While thousands of miles away my home country of Britain made its surprising exit from the EU, this day also saw 96 poker hopefuls make their entrance into the APPT10 Seoul main event. Plenty of those would make a brexit of their own by the end of the day (a broke exit) as they didn’t make it through Day 2, and didn’t come close to the money.
Of those 96 Day 1B entries 38 survived when all was said and done, and so tomorrow they’ll be joining the 23 Day 1A survivors as our fields merge for the first time. The player who led the pack at the end of play today was Chan Tsuh Ming, who used continuous aggression with pre-flop three/four-bets aplenty to amass the room’s biggest stack. He’s taking a massive 169,800 into play tomorrow, which crushes Day 1A end-of-play leader Albert Paik’s 116,800.
But let’s get back to the money for a moment. Registration closed at the end of Level 4 today, and that meant we could officially wrap up our player numbers and create a prize pool and payout structure. The winner of this event will take home â‚©119,097,600 ($101,399 US), and just 18 of the 158 total entries will make the money. A min-cash in this one is worth â‚©5,099,000.
Who played today I hear you ask? Well, let’s start with our PokerStars Team Pros. Yesterday, on Day 1A we had two red spades. Only one of them survived. Today we had three in the field….
AND I’m happy to say that two of the three made it through. Celina Lin (22,400) and Bryan Huang (24,800) – both of whom made the final table of this very event last year (finishing fourth and second respectively) – have secured a seat on Day 2 tomorrow and will be hoping to make another deep run. Lin doubled up early in the day, while Huang had a tougher time – having to double-up when he got pretty short – yet still made it through.
Japan’s Kosei Ichinose was the Team Pro to be felted. He made his exit around 3pm today, and while we didn’t see the hand that secured his elimination, we did see him playing cash games right in front of where we’re sitting for the rest of the day. What a grinder.
Other players who made it through today include Australia’s Michael Egan (72,700) and China’s Quan Zhou (51,700). Those who weren’t so fortunate include Belgium’s Bart Luyckx, Peter Chan, Raymond Wu, and Wai Tung Lo.
It’s almost a lock that we’ll be bursting the bubble tomorrow, so make sure you come back tomorrow for that. Play starts at 12pm once again, and until then we’re saying good night from Seoul. Kam sa ham ni da! –JS
Prize pool and payout structure
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Day 1B coverage:
8:25pm: Stop the clock!
Level 8: Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)
The clock has now been paused so there’s just a few more hands left for today. We’ll be back with a full recap of today’s play shortly. –JS
8:20pm: Jin still standing
Level 8: Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)
Jiayi Jin is currently on a quest to make back-to-back APPT final tables, having finished fifth last month in Macau for $519,000HK.
After his tablemate Tong Zhou opened to 2,700, it folded to Jin in the small blind and he moved all-in for his last 16,000. Zhou only had 16,300 behind myself, so if he called this one would be for all the marbles.
He didn’t. Jin scooped the chips and is so far on course to complete his quest if he survives the final few hands of the day. –JS
8:15pm: Beattie busto
Level 8: Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)
Kelvin Beattie put up a good fight today but he just met his demise in the last level of the day. His final hand saw an open to 2,500, a call, and then Beattie moving all in for 28,400 from the big blind.
“I don’t think I can fold this” said the initial raiser, who leaned back in his chair before springing back and moving all in over the top.
With the third party out of the way Beattie rolled over Aâ™ K♣ and was flipping against J♥ J♦ . The board wouldn’t bring any help as the cards landed 7♦ 4♦ Q♣ 9â™ Q♦ and Beattie headed for the exit. — BK
8:00pm: New chip boss in town
Level 8: Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)
As we approach the final stages of Day 1b here a new chip leader has emerged among the pack. That title goes to Chan Tsuh Ming.
Ming currently sits with around 130,000 in chips. The Day 1a end-of-day chip leader Albert Paik only bagged up 116,800 so Ming is well on his way to locking up the spot of Day 2 start-of-play frontrunner.
We haven’t caught any huge hands from Ming yet, but we have seen him putting the pressure on preflop. His three and four-bet aggressive style is paying dividends at the moment – let’s see if he can maintain the lead by day’s end. — BK
7:45pm: Huang finds a straight
Level 8: Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)
Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang and Michael Egan just partook in a minor battle after going to a flop of 7♥ 9♦ 10♥ .
