng after he bet-raised all in on the river.
The action folded to Drinan in the cutoff and he raised to 25,000. Cheng called from the small blind, as did Matthew Wakeman from the big blind.
The flop came and Cheng and Wakeman checked to Drinan who bet 35,000. Cheng called and Wakeman folded leaving Drinan and Cheng heads up.
The turn was the and Cheng checked again. Drinan bet 55,000 and Cheng went into the tank. With his hand over his cards and his arm in front of his stack, Cheng was almost statuesque. He eventually did move and it was to check-raise to the tune of 185,000. Now it was Drinan's turn to tank. After counting out his remaining chips and then putting them back, he counted out a call and threw it into the pot.
The river paired the board with the and the statue of Cheng was at it again. This time his only movement was the shuffling of his chips. He quickly counted out 100,000 chips and bet it. Drinan didn't waste much time before shoving all in and Cheng called.
Cheng let out a sigh when he saw Drinan's for a full house. The dealer turned over Cheng's hand after the muck and showed for a turned straight. Drinan broke the one-million chip mark and took the chip lead back. Cheng was left with scraps.
. Ward led out for 75,000 and Tu called.
and both players checked. The river was the 
and Ward checked to Tu. Tu bet 375,000. Ward didn't take too long to call, but when Tu turned over 
for a boat Ward too far less time to muck his 
after showing it to Tu.
and Lebedev waited until the river before he bet 50,000. Luo raised to 170,000 and Lebedev folded showing the 
(nuts on the turn) but Luo rivered the better straight with 
and Mahoney was eliminated in 10th place. Yang broke the 1-million mark, after spending much of the day among the shorter stacks.
and Ward led out for 116,000. Thomas didn't take long to follow and called. The turn was the 
and both players checked. The river paired the board with a 
and Cheng and Wakeman checked to Drinan who bet 35,000. Cheng called and Wakeman folded leaving Drinan and Cheng heads up. 
