Taiwanese Team PokerStars Pro Raymond Wu made his way to the APPT Seoul Main Event and we just spotted him relaxed and calm at one of the tables.
Wu burst onto the scene in Europe when he finished eighth in the European Poker Tour Main Event in London back in 2009 for £87,000 ($138,500). That event ultimately had a heads-up battle between Aaron Gustavson and Peter Eastgate, won by the former for $1.35 million.
Wu's been a star ever since in Taiwan, as alluded to in the PokerStarsBlog this year at the Aussie Millions.
We came to the table with a flop of on the felt and both players involved checked, Qi Feng Duan, the small blind and Team Pokerstars Pro Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier, who was on the button. After the turn was dealt, Duan led for 500 and Elky called.
Duan fired 2,000 on the turn and Elky again called. Elky slid his cards into the muck as Duan tabled . Elky is sitting on a short stack and has some work to do get back into the thick of things.
Zhou and Chan during the blind all in for the title in the first ever ACOP Main Event
Ying Kit 'Andy' Chan, runner up in the first ever Asian Championship of Poker Main Event in Macau, just sat down to join the fun here in Seoul.
Chan finished second for a grand total of $457,712, or 3.5 million Hong Kong dollars after an epic six-hour heads up battle with Xing Zhou. This heads-up, covered by yours truly, will forever be remembered due to its crazy finish. Both Chan and Zhou played small pots for over six hours before they ultimately decided to go all in blind on the final hand. The money was split evenly, despite Zhou having a big chip advantage, and he was fortunate enough to take home the title after that final all in.
We'll see if Chan is up to big things here today, but it will be a while before he can be in a similar position again like back during that glorious day in Macau. Interestingly enough Chan is seated to the immediate left of Michael Kanaan who finished third in that exact same event back in 2012.
A player in middle position opened to 650 and was called by a late position player, Sam Cohen in the cutoff and Han Yu in the small blind.
The players checked around after a flop of was dealt. Yu led for 1,100 on the turn and Cohen was the only player to make the call. Yu fired again for 2,850 on the river and Cohen again made the call. Yu tabled and Cohen mucked her hand.
Not long after, Cohen raised to 800 from middle position and found callers from a late position player, Yu in the cutoff, and the player in the big blind.
It was another check around when the flop came . This time though, it was Cohen who led on the turn when it came . Her bet was 1,050 and Yu was the only player to make the call. Both players checked the river. Cohen tabled and this time it was Yu who slid his cards into the muck.
Jimmy Pan, a Macau resident for quite some time, won't be intimidated by the stakes of this event here today, but the ever increasing blinds and antes provide quite the worry.
"It's going fast," Pan said about the blinds already being up to 150/300 after four hours of play.
The APPT is however one of Pan's favorite tournaments as the cashgame specialist alludes to the fact that the players here play quite a different style. Back in 2011 Pan finished runner up to PokerStars Team Online Randy Lew in APPT Macau for $304,106, which is his biggest result to date.
"At an EPT you get three-bet all the time but here there's much more calling and limping," Pan said. Right after he told us this we witnessed him playing the following pot.
Pan raised to 725 and two players on his left decided to make the call, after which the big blind three-bet to 2,800. Pan looked back down to his cards, and the clock, before moving all in for right around 15,000 chips. All three of his opponents quickly folded and Pan picked up this pot.
Four levels into the day Pan hoovers around the starting stack, but seated next to Team PokerStars Pro Raymond Wu that could quickly change as both players love to get into the thick of things.
The 2013 Asia Player of the Year, Jian Yang just took his seat among the 108 remaining players in today's field. He had three tournament wins last year which included two first-place finishes and a fourth. Those wins were good enough to secure him the Asia Player of the Year title with several events still to go. We will be keeping an eye on him today, to see if he can make a splash here in Seoul.
The clock currently shows there are 106 players remaining from the 138 that started almost four hours ago. The average stack right now is 26,037 or 86 big blinds.
With all the "baby" talk coming from table 12, one would think Scotty Nguyen was in the field. Instead you will find Mandeep Narang stacking the chips. We didn't see the original betting but we did catch Narang raising from the big blind to 3,850. A player in middle position called and the button plus the small blind folded.
Narang check-called the 6,000 bet from the middle position player after the flop was dealt. Narang checked again when the turn was dealt. This time the player in middle position went all in and Narang insta-called. Narang turned over and his opponent showed which unfortunately, sent him to the rail.
His response to someone calling him lucky: "but I had ace-king, baby." That ace-king gave Narang a healthy stack to play with during the second half of the day.
on the felt and both players involved checked, Qi Feng Duan, the small blind and Team Pokerstars Pro Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier, who was on the button. After the 
turn was dealt, Duan led for 500 and Elky called.
turn and Elky again called. Elky slid his cards into the muck as Duan tabled 
. Elky is sitting on a short stack and has some work to do get back into the thick of things.
was dealt. Yu led for 1,100 on the 
turn and Cohen was the only player to make the call. Yu fired again for 2,850 on the 
river and Cohen again made the call. Yu tabled 
and Cohen mucked her hand.
. This time though, it was Cohen who led on the turn when it came 
. Her bet was 1,050 and Yu was the only player to make the call. Both players checked the 
river. Cohen tabled 
and this time it was Yu who slid his cards into the muck.
and Kudo quietly, but excitedly, said, "Oooooh full house."
flop was dealt. Narang checked again when the 
turn was dealt. This time the player in middle position went all in and Narang insta-called. Narang turned over 
which unfortunately, sent him to the rail.