After a quick check from Egan in the under the gun seat, Huang checked behind from the cutoff seat. The 8♦ turn was met with another quick check by Egan but prompted Huang to fire for 1,700. Egan stuck around and the K♠arrived on the end.
A third and final quick check from Egan saw Huang barrel for 2,500. The bet was snapped off and the Team Pro showed J♥ 6♥ for a turned straight.
That hand brings Huang up to 31,800 and while Egan lost the pot, he’s still one of our frontrunners with around 92,000 in play. — BK
| Level | Small Blind | Big Blind | Ante |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 500 | 1,000 | 100 |
7:20pm: Ship it to Shibata
Level 7: Blinds 400/800 (100 ante)
Kouichi Shibata’s tournament is still alive after he picked up pocket aces at an opportune moment.
Shibata got his last 13,100 in the middle preflop holding A♥ A♣ and he was in great shape to double against Ken Okada’s Aâ™ Kâ™ . The board didn’t present any danger as the cards fell 9♣ 7♦ 2♣ 8â™ 4♥ and Shibata secured the double up.
He now boasts a stack of 28,300 while Okada is short on 6,800. — BK
7:15pm: Iwama’s Aces get muted by Muto
Level 7: Blinds 400/800 (100 ante)
Getting dealt pocket rockets near the end of the day in a tournament is supposed to be a stack-booster for the following day, right? But unfortunately for Yoshito Iwama, the Aces infront of him led to his demise.
He opened to 2,000 and got a caller in Katsuhiro Muto two to his left. It folded around to Wingfung Tsao in the big blind and he came along too.
A 2♦ 7♥ Q♦ flop hit the felt and Tsao checked to the raiser. Iwama continued for 2,200 and only Muto came along this time. The dealer put out the 2♣ on the turn and now Iwama checked, allowing Muto to try and seize control with a 3,700 wager.
Iwama decided to check-raise though, and bumped the price of poker to 8,500. Muto just called.
The J♥ fell on the river and Iwama carefully stacked up all of his chips – around 14,000 – and slid them over the line. Muto couldn’t call fast enough, but both players turned their hands over like they had the winner.
Iwama: A♦ A♥
Muto: 7♦ 7â™
Muto had flopped a set, and those pesky Aces had been well and truly cracked. Iwama hit the rail, while Muto stacked up around 55,000. –JS
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7pm: Lin wins versus Jin
Level 7: Blinds 400/800 (100 ante)
Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin has found herself at a tough table. She has APPT Macau final tablist Jiayi Jin on her direct left and teammate Bryan Huang across from her, but that hasn’t stopped Lin from taking down pots.
It folded around to Lin in the small blind and she limped for 800 before Jin in the big blind raised it up to 2,100. Lin stuck around and the two of them saw a flop of Q♦ 10♥ Q♥ .
Lin checked to the aggressor and Jin continued for 2,200. The Team Pro called and the dealer turned the A♥ . The action checked through the turn and the 3♦ river and Lin flipped over 10♣ 8♠for the winner.
She moves up to 24,800 while Jin drops to 38,100.
If the table wasn’t tough enough, just as that hand concluded, Australian crusher Michael Egan took a seat. This murderer’s row is definitely a line up to watch. — BK
6:45pm: Huang secures the double-up
Level 7: Blinds 400/800 (100 ante)
PokerStars Team Pro Bryan Huang was getting a little short, but he just found the perfect time – and the perfect flop – to double-up on.
The board showed the 3♣ 7♦ 7♣ 10♦ and Huang was on the button. His sole opponent in the pot was Ken Hirosawa who bet 3,000 into the roughly 10,000 pot. Huang the moved all-in over the top for 8,300 total, and after some deliberation Hirosawa made the call.
Huang confidently turned over his 7â™ 6â™ for flopped trips, while all Hirosawa could muster at this stage was the 5♦ 5â™ . The river was the J♣ and Huang boosted his stack to 29,000. –JS
| Level | Small Blind | Big Blind | Ante |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 400 | 800 | 100 |
6:25pm: Break O’clock
Players have stepped away for the final break of the day. Action resumes in 10 minutes. — BK
6:20pm: Hunger strikes
Level 6: Blinds 300/600 (75 ante)
Play has slowed down towards the end of this level. In ten minutes I couldn’t find a decent hand. You know what I think the reason is?
