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Home / Uncategorized / 2014 ACOP Super High Roller: Day 2 updates

Joseph Cheong leads the ACOP Super High Roller final table

What started as 52 entrants (and 50 rebuys) is now just eight!

The chip leader of the final table is the same man who started Day 2 as the chip leader in Joseph Cheong. He has just over 12 million which is well ahead of the nearest stack in Steve O’Dwyer with just over 8 million.

Also at the final table is none other than Daniel Colman. It has been well documented that Colman has had a massive year, posting more than US$22 million in results. He will be adding at least HK$2,420,400 (~US$315,000) to that tally and maybe even more.

Here is how the final eight lines up:

Seat 1: Davidi Kitai – 3,190,000
Seat 2: Kitson Kho – 4,875,000
Seat 3: Connor Drinan – 4,875,000
Seat 4: Daniel Colman – 2,955,000
Seat 5: Ryan Fee – 6,230,000
Seat 6: Pratyush Buddiga – 8,075,000
Seat 7: Joseph Cheong – 12,665,000
Seat 8: Steve O’Dwyer – 8,135,000

Play will recommence at 3:15 p.m. local time on Monday and you will find full live updates of the action right here at the PokerStarsBlog. You will also be able to find a full recap of Day 2 and player profiles of the final table very shortly, so stay tuned for that!

12:15am: Double knock out and final table set!

A simultaneous elimination on the faraway feature table and on the table here in the PokerStars LIVE Macau poker room means there won’t be a final table of nine and no official ‘bubble’ play. Instead, the event is in the money and the day is over!

Over on the feature table the action folded around to Connor Drinan on the button who made it 250,000 to go. Sitting with just over 2.6 million in the small blind Dan Smith decided to make a stand and move all-in.

After asking for a count Pratyush Buddiga decided to isolate and re-raised all-in for 5 million in total, which was enough to get Drinan to bow out.

Smith was the at risk player and would need some help with his K♦ Q♥ dominated by Buddiga’s A♣ Kâ™  . Unfortunately Smith was not going to get the help he needed with the dealer turning over the A♥ window card, quickly followed by 2♥ 6♣ . The 3♦ turn left Smith drawing dead and he headed for the rail as Buddiga raked in the pot.

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Dan Smith was one of two bubbles in the ACOP Super High Roller

Over in the poker room, Dimitar Danchev was the player eliminated. He held K-Q and all-in preflop in the small blind against Steve O’Dwyer with A-7 in the big blind. Danchev managed to flop a king, but O’Dwyer turned an ace and with no help on the river, it was all over!

With Smith and Danchev on the rail, Day 2 is over, the final table of eight is set and the players are now all guaranteed HK$2,420,400 (~US$315,000).

We will post details of the final table very shortly.

12:00am: Back to play into money

The ten players are back from their break and ready to play into the money.

It’s now level 16 with blinds at 60,000/120,000 and a 20,000 ante.

11:50pm: Final ten on ten-minute break

The ten players have been sent on a 10-minute break.

Here are the approximate stacks of all the players.

Table 16
Steve O’Dwyer – 7.3 million
Ryan Fee – 5.9 million
Kitson Kho – 4.8 million
Davidi Kitai – 3.2 million
Dimitar Danchev – 1.9 million

Feature Table
Joseph Cheong – 12.7 million
Connor Drinan – 5.1 million
Pratyush Buddiga – 5 million
Dan Colman – 2.9 million
Dan Smith – 2.7 million

11:30pm: Cheong flushes out Duhamel

Since Connor Drinan’s double up our six remaining feature table players have been taking turns stealing the blinds and antes. It looks as though Joseph Cheong has been getting more than his fair share however, recently climbing up to around 8 million in chips.

Cheong then padded out his stack further at the expense of Jonathan Duhamel. We caught the action on the turn with the board reading 7♦ J♠ Q♦ 2♦ with Duhamel leading out for 325,000.

Cheong announced a re-raise but had no sooner done so before Duhamel quickly announced he was all-in and was just as speedily called by Cheong.

The cards were turned over and it’s easy to see why the 2♦ was such an action packed turn card as it gave both players a flush. Unfortunately for Duhamel his 8♦ 9♦ was drawing dead to Cheong’s J♦ 4♦ .

Duhamel departs in 11th place and Cheong extends his lead to 11.5 million in chips, twice that of next closest rival Connor Drinan who has what looks to be 5.3 million.
With that, the two five-handed tables are now playing round for round. One more elimination and we will be at our final table of nine and on the bubble.

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Jonathan Duhamel was the final Team PokerStars Pro in the hunt

11:15pm: Drinan doubles

Connor Drinan was the shortest stack at the feature table but a timely double up has brought him right back into the mix.

Dan Colman opened the action with a raise to 225,000 from the button, with Drinan announcing all-in from the small blind for 2,245,000.

