Yesterday the World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific Event #10: AU$25,000 High Roller kicked off with 63 players. After 10 levels of play, just 31 of them remained with bracelet winner Andrew Hinrichsen and his stack of 346,000 leading the way.
Not too far behind him are two accomplished players in Mike Leah (320,500) and David "MissOracle" Yan ($319,800). The former has already had a heck of a year amassing $1,588,069 in tournament winnings, while the latter has already had success here at the Crown Casino when he finished sixth in the 2013 Aussie Millions Main Event for $232,254.
Others still in the hunt include recent WSOP APAC bracelet winners Sam Higgs (223,500) and Rory Young (215,100); 2012 WSOP Main Event champ and Player of the Year Greg Merson (174,200); 13-time gold bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth (149,600); 2010 WSOP Main Event champ Jonathan Duhamel (137,700); and online pro Richard "nutsinho" Lyndaker (121,000).
Cards will be in the air at 2:30 p.m. local time, which is a little over an hour from now. The plan for the day is to play down to the final table of six, which will be televised on Friday. Levels 11-16 will be 45 minutes long, and then beginning with Level 17 they'll jump to 60 minutes. There will be a 15-minute break after every two levels, with a one-hour dinner break scheduled after six levels of play. Finally, late registration is open up until the start of Level 13.
Who will navigate the stacked field to earn a seat at the final table? Join us in a bit as we answer tat question here on Day 2 of the WSOP APAC Event #10: AU$25,000 High Roller.
Jesse Sylvia opened with a raise to 5,000 under the gun and action folded all the way around to Jeff Rossiter, who shoved all in for roughly 15,000 from the big blind. Sylvia snap-called and Rossiter discovered the bad news.
Rossiter:
Sylvia:
The board ran out clean and Rossiter took his leave from the tournament.
David "MissOracle" Yan opened for 7,000 from the cutoff and was met by an all-in three-bet to 51,900 from Fabian Quoss in the big blind. Yan opted to make the call and he discovered he was in a dominating spot.
Yan:
Quoss:
Quoss needed some help, but he'd receive none as the board ran out a dry .
On the flop, Brandon Shack-Harris and Sean Winter got all the money in. Shack-Harris had flopped the best of it with the for trip queens, and Winter had the . The turn was the to keep Shack-Harris in front, and it was at this point that Winter grabbed his two aces and began to turn them over anticipating the loss. But then, the spiked on the river and gave Winter a winning full house. He turned his aces back over, and Shack-Harris was off to the exit.
With that elimination, Shack-Harris has officially fallen short in his quest for 2014 World Series of Poker Player of the Year. George Danzer will win the title with 923.5 points to Shack-Harris' 829.2. Both put on an absolutely amazing run at the title that involved three lead changes here at the WSOP Asia-Pacific alone. Danzer won three gold bracelets this year — two in Las Vegas and one in Melbourne — so Shack-Harris definitely had a tough hill to climb, but his performances this year shouldn't be forgotten.
With the victory, Danzer will forever be placed in poker history as the 2014 WSOP Player of the Year. He will earn an entry to the 2015 WSOP Main Event worth $10,000, but the title is priceless.
A flop saw Sean Winter bet 17,000, Asa Smith call, can the dealer burn and turn the .
Winter opted to shove all in, and Smith, who had approximately 125,000 behind, was put to the test. He spent nearly five minutes in the tank before calling off.
Smith:
Winter:
Both players held separate flush draws, but as it was Winter was ahead with ace-queen. That's what would win it too after the river failed to help either player.
Andrew Hinrichsen opened with a raise and then called when Jarred Graham three-bet jammed.
Hinrichsen:
Graham:
The flop kept Graham firmly in the lead, but the turn gave Hinrichsen a straight draw to a nine to go with his over. Wouldn't you know it, the spiked on the river to give Hinrichsen the straight and send Graham out the door via a bad beat. With that, just 16 players remain and are redrawing down to the final two tables.
From under the gun, David Steicke raised to 26,000. Action folded over to Andrew Hinrichsen in the cutoff seat, and he reraised to 46,000. Play got back to Steicke, and he made it 76,000. After a minute, Hinrichsen moved all in, and then Steicke went into the tank. Eventually, Steicke made the call to put himself at risk for 231,000 total.
Hinrichsen had the , and Steicke had the . The board ran out , and Steicke was eliminated as Hinrichsen hit one million in chips.
Action folded around to Mike Leah in the small blind and he asked Mohsin Charania, who was in the big, how much he had behind. The answer was 18,000, and Leah smiled before just limping. Charania splashed in all of his chips, and Leah called.
"No need to induce me Mike," Charania joked.
Leah:
Charania:
"You have the best of it," Charania pointed out. Indeed, Leah's jack high was out in front, but Charania was drawing to two live cards. Unfortunately for him, he wouldn't find them as the board ran out a clean . Leah stood to shake hands, and afterwards Charania took his leave from the 2014 WSOP APAC.
When it just isn't your day, there's not much you can do. And that would be the case with Greg Merson's Day 2.
Merson entered the day with 174,200 in chips, and that was good enough for 11th overall. He worked his way up the leaderboard throughout the day, but suffered a big hit when his pocket kings lost out to Jonathan Duhamel's pocket deuces thanks to a deuce on the river after the money went in preflop. Then, Merson lost with pocket kings for a second time in another very important pot — this time losing to Jesse Sylvia who hit an ace with ace-king.
Although he did manage some double ups to stay alive, Merson was unlucky with another big pocket pair for a third important time, and this time saw his tournament come to an end.
Merson was all in with the against the for Brian Roberts. The board ran out to give Roberts a full house and send the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event champion to the rail.
Mike Leah raised to 24,000 from under the gun, and Sean Winter moved all in from the button for what looked like 168,000 in chips. [Removed:17] made the call out of the big blind, and Leah folded.
Winter:
Yan:
What started as a headache for Winter soon turned into a smile on the flop, almost locking up the double. The on the turn now gave Yan two outs to win the hand, and sure enough the fell on the river to give "MissOracle" the win.
.![[Removed:17]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop, Brandon Shack-Harris and Sean Winter got all the money in. Shack-Harris had flopped the best of it with the 
for trip queens, and Winter had the 
. The turn was the 
to keep Shack-Harris in front, and it was at this point that Winter grabbed his two aces and began to turn them over anticipating the loss. But then, the 
spiked on the river and gave Winter a winning full house. He turned his aces back over, and Shack-Harris was off to the exit.
flop saw Sean Winter bet 17,000, Asa Smith call, can the dealer burn and turn the 
.
river failed to help either player.
turn gave Hinrichsen a straight draw to a nine to go with his over. Wouldn't you know it, the 
spiked on the river to give Hinrichsen the straight and send Graham out the door via a bad beat. With that, just 16 players remain and are redrawing down to the final two tables.
. The board ran out 
. Leah stood to shake hands, and afterwards Charania took his leave from the 2014 WSOP APAC.
flop, almost locking up the double. The 
on the turn now gave Yan two outs to win the hand, and sure enough the