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Home / Uncategorized / Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon: Day 1b Updates

2:50pm: That’s all she wrote

Day 1b of the Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon Main Event has been brought to a close with 63 players surviving the eleven levels of play from our starting field of 234.

Brian Yip is the clear chip leader, having a massive day on the felt to bag up 180,900 chips. Bobo Chen (115,000), Mei Ngok (113,800) and Peng Qi (104,700) are among those in the six-figure club, but there may be one or two others around that mark once the final chip counts come in.

We’ll have a wrap of today’s action and confirmation of the chip counts for you shortly.

2:40pm: Three more hands

The players will play three more hands on each table before we bag up the chips for the night. At the moment there are approximately 68 players remaining.

2:30am: Sing is sung

Dan Sing had already made mention of his disappointment over the slowness of play at his table tonight. Well, he’s somewhat ropeable right now after another slow act saw him eliminated from the tournament.

With a raise to 3,200 from middle position, Mei Ngok and Sing made the call to see a flop of 4♥ 8♥ K♦ . Action checked around and the turn brought the J♠ . Again the table tapped around to Ngok who bet out for 5,900. From the big blind, Sing check-raised all in for an additional 18,100 to force a fold from the third player and send Ngok into the tank.
After a good minute or two of thought, Ngok made the call and opened K♥ J♣ for top two pair.

“What?!?” exclaimed Sing as we was bemused by the time taken to call as he opened 7♣ 4♣ for just bottom pair. The river was the 10♦ and Sing steamed to the rail as Ngok climbed to a very healthy 110,000 chips.

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Mei Ngok will end Day 1b as one of our chip leaders

2:20am: More for Yip

Brian Yip continues to add to his empire. We just caught him fire a bet of 15,000 on the river on a board of A♥ 6♠ 3♦ 4♥ 5♦ with his opponent making the call.

Yip tabled Aâ™  7â™  for a flopped top pair that turned into a backdoor straight. It was good as his opponent’s cards hit the muck.

Yip is running hot as he climbs to 175,000 chips for a clear chip lead.

2:10am: Level 11, blinds 800-1,600, ante 200

2:00am: Raymond joins the rail

Unfortunately we’re 0/3 for Team PokerStars Pros today after Raymond Wu’s recent departure from the Main Event.

Wu was going ok early on, but apparently lost some chips semi-bluffing before committing his last 6,000 chips with pocket sixes. However they were not enough to beat an opponent holding ace-five, who we presume caught an ace, to end Wu’s run in the MPC Red Dragon.

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No luck for Raymond Wu who was recently eliminated

1:45am: Yip on top

A new chip leader has emerged with Brian Yip joining Mei Ngok on Table 9 as the two biggest stacks in the room sat together, and they weren’t afraid to tango.

In one hand, Yip opened from early position to 2,400 and Ngok was the lone caller. They checked the board of J♦ 6♣ J♣ J♥ 2â™  to the river where Yip’s bet of 3,000 was quickly picked off by Ngok.

“King-high,” sighed Yip as Ngok took it down with Aâ™  7â™  .

However next hand, Yip got those chips back. He again opened to 2,400, this time from under the gun. Ngok called as did the big blind to see a flop of 10♥ K♦ K♠ . Action checked around and the 3♣ hit the turn. Two checked to Ngok and she took a stab for 2,500. Both opponents made the call and the 10♠ double-paired the board on the river.

The big blind checked and Yip this time led out for 5,100. Ngok and the third player both gave it up as Yip now sits behind a stack of around 140,000.

1:30am: Play resumes: Level 10, blinds 600-1,200, ante 200


1:20am: Ten-minute break

The players have been sent on their final break of the evening. When they return we’ll be playing two more levels before play wraps up. At the moment there are approximately 90 players still in contention here on Day 1b.

