Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2017 Poker King Cup Macau
Main Event
Day: 1a
Alex Lee Leads Day 1A of Poker King Cup Macau Main Event
Level 11
: 600/1,200, 200 ante
The first of the Poker King Cup Macau Main Event three starting flights saw 69 players ante-up the HK$15,000+1500 entry fee, with Singapore’s Alex Lee coming out on top after bagging up an impressive 191,500 in chips.
While Lee began the day slowly, poker is a marathon, not a sprint and the Singaporean chipped up at an unhurried pace before becoming involved in a big hand against Quan Zhou midway through level nine.
Zhou moved all-in over the top of a mid-position Lee raise holding pockets tens and the Singaporean made the call with pocket jacks, which held to send Zhou to the rail and shoot Lee into the top ten. Lee then leveraged his sizable stack to chip up further, pushing Gouki Yeung off a massive 100,000-chip pot on the last level of the day to power into pole position.
Joining Lee at the top was US player Benjamin Hamnett, who held the lead for the majority of the day after flopping trip sixes to win a huge three-way hand against China’s Jun Wang and Xinhao Xu to climb to 150,000. Hamnett further increased his stock by flopping trips again to bust the unfortunate Bobbie Suri, finishing the day on 180,900.
Hong Kong’s Arnold Chan was another who enjoyed a stellar day, turning quad aces against an unlucky opponent’s flopped second nut flush to reach the six-figure chip mark, finishing play with 123,800.
The UK’s Simon Burns (105,500) and China’s Zhao Ting Ting (96,800) round out the top five, with 34 of the 69 entrants successfully circumnavigating the tournament minefield to make Day 2.
Other notables to secure themselves a seat included China’s Yuan Li (84,200), Australia’s Geoff Mooney (72,000), ‘Juicy Sixiao Li (36,100) and APT 2016 Player of the Year Iori Yogo (10,800).
Play began at 1pm local time (GMT+7) with eleven 40-minute levels on the schedule, concluding a little after 9pm and will follow the same pattern tomorrow for Day 1B so join us then for more thrilling tournament action.
End of Day 1A Chip Count (full)
Level 11
: 600/1,200, 200 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
191,500 | |
|
180,900 | |
|
123,800 | -14,200 |
|
105,500 | 105,500 |
|
96,800 | 96,800 |
|
|
93,700 | 93,700 |
|
84,200 | 18,200 |
|
|
82,400 | 82,400 |
|
|
79,100 | 26,100 |
|
75,800 | 15,800 |
|
72,000 | 2,000 |
|
|
70,800 | -24,200 |
|
68,100 | 68,100 |
|
|
61,600 | 61,600 |
|
59,700 | 59,700 |
|
|
58,000 | 42,925 |
|
|
53,800 | 16,800 |
|
|
50,500 | 50,500 |
|
|
47,000 | 47,000 |
|
|
46,800 | -1,200 |
|
|
43,700 | 43,700 |
|
|
42,500 | -20,500 |
|
|
40,000 | 40,000 |
|
36,100 | -6,900 |
|
|
28,400 | 28,400 |
Day 1A Done and Dusted
Level 11
: 600/1,200, 200 ante
Players are in the midst of bagging up their chips and Day 1A of the Poker King Cup Macau Main Event is now in the books. It appears that 34 of the 69 entrants have successfully circumnavigated the tournament minefield, though this figure may change when we get the official chip counts a little later on.
It appears that Singapore's Alex Lee is leading the charge after bagging up an impressive 191,500 at the close of play, edging in front of early frontrunner Benjamin Hamnett. However, Hamnett is still very much in the running and finished the day on 180,900, which we think is the second largest stack with Arnold Chan rounding out the top three after bagging up 138,000.
There will be a full write up and official chip counts to follow shortly so watch this space...
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
191,500 | 31,500 |
|
|
180,900 | 5,900 |
|
|
138,000 | 26,000 |
Chan Mistake Results in Flip
Level 11
: 600/1,200, 200 ante
Arnold Chan made it 3,500 to go from late position and action folded around to Xu Xin in the big blind. Being as Xin was in seat one and was holding his hands over his cards Chan could be forgiven for thinking that he had won the hand unopposed and flipped 
face up into the middle of the table.