Sandwiches.
Hear me out.
The floor staff have just had a whole load of sandwiches delivered to feed the players who are about to go on their last ten minute break of the day. It’s my thinking that none of our remaining players want to bust out before they can get their hands on a delicious sarnie.
When we return from break, I’m sure the hunger strike will be over and play will pick back up. –JS
6:10pm: A tough grind
Level 6: Blinds 300/600 (75 ante)
Tournament poker can be gruelling at times. Potentially long days require stamina and extreme focus to stay sharp and minimize mistakes.
While the APPT offers comfortable eight-hour Day 1 flights, some players still seem to be struggling at the tables. One player, Guoliang Wei, appears to currently be asleep despite the action going on all around him. We caught him having a powernap in the last orbit.
Luckily for Wei tonight is the APPT Welcome Party where he will have a chance to unwind from the grind. Or, of course, he could go straight to bed. — BK
6:05pm: Country breakdown
Level 6: Blinds 300/600 (75 ante)
Now that the tournament is well and truly locked out we can break down the list of entrants by their representative nation.
In total, players from 26 different countries took part, with Japan way out in front. Japan comprises 35.4% of the field while China comes in second place on 19%. — BK
6:00pm: Zhou ramping up the aggression
Level 6: Blinds 300/600 (75 ante)
Macau regular and prominent player Quan Zhou is fighting fire with fire here today. He has basically doubled his starting stack so far.
In a recent hand he opened to 1,625 from the hijack seat before the man in the cutoff bumped it up to 4,100 to go. Zhou wanted to play for more, however, coming back over the top to the tune of 11,800.
It didn’t take long for the player to relinquish his hand and Zhou collected the pot and stacked up a total of 39,700. — BK
5:55pm: Bye bye Belgium; Beattie’s stack bigger
Level 6: Blinds 300/600 (75 ante)
The sole Belgian in this Day 1B field, Bart Luyckx, has been eliminated after a tough day which saw him stuck in the shortest stack position for many hours.
Down to just 1,550, he put his last couple of chips in from the big blind position which was called by over-called by Kelvin Beattie and Masaki Nakano. The flop came the Jâ™ 8♥ J♥ and Luyckx, who had been standing up, jokingly decided to sit back down, as if he’d hit the flop hard. Meanwhile, Beattie bet 1,000 and Nakano called.
The turn was the Q♥ and at this point, while Beattie was decided what to do, Luyckx looked up at me and shook his hand, running his finger across his neck. His time in this tournament was seemingly up.
Both checked the turn and on the 3♦ river Beattie led for 3,000. Nakano gave it up, and Luyckx practically mucked before even seeing Beattie’s cards (which turned out to be the K♥ J♣ for trips.
“Good luck everyone!” said Luyckx as he made his exit. Beattie is now up to 39,000. –JS
5:45pm: Huang creaming the competition
Level 6: Blinds 300/600 (75 ante)
Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang hasn’t really gotten anything going so far today, but he did just take down a nice pot from the man on his left.
On a flop of K♦ 6♦ 2♠Huang led from the cutoff for 1,200. The player on the button took a moment away from eating the ice cream sundaes on either side of him and made the call to see the dealer turn the J♣ .
The action then checked through before the third diamond 10♦ arrived to complete the board. Huang picked up the betting again, this time making it 1,400, and his opponent went into the tank.
After more than a minute’s deliberation he threw the hand away and immediately went back to eating his desserts. For Huang though; something even sweeter – more chips to add to his stack as he moved up to over 23,000. — BK
5:35pm: Finland turns a bluff
Level 6: Blinds 300/600 (75 ante)
Kimmolavi Puusa has been raking in even more chips, including a win with this well-timed semi-bluff.
One a flop of 6♥ J♦ 9♠, Puusa led for 1,800 and got a call from his sole opponent in the hand, Yuichi Sumida. They saw the 10♥ land on the turn and Puusa slowed down, checking it to the player from Japan who put out a bet of 4,500.
