Main Event
Day 2 Completed
2018 Poker King Cup Macau
Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2018 Poker King Cup Macau
Buy-in
16,500 HKD
Prize Pool
7,536,900 HKD
Entries
518
Level
31
Blinds
60,000 / 120,000
Ante
20,000
Shi Qiang Lin Dominates PKC Main Event Day 2; Leads Final 62 Players
Level 18
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
In what proved to be an action-packed day, the 247 surviving Poker King Cup Main Event runners were whittled down to the final 62, reaching and breaching the money bubble to guarantee all remaining survivors an HKD 27,900 (~$3,500) payday.
The man dominating the vast majority of the late game action began play as one of the shortest stacks, with just 24,800 in chips, but by the time the seven 60-minute levels were in the books, China’s Shi Qiang Lin sat atop the counts with a gigantic 904,000 stack. This is a full 23 big blinds more than next closest rival, fellow countryman Sun Bin (720,000), with Korea’s Jeho Lee rounding out the top three after bagging up 666,000.
Lin’s ascendance began during the last two levels played as things began to wind down and the bubble approached, gunning down Rui Qin and Wenling Gao in quick succession to snatch the top spot from Yue Feng Tang, who bagged up a stack of 564,000.
While Lin probably wished it to go on forever so he could continue scooping up chips, play around the bubble mirrored the rest of the day’s action. It was fast paced and high variance, bursting so fast the unfortunate bubble boy had hit the exit before the burster, Day 1b frontrunner Zhang Chao, had finished stacking her newly won chips; her flopped set of fives easily besting her opponent's speculative six-five suited. Chao finished play with 258,000.
The lead changed hands multiple times as play progressed, chip leaders rising and falling faster than the value of Bitcoin, with Wen Yao Bao, Liang Song and Tang jockeying for position at the top of the leaderboard, before Lin rose to prominence during the last two levels played. All three former frontrunners would make the Day 3 cut, Song with 623,000, Tang with 564,000 and Bao with 101,000.
Day 2 began with the survivors of Day 1a and 1b starting play for Level 12 at 1pm, while the Day 1c survivors returned at 2pm. The two starting flights were then merged for Level 13, and it was around that time we also got information regarding the prize pool and payouts.
The PKC Main Event attracted 518 runners in total, generating an HKD 7,536,900 prize pool. Everyone returning tomorrow is guaranteed HKD 27,900, but here’s a reminder of what they’re aiming for:
PKC Main Event Top Ten Payouts
| Place | Prize (HKD) | Prize (US) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,464,000 | 187,239 |
| 2 | 1,026,500 | 131,284 |
| 3 | 660,200 | 84,436 |
| 4 | 488,400 | 62,464 |
| 5 | 366,300 | 46,848 |
| 6 | 293,900 | 37,588 |
| 7 | 244,900 | 31,321 |
| 8 | 195,200 | 24,965 |
| 9 | 147,000 | 18,800 |
| 10 | 10,7800 | 13,787 |
Of course, poker being a zero-sum game and tournament poker being particularly high variance, where some players win the vast majority of the field leave with nothing.
Along the way we lost plenty of familiar names, all departing well before the money with the likes of Benjamin Hamnett, Wenling Gao, Carson Wong, and Darwin Lai all failing to make it into the cash. Lai’s exit was by far the most painful, running pocket kings into the pocket aces of Wei Ran Pu just seconds before Chao hit her set to burst the bubble.
PokerNews will be back at the Venetian Macau Resort Hotel tomorrow at 1pm local time (GMT+7) for Day 3, as we continue to play down to the Final Table. Join us then, and in the meantime scroll down to catch up on all of today’s action.