1:05am: No help for Matthews

Western Australia’s Kirsten Matthews has been battling with a short stack for most of the evening, but her battle has just been brought to an end. Matthews was all in preflop with her short stack holding A♣ Qâ™  but found herself dominated as a player made the call with Aâ™  K♦ .

The board of 8♥ 4♠ 4♦ 2♥ 6♥ brought no help for Matthews as she was sent to the rail.

12:50am: Two-outer double KO

A three-way all-in clash has seen Korea’s Choi Chang Rak eliminate two players with a brutal two outer on the river.

The chips were in preflop with Rak holding 7♦ 7♥ against two short stacks, one with pocket fours and Ernest Schmiedt with ace-king. The flop landed 10♥ 6♦ K♣ to give Schmiedt the lead with his kings as the J♥ turn changed nothing. However the 7♣ river smacked Chang Rak with a set for the double knockout! He’s now up to 45,000.

12:40am: Level 9, blind 500-1,000, ante 100

12:35am: Chip Count Update

Mei Ngok – 94,000
Kim Tae Hyung – 90,000
Bobo Chen – 60,000
Dan Sing – 50,000
Tom Alner – 38,000
Julian Powell – 31,000
Raymond Wu – 28,000
Billy Argyros – 27,000
Emanuel Seal – 20,000
Jessica Ngu – 12,000

Some of those missing in action include Yoshitaka Okawa, Wing Cheong Chong, Michael Mariakis, Michael Marvanek and David Steicke – their Macau Poker Cup Main Event is done.

12:30am: Up and down for the ladies

We have some good news and some bad news for the ladies in the Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon Main Event. The good news is that Hong Kong’s Mei Ngok is going strong with a stack of over 80,000 to be one of the chip leaders with 110 players remaining in today’s fight.

The bad news is that number dropped by one following the recent elimination of Team PokerStars Pro Vivian Im. We’re not sure on the details of Im’s departure as she was spotted leaving the PokerStars LIVE poker room.

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Vivian Im is on the rails at the Macau Poker Cup

12:20am: Ngu stays alive

Jessica Ngu has landed a much needed double up. She was all in with Jâ™  10♦ against an opponent’s Aâ™  K♥ but caught good on the board of 5♥ 2♦ 10♥ 7â™  10♣ .

Ngu is now up to around 20,000 and is back in business.

12:00am: Level 8, blinds 400-800, ante 100

11:45pm: Big decisions with big cards

Bobo Chen opened from the cutoff to 2,000 and action folded to the player in the big blind who made it 4,500. Chen then went into his world-famous theatrics before splashing a mess of coloured chips into the middle – enough to put his opponent all in.

If the player in the big blind wanted to get a read, it was pretty tough, as Chen had his back turned to eat a sandwich off a nearby service table, while the player thought for several minutes.

The clock was called and the big blind made the call with Q♠ Q♣ as Chen opened A♣ K♣ .

“Why are you guys taking so long?!?” posed Billy Argyros after seeing their cards. He didn’t get much response as the board was spread 4♣ Kâ™  10♥ 2♦ 9♥ to pair up Chen for the knockout blow. He’s now back up to 56,000 chips.

11:30pm: Kings fail Rossiter

Jeff Rossiter hasn’t been able to replicate his form from the Guangdong Asia Millions here in the Macau Poker Cup. Rossiter struggled to get much going today and we’ve just caught the end of his elimination from the Main Event.

On a board of A♥ 2♥ A♣ 8♥ , there was already around 10,000 in the pot when both Rossiter and his opponent checked to see the 2♣ fall on the river. Rossiter had a little over 5,000 behind and he moved all in but his opponent snapped with A♠ 5♠ for the full house as Rossiter flashed pocket kings before tossing them into the muck.

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Jeff Rossiter has been eliminated from the MPC Main Event

11:20pm: Play resumes: Level 7, blinds 300-600, ante 75

The players are back with approximately 160 players still alive from our starting field of 234. We’ll be playing a total of eleven levels today which will see play wrap up just before 3am local time.


