Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2017 Suncity Cup Finale Macau
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2017 Suncity Cup Finale Macau
Buy-in
6,600 HKD
Entries
221
Level
28
Blinds
250,000 / 500,000
Ante
75,000
Kilian Loeffler Tops Day 1A of 2017 Suncity Cup Macau Finale, Japan’s Sahashi Hideki Still Leads Field
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
A total of 21 players coughed up the HK$6,600 buy-in for Day 1A of the 2017 Suncity Cup Macau Finale, and with the format offering unlimited re-entry four of these chose to try their luck a second time to bring the total number of entries up to 25.
With 15 percent of the field making it through to Day 2, it took twelve 40-minute levels to whittle this down to four, with Germany’s Kilian Loeffler the man leading the charge.
Loeffler bagged up 108,600 at the close of play – the only player to break the six-figure stack mark – with next closest rival Macau’s Sio Fat Lau who finished play with 97,700.
Japan’s Keisuke Hikosaka (91,000) and China’s Yao Jin Chen (64,500) were the other two who managed to lock up their Day 2 seat with the Day 2 redraw as follows:
2017 Suncity Cup Finale Day 1A Survivors and Day 2 Draw
| Position | Name | Country | Chip Count | 2A Table/Seat | 2B Table/Seat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kilian Loeffler | Germany | 108,600 | 9-4 | - |
| 2 | Sio Fat Lau | Macau | 97,700 | - | 9-5 |
| 3 | Keisuke Hikosaka | Japan | 91,000 | - | 8-1 |
| 4 | Yao Jin Chen | China | 64,500 | 10-4 | - |
Loeffler’s Day 1 began with his chip stack moving in the wrong direction and the German player was down to his last 6,500 at one point after running two pairs into the rivered straight of Portugal’s Antonio Martins. While Martins made the final nine he could not go the distance and departed just shy of the money spots.
However, Loeffler turned things around extremely quickly, running his stack up to the giddy heights of 45,000 by the start of level six. While the German was unable to maintain his lead he did not drop out of the top four for the rest of the day and a late run of form saw him edge in front of rivals Lau and Hikosaka as play wound down.
While Loeffler led Day 1A, the overall chip lead still belongs to Japan’s Sahashi Hideki, who qualified through the third leg held in Taipa from November 3-5, and is sitting pretty on 374,200. Loeffler currently sits in seventh in the overall standings, but with seven more starting flights left to play that could well change before Day 2A begins at 1pm on Wednesday 29 November.
Notables who began play but could not go the distance included Bulgaria’s Atanas Kavrakov and Dutchmen Bos Wim and Martijn Gerrits. Kavrakov had aces cracked early, rebought and busted again when play was six-handed while both Wim and Gerrits exited well before the last nine.
That concludes the PokerNews live coverage for the day with Day 1B getting underway on Friday 24 November at 1pm local time (GMT+8) so join us then as we see who’s got what it takes to go the distance and earn themselves a berth for Day 2.
Thin Tin Duong Eliminated to Conclude Day 1A
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Duong came back from the dinner break as the shortest stack and despite a double-up, the Hong Kong player was still more than 55,000 in chips behind next closest rival Kilian Loeffler and could not catch the rest of the field, no matter how hard he tried.
Just 10-minutes into the new level and Day 1A of the Suncity Cup Finale Macau is in the books. Duong blinded slowly down until he decided to get the last of his chips in against Japan’s Keisuke Hikosaka.
The hand started innocuously enough, with Duong opting to limp under-the-gun before Hikosaka pumped the action up to 8,000. That was enough to convince the rest of the table to get out of the way and it was heads-up to a flop of 
.
Duong checked Hikosaka bet another 8,000 and Duong moved all-in for close to 10,000 in total with the Japanese player calling immediately.
Thin Tin Duong: 
Keisuke Hikosaka: 
While Duong had caught a piece of the flop, so had Hikosaka, who had the bigger piece and the 
turn and 
river brought the day’s play to a close.
All four remaining players have locked up their Day 2 seat and made HK$6,000 while Duong will have to try again on one of the seven other starting flights.
Table re-draw and end of day wrap to follow shortly so watch this space.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
108,600 | -3,400 |
|
97,700 | -8,300 |
|
91,000 | 15,000 |
|
64,500 | -500 |
|
Busted |
Loeffler Back in Front
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
It's tight at the top and with Thin Tin Duong ducking, diving and doubling at the right time to stay alive the other four players are passing the chips around the table and there has been a slight shift at the top.
