HK$80,000 High Roller
Day 1 Completed
2017 Poker King Cup Macau
HK$80,000 High Roller
Day: 1
Sukonthachartnant Leads Poker King Cup Macau 2017 HK$80,000 High Roller
Level 9
: 600/1,200, 200 ante
Day 1 of the Poker King Cup Macau 2017 High Roller saw 32 initial entries ante up the HK$76,000+$4,000 buy-in, but with the format offering unlimited re-entry two of those players chose to fire a second bullet to bring the total number of entrants up to 34. With late registration open until the start of level 10 at 2pm on Saturday 20 May, this figure could still increase further.
After nine 40-minute levels, only 22 players bagged up chips, with Thailand’s Phanlert Sukonthachartnant leading the charge after finishing the day with an impressive 194,500 – nearly four times his initial 50,000 starting stack.
While the Thai player only has six cashes on his Hendonmob.com poker resume they have all come in events boasting five-figure buy-ins or more, with five of those being final tables in other High Roller events and the other a cash in the 2016 WSOP Main Event.
Sukonthachartnant currently sits in the number one spot on the Thai All Time Money List with over US$1 million in live career tournament earnings and is no stranger to success here in Macau; boasting a High Roller title already after taking down the PokerStars 2015 Asian Championship of Poker (ACOP) HK$240,000+$10,000 High Roller for a cool HK$4.89 million (~US$630,941).
However, there is still a mountain to climb for any player wishing to emerge the victor, though Sukonthachartnant is certainly in the most favorable of positions to do so.
Other sizable stacks still in contention include China’s Luo Xi (149,400), Wang Zuo (135,800) and Qiang Lin (115,100) with Hong Kong’s Winfred Yu (107,700) rounding out the top five.
Notables in the field who failed to make the initial cut included German High Roller specialist Fabian Quoss who ran his ace-ten into the pocket kings of Luo Xi on a ten-high flop, and Hong Kong’s Nick Wong whose ace-king was brutally out flopped by the jack-ten suited of Sukonthachartnant who hit top pair and a flush draw on a ten-high flop, completing his flush on the turn to leave Wong drawing dead.
Another Hong Kong native who failed to make the cut was Ben Lai who, despite coming in fresh from his PokerStars Championship Macau HK$103,000 High Roller fifth place finish last month for HK$1.17 million (~US$150,580), could not go the distance.
Fellow Hong Konger Danny Tang had a rollercoaster ride of a tournament, picking off a Liang Xu pre-flop squeeze bluff early on to send the latter to the rail and briefly flirt with the chip lead before losing a huge pre-flop flip with ace-king suited against the pocket threes of Winfred Yu as the day neared its conclusion. Tang finished the day as one of the shorter stacks with just 23,600 in chips.
The day began with just three players, though this quickly became four with the timely arrival of Nick Wong, by the time level 2 began this had grown to 12 and climbed to 32 by midway through level 6.
China’s Qiang Lin was one of the early frontrunners, taking the lead after picking off a Sheng Sun river bluff to climb to the giddy heights of 128,500 after he made the call with top pair holding king-queen on a queen-high board, which was miles in front of Sun’s king-high missed backdoor flush draw.
While Lin made it through the day it was with a slightly reduced stack with Sukonthachartnant taking a little nibble from Lin’s chips whilst simultaneously busting the unfortunate Boyao Li after the three players became embroiled in a three-way three-bet pot.
Li thought he had hit gin with top two pair on an ace-king-jack flop but unfortunately for the Chinese player Sukonthachartnant had spiked a set of jacks and sent Li crashing out of the tournament.
Despite busting the unfortunate Xixiang Luo in an aces versus kings blind on blind battle to draw level with Sukonthachartnant, China’s Weizhou Zha could not capitalize on his good fortune and hit the rail shortly afterward. Ironically both Zha and Luo are the only two players so far who have chosen to try their luck for a second time but there may well be more before registration closes on Saturday afternoon.
Action recommences at 2pm local time (GMT+7) and the prize pool information will be published when registration officially closes. The PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor to bring you all the action until a champion is crowned so join us then as we see who has got what it takes to emerge triumphant.
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 9
: 600/1,200, 200 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
195,000 | 20,000 |
|
149,400 | 34,400 |
|
|
135,800 | 135,800 |
|
115,100 | 30,100 |
|
107,700 | 8,900 |
|
99,100 | 21,100 |
|
98,900 | 48,900 |
|
94,800 | 2,800 |
|
88,500 | 38,500 |
|
87,100 | 87,100 |
|
86,000 | 11,000 |
|
72,200 | 72,200 |
|
66,500 | -63,500 |
|
48,600 | -1,400 |
|
48,000 | -2,000 |
|
|
47,000 | -28,000 |
|
37,200 | -35,800 |
|
|
36,600 | -13,400 |
|
23,600 | -9,400 |
|
|
23,500 | 6,500 |
|
20,000 | -30,000 |
|
19,900 | -30,100 |
Second Bullet Works for Luo, Day 1 Done and Dusted
Level 9
: 600/1,200, 200 ante
After running his pocket kings into the aces of Weizhou Zha earlier Xixiang Luo has opted for a second bite of the cherry and it seems to be working out for him.