11:10pm: Ten-minute break

11:00pm: Hyung one to watch

It looks like we have a new chip leader in the room with Kim Tae Hyung now commanding one of the biggest stacks we’ve seen. He might’ve taken some of those chips from Bobo Chen to his direct right who has slipped back a little, as Hyung has moved up to 65,000.

10:50pm: Full house at the City of Dreams

There’s a great vibe in the PokerStars LIVE poker room this evening with most of the tables in use and a healthy gathering on the rail. It appears that the locals grinding away on the nearby Baccarat tables are keen to check out what the fuss is all about with this game of poker.

Now as tables are slowly breaking, there are cash sit and go’s starting up for just HK$1,500 which is a great opportunity to test the waters. They usually get pretty rowdy as the players have a lot of fun. There’s also a couple of cash games on one side of the room starting at HK$25/50.

10:40pm: Wu making progress

Raymond Wu is chipping up nicely on one of the outer tables in the PokerStars LIVE poker room. In a recent pot, Wu was in the big blind with a couple of limpers trying to sneak into the pot. Wu upped the price to 1,500 and found one caller to a flop of 5♣ 8♥ K♣ .

Wu announced himself all in, with his opponent only having about 2,000 chips behind. The player let it go and Wu collected the pot to move up to 27,000.

10:30pm: Level 6, blinds 200-400, ante 50

10:15pm: Bobo on top

Bobo Chen is one of the characters of the Macau poker scene and he’s now one of the chip leaders in the room after eliminating an opponent in a recent hand.

It started with a raise to 700 from middle position, before Chen three-bet to 1,900 on the button. His opponent made the call and the flop landed 8♣ 9♦ J♠ .

Action checked to Chen who bet 3,100. His opponent called and the 5♠ hit the turn. Again it was checked over to Chen who splashed out 5,200. His opponent only had 6,400 left and after a brief moment of thought, those chips were committed into the middle. Chen quickly called and tabled A♣ A♦ to have his opponent in trouble with A♥ J♥ .

The river was the 3♣ to see Chen’s aces rake in the pot. His opponent sat there, seemingly a little shocked, and in fact it took the dealer to ask the player to stand and leave the table so that he could deal the next hand. Meanwhile Chen is now up to 48,000.

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Bobo Chen powering ahead on Day 1b

10:00pm: Chip count update

Bobo Chen – 35,000
Wing Cheung Chong – 23,000
Raymond Wu – 22,000
Tom Alner – 21,000
Julian Powell – 20,000
Emanuel Seal – 18,000
Vivian Im – 17,000
Billy Argyros – 13,500
Ken Demlakian – 13,000
Michael Marvanek – 12,000
Jeff Rossiter – 11,000
David Steicke – 9,500

9:50pm: Level 5, blinds 150-300, ante 25

9:30pm: Crocky in the thick of the action

A couple of late arrivals into the Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon Main Event are Australian Poker Hall of Famer Billy “The Croc” Argyros and high-roller specialist David Steicke, and they find themselves seated on the very same table.

Argyros hasn’t wasted any time getting into the thick of things. After losing a few chips, Argyros down to under 8,000 in chips when he looked down at A♦ K♦ on the button. The cutoff player opened to 525 and Argyros three-bet to 1,600. His opponent four-bet to 3,600 and Argyros quickly moved all in for another 4,250. By that stage his opponent was committed, but well behind as he called with K♣ Q♣ .

“May the best hand win,” chirped Argyros as the board rolled off 10♦ 8â™  7♦ 10♣ 6♥ to land the double up.

However the very next hand, Argyros gave some of those chips back. After again three-betting preflop, Argyros bet the flop before checking the turn and river on a board of 9♣ A♣ 10â™  8♥ K♥ . Argyros opened Q♦ Q♣ but couldn’t shake his opponent from A♦ 4♦ .

Argyros now sits with around 11,000.

