Main Event
Day 1b Completed
2017 PokerStars Festival Korea
Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2017 PokerStars Festival Korea
Buy-in
1,650,000 KRW
Entries
285
Level
27
Blinds
30,000 / 60,000
Ante
10,000
Japanese Players, Led by Yuki Ko, Dominate on Day 1b
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Day 1b of PokerStars Festival Korea Main Event proved to be a fantastic day for the Japanese contingent here at Paradise City Hotel & Resort in Incheon.
When the dust settled at the end of 12 levels of play, five of the top seven chip counts belonged to players from the land of the rising sun. Foremost among them was Yuki Ko, who turned a 30,000 starting stack into 226,300. That's good for the overall lead with two of four starting flights in the books, as it's well clear of the 201,000 posted by Sparrow Cheung on Day 1a.
Ko has been plenty active and successful on the Asian tournament circuit since the start of 2016, tallying north of $250,000 in cashes. He used an unpredictable style to build up his massive stack here in Korea. He had opponents so bamboozled that at one point a player called off on a river shove from Ko with an ace-high board in the middle holding an unimproved pair of fives in the hole. Ko showed down ace-king and took down the pot.
At the end of the night, Ko took down another big one that showed just how good he was running when he managed to make quads with jack-six offsuit defending his big blind. Ko got a check-raise paid off on the turn and then put in an overbet shove on the river that got called to take down a pot of over 120,000.
Ko's countrymen joining him near the top of the leaderboard were Mitsuru Sano (173,900), Shigeho Yoshioka (151,800), Akira Ise (144,500) and Takashi Ogura (140,200).
Other players bagging piles were Daniel Demicki (209,500) and Justin Chan (203,700). Demicki came into the tournament fresh off of a sixth-place finish for ₩16,500,000 (~$14,700).
Overall, Day 1b drew 66 entries to push the two-day total to 120. There's still two more Day 1 flights to go, and both will take place Saturday. The first kicks off at 11 a.m. local time, and coverage will continue then here on PokerNews. Stay tuned to see who else punches a ticket to Day 2.
End of Day 1b Counts (full)
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
226,300 | 26,300 |
|
209,500 | 44,500 |
|
203,700 | -6,300 |
|
173,900 | 13,900 |
|
|
151,800 | -8,200 |
|
|
144,500 | |
|
140,200 | 69,200 |
|
129,700 | 129,700 |
|
107,400 | 40,100 |
|
94,200 | |
|
84,800 | 37,800 |
|
60,000 | |
|
59,000 | |
|
57,800 | 12,600 |
|
|
33,200 | |
|
28,900 | 28,900 |
|
26,700 | |
|
|
26,600 | |
|
21,700 | -63,300 |
Bag 'Em
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Players are bagging up for the night after their last six hands, which began about five minutes ago.
Chan Wins Raising War with Sano
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Mitsuru Sano opened for 5,300 on the button and Justin Chan made it 16,000 in the big blind. Sano came back with a fairly quick four-bet to 37,000. Chan thought awhile and then moved all in for about 170,000. Sano folded almost immediately.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
210,000 | 40,000 |
|
|
160,000 | -35,000 |
Quads with the Jack-Six
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
A player on the button opened for 4,200 and Yuki Ko defended the big blind. The flop came down 
and both players checked. Ko checked the 
turn and saw his opponent bet 5,000. Ko made it 14,000 and got called. The river was a 
and Ko asked to see his opponent's stack. It looked like about 43,000. After a few moments, Ko said he was all in. The player on the button called in fairly short order but Ko tabled 
for quads.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
200,000 | 2,900 |
Chan Eliminates One
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
A player in the small blind bet 7,000 on an 
flop, and Justin Chan thought awhile and made it 15,600 to go. The other player shoved all in for around 70,000, and Chan double-checked his cards and snap-called.
Chan: 
Small blind: 
Chan had the small blind crushed, and the on the turn meant the river was a mere formality.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
170,000 | 77,500 |
Level: 12
Blinds: 1,000/2,000
Ante: 300
Updated Chip Counts
Level 11
: 800/1,600, 200 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
197,100 | 53,100 |
|
|
195,000 | -5,000 |
|
|
165,000 | 21,000 |
|
|
92,500 | 57,500 |
|
|
85,000 | 12,700 |
|
|
71,000 | 11,000 |
|
|
67,300 | -19,000 |
|
51,000 | -23,000 |
|
|
47,000 | -11,300 |
|
|
Busted |
No Sweat for Yoshioka
Level 11
: 800/1,600, 200 ante
In a pot that saw both players put in 14,000 preflop, Shigeho Yoshioka checked in the small blind and then called 12,000 from a middle-position opponent on the 
flop. Yoshioka checked the 
turn and his opponent slid in all of his chips. Yoshioka quickly called and showed 
for queens full. He was up against 
for a dead flush draw. The river was a .
Yoshioka's stack was counted down and proved to be 57,000. His opponent had about 48,000 and sent it all over.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
160,000 |