Day 2 action from the 2007 PokerStars.net APPT Macau Asian Poker Open Main Event is officially complete. A talented final table has been assembled, featuring 2005 WSOP Main Event Champion Joe Hachem, Team PokerStars Player Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier and the lovely Liz Lieu.
Play will resume tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m. PST local time, at which time the nine finalists will fight for a first place prize worth close to a quarter of a million dollars. We hope you'll join us then for our continued coverage, live from the final table stage, here inside the Grand Waldo Hotel & Casino in Macau.
Here's how the final nine players will begin the afternoon tomorrow:
Seat 1.) Simon Randall, United Kingdom (125,000)
Seat 2.) Liz Lieu, United States (384,000)
Seat 3.) William Tam, Australia (201,000)
Seat 4.) Bertrand 'Elky' Grospellier, Korea (467,000)
Seat 5.) Joe Hachem, Australia (325,000)
Seat 6.) Dinh Le, England (657,000)
Seat 7.) Guillaume Patry, South Korea (552,000)
Seat 8.) Sangkyoun Kim, South Korea (261,000)
Seat 9.) Ivan Tan, Singapore (553,000)
Just like that, the 11th and 10th players have been eliminated from the tournament and tomorrow's final table is set. The unwanted distinction of final table bubble boy goes to Cailin Jin, who moved all in pre-flop holding . Jin was called by Sangkyoun Kim, who tabled pocket queens - well ahead of Jin's ace-high.
We all know how easily fortunes can change with the turn of a single card and that's exactly what happened as the dealer spread the community cards. The first three cards off the deck came and in a dramatic turn of events, Jin had taken the lead in the hand.
Tournament director Matt Savage was giving the play-by-play over the microphone, and as the dealer laid the turn card down on the table, Savage exclaimed, "It's a queen!" To stay alive, Jin would need a five or the board to pair any card but the queen. Spectators were on the tips of their toes trying to catch a glimpse of the dealer laying down the river . . . the .
For finishing 10th, Cailin Jin took home $12,144 in prize money. With the win, Sangkyoun Kim earned a spot at the PokerStars.net 2007 APPT Macau Main Event Final Table.
Guido Lunardini moves all-in UTG for 115,000 and it is folded around to Dinh Le in the big blind. Le peeks at his cards and insta-calls the extra 100,000, opening . Giudo shows .
The board runs out sending Lunardini to the rail in 12th position.
Jerry Buccilla of Ohio was just eliminated by a steaming hot Joe Hachem after running his into Hachem's pocket aces. The board filled out and Buccilla would settle for 13th place prize money, worth $8,049.
With the win, Hachem broke the 300,000 chip threshold, up from 70,000 just a few minutes prior.
Joe Hachem moves all-in from late position with and is called by Guido Lunardini from the big blind, holding . The spikes the turn, doubling the 2005 World Champion to just over 200,000.