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The Croc in action at the Macau Poker Cup

9:20pm: Making some noise

One of the great things we’ve come to love about poker in Macau is the excessive celebrations from players that we don’t tend to see in other parts of the world. Table 13 just grabbed our attention with a large roar of delight so we scurried over to see what had gone down.

The board was reading 9♣ 5♥ 6♥ 6♦ 3♥ with Craig Harich making a hasty exit, presumably as the short stack holding A♦ 7♦ . But the roar was from the other two involved in the hand with Yue Wang’s A♥ 4♥ scooping the pot with a flush over flush against an opponent’s 9♥ 7♥ . Wang is now up to 28,000.

9:10pm: Play resumes: Level 4, blinds 100-200, ante 25


9:00pm: Ten-minute break

The players are off for their first ten-minute break of the day. Registration will close in a few moments so we should have confirmation of numbers for you shortly.

8:50pm: Chong makes a nice call

Former MPC Red Dragon champion Wing Cheung Chong hasn’t wasted any time getting busy on his table. We caught Chong facing a bet of 3,500 on a board of Jâ™  5♦ Q♦ 9â™  Qâ™  . After a few minutes of thought, Chong made the call with 9♦ 8♦ which was enough to better his opponent’s 3♦ 2♦ busted flush draw.

Chong is up to 22,000.

8:30pm: Celina Out!

We’ve just spotted Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin on the rail, and sadly that means she’s out of the Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon Main Event.

Lin was kind enough to recall the action to us. It was a four-way limped pot with Lin in the small blind holding 6-8 and she was pretty pleased to see a flop of 8-8-Q appear. Action checked to a late position player who bet 1,500, and Lin responded with a check-raise to 4,000. The two other players in the hand got out of the way before the late-position player moved all in. Lin called off her last 8,000 with trips and she was in great shape against her opponent’s A-Q.

The turn was a nine, but the river was a disastrous queen to give Lin’s opponent a bigger full house. An unfortunate end for Lin who will now have the rest of this evening off before returning tomorrow to tackle the rest of the Macau Poker Cup side events.

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An ugly river ends the MPC for Celina Lin

8:20pm: Level 3, blinds 100-200

8:10pm: Demlakian fires

Picking up the action on a board of A♥ Q♠ 5♦ Q♥ , 2012 ANZPT Queenstown runner-up Ken Demlakian led out for a bet of 600 with Kevin Tse making the call to see the 8♣ complete the board.

Demlakian didn’t slow down, betting another 1,100 to put Tse to a decision. After some thought, he made the call to see Demlakian open 5â™  3â™  for queens and fives, but it wasn’t enough as Tse showed A♦ 5♣ for aces and queens.

Demlakian is down to 9,000 with Tse off to a strong start today with a stack of 32,000.

8:00pm: Chang jacked

Holding J♦ J♠ , Tony Chang got into a world of trouble after committing his entire stack preflop against Chang Choi who opened A♠ A♦ .

The board ran out 8♦ 7♥ Q♥ Q♦ 5♦ to see Choi double through to over 20,000 and leave Chang crippled. Chang’s last 200 went in a few hands later with pocket fives but never returned as an opponent caught a pair of jacks holding Jâ™  9♦ .

7:55pm: Small one for Vivian

A late position raise from Grant Retallick was met with resistance from Vivian Im who made the call in the small blind. The two took a flop of 7♠ 2♥ 9♥ and Im check-called for 250.

The turn was the 5♦ and Im checked to Retallick who also tapped the table to see the 10♣ appear on the turn. Again the action was check, check, as Im opened 4♥ 4♣ for the best hand.

7:50pm: A few more names

A few more players spotted in today’s field include Tom Alner, Julian Powell, Michael Mariakis and another former MPC Red Dragon champion in Wing Cheung Chong, as the total number of entrants for today is now up over 220.

7:40pm: Level 2, blinds 50-100

7:35pm: Good start for Wu

Tony Chang opened with a button raise to 150 but both blinds made the call including Team PokerStars Pro Raymond Wu in the small blind.