Sitting in the big blind Dan Smith asked for a count before re-shipping over the top for just over 5 million. Colman quickly mucked and the cards went on their backs, Drinan’s Aâ™  Q♥ leading Smith’s A♣ Jâ™  .

Both players hit top pair when the flop came down A♦ 6♥ 7♥ but the 4â™  turn and 9♣ river meant Drinan’s queen kicker played to grant him a double up to 4.5 million while Smith dropped to around 2.5 million.

11:10pm: Tobias gone, 11 remain

Tobias Reinkemeier was hanging in there after recently being crippled by Davidi Kitai, but has now found the rail after sending his chips to Steve O’Dwyer.

Reinkemeier got his last chips in holding Q♥ 9â™  on a 9♦ 5♦ 4♦ flop and ran into the monster A♦ A♥ of Steve O’Dwyer. The K♣ turn and 2♥ river were no help to Reinkemeier and so it was to the rail, leaving the tournament with 11 players.

11:00pm: Stack update from the feature table

Here are the approximate stacks of the players currently on the feature table.

Joseph Cheong – 7.2 million
Pratyush Buddiga – 5.7 million
Dan Smith – 5.2 million
Jonathan Duhamel – 4.5 million
Dan Colman – 3.8 million
Connor Drinan – 2.7 million

10:50pm: Level 15 Begins, Blinds 50,000/100,000, Ante 10,000

10:40pm: Massive three-way all in

Mike McDonald was in the cut off when he shoved all in for what looked like 1,250,000. Davidi Kitai then shoved from the small blind for 1,685,000. It was already a big pot, but it was about to get bigger as Tobias Reinkemeier went deep into the tank.
Eventually he made the call, having both his opponents covered.

Reinkemeier: 10♥ 10♦
Kitai: A♥ 9♥
McDonald: 4♣ 4♥

It was looking like we might have a double elimination. At least, that was the case before the dealer flipped over a Q♣ 9♥ 9♦ flop to put Kitai In front. Then an A♣ gave Kitai the full house. The 4♠ river was just a little needle to McDonald who had made a smaller full house.

McDonald gone, Kitai up to just under 5 million and Reinkemeier now one of the short stacks with 1.4 million. There are now 12 players remaining.

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Full house not good enough for Mike McDonald

10:20pm Duhamel cripples Quoss, Buddiga administers coup de grâce

A huge hand has just played out on the feature table, resulting in a brutal beat for Fabian Quoss. Pre-flop Dan Colman was the instigator making it 200,000 to go from middle position. Quoss flat-called from the cut off before Jonathan Duhamel chose to squeeze all-in from the big blind for 2.51 million in total.

While Colman was quick to get out of the way, Quoss was not going anywhere with A♦ A♣ and quickly called. Duhamel, holding 9♥ 9♠ , was in need of some help and received it when the 9♦ came in as the window card with the rest of the flop falling K♠ 7♦ .

There was no ace on the turn and river and when the stacks were counted down Quoss was left on life support with just 35,000 in chips while Duhamel rocketed up to the giddy heights of 5.1 million.

Despite climbing to 130,000 with 7♥ 7♦ against the 4♠ 4♥ of Joseph Cheong two hands later Quoss did not make a last gasp comeback.

The German committed his last 130,000 pre-flop with Q♣ 9♣ with Pratyush Buddiga making the call with 6♣ 6♦ . Quoss totally missed the K♠ 3♣ 5♥ 10♥ A♠ board and headed for the rail in 14th place, six spots off the money.

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Painful end to Fabian Quoss’s tournament

10:10pm: Peters gone, 14 remain

Davidi Peters was the short stack at the beginning of the final two table redraw and has now found himself on the rail to see the ACOP Super High Roller down to 14 players.

The plan tonight is to play to a final table of nine, then burst the bubble, and close out the night in the money with eight players remaining. You can find the full prize pool information by clicking here.

10:00pm: Zhu busts after break

Just a scant three-hands into the new level and we have our 16th place casualty over on the feature table.

Despite folding out the previous hand on the flop to a chunky check-raise from Fabian Quoss, Joseph Cheong is not put off, so when Guanfei Zhu opens under the gun for 175,000 Cheong reached for chips once more, re-raising to 475,000 in total.

Action folded back around to Zhu who quickly moved all-in and was just as quickly called by Cheong.

Zhu was the at risk player, his A♦ J♥ trailing Cheong’s A♣ K♦ .

The board ran out 7♠ 4♥ 3♦ Q♠ 6♠ and while Zhu headed for the rail, Cheong padded out his impressive looking chip fortress with some new masonry. Cheong now has a stack of 7 million for a lead of nearly 2 million more than next closest rival Dan Smith.

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Joseph Cheong is looking tough to stop

9:55pm: O’Dwyer doubles through Dimitar

Very quickly after the players returned from their break and Steve O’Dwyer has doubled through Dimitar Danchev. We didn’t catch when the chips went in, but we do know O’Dwyer had K♥ Kâ™  against Danchev’s Q♥ Q♦ on a 8â™  8♦ 3â™  10♣ 8♥ board run out.

