Friday, 29th March 2024 05:40
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Chan bullies his way into Day 3 chip lead

What a day!

It started with 221 players and now after six 60-minute levels, approximately 45 players have bagged up some chips and made their way out of PokerStars LIVE Macau to rest up for Day 3.

All the remaining players are guaranteed HK$27,000 and they will be hoping to earn some more come tomorrow. That’s especially true of Wai Leong Chan. He finished Day 2 with 766,000 in chips which is good enough for the lead.

Chan, and all the others, will be back at the felt from 4:00pm tomorrow, so make sure to join the PokerStarsBlog then for live updates as we play down to the final table.

In the meantime, you will be able to find a wrap-up of Day 2, all the end-of-day counts and Day 3 seating draw, along with updated payout information appearing on the blog as soon as possible.

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Chip leader, Wai Leong Chan

10:15pm: Four more hands

The approximately 45 remaining players have been told there will be four more hands at each table before calling it a night. It’s looking like Wai Leong Chan will be the chip leader with 766,000.

10:05pm: Chan bullies his table

Wai Leong Chan has been bullying his table of late. We watched him lose 200,000 in chips when he got aggressive preflop holding A♥ Q♥ and ran into Aâ™  A♣ , and then just a few hands later he had won all that back without going to showdown. Chan then continue his aggression, bullying his table and moving his stack up above 750,000 – more than enough for the chip lead!

9:55pm: Kim soars into the lead

We have ourselves a new chip leader and his name is Edward Kim. It was a massive hand that saw Kim double up in the biggest pot of the tournament so far.

The action started with a raise to 17,000 from an early position player before Zhenjian Lin moved all in for his last 25,000. Action was then with Frenchman Jean Pierre Didier who decided his best move was to go all in for his entire 470,000-chip stack. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but Edward Kim was sitting next to act with K♥ K♣ and had a decision to make as he also has a big stack. Did Didier really have aces? Kim decided to go with it as the rest of the table folded around.

Didier only had one ace with his A♦ K♦ as Lin would need help with his 8♣ 8♥ .
The board bricked out 4♠ 3♦ J♣ 4♥ 5♥ to see Kim rake in a pot worth over 700,000 to climb into the chip lead. Didier was severely dented to around 150,000 while Lin headed for the cashier.

9:45pm: Didier loses some, still has massive stack

Jean Pierre Didier just lost a 150,000 pot.

And he still has over 500,000 in chips.

We arrived at the action on the river of a 9♥ K♣ Aâ™  J♣ 8♣ board. There was already over 70,000 in the pot at this point and Didier, from the small blind position, led for 40,000. Didier’s lone opponent Nang Quang Nguyen, in the cut off, tank called.
Didier simply tapped the table and mucked his cards, sending the pot to Nguyen.

9:30pm: Level 17 begins, Blinds 4,000/8,000 (1,000)

9:25pm: Double elimination sees Chandra crushing

India’s Kunaal Chandra is now one of the chip leaders with a monster stack of 550,000.
Chandra recently sent two players to the rail. It was a preflop all in situation with Chandra having both of his opponents easily covered. Chondra held A♠ 10♠ which was strong enough to hold up against K♣ 10♣ and K♦ J♦ .

9:20pm: Start-of-day leader sends one home

En Zhang started things off with a raise to 13,000 before Lei Chen re-raised all in for around 30,000. Action passed to our overnight chip leader Mikal Blomlie who declared himself all in for around 160,000. The blind folded before Zhang painfully released his hand to leave Blomlie to isolate with A♥ K♦ against the short stack’s 10♦ 10â™  .

The board ran out Q♦ 4♣ 3♠ A♣ 7♥ to pair the ace to give Blomlie the pot and eliminate Chen from the Red Dragon.

9:10pm: Yang moving on up

Jixue Yin opened with a raise to 14,000 before Chao Tan popped it up to 40,000 on the button. Renjun Yang was next to act in the small blind and he cold four-bet to 100,000 to put the pressure back on Yin.

