Main Event
Day 2 Completed
2017 Poker King Cup Macau
Main Event
Day: 2
Tsang Leads Poker King Cup Macau Main Event as Bubble Bursts
Level 19
: 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
With Day 2 of the Poker King Cup Macau Main Event now in the books just 63 players remain in contention for the trophy, title, and lion’s share of the HK$7,129,000 (~$915,295) prize pool. With the bubble bursting to end play for the day the remaining players are all guaranteed a payday of at least HK$26,000 ($3,338).
Just 231 of the 490-strong field returned for the Day 2, 168 of whom departed empty handed with India’s Bobbie Suri, Hong Kong’s Raiden Kan, and China’s Guo Dong just some of those who failed to make the cut.
Notables who did make it through included Day 1A frontrunner Alex Lee (96,000), High Roller Quan Zhou (177,000) and Hong Kong’sJustin Chan (286,000).
However, the man best positioned to scoop the HK$1,389,500 (~$178,333) first prize is Hong Kong’s Anson Tsang, who bagged up over a monstrous 1.1 million in chips when play concluded a little after 9:30pm local time (GMT+7) on Wednesday 24 May.
Tsang was the only player to hit the seven-figure chip mark with China’s Weizhou Zha, who held the lead for much of the day, finishing on 893,000 after winning a big pot from Quan Zhou shortly before play halted.
Denmark’s Frederik Farrington (704,000), Korea’s Lim Yohwan (687,000) and China’s Yang Song (557,000) round out the top five.
Tsang began the day as one of the shorter stacks with 27,600 – a little over 17 big blinds – but enjoyed a sterling day at the felt, powering his way into position as one of the top three stacks midway through the day.
Tsang was tied with China’s Weizhou Zha for much of the last two levels but wielded his massive stack like a club to beat his table into submission as the bubble approached to edge into the chip lead.
Shortly afterward, Korea’s Yohwan Lim won a race with ace-queen against an unfortunate opponent’s pocket tens to bring in the bubble and take play hand-for-hand at the close of level 17. It was here that Tsang really ran away with it, hoovering up any chips not nailed down and his table seemed powerless to stop him.
At one point it looked like China’s Qiang Liu would win the unenviable title of bubble boy, moving all-in for his last 80,000 with ace-ten offsuit and running into the pocket queens of Liu Lifu at the close of level 18.
While Qiang paired his ten on the flop, Liu had flopped an open-ended straight draw and flush draw to go with his queens but the timely appearance of another ten on the turn saw Liu double and keep play hand-for-hand.
The tension in the Poker King card room ratcheted up to almost unbearable levels as play dragged on past the scheduled level 18 end of day and halfway through level 19 before the bubble finally burst.
When it did so it was in spectacular fashion with China’s Yang Song getting all the chips in on the turn holding pocket queens on a 
board with an unlucky opponent making the call drawing dead holding 
for the second nut flush.
All that excitement concludes Day 2 but the PokerNews live reporting team will be returning for Day 3 on Thursday, May 25 at 1pm and the 63 remaining entrants will be playing down to the final table so join us then as we see who’s got what it takes to be the Poker King Macau Main Event Champion.
End of Day 2 Chip Count (full) (full)
Level 19
: 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,103,000 | 303,000 |
|
893,000 | 43,000 |
|
704,000 | 169,000 |
|
687,000 | 582,900 |
|
|
557,000 | 446,300 |
|
508,000 | 450,300 |
|
492,000 | 491,790 |
|
477,000 | 386,400 |
|
396,000 | 46,000 |
|
|
381,000 | 287,100 |
|
367,000 | 307,300 |
|
351,000 | 81,000 |
|
342,000 | 122,000 |
|
336,000 | 257,900 |
|
330,000 | 150,900 |
|
300,000 | 55,000 |
|
300,000 | 25,000 |
|
|
299,000 | -26,000 |
|
286,000 | 66,000 |
|
|
272,000 | 133,200 |
|
261,000 | 91,000 |
|
|
252,000 | 138,600 |
|
|
240,000 | 80,000 |
|
210,000 | -40,000 |
|
195,000 | 20,000 |
Song Bursts Bubble in Style
Level 19
: 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
The bubble has now burst and the 63 remaining Poker King Cup Main Event runners have now guaranteed themselves an HK$26,000 payday.
Hand-for-hand had been in effect for 50-minutes and tension rose to almost unbearable levels before the bubble finally popped. We caught the action on the turn in the final hand of the day – a full 30-minutes into level 19 – with the board reading .
There was over 100,000 already in the pot and the had just landed on the turn and China’s Yang Song, sitting in middle position, had checked the action over to his opponent, who was on the button.
The Button appeared pretty happy with that third spade and fired for 60,000 only to see Song quickly reach forward and dump his entire stack over the betting line in a massive pile. Song had his opponent covered and the Button went deep into the think tank, where he remained for several minutes before slamming down his last 100,000 for the call.
Song turned over 
for the turned full house and his opponent gave an anguished sigh and mucked his hand. However, being as this was an all-in and a call situation, and the bubble to boot, it was ruled the Button must showdown and his hole cards were turned face up.