It didn’t take the player from Finland long to raise. He grabbed four yellow 5K chips and tossed them in the middle, making it 20,000 to go, and Sumida quickly folded.
Puusa then slammed his A♥ K♥ face-up on the table, clearly proud with his semi-bluff. Well, it worked, so why wouldn’t he be proud? –JS
| Level | Small Blind | Big Blind | Ante |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 300 | 600 | 75 |
5:25pm: Oh no for Lo as he’s got to go
Level 5: Blinds 200/400 (50 ante)
After that crushing Kings vs Aces hand earlier (see 3:50pm) Wai Tung Lo has been trying to get his stack back into fighting shape. However, his efforts have proved fruitless as he’s just been eliminated from Day 1B.
He opened the pot to 900, getting one caller in Yoshito Iwama out of the small blind. The flop showed the 4♣ J♠3♠and Iwama checked, allowing Lo to put in a c-bet of 1,100. Iwama called though, and now Lo had just 9,000 behind.
The turn was the 9♦ , which Iwama checked again. Lo thought for a moment before announcing he was all-in, which got snap-called by Iwama with his 4â™ 4♦ for a set. Lo had the K♣ J♥ for top pair, and the Qâ™ river didn’t improve his hand.
It’s all over for Lo here in the main event. –JS
5:10pm: Bad river for Beattie
Level 5: Blinds are 200/400 (50 ante)
Kelvin Beattie just lost a pot after a costly river card tempted him to make a call with the inferior hand.
The board was showing 3♠4♣ 8♣ Q♦ when the dealer presented the J♣ river. A seemingly good card for Beattie who held J♠J♥ , his newly found set would end up costing him money.
That was because Keita Minaguchi held A♣ 6♣ for the nut flush and after Beattie led at the pot for 1,100, Minaguchi put in a raise to 3,200. Beattie weighed up his options but in the end he committed the chips only to see he was beat. He flashed the rivered set to the table and the pot was pushed Minaguchi’s way.
With that hand Beattie drops to 27,500 in chips, while Minaguchi bounces back to 14,800. — BK
4:55pm: Negreanu’s Rocky tactics are catching on
Level 5: Blinds 200/400 (50 ante)
Every year before the WSOP, Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu watches all of the Rocky movies, in a bid to get himself psyched up with the poker eye of the tiger.
It seems that tactic is catching on. Here in Seoul, Tsuyoshi Ishibashi is watching the latest edition to the Rocky saga, Creed, whilst he’s playing in the main event.
Can the Japanese stallion keep sparring right through to Day 2? Or will he get…knocked out? –JS
4:50pm: Puusa pips Susaka to the post
Level 5: Blinds 200/400 (50 ante)
With the flop showing the 6♦ 2♦ 10â™ , Japan’s Nobuaki Susaka led for 1,700 and Finland’s Kimmoolavi Puusa raised that up to 4,800. Susaka made the call and we went to the turn.
It was the 7♦ and Susaka checked. Puusa, who had the button in front of him, thought for a while holding a single 5K chip, before just deciding to bet 5,000. Susaka matched the bet and the dealer put out the 4♣ river.
Play slowed down entirely with both checking, so the cards were on their backs. Susaka held the 9â™ 10♦ for top pair, but that wasn’t good enough compared with Puusa’s 10♣ Q♥ . His kicker played and he moved up to 33,000, while Susaka is down to 9,000. –JS
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4:40pm: Takeda takes out Xue
Level 5: Blinds are 200/400 (50 ante)
Renxing Xue was our first evictee of Level 5, he found himself all in and at risk preflop against Yusuke Takeda.
Xue held 10♥ 9♥ and while the suited-connected hand had a lot of potential, he’d need to find a lot of help against Takeda’s Kâ™ K♥ . The A♦ 3♦ 8â™ changed nothing and while the 10â™ turn gave Xue a few more outs to stay alive, ultimately the J♦ river bricked off and he was sent packing.
Takeda stacked what were once his opponent’s chips and climbed to 27,200. — BK
4:30pm: Payout information
Level 5: Blinds are 200/400 (50 ante)
Level 5 has begun and the tournament is officially locked out. That means numbers have been finalized and we now have the payout information.