Japan's Keisuke Hikosaka and Yao Jin Chen who have been the ones bleeding a few chips and it is Sio Fat Lau and Kilian Loeffler who have been the beneficiaries with the remaining field stacking up as follows:
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
112,000 | 24,000 |
|
|
106,000 | 16,000 |
|
|
76,000 | -22,000 |
|
|
65,000 | -30,000 |
|
|
16,000 | -3,000 |
Level: 12
Blinds: 1,000/2,000
Ante: 300
Duong Gets Short Again, Then Doubles
Level 11
: 800/1,600, 300 ante
We only caught the tail end of the first hand but it put Thin Tin Duong right back on life support. With the board reading 
and over 20,000 in blinds and antes in the pot already Keisuke Hikosaka checked the action from the small blind and it was on Duong.
The Hong Kong player bet out 6,000, leaving himself just 12,000 behind and it did not take Hikosaka long to make the call. Duong turned over 
for second pair, but this not enough to beat Hikosaka’s 
and he scooped the sizable pot while Duong found himself circling the drain.
Duong’s chips found their way into the middle of the table on the very next orbit – which does not take too long to come round when you are only five-handed.
Yao Jin Chen opened the action with a middle position raise to 4,000 and Duong committed the last of his chips from the small blind. Hikosaka folded out the big blind and Chen made the call.
Yao Jin Chen: 
Thin Tin Duong:
It was Duong’s turn to have a go with the red tens, and they worked out as well for him as the did for Hikosaka previously with the board running out 
to grant Duong the much needed double, though he is still the short stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
95,000 | -6,000 |
|
|
19,000 | -14,000 |
Double for Duong; Hikosaka Pays Off Chen
Level 11
: 800/1,600, 300 ante
We missed it as were typing up another hand, but the short-stacked Thin Tin Duong has managed to earn a double-up. Duong is still the table short stack with 33,000 but has a little more breathing room than the last time we checked.
Blinds had just climbed to 800/1,600 but we caught a four-way hand at the very end of level ten to wind up the level.
There was already 12,000 in blinds and antes in the middle and action hand just been checked by Keisuke Hikosaka (small blind), Sio Fat Lau (big blind) and Yao Jin Chen (under-the-gun) over to Duong on the button.
Though he looked tempted, Duong resisted the urge to shove after spending several minutes in the tank and the 
landed on the turn.
This brought a bet of 4,000 from Hikosaka and a call from Lau before Chen juiced it up to 16,000 in total. Duong folded quickly while Hikosaka made the call and Lau also bowed out to take the action heads-up to the 
river.
Hikosaka thought it over and then checked to Chen, who looked like he was going to bet but thought better of it at the last second and checked it back.
Hikosaka turned over 
but this was not enough to beat Chen’s 
and the Chinese player edged into a slender lead of 101,000 to Hikosaka’s 98,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
101,000 | 16,000 |
|
|
98,000 | -25,000 |
|
|
90,000 | 8,200 |
|
|
88,000 | 13,000 |
|
|
33,000 | 18,000 |
Level: 11
Blinds: 800/1,600
Ante: 300
Duong Getting Short
Level 10
: 600/1,200, 200 ante
There has been a bit of blind and ante swapping and a few small pots passed around the table but no significant action for the last couple of orbits.
Thin Tin Duong has not been getting many cards and is the shortest stack so things are looking distinctly dicey for the Hong Kong player.
They did not get better after we caught the tail end of a hand between Yao Jin Chen and Duong, with Chen managing to get paid with a 4,000 pot-sized river bet on a queen-high board.
Duong made the call but could only throw his hand away when Chen, sitting in the blinds, turned over 
for a rivered two-pair. Duong has just under 18,000 in chips – close to 15 big blinds – with the next shortest stack belonging to Kilian Loeffler, who has around 75,000.
In short, it is getting close to crunch time for Duong and all the other players know it.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
85,000 | 9,500 |
|
|
75,000 | -1,700 |
|
|
15,000 | -10,000 |
Lau Wins From Hikosaka; Hikosaka Takes From Duong and Chen
Level 10
: 600/1,200, 200 ante
Keisuke Hikosaka opened the action with a raise to 3,000 from under-the-gun and Sio Fat Lau re-raised to 8,000 from the cut-off. After the blinds bowed out Hikosaka made the call and it was heads-up to a flop of .
This bought checked from both players and concluded the betting for the hand with the turn and 
river eliciting no action.
Hikosake turned over 
but this was not enough to best Lau’s 
and the Macanese player scooped a pot worth 18,800 to climb to 81,800, while Hikosaka dropped to 113,000.
The Japanese player got a rebate on this the very next hand however after Yao Jin Chen made it 3,000 to go and both Thin Tin Duang and Hikosaka made the call from the small and big blinds respectively.
Duong checked the 
flop, Hikosaka led for 6,000 and both opponents folded instantly leaving the Japanese player free to rake in a pot of close to 10,000 in blinds and antes.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
123,000 | -600 |
|
|
81,800 | 13,300 |
|
|
25,000 | -6,000 |