On the tail end of a A♣9♠4♥3♠10♥ board, Luobo bet 40,000 from middle position. Quan Zhou called in the cutoff but mucked when he was shown the 10♦9♦ for two pair, tens and nines. Despite losing this pot, Zhou remains the largest stack on their table.
The eliminations and reentries have been coming fast and furious in the past level as the short stacks continue to look for a spin up. With the recent reentries from Stephen Song, Gary Thompson, and Renji Mao, the tournament has reached 100 entries late on Day 1.
Dominik Nitsche just recently reentered the field after being eliminated on the feature table and was starting fresh with a stack of 250,000 chips. Nitsche raised it up in early position and Renji Mao jammed all in for around 45,000 in the hijack. The action was back on Nitsche who quickly made the call.
Renji Mao: A♠10♣
Dominik Nitsche: A♥J♠
Nitsche was in a dominating position and the flop of 9♠5♥3♣ left it that way. Mao was unable to find any help on the 3♥, 7♣ runout and was sent to the registration desk.
"Bye bye!" Ivan Zhang, his neighbor, greeted him. "Unlucky!"
Yuzhu Wang had raised and Marius Gierse three-bet to 45,000 only for Weijue Cai to make it 100,000 to go. Wang folded and Gierse then moved all-in, Cai called after a few seconds of consideration.
Weijue Cai: Q♥Q♠
Marius Gierse: A♠K♥
"Pocket nines," Wang said before the showdown proceeded. It was a classic flip in which Cai cemented his lead on the Q♣8♦6♣ flop. The 9♠ turn confirmed his double prior to the 2♣ on the river for 273,000 to cut Gierse's stack into half.
Hyunyeong Kang raised to 10,000 from under the gun and Stephen Song defended from the big blind. The flop came Q♥5♥3♠ and Song checked to Kang who continued with a bet of 8,000. Song check-raised to 25,000 and Kang just called.
The turn brought the 8♥ and Song continued his story with a bet of 55,000. Kang still called and the 2♥ hit the river, putting four hearts on the board. Song checked this time and Kang splashed in a bet of 90,000. Song gathered his chips and slid out a raise to around 211,000, leaving himself with just 500 chips behind.
Kang instantly called and tabled K♥K♣ for the second nuts while Song flashed his 6♥5♦ before hitting the muck.
Joining the action on the A♣8♠8♥7♥ turn, Haohui Ma checked and Gary Thompson bet 15,000. Ma check-raised to 47,000 in the big blind and Thompson in the cutoff folded.
One hand later, Liang Chen limped in from under the gun and Jun Liu raised to 21,000 on the button. Ma reraised to 55,000 from the small blind and Chen reluctantly called for half of his stack. Following the 10♥9♦6♠ flop, Ma declared all-in and Liu folded.
The cards were on their backs preflop and COOLER had a mountain to climb with A♣J♣, as Yinchao Shen had that crushed holding the A♠A♦. COOLER shouted for a jack on the K♣7♥6♠J♥ turn but the K♠ river was the wrong pair on the board.
Quan Zhou opened to 10,000 from under the gun and Qian Xiong three-bet to 30,000 in the cutoff. Zhou called and they went heads-up to a flop of A♥J♥7♦. Zhou checked to Xiong who continued with a bet of 30,000 and Zhou called.
On the 6♥ turn card, Zhou led out with a bet of 37,500 and Xiong quickly folded and flashed the A♣ in the process.
In the next hand, Xiong limped in and Mauricio Salazar Sanchez raised to 15,000 from the cutoff. Zhou called and Xiong tagged along as well. The flop fell 8♠5♠4♦ and Zhou led out with a bet of 27,000. Xiong called and Salazar Sanchez stepped aside.
The turn was the 10♦ and Zhou opted to check this time. Xiong splashed in a bet of 35,000 and Zhou check-raised all in, prompting a quick call from Xiong for her stack of 129,000. Zhou flipped over 4♥4♣ for a set of fours while Xiong had 9♦8♦ for a pair and flush draw. The 2♠ on the river bricked out and Xiong was bounced from the event.
Yinan Zhou defended the big blind against the raise of Yi Ye and check-called the 10♥7♦7♠9♦ turn for 16,000. Both then elected to check the 2♥ on the river and Zhou tabled the 10♦8♥ for tens and sevens. Ye had him pipped with the kicker and won the pot holding the K♠10♠.
Jiaming Zhao had arrived at the table with a massive tower of chips and challenged Pan Wang for the top spot, but soon after both clashed in a larger pot. By the time the board showed A♥10♦3♠2♣, Zhao bet 220,000 and then folded to a shove for massive 749,000 to expose his A♣ for top pair.
Wang returned the favour and flashed the K♣ before stacking even more chips and putting a major gap between the two large stacks.