On top of the 61 who registered yesterday there were another 96 this afternoon – that makes a total of 157 total entrants. It will be 18 of those who will see a return on their investment with the eventual champion receiving a cool â‚©119,097,600 (including a HK$100,000 2016 ACOP Main Event entry) and the APPT trophy. — BK
| Level | Small Blind | Big Blind | Ante |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 200 | 400 | 50 |
4:15pm: Scheduled break
It’s time again for players to take a break. Coverage will resume in 10 minutes. — BK
4:05pm: Egan squeezes
Level 4: Blinds are 150/300
Australia’s Michael Egan is continuing to build a stack. He just took down a multiway pot preflop with a sizable three-bet.
It was opened to 750 from the cutoff and after the player on the button flat called, Egan popped it up from the small blind to 3,300.
The initial raiser quickly folded, and while the button postured for a few moments, he too let it go. Egan adds that one to his increasing chip count, now with 48,600 in play. — BK
3:50pm: The coldest of pre-flop coolers sees Lo’s chips sent Wei’s way
Level 4: Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)
There was an absolute ton of chips in the middle pre-flop when I arrived at Table 5. How did this happen? How did more than 60,000 find it’s way into the centre of the felt before any community cards had been dealt?
Well, all I know is that the action went back to Hong Kong’s Wai Tung Lo and he made it 17,100 to go (that sounds like a five-bet to us). Then Guoliang Wei raised it again, moving all-in for 44,250.
Lo had a big decision on his hands. Luckily he had Wei covered, so if he called and lost he would still be in. However, the longer he thought, the more anguished he appeared, and his hand was essentially exposed through his actions: it simply had to be pocket Kings. Right?
But did Wei have Aces? What hands with Wei had Lo already played? Had he seen him bluffing in the past? All of these things would have been running through Lo’s mind as he contemplated his decision. The thought process took a while, so long that another player called the clock.
With just a minute to go, Lo kept thinking. “Can I show my cards?” he asked the floor, who shook their heads.
With just a few seconds left to go he chucked in a chip signaling a call. Wei turned over his hand: A♦ A♠. And Lo showed his: K♦ K♣ .
There was no help on the board for Lo who dropped to 13,000, while Wei is right up among the leaders with more than 90,000. –JS
3:35pm: Team Pro update
Level 4: Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)
So far three Team PokerStars Pros have pulled up seats on Day 1b. They include Bryan Huang, Celina Lin and Kosei Ichinose.
Unfortunately for Ichinose it appears he’s met an early demise, with an empty seat now where the Japanese pro once sat.
For Huang and Lin, however, they’ll be looking to go back-to-back with impressive finishes in Seoul after both making the final table last year.
Lin placed fourth in the last iteration of this event after a bad beat from Poland’s Daniel Demicki left her reeling. She got the last of her chips in with 10♣ 10♦ against Demicki’s K♦ 3♦ but was sent packing by a runner-runner flush. Lin will be hoping to runner better this week and that looks to be the case so far. She has almost doubled her starting stack at the beginning of Level 4, now with 36,800 in chips.
Huang went two places better than Lin last year when he scored himself â‚©97,820,000 ($89,413) for a second-place finish. He hasn’t found much momentum yet, still hovering around starting stack, but it’s still relatively early in proceedings.
We’ll be keeping an eye on how they fare this week in Seoul. — BK
3:25pm: Boo hoo for Wu as Chan finishes him off
Level 4: Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)
In our 3:05pm post, we told you how Peter Chan crippled the stack of Raymond Wu. Not satisfied with that, just a few hands later Chan finished what he started and took the rest of Wu’s chips.
They got it all-in (for around 3,000) with Wu’s K♣ 8â™ up against Chan’s A♣ 10â™ . The board ran out Q♦ Aâ™ 9â™ K♥ 7♥ , and Wu hit the rail.
That would be Celina Lin’s rail, as he went over to tell her of his bad news. The good friends shared a joke before Lin went back to her grind and Wu made his exit. –JS
| Level | Small Blind | Big Blind | Ante |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 150 | 300 | 25 |
3:15pm: Bad break for Bart, but at least the Belgian’s not bust
Level 3: Blinds 150/300
Last time I saw Belgium’s Bart Luyckx in a pot, he got coolered when his Queens went up against Aces. However, he still had a decent stack left after that hand.