O’Dwyer is up over 3 million, while Danchev is down to around 2 million.

9:50pm: Break over, Level 14 begins

The players are back from their break and the cards are back in the air!

It’s up to Level 14 with blinds at 40,000/80,000 and a 10,000 ante.


9:40pm: Final 16 head on break

The 16 remaining players have made their way on a break.

Remember, we are playing down to the final eight tonight!

Back to play in 10 minutes.

9:30pm: Baron eliminated, Final two table redraw

Isaac Baron has recently been eliminated over on the feature table and that means we are down to 16 and the ACOP Super High Roller has just redrawn for the final two tables.

Check out the lineup and approximate stacks below.

Table 16
Seat 1: Dimitar Danchev – 3,500,000
Seat 2: David Peters – 1,350,000
Seat 3: Mike McDonald – 2,850,000
Seat 4: Steve O’Dwyer – 1,600,000
Seat 5: Davidi Kitai – 1,950,000
Seat 6: Tobias Reinkemeier – 3,000,000
Seat 7: Ryan Fee – 4,000,000
Seat 8: Kitson Kho – 3,900,000

Feature Table
Seat 1: Dan Colman – 3,550,000
Seat 2: Connor Drinan – 2,400,000
Seat 3: Fabian Quoss – 3,000,000
Seat 4: Dan Smith – 5,050,000
Seat 5: Guanfei Zhu – 1,900,000
Seat 6: Jonathan Duhamel – 3,000,000
Seat 7: Pratyush Buddiga – 5,000,000
Seat 8: Joseph Cheong – 5,200,000

9:15pm: And still 17 remain

With 17 players left we still have to lose nine more before we reach the hallowed final table. Play has tightened up a little in the last 30-minutes and while there is quite a bit of pre-flop muscle flexing going on most pots are settled with a re-raise pre-flop or a continuation-bet on the flop.

One of the few hands we have seen make it to the river was a three-way one between Pratyush Buddiga, Guanfei Zhu and Tobias Reinkemeier.

Buddiga opened the action with a bet of 110,000 from under the gun plus one with Zhu calling from the button. Reinkemeier opted to come along for the ride from the big blind with the flop falling 5♠ Q♦ 5♣ .

Both Reinkemeier and Buddiga checked, opening the door for Zhu to take a stab for 200,000. Reinkemeier made the call and Buddiga bowed out taking the heads-up to the 7♣ turn.

Both players opted for the free card and the dealer flipped over the Qâ™  river. This brought a half-pot bet from Reinkemeier and a quick call from Zhu.

While Zhu’s Aâ™  Q♥ looked the more impressive of the two hands Reinkemeier’s Q♣ 6♣ was good for half the pot with both players having a full house.

Zhu has just over 2 million while Reinkemeier has just under 3 million.

9:00pm: Fee and Quoss blind battle

Ryan Fee and Fabian Quoss just battled in the blinds.

The action folded around to Quoss in the small blind and he limped. Fee then raised it up to 180,000 from the big blind and Quoss responded by re-raising with a stack of 25k chips that looked like 550,000. Fee wasn’t to be intimidated, making it 1,050,000 to go. Quoss tank-folded and some handy chips went to Fee.

He’s up over 4 million, while Quoss still has a healthy stack.

8:50pm: Mooney out brings us to redraw bubble

Geoff Mooney has just been eliminated, which means 17 players are remaining and we are on the bubble of the final two-table redraw.

Mooney’s chips went to Team PokerStars Pro Jonathan Duhamel.

Mooney open-shoved his short stack on the button holding Q♣ 7♣ and Duhamel called with A♠ 8♦ from the big blind. The board ran out 5♥ A♦ 10♠ 4♦ J♣ and it was all over for Mooney.

Duhamel is up to 2.4 million.

When one more player is eliminated, the final 16 will redraw into two tables of eight.

8:30pm: Level 13 Begins, Blinds 30,000/60,000, Ante 5,000

8:25pm: Kitai and Buddiga close level

While all the carnage was occurring on the adjacent table Davidi Kitai and Pratyush Buddiga were playing a very lengthy hand that outlasted both previous bust outs.

Kitai was the initial aggressor opening to 90,000 pre-flop from the cut off with Buddiga making the call from the button.

Both players checked the 8♥ 10♦ 4♦ flop with Kitai throwing out a bet of 130,000 when the K♣ hit the turn. Buddiga sat motionlessly for a good minute or so thinking it over before opting to make the call.

This is where time slowed considerably. Kitai tanked for a minute or so before deciding the right amount to lead out for was 100,000.

Buddiga tanked a little longer before cutting out a large stack of red 25k chips and raising to 600,000 in total. Kitai rocked back in his seat looking extremely surprized at this turn of events before going deep, deep into the think tank.