Day 3 Seat Draw
Level 18
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Zhuo Zeng | China | 162000 | 20 |
| 1 | 2 | Mauro Francolini | Italy | 183000 | 23 |
| 1 | 3 | Yue Wang | China | 150000 | 19 |
| 1 | 4 | Wen Yao Bao | China | 101000 | 13 |
| 1 | 5 | Jie Sun | China | 110000 | 14 |
| 1 | 6 | Qi Luo | China | 251000 | 31 |
| 1 | 7 | Diego Sarmiento | Spain | 498000 | 62 |
| 1 | 8 | Jian Han | China | 406000 | 51 |
| 1 | 9 | Steven Siu | Hong Kong | 261000 | 33 |
| 2 | 1 | Shi Qiang Lin | China | 904000 | 113 |
| 2 | 2 | Chao Li | China | 78000 | 10 |
| 2 | 3 | Chi Ming Ma | Hong Kong | 99000 | 12 |
| 2 | 4 | Li Teng | China | 125000 | 16 |
| 2 | 5 | Shu Hao Xu | China | 253000 | 32 |
| 2 | 6 | Yue Feng Tang | China | 564000 | 71 |
| 2 | 7 | Yu Li | China | 311000 | 39 |
| 2 | 8 | Ke Wang | China | 265000 | 33 |
| 2 | 9 | Wei Ran Pu | China | 446000 | 56 |
| 3 | 1 | Ka Kiu Fung | China | 103000 | 13 |
| 3 | 2 | Xin Wu | China | 150000 | 19 |
| 3 | 3 | Kyung Sik Jung | Korea | 65000 | 8 |
| 3 | 4 | Yang Wang | China | 370000 | 46 |
| 3 | 5 | Hong Yin Lin | China | 117000 | 15 |
| 3 | 6 | Zhi Kui Shi | China | 180000 | 23 |
| 3 | 7 | Chuanshu Chen | China | 125000 | 16 |
| 3 | 8 | Jian Dong Yu | China | 215000 | 27 |
| 3 | 9 | Sun Bin | China | 720000 | 90 |
| 4 | 1 | Xiao Jun Yu | China | 150000 | 19 |
| 4 | 2 | Shan Huang | China | 386000 | 48 |
| 4 | 3 | Jiang Gou Zhou | China | 105000 | 13 |
| 4 | 4 | Jeho Lee | Korea | 666000 | 83 |
| 4 | 5 | Chi Fu Sze | Hong Kong | 185000 | 23 |
| 4 | 6 | Jiang Wang | China | 219000 | 27 |
| 4 | 7 | Liang Tong | China | 301000 | 38 |
| 4 | 8 | Chi Hi Fang | Taiwan | 95000 | 12 |
| 4 | 9 | Sparrow Cheung | Hong Kong | 301000 | 38 |
| 5 | 1 | Min Jie Li | China | 67000 | 8 |
| 5 | 2 | Xiao Yin He | China | 210000 | 26 |
| 5 | 3 | Zhang Chao | China | 258000 | 32 |
| 5 | 4 | Alan Arbos | Spain | 114000 | 14 |
| 5 | 5 | Chi Chung Ho | Hong Kong | 127000 | 16 |
| 5 | 6 | Anthony Mak | Hong Kong | 150000 | 19 |
| 5 | 7 | Antonio Martins | Portugal | 207000 | 26 |
| 5 | 8 | Xiao Tian Yang | China | 309000 | 39 |
| 5 | 9 | Lai Heng Tse | Hong Kong | 146000 | 18 |
| 6 | 1 | Yang Xu | China | 403000 | 50 |
| 6 | 2 | Nan Wei | Hong Kong | 70000 | 9 |
| 6 | 3 | Jun Zhou | China | 193000 | 24 |
| 6 | 4 | Cang Sheng Ni | China | 292000 | 37 |
| 6 | 5 | Lin Zhe Chen | China | 282000 | 35 |
| 6 | 6 | Kwok Chun Lai | Hong Kong | 201000 | 25 |
| 6 | 7 | Zhen Zhen Ni | China | 98000 | 12 |
| 6 | 8 | Richard Lim | Singapore | 487000 | 61 |
| 6 | 9 | Qian Tang | China | 183000 | 23 |
| 7 | 1 | Ke Fei Na | China | 342000 | 43 |
| 7 | 2 | Jun Fang | China | 249000 | 31 |
| 7 | 3 | Empty | |||
| 7 | 4 | Po Fai Lau | Hong Kong | 250000 | 31 |
| 7 | 5 | Qi Cheng Du | China | 141000 | 18 |
| 7 | 6 | Yee Lap Lai | China | 174000 | 22 |
| 7 | 7 | Liang Song | China | 623000 | 78 |
| 7 | 8 | Jia Run He | China | 187000 | 23 |
| 7 | 9 | Zheng Shan Hao | China | 103000 | 13 |
End-of-day Chip Counts (full)
Level 18
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
904,000 | 174,000 |
|
720,000 | 70,000 |
|
666,000 | 76,000 |
|
623,000 | 185,000 |
|
564,000 | -11,000 |
|
498,000 | 338,000 |
|
487,000 | -43,000 |
|
446,000 | -34,000 |
|
406,000 | -6,000 |
|
403,000 | 65,000 |
|
386,000 | 347,100 |
|
370,000 | 303,300 |
|
342,000 | 12,000 |
|
311,000 | 199,300 |
|
309,000 | 179,000 |
|
|
301,000 | 157,700 |
|
301,000 | -3,000 |
|
|
292,000 | 231,800 |
|
282,000 | 122,000 |
|
|
265,000 | 212,500 |
|
|
261,000 | 181,500 |
|
258,000 | -62,000 |
|
|
253,000 | -76,000 |
|
|
251,000 | 178,000 |
|
|
250,000 | 135,700 |
Play Ended
Level 18
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
With the bubble being burst, and Level 18 having come to a conclusion, play has ended for today. A full recap and the chip counts are to follow.