Something even more painful must have happened since as he was down to just 1,500 just now. He moved all-in with pocket Kings and got called by Koichi Nozaki who had pocket tens. The board ran out safely for Luyckx and he doubled up, which saw all of his tablemates tap the table. That suggests the hand in which he lost most of his chips was pretty brutal. He’ll need quite a few more doubles before he can settle into his stride. –JS
3:05pm: Chan chops down Wu
Level 3: Blinds are 150/300
Peter Chan just crippled the stack of Raymond Wu after moving all in and receiving a call with a monster hand.
The board read 8♣ 7♥ K♥ Q♠Q♣ and Wu checked to Chan who pushed his last 11,475 into the middle. Wu studied the board before moving calling chips forward but immediately saw he was beat when Chan revealed 8♥ 8♦ for a full house.
The bet on the end was for most of Wu’s stack and he now sits with only 3,600 in chips. — BK
3pm: Beattie gets beaten by Thoo
Level 3: Blinds 150/300
There are a few US players in the field today, one of whom is Kelvin Beattie. He opened to 700 and found one caller in Mingken Thoo on the button. The pair went to a flop, which was the 6♠5♠K♥ and Beattie put out a c-bet of 700. Thoo called.
The dealer burned and turned the 8♠and Beattie slowed down, checking it over to Thoo who tried to seize control with a 1,500 bet. Beattie came along though, and we went to the river. It was the 2♥ and the American checked once more. Thoo played aggressor again with a 3,500 bet, and this sent Beattie into the tank.
After two minutes of thinking time, in which he looked back at his hand about once every five seconds, Beattie laid it down. –JS
2:50pm: Sasaki takes from Turtiainen
Level 3: Blinds are 150/300
Nobuaki Sasaki started things off with a raise to 750. Finland’s Mikkopetteri Turtiainen made the call and when the rest of the table folded the dealer spread the 6♥ 9♣ Q♥ flop.
The action went check check and the 2♥ appeared on the turn. Sasaki checked again and Turtiainen wagered 900. Sasaki then switched things up with a check-raise to 2,000. Turtiainen didn’t look amused but he flicked in a call before the Qâ™ river rolled off.
Sasaki made it 2,200 on the end which made Turtiainen scratch his chin. The Finn loaded up a call and pump faked momentarily before committing the chips with a disgruntled look.
Sasaki showed him A♥ 9♥ for the nut flush and Turtiainen quickly threw his hand face down to the dealer. After that pot Sasaki now sits with 22,600 while Turtiainen dips to 17,800. — BK
2:30pm: Lee takes one from Li
Level 3: Blinds 150/300
After Keisuke Hikosaka limped under the gun, Canada’s Wonkyu Lee bumped things up to 700. It folded around to China’s Li Cha who clicked it back, making it 1,400 to go. Both players called and it was three to the flop.
It came 9♥ A♥ 10♣ and Cha – who started the hand in the big blind – led out for 3,000. Hikosaka got out the way, but Lee made a quick call, taking us to the 7♦ turn. Now the bet from Cha was 5,500.
Lee began to count his chips – something around the 30,000 mark, which covered Cha’s stack. After a minute or so he moved all-in, putting one of the ladies in this event at risk. She too thought for a minute, but eventually decided to fight another day. After winning the next hand too, Lee now sits with 45,000. –JS
2:20pm: Huang in the house
Level 3: Blinds are 150/300
We just spotted Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang at the registration desk. He’ll be joining the field shortly.
Huang likely has a bitter sweet feeling returning to Seoul, after an impressive runner up finish last year left him one shy of the title.
He joins teammates Celina Lin and Kosei Ichinose in the field. We’ll be following their progress to see if they can survive to Day 2. — BK
| LEVEL | SMALL BLIND | BIG BLIND | ANTE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 150 | 300 |
2pm: First break of the day
Players have stepped away from the tournament area momentarily for their first break of the day. Play resumes in 10 minutes’ time. — BK
1:55pm: Lin lays the trap
Level 2: Blinds are 100/200
Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin is off to a strong start here this afternoon. She just took down a pot with some well-timed aggression.
It appeared that the action went three-way to a flop of 10♦ Q♠4♠and Lin checked first to act from the big blind. The cutoff checked but the player on the button made it 400 to go. Lin opted to play for more, bumping it up to 1,200.