The next level was a good five minutes old before Kitai finally reached a decision, grudgingly pitching his cards into the muck and allowing Buddiga to rake in 570,000 without showdown.

Buddiga easily has over 6 million after that hand with Kitai on slightly less with what looks to be just over 2.5 million.

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Pratyush Buddiga is a big mover on Day 2 of the ACOP Super High Roller

8:20pm: Mizzi and Morihain bust in quick succession

We have just lost Sorrel Mizzi and Gilles Morihain in the space of the last five minutes, both at the hands of Dimitar Danchev.

Danchev had been patiently playing a middling to short stack of just over 1 million before opting to open in late position with a raise.

Mizzi sitting on around the same decided to defend his big blind with A♣ 8♥ and re-raised all-in for just shy of 900,000 and Danchev quickly called.

Despite Mizzi hitting a pair when the board ran out 3♣ 6♣ 2♣ Jâ™  8♦ it was not enough to beat Danchev’s Q♣ Q♥ and Mizzi departed in 21st place.

A scant hand or so later Danchev again opened to 90,000 only to see Gilles Morihain move all-in for 920,000 from the small blind. After asking for a count, Danchev called again, his 9♦ 9♥ in great shape against Morihain’s 8♦ 8♣ .

With no eight forthcoming Morihain departed in 20th place. Both of those successive pots bring Danchev right back into contention and he now has just over 3 million in chips.

8:15pm: Mo eliminated on the feature table

We recently wandered over to the faraway feature table to find Jason Mo hitting the rail and with his chips going to the now massive stack of Dan Smith.

It looked like the chips went all in preflop, with Mo holding A♠ Q♣ and Smith having J♥ J♦ on a K♥ 8♥ 2♦ 4♠ 2♣ board run out.

Mo’s elimination means there are 21 players remaining and Smith is the leader of them all with a stack of 5.7 million.

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Dan Smith is building a big stack late on Dy 2 of the Super High Roller

8:00pm: Quoss gets Yu

We have had a slew of speedy eliminations following the dinner break with China’s Yu Liang becoming our latest casualty following hot on the heels of the recently departed Phil Ivey.

Down to just over 700,000 Yu committed the last of his chips pre-flop with 10♥ 9♥ , finding a willing customer in the form of Germany’s Fabian Quoss.

Unfortunately for Yu, Quoss had K♠ K♥ and despite flopping a gutshot and turning a backdoor heart flush draw, Yu became our 23rd place casualty when the board ran out a distinctly unhelpful 8♠ Q♦ 5♥ 3♥ A♣ .

Quoss now has chips to play with, climbing to 2.9 million after the hand.

Then there were 22. Redraw at 16, playing down to eight tonight. BW

7:50pm: Tobias looking like the new chip leader

It looks like we have a new chip leader in Tobias Reinkemeier.

He recently padded his stack in a hand against Steve O’Dwyer.

It began with O’Dwyer opening from the hijack. Jonathan Duhamel flat-called on O’Dwyer’s direct left and then Reinkemeier three-bet from the small blind. O’Dwyer called, while Duhamel got out of the way.

On the 3â™  10♥ 7♣ flop, Reinkemeier led for 375,000 and O’Dwyer called.
The 2♠ turn would see both players take plenty of time to check before the dealer flipped over a J♣ to complete the board.

Reinkemeier thought for a long time here before checking. O’Dwyer took even longer, but eventually did the same thing.

At showdown, Reinkemeier tabled 9♦ 9â™  and O’Dwyer quickly mucked.

With that, Reinkemeier is up to around 4.2 million.

O’Dwyer, meanwhile, falls to 1.8 million. JB

7:40pm: Roberts and Ivey bust as play resumes

It took just around ten minutes for us to find our first two post-dinner break casualties with the USA’s Brian Roberts busting in 25th at the hands of Canada’s Pratyush Buddiga and Phil Ivey following him out the door shortly thereafter.

The end of Roberts’ tournament saw all the action take place pre-flop with Roberts opening under the gun and Buddiga three-betting in position. We arrived just in time to see Roberts four-bet shove for just over 700,000 and get snap called by Buddiga.

Roberts was the at risk player, his K♥ Q♥ racing against Buddiga’s pocket Jacks. Despite picking up a backdoor flush draw on the turn to go with his two overs Roberts was eliminated when the board bricked out on the river with the cards running out A♣ 6♥ 2â™  8♥ A♦ .

Buddiga padded his stack out still further and is now up to just over 3.5 million in chips.

With Roberts and Ivey gone, there are now 23 players remaining. BW

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Will Phil Ivey stick around for the ACOP Main Event?

7:30pm: Dinner over, cards back in air

The players are back from their dinner break and the cards are back in the air.

It’s now level 12 with blinds at 20,000/40,000 and a 5,000 ante.

There will be a redraw at the final two tables and tonight we play down to eight.

