HK$16,500 Main Event
Day 4 Started
HK$16,500 Main Event
Day 4 Started
Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to the grand finale of the inaugural Oriental Poker Championship Macau Main Event, playing out at the poker tables of the Venetian Macau Hotel & Resort.
This is it folks, we are playing for all the marbles here. Just eight players remain of the 513-strong field, all playing for the lions share of the HKD $7,46M (~$951,400) prize pool. The winner will walk away with the HKD $1.45M (~$185,000) top prize, in addition to the trophy, title and something money can't buy – the honor of becoming the first ever OPC Main Event Champion.
Currently, the favorite to achieve this prestigious accomplishment is someone who has done it already, with Malaysia's Ivan Leow the man coming in with the chip lead and a stack of 3,940,000.
Leow became the first-ever player to win an OPC High Roller, taking down the HKD $100,000 Event for an HKD $1,442,300 (~US$183,740) payday. The Malaysian player has dominated a great deal of the Main Event action, topping his 1c starting flight and the Day 2 chip counts, before doing it all over again on Day 3.
Whether Leow can close out what would be a record-setting double in the OPC's debut event remains to be seen, but should he do so it would surely become the stuff of Macau legend and folklore.
The next biggest stack belongs to Chang Bo Feng, and while the Chinese player cannot be found on the Hendonmob poker database, he can certainly play, a fact he proved by flirting with the chip lead already, before Leow snagged it back towards the end of Day 3. Feng will be returning with a stack of just over 3-million and has showcased all the skills necessary to hoist the trophy should the cards fall his way.
However, first he will have to get past Wayne Zhang, who sits at #14 on the China All Time Money List with live tournament winnings of over $1.1 million and five tournament titles on his poker resume. Zhang will be aiming for the top spot for the largest cash of his tournament career, as well as the prestige of the OPC title. Zhang is returning fourth in the counts with a stack of close to 2-million, sitting just behind the USA's Austin Walton (2,125,000). The rest of the final eight is stacking up as follows:
Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
---|---|---|---|
Ivan Leow | Malaysia | 3,940,000 | 98.5 |
Chang Bo Feng | China | 3,025,000 | 75.6 |
Austin Walton | USA | 2,125,000 | 53.1 |
Wei Yi Zhang | China | 1,990,000 | 49.7 |
Xiaobo Zhou | China | 1,390,000 | 34.7 |
Sang Hwang | Hong Kong | 1,265,000 | 31.6 |
Yuefeng Pan | China | 1,250,000 | 31.2 |
Yazhou Chen | China | 375,000 | 9.3 |
The exciting conclusion to this thrilling poker series plays out at 1pm local time (GMT+7) on Monday, 28 May with blinds being rolled back to Level 26, starting at 20,000/40,000 with a 5,000 running ante. The PokerNews live reporting team will be here with exclusive blow-by-blow action, so stick with us as we make history and crown the inaugural OPC Main Event Champion.
OPC Macau Main Event Final Table
Table | Seat | Player Name | Country | Chip Count |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Yazhou Chen | China | 375,000 |
1 | 2 | Wei Yi Zhang | China | 1,990,000 |
1 | 3 | Austin Walton | USA | 2,125,000 |
1 | 4 | Xiaobo Zhou | China | 1,390,000 |
1 | 5 | Chang Bo Feng | China | 3,025,000 |
1 | 6 | Ivan Leow | Malaysia | 3,940,000 |
1 | 7 | Yuefeng Pan | China | 1,250,000 |
1 | 8 | Sang Hwang | Hong Kong | 1,265,000 |
The antes have been collected and the cards are now in motion, with the eight remaining finalists back in action.
Playing into the chip leader can be a costly exercise, a fact Sang Hwang recently discovered. The very first hand of the final table saw Ivan Leow pick up where he left off last night, right in the thick of the action.
Leow raised to 90,000 from the cutoff and Hwang decided to defend from the big blind, with the flop falling . Hwang chose to lead into the aggressor, firing out a bet of 105,000 and Leow cut out the calling chips.
The turn saw a 210,000 second barrel from Hwang and another call from Leow. The river missed the diamond draw, but brought in a possible straight and Hwang fired for 375,000 - a significant portion of his chips. Leow opted to apply maximum pressure, turning the screw with an all-in shove, to a wry smile from Hwang who now had a difficult decision to make. The problem with playing into Leow is that a lot of the time he makes you have to have it, and he was asking Hwang the question now - did he have it?
Hwang must have at least thought it was possible that Leow could have a straight there, or perhaps two pair and grudgingly slid his cards into the muck, and Leow pulled further in front.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Ivan Leow |
4,640,000
700,000
|
700,000 |
Sang Hwang |
656,000
-609,000
|
-609,000 |
Chang Bo Feng tried to get something going from the cutoff with a raise to 90,000, but was shut down with a Yuefeng Pan re-raise to 300,000 from the small blind.