The cutoff quickly passed but the button came along to see the 3â™ turn. Lin barrelled again, this time for 1,500, and it was enough to get the job done.
She moves up to a stack of 26,700. — BK
1:45pm: Muto moves in
Level 2: Blinds are 100/200
We arrived at the table to see the board reading 7♠7♣ 3♦ 6♥ and a lot of commotion among the players.
There were two active players with all the money in and while Wingfun Tsao had A♥ A♦ he was behind Katsuhiro Muto’s 9♣ 7♥ trip sevens.
“Ace!” Tsao shouted but the dealer revealed the 2♦ river and Muto cheered.
Muto was the player at risk but that hand brings him up to around 13,000 in chips. Tsao on the other hand now with less than a quarter of start stack on 4,200. — BK
1:40pm: A few more notable names
Level 2: Blinds 100/200
Here are two players that might be familiar to you – Peter Chan and Quan Zhou.
Hong Kong’s Peter Chan is a regular on the APPT circuit and can also be seen on the EPT stop playings in the high rollers. Away from the felt he’s the chairman of what PokerStars Blog once described as ‘the world’s most exclusive club’. You can find out more about Chan and that privileged gang (which includes Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Chun Lei Zhou, Antonio Esfandiari, Vanessa Selbst and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier) here.
He’s also a pretty nifty poker player, with more than $600,000 in live winnings to his name.
Another well-established pro in today’s field is China’s Quan Zhou. With plenty of huge scores in Macau tournaments, plus deep runs on the EPT and at the WSOP, Zhou is certainly a force to be reckoned with. His $700K+ career results show this. –JS
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1:30pm: Egan bounces back
Level 2: Blinds are 100/200
Australia’s Michael Egan was off to a rough start this afternoon, losing almost half of his stack to Takashi Hiranuma within the first few hands of play. He’s made it all back and then some after a solid last hour at the felt.
One of the hands that helped the momentum shift was another battle with Hiranuma. The board read 6♠7♣ 3♠10♦ 4♦ and Hiranuma had bet 4,000 into Egan. The Australian moved all in for a total of 9,050 and it fell back on Hiranuma to speak.
He seemed hesitant to call but perhaps the small size swayed his decision as Hiranuma called to see the bad news. Egan tabled 9â™ 8â™ for the nut straight as Hiranuma nodded in defeat.
Egan has now climbed back to 27,800. — BK
1:20pm: Dangerzone already
Level 2: Blinds 100/200
It’s clearly not been the best start for Japan’s Masanori Ishihara. I don’t know how it happened, but his stack has plummeted down to a quarter of what he started with already. Thing is, looking at the stacks of his tablemates, it doesn’t look like he’s lost one big pot to one player, but rather lost several pots spreading his chips around.
He just moved all-in for 4,800 and got no callers – clearly not the result he wanted. A double-up will be needed shortly to escape the dangerzone. –JS
1:10pm: More for Ichinose as his momentum builds
Level 2: Blinds 100/200
Before the blinds went up, PokerStars Team Pro Kosei Ichinose opened to 300 from middle and got two callers: Guoliang Wei on the button and Tsuyoshi Ishibashi from the big blind. The flop came 3♥ 5♣ 9♦ and it checked to Ichinose, who continued for 600. Again, that bet got two callers.
The 5♥ turn saw it checked to Ichinose again and he fired once more for 1,700. That was too big for his opponents who opted to throw their hands away. We haven’t seen Ichinose lose a pot yet! He’s up to 25,000. –JS
| LEVEL | SMALL BLIND | BIG BLIND | ANTE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 100 | 200 |
12:55pm: Three aces for Ichinose
Level 1: Blinds are 50/100
The action folded around to Masanori Ishihara in the small blind and he raised it up to 300. Team PokerStars Pro Kosei Ichinose was in the big blind and he defended to see a flop of A♦ 9♣ 10♠.
Ishihara continued with another 300 in chips and Kosei called before the dealer turned the Q♦ . Both players checked their options and the A♥ arrived on the river.