6:30pm: Dinner break and big stacks

The 25 players have been sent on a one-hour dinner break.

Here are the approximate stacks of some of the current chip leaders.

Joseph Cheong – 4,000,000
Dan Smith – 3,400,000
Tobias Reinkemeier – 3,400,000
Ryan Fee – 3,350,000
Steve O’Dwyer – 2,800,000
Pratyush Buddiga – 2,800,000

6:10pm: McDonald works on timing

With 26 players left we still have a way to go before we are anywhere close to the final table, and with the blinds at 15,000/30,000 with a 5,000 running ante and the average stack coming in at just over 1.9 million there is still plenty of play left.

Canada’s Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald is still very much in the running, though he has endured an up and down level, recently playing two very sizable pots in quick succession, folding out one and winning the other at showdown.

The first was a three-way hand against Isaac Baron and Dan Smith with McDonald making it 75,000 to go from middle position pre-flop. Baron called in late position, Smith called from the blinds and the flop came down 3♥ 4♥ 6♣ .

First to act, Smith checked and McDonald continuation bet 125,000 only to see Baron re-raise to 300,000 in total. Smith folded out and Timex took his time over his decision before electing to make the call.

Both players checked the 8♦ turn and when McDonald checked again on the 7♣ river Baron fired again, this time for a hefty 500,000 into a pot just shy of 900,000.

McDonald tanked for an age, shooting Baron several pointed looks but eventually folded, dropping down to just over 1.6 million after the hand while Baron climbed to 2.6 million.
Only a few hands later McDonald again became embroiled in a big pot, this time against Mustapha Kanit. We caught the action on the turn of a A♥ 5♣ 3♦ A♠ board with McDonald leading out for 200,000 for around a two-thirds pot bet.

Sitting in position Kanit re-raised to 430,000 in total and after another lengthy visit to the think tank McDonald made the call.

Both players checked the 7♦ river with Kanit looking shocked when McDonald turned over A♦ Kâ™  . McDonald’s top trips top kicker is obviously good though as he scooped the pot to climb back up to 2.5 million while Kanit drops down to just over 3 million.

6:00pm: Sorel doubles through Peters

Sorel Mizzi recently found a double up through David Peters.

Mizzi was all in preflop for around 500,000 holding J♠ J♦ and was up against Peters with A♠ K♠ .

The 8♣ 10♣ 3♥ 6♦ 5♠ was good for Mizzi and so he was back up to a seven-sigure stack.

5:45pm: Update from the feature table

Carlos Chadha is no longer on our feature table, or in the tournament for that matter, as he was walking out as we walked in to follow the action.

Tobias Reinkemeirer and Stephen O’Dwyer are still the two big stacks with 3.9 million and 3.4 million respectively, though Phil Ivey is still very much in the running with just over 1 million.

Players were just taking it in turn to steal the blinds and antes for the most part, with the only sizable pots being played not making it past the flop, or in one rare instance, the turn.

Guanfei Zhu has been busy since doubling up Geoff Mooney and has climbed back up over the 1 million mark, padding this out still further after opening for 70,000 pre-flop, getting three-bet by O’Dwyer to the tune of 195,000 and four-bet shipping over the top to win without showdown.

Both Davidi Kitai and Geoff Mooney are the two short stacks with 800,000 and 400,000 respectively.

5:35pm: Byebye Ike

Team PokerStars Pro Online Isaac Haxton has just been eliminated.

He was down to 386,000 and opted to shove all in when it folded around to him on the button. It was 386,000 and the large-stack of Joseph Cheong found a call from the small blind. Dan Colman got out of the way from the big blind and the cards were turned over.
It was Haxton’s Q♣ 8♣ against Cheong’s Aâ™  Jâ™  .

Haxton found a great 4♣ 5♥ 3♣ flop, but with no pair, no club and no running cards to a straight as the dealer flipped over a K♦ turn and a 2♦ river, it was all over for Haxton.

Haxton’s elimination came a short while after Australia’s Aaron Lim hit the rail. These two bust outs means we are down to 29 players. JB

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Isaac Haxton joins fellow Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov on the rail

5:20pm: Level 11 Begins, Blinds 15,000/30,000, Ante 5,000

5:15pm: Bullets for Buddiga

Pratyush Buddiga is keeping himself in contention here at the 2014 ACOP Super high Roller, recently winning a huge pot from Bryn Kenney.

We caught the action on the river and with over 1.2 million already in the middle of the table it was obvious there had been some significant betting.

With the board reading 6♦ Qâ™  3♥ 6♥ 3â™  Kenney was the first to act and was deep in the tank as we reached the table. Eventually Kenney announced ‘all-in’ and was snap-called by Buddiga.

“You have Aces?” asked Kenney.

Buddiga did indeed have Aces, two red ones to be exact, which were miles ahead of Kenney’s Q♣ Kâ™  . Buddiga pulled in the monster pot and is now up to around the 3 million mark while Kenney drops to 307,000. BW

5:10pm: Some of the big stacks

Here are the approximate stacks of some of the current chip leaders.