Lee Gets Han to Fold on the Bubble
Level 18
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
The board read 
with about 250,000 in the middle already. The bubble was still going on but it was already confirmed that there were 63 players left. Jeho Lee bet 180,000 from the small blind and Jian Han was sitting the tank. After taking his time, Han decided to give the hand up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
590,000 | 540,700 |
|
|
412,000 | -68,000 |
Cooler for Lai Heralds Bubble; Bursts Immediately
Level 18
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
Two quick back-to-back bust outs have brought the 63 remaining players into the money spots. It proved to be a sickening cooler for Hong Kong's Darwin Lai, with Wei Ran Pu the man to benefit from Lai's demise.
Lai was the man to raise first, opening for 12,000 from middle position, with Pu three-betting to 33,000 from one seat over. Lai gave Pu the staredown before deciding to pull the trigger for 162,000 and was beaten into the pot by Pu - a sure sign that he was in trouble.
Darwin Lai: 
Wei Ran Pu: 
It was a dream spot for Pu and a nightmare for Lai, especially this close to the bubble. The 
runout saw Lai's Cowboys shotdown in a hail of bullets and he headed for the rail while Pu stacked up to 480,000.
There was no time for hand-for-hand with another hand playing out immediately afterward that saw all 63 remaining players make the money. With the hand coming so soon after Lai's demise, we missed the player in question's bust out but were relayed the details after, courtesy of the winner of the hand, Day 1b chip leader Zhang Chao.
The unfortunate bubble boy moved in pre-flop from mid position with five-six suited and was looked up by Chao with pocket fives, with the case five coming in on the flop, guaranteeing the 63 survivors an HKD 27,900 (~$3,500) payday.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
480,000 | 431,600 |
|
|
320,000 | 40,000 |
|
Busted |
Lam Lobbed Out by Ma
Level 18
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
Chi Ming Ma raised to 20,000 from the hijack and Gary Lam shoved for 34,000 in total from the cutoff. Action folded back to Ma who called.
Gary Lam: 
Chi Ming Ma: 
The flop came 
to give Ma trip queens. The turn made it even worse for Lam who was now drawing dead as the fell. The 
on the river was just a formality as Lam was sent to the rail in 66th place.
The next elimination that will take place means that the bubble will commence.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
120,000 | 41,300 |
|
Busted |
Cheung Doubles Through Lam
Level 18
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
A big pot played out between Sparrow Cheung and Gary Lam that saw the latter take a big hit and the former earn a critical double-up.
It was Cheung who was the driver in this particular hand, though we missed the amount of his initial opening raise. When we arrived, Lam had three-bet to 50,000 from the big blind and Cheung had pulled the trigger for 152,000 in total.
Both players were on their feet and, sensing something significant was going down, a crowd gathered around. Eventually, Lam made his decision and flicked in a single yellow 1k chip to represent the call, looking crushed when Cheung rolled over 
, and when Lam revealed his 
it was easy to see why he might be a little sad.
The 
runout saw Cheung take down the pot to climb to 304,000, while Lam took the hit stoically to drop to 40,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
304,000 | 229,000 |
|
|
40,000 | -125,000 |
Bin Over Yu
Level 18
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
Sun Bin raised to 14,000 from the hijack and Jian Dong Yu three-bet to 59,000 on the button. The blinds folded and Bin called.
The flop came 
, Bin check-called the 32,000 continuation-bet of Yu.
The turn brought them the 
, Bin checked again. Yu bet another 72,000 and Bin tanked. After a while, Bin called.
The river completed the board with the on which they both checked. Bin tabled and that was enough to rake in the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
650,000 | 307,000 |
|
|
280,000 | -210,000 |