There have been some more new arrivals with China's Yueming Liu and the USA's Andrew An bringing the total number of entrants up to 18.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
15,000 | 15,000 |
|
15,000 | 15,000 |
Level: 3
Blinds: 100/200
Ante: 25
Atanas Kavrakov has been a busy bunny and had run his initial 15,000 starting stack up to close to 20,000 before Nan Jiang managed to slow the Bulgarian down with a timely catch.
While we missed all of the pre-flop betting action it looked as if Kavrakov and Jiang had become embroiled in a pre-flop raising war with Jiang having a bet of 1,200 on the felt in front of him which had been called by Keng Po Wong on the button.
Kavrakov, sitting in the small blind, mulled over his options but elected to just call and take the action three-way with close to 4,000 in chips in the pot already.
The Bulgarian led out immediately on the rather dry 
flop and Jiang, sitting in early position, quickly re-raised to 5,700 in total.
Wong quickly folded and action was back on Kavrakov, who thought things over at an unhurried pace before moving all-in for close to 30,000 in total. Jiang, who was sitting on 8,550 after all the pre-flop muscle flexing, made a speedy call and the cards were turned over.
Atanas Kavrakov: 
Nan Jiang: 
Kavrakov was in great shape against Jiang’s measly middle pair, until the 
came straight in on the turn to give the Chinese player trips and crack the Bulgarian’s pocket rockets.
The 
river saw Jiang scoop the pot and climb to 19,700 while Kavrakov took the hit stoically and dropped to 11,450 without even flinching.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
19,200 | 4,200 |
|
11,450 | -3,550 |
Day 1A is now up to 17 players with the arrival of Japan’s Keisuke Hikosaka, Ireland’s Oliver Cartwright, Taiwan’s Chi Jen Chen, China's Kaijuan Zhan and Germany's Kilian Loeffler.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
15,000 | 15,000 |
|
15,000 | 15,000 |
|
15,000 | 15,000 |
|
|
15,000 | |
|
15,000 |
The arrival of Bulgaria’s Atanas Kavrakov and China’s Guangli Liu has brought the number of entrants up to eleven and means there are now two tables on the go.
Liu appears to be a poker newbie but has 11 results on his Hendon Mob resume for a little over US$55,000 in tournament winnings, all cashes coming in the last three months, nine of which are final tables so he is evidently a quick study.
By contrast Kavrakov is a seasoned professional, currently sitting in fifth on Bulgaria’s All-Time Money List with over US$1.1 million in career tournament earnings.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
15,000 | 15,000 |
|
|
15,000 | 15,000 |
Level: 2
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
The action is starting slowly, but then poker is a marathon, not a sprint, and there are a further seven starting flights (including the two turbo flights) left to play so there is plenty of time for the action to heat up.
Hong Kong’s Thin Tin Duong has just taken down his first pot of the tournament, though it was not a particularly big one as the nine entrants seem happy to ease into the action slowly.
Adrian Yang kicked things off with an under-the-gun limp, with Duong, Xiao Ming Liang (cutoff) and a player on the button all coming along for the ride, in addition to the two blinds for a six-way limped pot.
The flop fell 
, both blinds checked, as did Yang and Duong decided to lead for 250 with Liang the only caller.
The 
turn brought in all sort of draws and checks from both players and the 
river completed the board. Duong fired for 500 and that was enough to get it done.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
15,550 | 550 |
|
14,700 | -300 |
There are nine registered hopefuls in the hunt for their Day 2 seat so far, all seated on a single table. One more player and then it’ll be an MTT.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
15,000 | 15,000 |
|
|
15,000 | 15,000 |
|
15,000 | 15,000 |
|
15,000 | 15,000 |
|
|
15,000 | 15,000 |
|
|
15,000 | 15,000 |
|
15,000 | 15,000 |
|
|
15,000 | 15,000 |
|
|
15,000 | 15,000 |
It’s game time, the four most exciting words in poker have been uttered – that would be 'shuffle up and deal' folks – and the 2017 Suncity Cup Finale Macau is now underway.
Level: 1
Blinds: 25/50
Ante: 0