Mustapha Kanit – 3,900,000
Joseph Cheong – 3,600,000
Steve O’Dwyer – 3,500,000
Tobias Reinkemeier – 3,400,000
Ryan Fee – 2,900,000

5:05pm: Peters’ big chick freezes out Cheng’s snowmen

We are down to 31 players on four tables now in the Super High Roller with Canada’s Leo Cheng becoming our latest casualty.

The USA’s David Peters opened the betting, leading out for 52,000 from middle position and Cheng then moved all-in from the button for 574,000 in total.

Peters asked for a count, and sitting on over 1.2 million, clearly he thought he had enough behind to make the call and did so, with his A♦ Q♦ racing against Cheng’s 8â™  8♦

The Jâ™  2â™  5♣ flop kept Cheng in front but running straight cards on the 3♥ turn and 4♥ river gave Peters the wheel, which crushed Cheng’s snowman to send Cheng out the door. BW

4:55pm: Cheong gets richer as Anatoly falls

Joseph Cheong is now up to just under 4 million in chips courtesy of the recent elimination of Anatoly Filatov.

The chips were in preflop with Filatov having A-K against Cheong’s pocket kings.
The board ran out 9♥ 7♥ 8♣ 4♣ J♣ and Filatov was on the rail, while Cheong was stacking chips.

With the elimination of Filatov, there are 32 players – four tables of eight. JB

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Easy for Joseph Cheong to smile with that many chips

4:40pm: Mooney Doubles

Fresh from the 15-minute break our feature table has some new faces on it, namely Steve O’Dwyer and his sizable chip stack. O’Dwyer joins Phil Ivey, Tobias Reinkemeier, Dan Smith, Guanfei Zhu, Geoff Mooney and Carlos Chadha. Only Reinkemeier is similarly stacked to O’Dwyer on 3 million, everyone else has at least half of that or less.

It is Mooney who is the protagonist in this particular hand, opening to 55,000 from the cut off. Guanfei Zhu opted to play his position aggressively re-raising to 125,000 on the button.

Carlos Chadha chewed over his decision in the big blind, eventually electing to cold call, leaving himself around 950,000 behind. Mooney also came along for the ride and with that it was three-way to a 3♦ 8♠ 2♦ flop.

On the flop, Chadha counted some chips, leading out for 136,000.

Mooney flat called again but Zhu was not done being aggressive and the Chinese player reached for raising chips once again, making it 400,000 to go.

Chadha quickly bowed out but Mooney was going nowhere and quickly moved all-in for 765,000. Zhu did not look thrilled about it but called off the other 365,000, his Aâ™  5♦ trailing to Mooney’s flopped top set with the Australian holding 8♦ 8♥ .

When the turn and river run out 10♣ 7♠ respectively, Mooney raked in a substantial pot and double to over 1.5 million. Zhu is down to 650,000 after that little misadventure. BW

4:30pm: Kiwi and Aussie gone

Australia’s Jeff Rossiter and New Zealand’s David Yan have both recently been eliminated to bring the HK$500,000 Super High Roller to 33 players.

Once one more player is eliminated, the event will be down to the final four tables.

4:20pm: Back to Play

The 36 players have returned from their break.

It’s now Level 10 with blinds 12,000/24,000 and a 4,000 ante.

There will be a dinner break after the next two levels.


4:05pm: First break of the day

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

Cards will be back in the air in 15 minutes.

4:00pm: O’Dwyer wins big before break

There are 36 players currently still in contention in the Super High Roller. Several big names have chipped up, including Fabian Quoss (2 million), Toby Lewis (1.9 million) and Dan Smith (1.6 million).

However it is currently Joseph Cheong who is looks to be leading the way with over 3.6 million in chips. Sitting to Cheong’s direct left is Stephen O’Dwyer who is making a valiant effort to catch up with the current chip leader.

The massive pot O’Dwyer recently won off Russia’s Anatoly Filatov should help though.
We caught the action on the river with the board reading K♦ Qâ™  5♣ 4♦ 6♣ . There was obviously quite a bit of betting action as there was already easily over 850,000 in the middle, with O’Dwyer the out-of-position player facing a 475,000 bet from Filatov – around half of the Russian’s remaining chips.

O’Dwyer tanked for what felt like an eternity before Filatov eventually called for the clock. O’Dwyer eventually called with 30-seconds left and Filatov turned over 9â™  9â™  . It was no good though as O’Dwyer turned over Aâ™  Q♥ to scoop the huge hand and climb to over 3.5 million in chips as Filatov drops down to 450,000.

3:55pm: Some stacks during second level of day

Here are the approximate counts of some of the larger chip stacks here on Day 2 of the HK$500,000 ACOP Super High Roller.