He squirmed for several minutes before tossing his cards high into the air and into the muck. The action was then on Tan who postured for a long time before making the call.
There was over 200,000 already in the middle, and both players only had about 80,000 behind as the flop landed 8♦ 7♣ A♣ . Yang deliberately checked, Tan announced all in and Yang snap-called!

Tan showed 9♥ 9♦ but Yang had laid the trap perfectly with A♥ A♠ for top set.
The turn was the 8♥ and the river the 3♠ to leave Tan to head to the cashier as Yang is now up to nearly 400,000 in chips.

9:00pm: How about them quads

Martin Gait won’t forget the time he got quads to eliminate two players deep in the MPC21 Red Dragon Main Event.

Gait was all in preflop holding Q♣ Q♦ , Mingwei Li was all in and at risk holding 8♠ 8♦ and Gregory Jessner was at risk with A♦ K♠ .

The dealer flipped over a Q♥ Qâ™  10â™  flop and that’s what quads look like.

The turn and river, obviously, didn’t help Lu and Jessner and so they were eliminated.

Gait is now moving up the chip leader board with around 300,000 in chips.

8:45pm: MPC Championship champ out

MPC Championship victor Raiden Kan is one of the most notable recent eliminations. He finished in 85th place, collecting HK$19,000. You can now find updated payouts up to 83rd place on the MPC21 Red Dragon prize pool information page.

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Raiden Kan was eliminated in 85th place

8:35pm: Big stack hunting

We are well and truly into the money and nearing the end of Day 2, so we thought now was a good time to tell you about all the current chip leaders. As you can see, Wai Leong Chan has had the most lucrative time at the felt since the bubble burst as he is well and truly ahead of the field.

Wai Leong Chan – 590,000
Wing Cheong Chang – 380,000
Cheng Wang – 370,000
Jean Pierre Didier – 360000
Wei Yang – 340,000
Ping Jie Wu – 310,000

8:25pm: Back for two more levels

Approximately 90 players have been returned from their break and are ready to play just two more 60-minute levels. Each of the remaining players have locked up HK$19,000.

Blinds are now 3,000/6,000 with a 500 ante.


8:15pm: Second and final break

All the remaining players have been sent on a 10-minute break!

When they return there will be two more 60-minute levels before calling it a night.

8:05pm: Quick in-the-money eliminations following the bubble

More than 20 players have been eliminated in the first 10 minutes after the bursting of the bubble. Some of those sent home with some cash include Lin Feng Ji (107th), Mingqin Liu (106th), Hsien Hsun Lee (105th), Andrew Scott (99th) and Rajeev Kanjani (91st).

You will be able to find updated payout information as it becomes available on the MPC21 Red Dragon prize pool page.

7:50pm: The most exciting bubble PokerStars LIVE Macau has ever seen

What a bubble hand!

After waiting 40 minutes for something to happen, we have just witnessed quite a crazy ten minutes of poker.

Of course, play was still hand-for-hand with 110 players remaining and that’s when there were four all ins on four different tables. It was looking likely that we would lose at least one of those players and maybe even two, meaning we would be in the money.

But no, we would lose exactly three players as Chonxian Yang, Xin Zhang and Daren Seah have all finished equal 108th, sharing the HK$16,000 payout.

As play was hand-for-hand, the tournament staff here at PokerStars LIVE Macau announced and ran out each of the four hands one after the other.

Here is how all four went down.

The first hand to play out was over on Table 4 where Chonxian Yang had blinded down to his last 9,000 before committing it preflop against Jheng-wei Lin.

It would be Yang’s 9♦ 9â™  up against Lin’s Kâ™  Qâ™  but the board of 6♥ K♦ J♥ 4â™  10♦ would pair the king to see Yang eliminated, but he was not without hope of still taking home some money as there were still three more all-ins to play out!
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Arguably the most exciting of the bubble bust-outs was the second all in to play out, which was Xin Zhang’s elimination.