The flop landed 6♠ J♠ 6♣ and action checked to Chang who tossed out a continuation bet of 300. Wu made the call as the big blind got out of the way before the 5♦ fell on the turn.

Wu checked and Chang checked behind as the A♥ appeared on the river. Wu checked again as Chang splashed out a bet of 750. Wu looked him up and Change sheepishly tabled Q♠ 2♣ for queen-high as Wu collected a nice early pot with his J♦ 7♦ .

7:30pm: Faces in the field

We’ve now spotted Celina Lin and Raymond Wu as today’s field has ballooned over the 200-player mark. It looks like the previously-advertised prize pool guarantee of HK$5,000,000 won’t be a problem, despite the troubles with the recent typhoon.

A few other notables in today’s flight include Fanny Li, Emanuel Seal, Ken Demlakian, Michael Marvanek, Dan Sing and GDAM runner-up Jeff Rossiter. We’ve also got former MPC Red Dragon winner Zhenjian Lin and January’s MPC Red Dragon champion Yoshitaka Okawa seated on the very same table!

7:25pm: A little drama

It’s always good to start the day with a little drama. We’re not exactly sure what happened but it was recalled to us that two players had tabled their cards in an all-in hand, but the dealer became a little confused, mucking both cards before handing the pot to the wrong player.

The floor was called and the hand reconstructed. It turned out that the player who lost the pot was actually covered by his opponent, so he was sent to a very early, slightly controversial elimination.

7:20pm: Strong field on Day 1b

A strong field here today on Day 1b of the Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon Main Event. Most of the tables in the PokerStars LIVE at the City of Dreams poker room are in use with the total number of entrants now pushing 200.

Vivian Im is the only member of Team PokerStars that we’ve been able to spot so far, but we’re also expecting to see Raymond Wu and Celina Lin in action at some stage today, with Bryan Huang set to take his seat tomorrow.

7:00pm: It’s go time!

The players have been welcomed to the PokerStars LIVE at the City of Dreams poker room here in Macau and final instructions have been given to the dealers. It’s time to shuffle up and deal!

Prize pool guarantee update

We need to point out that the previously advertised Main Event prize pool guarantee is no longer applicable due to the Typhoon Utor which reached Level 8 yesterday.

PokerStars LIVE Macau management released the following statement:

Dear players,

Please note that guarantees are not applicable during Typhoon Level 8 or higher as listed on official documents.

Due to the recent Typhoon Level 8, PokerStars LIVE Macau will be removing the HK $5m guarantee on the Red Dragon event.

Date and times for the Red Dragon main event will still continue as scheduled.

For questions or concerns, please email macau@pokerstars.net

Thank you for your understanding,

PokerStars LIVE Macau management

Back for more on Day 1b

Welcome back to the City of Dreams in Macau for our continued coverage of the Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon Main Event.

The typhoon seems to have settled down and a number of weary travellers were able to make their way across on the ferry from Hong Kong last night to be a part of this fantastic event. We’re anticipating bigger numbers today and then again tomorrow for the third and final opening flight of the HK$11,000 Main Event. It has been confirmed that we have over 150 entrants today, which is already more than yesterday’s number of 131.

Also confirmed today are three members of Team PokerStars with Celina Lin, Raymond Wu and Vivian Im all expected to be in action on Day 1b.

Yesterday it was Daniel Laidlaw who continued his incredible run of form to claim the chip lead. He set the mark at 109,600, so we’ll have to see if anyone today can reach that figure through the eleven 40-minute levels that will be played.

Sit back, relax and enjoy our coverage as we bring you all the action from the PokerStars LIVE poker room here at the City of Dreams in Macau.

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Photos by Kenneth Lim Photography courtesy of PokerStars LIVE Macau

Heath “TassieDevil” Chick is a Freelance Contributor for the PokerStars Blog.

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