Mustapha Kanit – 3,550,000
Joseph Cheong – 3,200,000
Steve O’Dwyer – 2,600,000
Dan Colman – 2,500,000
Ryan Fee – 2,300,000
Pratyush Buddiga – 2,000,000
Anatoly Filatov – 1,900,000
Isaac Baron – 1,800,000

3:50pm: Set up for a chop

Pratyush Buddiga has continued the aggression that saw him chip up yesterday and is sitting on over 2 million at present. All that ammunition means Buddiga has plenty of shots to fire and he recently opened a hand for 40,000 from the hi-jack.

Being as Buddiga has been so active it’s no surprise he attracted a few callers with Jason Mo making the call from the button and Jeffrey Rossiter calling from the small blind.

Sitting in the big blind however was Brian Roberts who had other ideas. After looking down at his cards Roberts paused and counted out his chips before announcing all-in for 495,000 in total.

Buddiga quickly got out of the way, but sitting on a stack of over 1.8 million Jason Mo had chips to spare and announced the call. Rossiter folded out of the small blind to take the hand heads-up .

Roberts has Aâ™  K♣ and is racing against Mo’s 7♣ 7♦ . The 4â™  7â™  5♦ flop was not a kind one for Roberts, giving Mo a set and putting him firmly in pole position.

The poker gods had other plans though and the turn and river run out 6♦ 3♣ to give both players a straight and chop the pot! BW

3:45pm: Winfred gone, O’Dwyer continues solid start to day

Winfred Yu has just been eliminated at the hands of Steve O’Dwyer, who has had a great start to the day as this is the second time he has sent someone packing.

Yu’s final hand apparently saw him short stacked when he shoved with K-5 on a king-high flop. O’Dwyer had A-K and with no help on the turn or river, Yu was gone and O’Dwyer was scooping up more chips. JB

3:30pm: Team Pro Katchalov latest out

Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov started the day as the shortest stack in the room and hasn’t been able to run it up as he has been the latest elimination here on Day 2 of the ACOP Super High Roller.

There are now 38 players remaining.

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Eugene Katchalov is out, two more Team PokerStars Pros remain

3:20pm: Altergott departs at blinds rise

Blinds have now risen to a hefty 10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 running ante and some of the remaining players are feeling the pinch.

One of these was Max Altergott though it was Brian Roberts who started the action, opening to 50,000 from the hi-jack.

Bryn Kenney cut out a stack of chips in the cut off but had no intention of calling. Kenney count ed out four red 25k chips, three yellow 5k chips and a single brown 1k chip, three-betting to 116,000 in total.

Sitting in the small blind, Altergott squeezed all-in for 442,000 and while Roberts quickly folded, Kenney asked for a count. Kenney’s chips were over the line as soon as he heard the total and the cards were their backs – Altergott’s 5â™  5♦ racing against Kenny’s Aâ™  Jâ™  .

Altergott’s race looked over as soon as the first card came off with the A♦ in the window quickly followed by A♣ 6♥ . There was no miracle five and the turn and river ran out 6♣ J♥ respectively and with that, we had lost another player.

Kenney climbs to 1.5 million after the hand while Altergott headed for the rail. BW

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Max Altergott is no more on Day 2 of the ACOP Super High Roller

3:05pm: Level 9 Begins, Blinds 10,000/20,000 (3,000)

2:55pm: Another three down and Mustapha building

Julius Colman, Yueqing Zhou and Thomas Muehloecker, in that order, have all recently been eliminated bringing the ACOP Super High Roller down to 40 runners.

Zhou was eliminated from Table 23 and while we didn’t catch his bust-out hand, it looks like maybe Mustapha Kanit took his chips as the Italian is now the chip leader with a stack of around 3.7 million.

2:45pm: Ivey dodges ‘Sneaky’ Smith trap

Phil Ivey, Tobias Reinkemeirer, Toby Lewis and Dan Smith are all on the feature table this level, which was six-handed with the recent departure of Rono Lo.

We got there in time to see Ivey leading out from the cut off for 50,000 into a 70,000 pot on a 6♥ K♥ 8♠ flop. Sitting in the big blind, Smith made the call and the dealer peeled the 5♥ turn card, which brought checks from both players.

The 7♣ river brought another check from Smith and Ivey’s spider senses were obviously tingling as it looked like he was going to bet and then decided against it.

Smith sheepishly turned over Q♥ 8♥ for a flush.

“Wow!” whistled Ivey, mucking while shooting Smith a wry grin.

“You look disappointed,’ Ivey quipped, “I had a big hand, swear to God…”

“At what point?” Smith shot back jovially.

Ivey chuckled and shook his head, “Sneaky Dan, sneaky…”

So Smith gets bonus points for subterfuge, but only scooped a 170,000 pot for his troubles. Smith is now up to 1.7 million after the hand and while he lost a little there, Ivey still has more than he started the day with and is sitting pretty on about 1.6 million.