“There is still a player left in the hand sir…” informed the dealer. Chan reached over to grab his cards back, but the dealer was classing it as a fold. However, Chan was having none of it and the floor was called.
While Chan was allowed to play his hand, it was ruled that he could not bet, only call. Xin did not seem to mind this turn of events, as he could clearly see what he was up against and decided to move all-in for 14,300, to chuckles from the rest of the table.
“Well, I’m obviously calling,” said Chan chucking in the call, and Xin turned over 
.
The 
flop kept Chan in front and Xin would need to hit to stand a chance of making it through to Day 2. The poker gods were clearly feeling generous and the 
landed on the turn to give Xin the lead.
The 
river just rubbed salt into the wound though with 112,000 still left in chips Chan did not seem too upset, apart from the fact he got a one hand penalty for acting out of turn. Xin stacked up to 29,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
112,000 | 12,000 |
|
|
29,000 |
Last Three Hands
Level 11
: 600/1,200, 200 ante
There are still 15 minutes left on the tournament clock, but the last three hands have just been announced.
Lee Shuts Down Yeung
Level 11
: 600/1,200, 200 ante
Level 11 has just started and this will be the last level of the day, with play concluding in a little under 40-minutes. Currently, 38 players remain out of the 69 Day 1A entries though whether all of these will make it through is anyone's guess.
One player who should though is Singapore's Alex Lee, who has just won a monster pot against tablemate Gouki Yeung. We only caught the tail end of the hand, picking up the action on the turn and while we have no idea what the pre-flop action was, there must have been plenty as, with the board reading 
, there is easily over 70,000 in blinds and antes in the center of the table.
Yeung was in middle position and had just fired out a sizable 33,000 bet on the turn and the action was on Lee. The Singaporean did not take long to make his decision, announcing ‘all-in’ and dropping down a tower of blue 5k chips to reiterate this fact.
Lee had Yeung easily covered but the latter shot Lee a grin tapped the table and mucked, leaving Lee to rake the monster pot without showdown.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
160,000 | 80,000 |
|
|
37,000 | 37,000 |
Level: 11
Blinds: 600/1,200
Ante: 200
Cheung Loses to Mooney
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 100 ante
Australia’s Geoff Mooney has entered the action and has just coolered the unfortunate Sparrow Cheung.
Pre-flop it was Yuan Li who was the instigator (again), making it 2,100 to go from early position. Yuehin Lam made the call and the action folded around to Cheung on the button, who squeezed to 10,000 in total.
While the small blind folded Mooney, sitting in the big blind, cold three-bet shoved for 32,700 in total. Both Li and Lam bowed out and Cheung had a decision to make. While he did not look too happy about it the Hong Kong player tossed in the call and the cards were turned over.
Sparrow Cheung: 
Geoff Mooney:
Mooney’s cowboys were leading Cheung’s big slick and the Australian remained in front the whole way when the board ran out 
to grant Mooney the double. Mooney stacked up to 70,000 while Cheung took the hit stoically and dropped down to 24,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
70,000 | |
|
24,000 | -14,000 |
Zhong Chipping Up
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 100 ante
Yuan Li lit the fuse with an under-the-gun raise to 2,100 and received zero respect for opening that early, with Wei Zhu and Yuanhang Zhong making the call from the hi-jack and cutoff respectively, which convinced the big blind to come along for the ride.
The flop came down 
and the big blind checked it over to Li. With three other players in the hand, he did not seem keen to bet, checking the action over to Zhu who took a stab for 1,500.
Zhu’s neighbor Zhong reached for chips, but not for calling with and he raised to 7,000. While this folded out the big blind and Li, Zhu opted to continue playing and made the call.
The 
turn saw checks from both players, as did the 
river. There was a little confusion over who had to show first – it was Zhu as he was first to act and there had been no betting – but eventually, Zhu turned over for top pair.
Zhong triumphantly tables 
for two pair, too a big sigh from Zha who dropped down to 25,500 after the hand, while Zhong stacked up to 115,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
115,000 | |
|
|
25,500 |