Day 2 of the PokerStars.net Asia-Pacific Poker Tour Macau is in the books. The day began with 206 players and only 51 are making their way to Day 3. After starting the day with just 61,500, Daniel Demicki emerged as the chip leader with 585,000. Not far behind is Jiajun Liu, who led for most of the day. He ended with 577,000. Hao Tian, last year’s seventh-place finisher, rounds out the top three with 481,500.
There is plenty of talent heading into Day 3 and we expect some great play tomorrow as the fight for the trophy and the first-place prize of HK$2,776,000 (about $360,000) continues. Still in the running are Michael Kanaan (392,500), Billy “The Croc” Argyros (253,000), Christian Haggart (222,500) and J.J. Liu (89,000).
Eliminations came fast and furious from the very beginning and maintained a steady pace throughout the day. Most everyone was surprised when the tournament reached the money with just 45 minutes left to play, and it was Frangky Tegoeh who finished in 61st place, one off the money.
Unfortunately, it was an early day for the remaining Team PokerStars Pros Bryan Huang, Celina Lin and Raymond Wu, who all busted within an hour of each other. Some of the others to hit the rail without a paycheck were start-of-day chip leader Bo “Box” Xie, Iori Yogo, Sparrow Cheung, Raiden Kan, Victorino Torres, Daniel Laidlaw, Nick Wong, Ivan Zalac, Kitty Kuo and Bobbe Suri.
Play is schedule to resume tomorrow at 3 p.m. local time, when we will be playing down to a final table. Make sure and join PokerNews as we bring you all the action as it happens live.
We heard some stunned voices from across the room and headed over to see what it was about. The board read and Ivan Zalac was standing up watching as his chips were being counted and then watched every single one move over to Michael Kanaan who was showing .
We learned from several sources, the money went in on the turn when Zalac had for two pair. The jack on the river ended up giving Kanaan the better two pair and that is what caused the commotion. Both players had decent and near even stacks. Thanks to a fortunate river, Kanaan is now sitting on a double the average stack.
We arrived at the table just as Ivan Zalac and Shivan Abdine completed committing all their chips in before the flop.
Zalac:
Abdine: .
It looked like Zalac would lose a big chunk of his chips, until the board came out . The king on the flop gave Zalac the victory as he rocketed over 200,000 in chips, leaving Abdine shocked as he exited the tournament floor.
We were just walking by when we saw a bet of 16,500 in front of Billy "The Croc" Argyros and a board of . It seemed to be a tough decision for Shunyan Li, as making the call would only leave him with 16,000 behind. In the end, he called the bet and Argyros didn't look too happy as he tabled . His pair of fives turned out to be good as Li mucked his hand.
We arrived at the table just as Daniel Laidlaw moved all in from the small blind for 24,100 in chips. Xiongzhen Wu was in the cut off and had originally opened the pot. He snap called before both players tabled their cards.
Laidlaw:
Wu:
Laidlaw could only sit back and shake his head as the board ran out . Wu had flopped a pair of aces, and left Laidlaw with only 3,200 in chips.
We didn't witness the hand but were told that Team PokerStars Pro Raymond Wu three-bet all in for under 10,000 with and found himself up against a pair of fours. He didn't find any help from the board and as a result the last player from Team PokerStars has hit the rail.
Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang raised to 2,300 from early position and was called by Kevin Clark in middle position and Wei Zhang on the button. Boyat Manish three-bet to 7,400. Huang moves all in for 30,000 and only Manish made the call. Huang held and Manish showed . Huang couldn't find any help on the board and hit the rail half-way through the first level.
We saw a big pot brewing on table 14 and happened upon the all in button in front of Nick Wong and the board showing . It was Iori Yogo, however, who was contemplating a decision for his tournament life. He eventually made the call and Wong immediately turned over . Yogo didn't show as he slid his cards into the muck and left the tournament wishing players good luck.
Welcome back to the beautiful City of Dreams and The PokerStars LIVE Poker Room. After two starting days, 206 players will be returning today in the hopes of claiming the prestigious APPT Trophy and first-place prize of HKD $2,776,000 (about USD $360,000). It is day 1a chipleader, Bo “Box” Xie that has the biggest stack of the combined field with 166,000.
With only 13 of the 206 players with over 100,000 chips and three more days until we crown a champion, it is anyone’s tournament to win … or lose. Poker in Macau is known for its action and we anticipate plenty of that today, as everyone will be focused on building their stack to position themselves for a deep run.
Building stacks won’t be easy because there is some stiff competition in the field which includes the likes of day 1b chip leader and Macau high-stakes cash game player, Peter Chan (141,000), former ANZPT Champion Michael Kanaan (54,000), and Team PokerStars Pros Bryan Huang (31,300), Raymond Wu (28,800) and Celina Lin (25,900).
One person who will be back for Day 2 with a lot of work to do is WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic Champion J.J. Liu (10,200). Liu was able to double up several times towards the end of the evening to barely stay alive. She is sitting near the bottom of chip counts but anyone who counts her out would be making a big mistake.
Play begins at 3 p.m. local time and we have been told to expect 7 1/2 levels. With each level lasting 60 minutes, play is scheduled to end around 11 p.m. local time. Don’t go far, we will be bringing you all the action as it happens beginning in just over an hour. See you then!
![[user250068]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
and Ivan Zalac was standing up watching as his chips were being counted and then watched every single one move over to Michael Kanaan who was showing 
.
for two pair. The jack on the river ended up giving Kanaan the better two pair and that is what caused the commotion. Both players had decent and near even stacks. Thanks to a fortunate river, Kanaan is now sitting on a double the average stack.
. The king on the flop gave Zalac the victory as he rocketed over 200,000 in chips, leaving Abdine shocked as he exited the tournament floor.
. His pair of fives turned out to be good as Li mucked his hand.
. Wu had flopped a pair of aces, and left Laidlaw with only 3,200 in chips.
and found himself up against a pair of fours. He didn't find any help from the board and as a result the last player from Team PokerStars has hit the rail.
. It was Iori Yogo, however, who was contemplating a decision for his tournament life. He eventually made the call and Wong immediately turned over 
. Yogo didn't show as he slid his cards into the muck and left the tournament wishing players good luck.