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Phil Ivey is on the feature table on Day 2 of the ACOP Super High Roller

USA’s Carlos Chadha was just taking his seat as we departed to bring the feature table back up to seven-handed. BW

2:35pm: Three Gone and Colman arrives

Three more players have been eliminated early here on Day 2 of the ACOP Super High Roller – Philipp Gruissem, Rono Lo and Peter Chan, in that order.

Not long after these three found themselves on the rail and Dan Colman decided to stroll in late and take his seat. He finished Day 1 with the second largest stack overall and looks to still be around that mark despite the late start.

2:20pm: Kurganov first one out

The first player to be eliminated on Day 2 was Igor Kurganov.

His final hand began when he opened to 28,000 from under the gun. Steve O’Dwyer, on his direct left, then three-bet to 100,000. The action folded around to Philipp Gruissem in the small blind and he thought for a long time before folding.

It was back on Kurganov and he quickly moved all in for just under 600,000.

O’Dwyer snap-called and turned over K♦ K♥ .

Kurganov looked over at Gruissem and said, “You folded an ace?” before showing his A♥ K♣ .

Gruissem said that wasn’t the case and then Kurganov watched on as the dealer spread out a 7♣ Q♣ 7â™  3♦ 9♥ board to send him to the rail.

O’Dwyer is now up to around 2 million. JB

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Igor Kurganov bounced home quickly on Day 2 of the ACOP Super High Roller

2:10pm: A salty start

The UK’s Jack Salter has had a decent start to his day despite having to fold out the hand previous after opening for 34,000 in middle position, getting three-bet by Mike McDonald in late position, who in turn was cold four-bet by Mustapha Kanit in the small blind. Both Salter and McDonald folded.

Salter opened the next hand for the same amount from under the gun plus one, finding a caller in the form of Jason Mo, who opted to defend his big blind.

The flop fell Q♣ Q♠ 10♥ , Mo quickly checked and Salter made a continuation bet of 5,000. Mo thought it over but called fairly quickly and we went heads-up to the J♥ turn. Mo checked for a second time and Salter fired once more, this time for a slightly larger 75,000. Mo tanked for a little longer but called once again and the J♠ washed up on the river to double pair the board.

Mo tanked for 30-seconds or so before checking again, opening the door for Salter to count out a stack of chips worth 137,000 in total leaving himself around 350,000 behind.

Mo had Salter covered with plenty to spare but looked a little perplexed by this series of events, either Salter is bluffing or had flopped a monster, a fact Mo seemed to mumble to himself whilst contemplating the call.

However, call he did and Salter turned over A♣ Q♥ to scoop the pot and climb to just under 900,000 whilst Mo dropped to just under 1.5 million.

Meanwhile, a bleary-eyed Ryan Fee has just wandered in to the tournament area slightly late, but being as he starts today with just under 2.5 million being late is not that much of an issue for him.

Another of our big stacks has yet to arrive, but being as its Dan Colman who is running pretty hot this year with over US$22 million in tournament winnings the other players don’t look too unhappy about it. BW

2:05pm: Let the games begin

The cards are in the air on Day 2 of the HK$500K Super High Roller!

Remember, there are 47 returning players and today we play down to eight.

2:00pm: Slight delay

There will be a slight delay to the start of play, though we expect to have the cards in the air within a few minutes. We will be sure to let you know.

In the meantime, we can tell you that Day 2 will kick off at Level 8 with blinds at 8,000/16,000 with a 2,000 ante.

Also, we have been informed that the ‘feature’ table will be Table 22 which includes Phil Ivey, Tobias Reinkemeier and Dan Smith. We have somewhat limited access to this table which is being filmed by the ‘Macau Billionaire Poker’ team (post production, no live stream), but we will be sure to keep you as informed as possible.

Business time in the ACOP Super High Roller

There is no more rebuying. No more second chances. It’s all business now as 47 players return to PokerStars LIVE Macau to try and make the final table of the HK$500,000 Super High Roller.

The players are fighting it out for a piece of the HK$48,470,400 prize pool (~US$6,260,000) and it’s the top eight who will finish in the money. The plan on Day 2 is to make it to a final table of nine, burst the bubble, and return on Monday to play down to a winner.

Right now it is Joseph Cheong who is leading the way with the only stack over 3 million, while Dan Colman is hot on his heels with a stack of 2,583,000. Germany’s Tobias Reinkemeier rounds out the top three with a stack of 2,567,000.

Some of the others still alive and in contention include Phil Ivey, Dan Smith, Sorel Mizzi and Mike McDonald and Team PokerStars Pros Jonathan Duhamel, Isaac Haxton and Eugene Katchalov.

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Jonathan Duhamel is one of 47 returning players

Click here for the Day 2 seating draw

The cards will be in the air from 2:00 p.m. local time and right here on the PokerStarsBlog will be the only place to find out how Day 2 plays out. Stay tuned!

Updates on this page provided by Joshua Bell and Ben Wilson

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