His short stack was all in preflop with K♦ 4♦ coming up against Juicy Li’s Q♥ Q♣ . The flop was 7♦ Aâ™  5♦ , which saw the rail gasp at the sight of the diamonds. The turn was an A♣ , not the diamond Zhang needed, but there was still one card to come.

River: A♦

“Yesssss,” Zhang yelled with a fist pump.

Then he realised what everyone else already knew – the ace on the river gave Li a full house to trump Zhang’s flush.

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Xin Zhang long before he thought he won, but didn’t

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The third all in would end up being the only double-up of the epic hand-for-hand play, as Jose Drillon was all in preflop holding Q♣ 8♥ against Hui Ma’s 4♥ 4♦ . The board ran out 6♣ 5♣ 2♣ 3♦ Qâ™  and with that river, Drillon was safe from elimination!
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Finally we saw Daren Seah all in with Q♦ Q♥ against Katsuya Muranaka’s J♦ J♣ . Seah was in good shape to double up but the board arrived 3♥ K♦ 8♥ J♥ 10♣ to see Muranaka spike a set to the roar of the crowd.

Seah wouldn’t go home empty-handed as the three bubble eliminations will each share the HK$16,000 min-cash, meaning they pick up HK$5,333 each.

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Darren Seah can’t believe how the cards fell

7:25pm: Level 15 begins, Blinds 2,000/4,000 (500)

7:00pm: Hand-for-hand begins

We are now down to 110 players and that means hand-for-hand play has begun!

The next two players eliminated will take home nothing, while 108 will be guaranteed HK$16,000.

6:55pm: Aggression and more stalling as the bubble nears

The bubble is always an interesting time because there are many differing approaches to how to play it.

There are some players like Jixue Yin who are taking the opportunity to get aggressive and pick up some chips. In a recent hand we saw Yin open with a raise to 8,000 which picked up two callers before Chun Tung Wai squeezed it to 45,000 from the big blind. A fearless Yin responded by moving all in for 139,000 and after a couple of long deliberations by his opponents, they eventually folded as Yin flashed a cheeky 7♦ and raked in the pot. He’s up to 205,000.

The other approach is to play very conservatively, and here in Macau, that means deliberate time wasting (stalling) in the hope that others will bust around you. It’s an effective strategy before hand-for-hand play starts.

Marin Yum is one who is doing exactly that. With a stack of less than 30,000, there are several in the field shorter than Yum so she is clearly stalling over every decision. It’s got to the point that Danny McDonagh called the clock on her twice, and when that didn’t help, the next hand he checked her hole cards and issued a warning that deliberate stalling with junk hands would result in a 30-second clock for every decision. Hopefully she gets the message.

6:45pm: Stall tactics

We are now down to 112 players, which means the money is just four players away. Anyone who has played poker in Macau knows that this is the point in the tournament that lots of players excessively stall. APPT President Danny McDonagh has already had to tell a few players that they will receive a penalty if they keep it up.

6:35pm: Impeccable timing from Ozawa

Kotaro Ozawa has had an interesting couple of minutes. As we observed his table, it appeared that he’d decided to assert some authority over his opponents as we approach the money bubble. Ozawa moved all in three hands in a row, despite having a decent stack of around 60,000, or twenty big blinds. Not a massive stack sure, but certainly not desperate.

So when we watched Ozawa move all in once again, for the fourth hand in a row, we were convinced he had gone a little too aggro. That was probably the same thoughts that went through the head of Tsung Han Lin who looked down at 10♦ 10♠ and, with a stack of close to 60,000, made the call.

The table folded around, and would you believe it, Ozawa tabled a monstrous K♣ K♦ !

What incredible timing!