Luo was the aggressor in this particular hand, opening to 2,500 from the button. Big blind Quan Zhou shot Luo a suspicious stare and decided to test his mettle, re-raising to 8,600 in total.
Luo instantly announced he was all-in and Zhou folded just as quickly leaving Luo to climb up to 72,200, Zhou still has plenty of chips, however.
All that action brings us to the end of play for the day and the 22 remaining players are in the process of bagging up their chips.
We will be adding a full wrap up and chip counts shortly so watch this space, but it looks like Phanlert Sukonthachartnant is currently leading the charge at the close of play with a stack of 194,500.
With late entry still open until the start of level 10 at 2pm on Saturday, May 20 we expect the final number of entrants to rise before entry closes.
Chan Takes From Tang Before Last Three Hands Announced
Level 9
: 600/1,200, 200 ante
Danny Tang’s fortunes are on the wane since losing that huge coin flip against Winfred Yu and his stack has dwindled still further after losing a pot against Peter Chan.
Pre-flop it was Chan who was the aggressor, making it 2,500 to go from the button, with Tang electing to defend from the big blind to take play heads-up to the 
flop.
Tang decided to try and seize the initiative and opened for 3,300, which after a few seconds of contemplation Chan called.
The 
turn saw Tang slow it down and check, opening the door for Chan to take back the initiative and he led out for 3,600.
It was Tang’s turn to think it over but he made the call and the dealer peeled off the 
river to complete the hand. That was it for the betting action as well with Tang checking and Chan checking it right back.
Chan flashed 
and Tang mucked instantly. The last three hands have just been announced to play will be concluding shortly.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
92,000 | 42,000 |
|
|
33,000 | -37,000 |
Last Level of the Day
Level 9
: 600/1,200, 200 ante
This is the last level of play for the day with Day 1 of the High Roller concluding at the end of this level.
Level: 9
Blinds: 600/1,200
Ante: 200
Xi Busts Quoss
Level 8
: 500/1,000, 100 ante
Fabian Quoss has become the latest casualty after tangling in a hand with Luo Xi. Pre-flop it was Xi who was the man in the driver's seat, making it 2,500 to go from middle position, picking up two callers in James Chen (hi-jack) and Quoss in the big blind.
Quoss check the 
flop over to Xi, who continuation bet 5,000. Chen made the call and action was back on Quoss who stacked up his 19,400 chips into a single tower and slid it into the middle. Xi tanked for 30-seconds or so before making the call and after Chen got out of the way the cards were turned over.
Fabian Quoss: 
Luo Xi: 
While a ten-high flop is technically better than an ace-high flop if you are holding ace-ten that was not the case here and the German found his top pair top kicker trailing to Xi’s pocket kings.
The 
turn and the 
river were of no help and Quoss headed for the rail, although he can still choose to re-enter any time before level 10 on 2pm Saturday 20 May so he may well choose to re-enter.
While Quoss' departure thinned the field slightly Taiwan's Pete Chen has not long taken his seat and we are now up to 33 entries, 22 of whom are still in the running.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
115,000 | 65,000 |
|
|
50,000 | 50,000 |
|
Busted |
Yu Wins Massive Flip
Level 8
: 500/1,000, 100 ante
Winfred Yu and Danny Tang became embroiled in a pre-flop raising war that saw all the chips find their way into the center of the table in one of the biggest pots we have seen so far today.
Pre-flop it was Yu who was the aggressor, opening to 2,000 from early position and finding a caller in small blind Qiang Liu before Tang pumped it up to 8,800 to go.
The action was back on Yu, who tossed out a three-bet to 23,800 in total and Liu hit the think tank but eventually decided he did not wish to become caught in the crossfire and grudgingly folded.
Tang, however, had other plans and slammed down a huge tower of blue 5k chips, effectively putting Yu all-in. Liu thought longer about his fold than Yu did about the call and he quickly moved his last 48,000 into the pot.
Winfred Yu: 
Danny Tang: 
Yu held the narrowest of narrow leads – 0.6% to be precise – but hit the flop hard when the dealer spread the 
community cards.
Despite hitting top pair Tang was trailing to Yu’s set of threes and the 
turn and 
river saw Yu double to 98,800 while Tang took a big hit and dropped to a little over 70,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
98,800 | 38,800 |
|
|
70,000 | -45,000 |
Level: 8
Blinds: 500/1,000
Ante: 100