Austin Walton tried to get something going the next hand with a UTG+1 open to 90,000 with Yuefeng Pan making the call on the button and the pair went heads-up to a flop of , with the action going check, check.
Walton opened the turn for 75,000 and Pan called to keep the pair in action to the river. Walton fired again, this time for 125,000 and Pan called as soon as Walton's chips were in the middle. Walton rolled over the speculative , but this was not enough to best Pan's and the Chinese player took the pot.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Austin Walton |
1,750,000
-375,000
|
-375,000 |
Yuefeng Pan |
1,650,000
400,000
|
400,000 |
Yazhou Chen came into this final table as the short stack, but he's found a double up early on to greatly improve his chances, despite the fact he still has less than 20 big blinds.
Chen jammed from middle position for 285,000 and it folded to Chang Bo Feng in the small blind who snap-called, with Ivan Leow still to act. Leow would fold though, and when the cards were flipped it was for Chen against Feng's . The board didn't connect with Feng's hand, doubling Chen to 650,000 and dropping Feng to 2.45 million.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Chang Bo Feng | 2,450,000 | |
Yazhou Chen | 650,000 |
Both of the short stacks have now doubled up. This time around it was Sang Hwang's turn, after he shoved for 370,000 from the cutoff with and was called by Austin Walton in the big blind holding . The flop provided a sweat, giving Walton a flush draw. Then the turn prompted Walton to call for the case ace.
In the end the pocket pair held after the river, and Hwang doubled to 780,000, bringing Walton down to 1,345,000.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Austin Walton |
1,345,000
-405,000
|
-405,000 |
Sang Hwang |
780,000
124,000
|
124,000 |
Chang Bo Feng just placed a nice value bet and got paid off by Yuefeng Pan to win some chips, with Pan the initial aggressor, making it 90,000 to go from UTG+1 and Feng defending from the big blind.
Feng checked the flop, Pan bet 100,000 and was called to keep the action heads-up to the turn, which saw no betting. Sensing opportunity, Feng led for 125,000 on the river, eliciting a quick call from Pan, who mucked when Feng rolled over .
Xiaobo Zhou tried to get something going with a button raise, but the only problem with that was it was Ivan Leow's big blind he was attacking. Zhou was given a stern warning from Leow before he raised, to chuckles from the rest of the table, but did it anyway. Leow responded with a re-raise to 250,000. Zhou cut out 450,000 chips, but it was just a fake, and he threw his hand away.
Austin Walton raised the next hand, making it 90,000 from the hi-jack with Leow and Pan calling from the blinds, but the hand was over as soon as it started, with Leow leading out for 200,000 on the flop, which was enough to take down the pot.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Ivan Leow |
5,000,000
360,000
|
360,000 |
Chang Bo Feng |
2,650,000
200,000
|
200,000 |
Yuefeng Pan |
1,325,000
-325,000
|
-325,000 |
Xiaobo Zhou |
1,300,000
-90,000
|
-90,000 |
Austin Walton |
1,250,000
-95,000
|
-95,000 |
Austin Walton has just taken down a healthy pot from Chang Bo Feng, which started when the former opened the button to 90,000. Feng was in the big blind and popped it up to 260,000, which the American then called.
The dealer spread an flop on which Feng fired a 250,000 continuation bet. Walton didn't budge, bringing the on the turn. Feng slowed down here, and when he checked Walton moved all-in for 520,000. Feng didn't take too long before letting his hand go, bringing Walton up to 1.7 million. Feng drops to 2.08 million after that one.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Chang Bo Feng |
2,080,000
-570,000
|
-570,000 |
Austin Walton |
1,700,000
450,000
|
450,000 |
Well, that was unexpected. The first casualty of the final table was not one of the shorter stacks, and it was also not Ivan Leow the man doing the busting, it was Chang Bo Feng, who busted Yuefeng Pan to bring the final table down to seven.
It was Feng who was the man driving the action with a button raise to 95,000 and Pan called from the big blind, checking the flop over to Feng, who continuation bet 200,000.
This is where it got interesting, with Pan re-raising to 550,000 and Feng clicking it back with a four-bet min-raise to 900,000 in total. Pan made the call, jamming the turn for close to 1.1 million and Feng beat him into the pot.
PAn was in trouble, his trailing to Feng's and the river was the last card Pan would see in the OPC with the Chinese player heading for the exit, while Feng climbed into the chip lead. All that excitement brought the final table to the first 10-minute break of the day.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Chang Bo Feng |
4,800,000
2,720,000
|
2,720,000 |
Yuefeng Pan | Busted |