Ishihara made it 700 on the end, and while it looked like Ichinose was reaching for raising chips, ultimately the Team Pro just called with A♣ 6♦ for a rivered three of a kind. That was way ahead of Ishihara’s 9♥ 8♥ and Ichinose scooped the pot. — BK
12:50pm: Another Team Pro for your list
Level 1: Blinds 50/100
Joining Japan’s Kosei Ichinose as members of Team PokerStars Pro present here on Day 1B of APPT10 Seoul is none other than Celina Lin.
The two-time Macau Red Dragon main event winner may have just arrived for this APPT main event, but she’s already been in the action throughout the festival, playing in a warm-up event earlier this week.
Just sat down on table 1! #letsgo #APPTSeoul Back to back final tables https://t.co/LNJv31XDH6
— Celina Lin (@Celina_Lin) June 24, 2016
With more than $600,000 in live earnings, the Twitch superstar is poised for a good run here today. She made the final table last year after all! Can she go back-to-back? Here’s hoping! –JS
12:40pm: Team Pro arrives to rep the red spade
Level 1: Blinds 50/100
Japan’s Kosei Ichinose is now sitting with a 20,000 starting stack as he’s become the first player to adorn the PokerStars red spade here today (he won’t be the only one though – stay tuned for more on that).
Ichinose became a PokerStars Team Pro at the beginning of last year; already a legend in the online world, he was the first Japanese player to reach Supernova Elite status. “I’m proud to be associated with PokerStars as I have achieved so much in the game by playing on the site,” he told us at the time.
Good luck Kosei! –JS
12:30pm: Tens full for Takashi
Level 1: Blinds are 50/100
Takashi Hiranuma just took a large chunk out of Michael Egan’s stack. We arrived at the table to catch what looked like a three-bet to 900 from Egan, and then a subsequent four-bet to 1,900 from Hiranuma.
Egan called and the flop brought 8♠3♣ 10♣ . Hiranuma continued for 2,500 and Egan called again before the 3♦ turn paired the board.
Then Egan took the betting lead after he was checked to, firing for 3,700. Hiranuma paused momentarily before making the call and the Q♦ river completed the board.
Both players checked it on the end and Hiranuma revealed 10â™ 10♦ for flopped top set which had improved to a full house on the turn. Egan nodded and mucked his hand as he was knocked down to 11,200. Hiranuma is now one of the chip leaders with around 29,000 at his disposal. — BK
12:10pm: Egan’s eager
Level 1: Blinds 50/100
One of the more recognisable faces in the crowd at the beginning of play today is that of Australia’s Michael Egan. An all-round beast at the felt, Egan burst on to the live scene last year with a fifth place finish in the EPT12 Barcelona €50K super high roller, good for €358,900.
He followed that up with a final table at the Aussie Millions in January, ultimately finishing seventh in the $25,000 high roller for $76,094.
We look forward to seeing how he gets on here in Seoul. –JS
12:00pm: Shuffle up and deal!
Players are in their seats and cards are in the air as Day 1B kicks off. Blinds begin at 50/100 with a starting bank of 20,000.
More notable names are expected to make an appearance today. We’re about to scout the field and see who we can spot.
11:45pm: Welcome to Day 1B!
Players have begun wandering in to the poker room here at Paradise Walkerhill Casino as Day 1B is almost underway.
Yesterday saw 61 players in the Main Event race and we’re expecting to eclipse that number today as a new batch of players pony up the â‚©3,000,000 (~$2,600) and chase the Seoul poker crown. They’ll be looking to best the Day 1A end-of-day chip leader Albert Paik who bagged up 116,800.
The plan today is eight one-hour levels so including breaks play will conclude around 8:30pm local time. For now though, it’s just about time to begin. Stay with us! — BK
Key APPT10 Seoul Facts:
– 20,000 starting stack
– Blinds starting at 50/100 for 200 big blinds
– Levels are 60 minutes on Day 1 and there will be eight of them
– Day 2 is Saturday when the field will combine for the first time. We’ll reach the money during the eight levels of play on Day 2 and then play down to a final table on Sunday. Monday is all about the final.
– Full APPT10 Seoul schedule here.
PokerStars Blog reporting team in Seoul: Brad Kain and Jack Stanton. Photos by Kenneth Lim Photography.
The APPT Seoul festival at Paradise Walkerhill Casino runs until Monday, June 27th. Full details are available on the official APPT website page.
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