That was a brutal turn, but proved to be the money card, not only for Song, but the rest of the field, as the unfortunate player in question was already drawing dead. The river was a meaningless 
and the unfortunate bubble boy exited the poker room so fast he left dust trails in his wake and did not seem keen on talking anyone, not that we can blame him.
However, it was back-slaps and chuckles all around for the rest of the field and that concluded the action for the day. Play will resume tomorrow at 1pm and play down until the final table is reached, so it could well be a lengthy day. There will be a full write up and chips counts to follow so watch this space.
Zha Wins Big From Zhou
Level 19
: 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
An interesting hand played out on the bubble between Quan Zhou and Weizhou Zha that saw the former take a big hit. Usually, it’s best not to battle with other big stacks at this stage of the tournament as a misstep can result in elimination and zero cash, but that has not stopped Zhou and Zha, who have been duking it out quite a bit recently.
We picked up the action on the turn with the board reading 
with over 100,000 already in the pot just as Zha fired out a bet of 60,000 from under-the-gun.
Zhou made the call on the button and the 
hit the river to complete the hand. While he took his time about it Zha decided to fire again and reached for chips, lots of chips, stacking two pink 25k chips on top of a tall tower of blue 5k chips and slid out a chunky bet of 160,000 – close to half of Zhou’s remaining stack.
This sent Zhou deep into the tank, where he remained for several minutes all while staring down Zha intently. Zhou had the call already counted out and was playing with his chips menacingly but Zha was not giving anything away.
Eventually, Zhou slid in the call but folded immediately when Zha turned over 
for a flopped two pair. Zhou took a bit of a hit there and dropped to 175,000 while Zha climbed to over 850,000 in chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
850,000 | 340,000 |
|
175,000 | -245,000 |
Liu Doubles Through Lifu
Level 19
: 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
The tournament clock was still showing 20-minutes until the end of level 18 when play went hand-for-hand and the action slowed considerably as the players went from table to table to check out each other’s stack sizes and work out their strategy.
While play was scheduled to finish at the end of level 18 it was decided that the remaining 64-players would play until the bubble burst to end the day and level 18 ticked over into level 19.
It looked like the bubble would burst right on the last hand of the level as there was an all-in and a call over on table one with Qiang Liu moving all-in for his last 80,000 from late position with neighboring Liu Lifu making the call.
Tension rose as the two waited for the rest of the tables to finish playing out their hands before they could turn the cards over and a crowd quickly gathered around. Eventually, the cards were revealed:
Qiang Liu: 
Liu Lifu: 
Liu was the at risk player and was not in the best of shape, and this got a whole lot worse on the 
flop, and although Liu paired his ten Lifu had a flush draw and open-ended straight draw to go with his bigger pair.
However, the timely arrival of the 
turn brought oohs and aahs from the watching rail and put Liu firmly in front, where he remained when the river ran out 
to grant him a timely double and keep play hand-for-hand, much to the disappointment of some the tournament’s remaining short stacks.
Level: 19
Blinds: 4,000/8,000
Ante: 1,000
Lim Sets Up Hand-for-Hand
Level 18
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
Korea’s Yohwan Lim set up hand-for-hand play 40-minutes into level 18, getting all the chips in pre-flop holding ace-queen against an opponent’s pocket tens.
Lim paired his ace on the flop to end the race quickly and with no ten making an unwelcome appearance we are now down to 64 players and are on the bubble, meaning play is now hand for hand.
Zhou Clocks Zha
Level 18
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
With the bubble fast approaching the tension is rising and two of the fields remaining big stacks Quan Zhou and Weizhou Zha have just played a decent sized pot.
We picked up the action on the river with 130,000 in blinds, antes and bets already in the pot with the community cards spread 
and Zhou, sitting in middle position, had just checked the action over to Zha, who was in the cutoff.
Zha counted out a small stack of blue 5k chips and tossed in a 25,000 bet, only to see Zhou move all-in for 263,000 in total. Zha rocked back in his chair like he had just been slapped and now had a decision to make. With 510,000 behind he had Zhou covered, but the call represented a significant proportion of his remaining chips.
Zha counted out the call but seemed unsure of what to do and eight minutes ticked by. Eventually, Zhou got sick of waiting and called for the clock. It looked like Zha was on the fence about calling but the full minute ticked by before he made up his mind and his hand was declared dead, leaving Zhou to rake in the juicy pot unopposed.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
510,000 | 80,000 |
|
|
420,000 | 20,000 |
Soyza Flushes One Out
Level 18
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
There are now 66 players left in contention with Malaysia’s Michael Soyza the man to thin the field. We are not sure who Soyza’s unfortunate opponent in the hand was as he left so quickly we did not have a chance to catch his name and judging by the big scowl he was wearing that’s probably for the best.
What we do know however it that with the board reading 
Soyza had put his opponent all-in and the player in question was in the tank. Eventually, he elected to call off his last 80,000 for his tournament life and looked upset when Soyza rolled over 
for the turned flush.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
350,000 | 130,000 |