The board ran out 4♣ J♦ J♣ A♦ Aâ™  to see Lin sent crashing to the rail. Big ball poker a big pair at the right time for Ozawa now equals a big stack as he’s up to 140,000 and can probably now afford to relax a little!

6:25pm: No more Team PokerStars Pros on Day 2

Two Team PokerStars Pros began Day 2 of the Red Dragon with chips.

Both have been eliminated.

Wu began the day with just under 35,000 and wasn’t able to run up a stack as we saw him wandering around the rail quite some time ago.

Lin, on the other hand, was able to run up a stack, but the chips wouldn’t last for long. As previously mentioned Lin lost most of her chips when she got unlucky with Ace-King in a big preflop all in against someone who got tricky with Jack-Eight offsuit.

Lin was never able to recover from there, recently losing the rest of them when she open-shoved 22,000 and received a call from Jun Zhou from the small blind. Zhou held A♥ Q♦ , while Lin had J♥ 9♦ . The board ran out 3♠ 5♦ 7♠ K♣ 4♦ and it was all over for Lin just a couple of tables off the money bubble.

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Celina Lin, one of two Team PokerStars Pros eliminated on Day 2

6:15pm: Back for level 14

The players are back from their break here on Day 2 of the MPC21 Red Dragon Main Event.

It’s looking like we will be on the bubble at some point before the next break.

The blinds are now 1,500/3,000 with a 500 ante.


6:05pm: Break number one on Day 2

Approximately 130 players have been sent on their first break of the day.

Back to it in 10 minutes.

When we return we will keep edging closer to the money bubble.

6:00pm: Former champ bursts into the lead

We have just watched Wing Cheong Chong scoop up a big pot and move his stack to 285,000 – easily enough to see him move into the chip lead. As previously mentioned, Chong won this very event back in 2010. Can he do it again?

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5:50pm: Wai increases his chip lead, while Li falls

By our count there are nine female players still alive in the Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon Main Event. One of those is Fanny Li, but she’s just taken a nasty hit to her chip stack.

We didn’t pick up the action but we saw the aftermath. The board read K♣ 2♦ J♥ 4♣ Q♥ and Li had K♦ K♥ in front of her – top set would normally be a good thing, but Li was paying off chips as Chun Tung Wai showed 10♦ 9â™  for a rivered gutshot straight.

Li was left shaking her head as she slips to 70,000 as Wai increases his stack to 250,000 for the chip lead in the tournament.

5:40pm: Wang down, Zhong building and down to 140

The latest player to hit the rail was Yuexin Wang. He got all his chips in preflop holding 10♣ 8♥ was coming up against Wei Zhong with pocket queens. The board ran out bricks and Wang was sent home.

We are now to around 140 players midway through the second level of the day.

5:30pm: Big stacks in the room

We are moving ever-closer to the 108 money-paying position, but nobody in the field is certain to make it that far. The following players, however, are probably feeling pretty good right now. As you can see, Meng Yao Chen is looking like our current chip leader.

Meng Yao Chen – 215,000
Mikal Blomlie – 195,000
Lei Song – 190,000
Wei Yang – 185,000
Chun Tung Wei – 180,000
Jean Peirre Didier – 160,000
Koichi Nozaki – 150,000

5:15pm: As quick as they come, they go

Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin recently built her stack to upward of 80,000. Now she is back down under 20,000 after getting unlucky in quite a large hand.

Lin was under the gun plus one when she opened it up with a raise holding Ace-King. The action folded to the player in the big blind and he moved all in for around 40,000. Lin called it and the player was at risk holding J-8 offsuit.

Unfortunately for Lin her superior holding wasn’t able to hold up.

Back to the grinding station.

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Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin before she lost most of her chips

5:05pm: Level 13 begins, Blinds 1,200/2,400 (400)

4:55pm: Celina Lin aggressively building a stack

Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin knows how aggressive you have to be to win a poker tournament. After all, she is the only two-time Red Dragon champ. Lin started today with just over 50,000 in chips and is now moving up toward 80,000.

We recently arrived to find Lin and Hon Cheong Lee involved in a hand on a 2♣ J♠ 10♠ flop. Lin had checked to Lee, who bet 4,000. Lin then check-raised to 11,500. After a few moments, Lee called.

The turn was a 3♣ and this time Lin confidently moved all in. Lee was well covered and if he called his tournament life would be at risk. He did not call and with that Lin was starting to build a stack.

4:50pm: Quickly down to 20 tables

APPT President Danny McDonagh has just announced that we are down to 20 tables. That means we have already lost over 40 players in the first level as 180 now remain.

4:40pm: Lucky Lo, not so lucky Li

Wai Tung Lo recently got aggressive with A♥ 4♣ , three-betting all in preflop after Shao Li had opened it up with a min-raise. Li called it off with A♠ Q♣ and Lo was looking like he would be going home. However, luck was on his side on this occasion as the dealer spread out a 4♠ K♥ 3♦ J♦ 6♣ board to see him double up.

4:25pm: Juicy kings beat queens

Juicy Li has posted a huge amount of results here at PokerStars LIVE Macau, but never in a main event like the Red Dragon. Li started Day 2 with just over 20,000 in chips and is now up well over 50,000 after scooping a massive pot.

It started with one player limping from middle position, a player then raised it up to 6,000 from the cutoff, at which point Li moved all in for around 25,000 from the button. Hsien Hsun Lee was in the big blind and shipped his stack of around 40,000 in the middle. The other two players got out of the way and Li confidently turned over K♦ K♥ . Lee, on the other hand, reservedly showed his Q♦ Q♥ .

The board ran out 10♥ 5♠ 3♣ J♥ 4♠ and just like that, Li had doubled up.

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Juicy Li has started Day 2 with a handy double up

4:15pm: Plenty of quick exits

At least a dozen players have been eliminated in the first five minutes of play. This includes players like Lonjie Li, Teruhiko Kabasawa, Chi Fu Sze, Steven Tegnelia and Tsuneaki Takeda.
The eliminations are bound to slow down soon as the players get into the grinding groove of Day 2.

4:10pm: McDonagh says six

APPT President and PokerStars LIVE Macau head honcho Danny McDongh has just told the players we will be playing six levels today. Including breaks, that will bring us to a 10:30pm finish.

4:05pm: Rip open the bags and play cards

After a slight delay, the 221 players have taken their seats, ripped open their bags and are just about to play their first hands of Day 2 of the MPC21 Red Dragon Main Event.

We are beginning Level 12, with blinds at 1,000/2,000 with a 300 ante. Levels now last 60 minutes each, as opposed to the 45 minutes from the Day 1 flights.

Getting down to business in the MPC21 Red Dragon Main Event

What was once 808 is now the 221 players who are currently filtering into PokerStars LIVE Macau for Day 2 of the Red Dragon Main Event. We have been told it’s only going to be a short day, but we still imagine that we will burst into the money at some point throughout the day.

MPC21 prize pool and payout information

The player who will start the day with the most chips is Macau-based Norwegian Mikal Blomlie. His 169,500 in chips is just a few thousand ahead of Wei Yang with 166,700. The third largest chip stack (152,500) belongs to 2010 MPC Red Dragon champ Wing Cheong Chong.

The big stacks are joined by plenty of prominent players including Winfred Yu, Hai Bo Chu, Andrew Scott, John Q Hoang, Raiden Kan, inaugural Red Dragon champ Kenny Leong and Team PokerStars Pros Celina Lin and Raymond Wu. Both Lin and Wu have won Red Dragon titles (Lin has two) and will be looking to win another for the Red Spade.

MPC21 Red Dragon Day 2 seating draw

The action on Day 2 is set to begin at 4:00pm local time and you can find live updates right here at the PokerStarsBlog. Stay tuned!

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PokerStars LIVE Macau is ready to rock on Day 2 of the Red Dragon

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