A total of 1,216 players took their shot at the largest Red Dragon event in history this past week. It was a field riddled with pros, gamblers, enthusiasts and former Red Dragon champions. Both two-time Red Dragon champions, Tom Alner and Celina Lin, tried to go for the hat trick this event but came up short. Now, after two full days of poker, only 75 players remain.
Rundulf Gonzales is leading that small batch of Red Dragon hopefuls with a whopping 993,000. Gonzales scored a big double in the last few hands of the day and finished with a large lead. Da Xiong appears to be next with 783,000, while Timothy Chung close behind with 773,000. Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody was short for a lot of Day 2 but managed to double up when he needed to. Cody squeaked into Day 3 with 109,000. Our start-of-day leader, JP Kelly, also survived to see another day of Red Dragon madness. While Kelly didn’t snag the lead again, he did finish with 206,000.
Players are now guaranteed HK$41,100 and they’ll come back to play down to a final table tomorrow at 3pm. A final table appearance will up the payday to HK$253,720 while a victory will come with a grand prize of HK$3,265,000.
While the majority of the prize pool will get distributed tomorrow, players burst into it today. A total of 368 players started Day 2, but only 144 of them could make the money. We hit the bubble at the beginning of Level 17 and it lasted nearly the whole level. The first hand of hand-for-hand play saw two double ups and a triple up.
That set the pace for the bubble and there was a slew of double ups before Xiaodong Qin was forced to move in with J♥ 4♠with half a big blind. Shaoming Li called with pocket queens and Qin hit the rail in 145th.
After that, players were guaranteed HK$31,650 and the floodgates opened. Players were bolting out of the tournament. It took nearly one level to lose two players and then we lost nearly half the field in two levels.
The madness is far from over though. There’s a players party at El Pinball Mexican Restaurant going on for another few hours and then there’s Day 3 of the Red Dragon tomorrow at 3pm. Follow all the action right here at the PokerStars Blog as we keep whittling down the field to find our next Red Dragon champion. –AV
10:55pm: Only two more hands remain
Level 19 – 5,000/10,000 (1,000 ante)
Current chip leader Da Xiong was given the honour of pulling the card to see how many more hands would be played out. He drew two which means the end of Day 2 is almost upon us.
Xiong has over 750,000 but with a few other players hot on his tail anyone could bag up the lead. Let’s see how it plays out! — BK
10:45pm: Jiayi Huang moves in
Level 19 – 5,000/10,000 (1,000 ante)
Wei Xu opened the action with a raise to 20,000 before Jiayi Huang three-bet from the hijack to 50,000. Xu flicked in a call and the flop landed 8♦ K♦ 10♥ .
Xu checked it over to Huang who pushed all in for 128,000.
Xu went into the tank and clasped his hands over his mouth, before reaching for chips, pausing and then ultimately deciding he fold. He tabled Q♦ Qâ™ and was shown he’d made a good fold when Huang flashed the K♥ . — BK
10:30pm: Teams Event on the bubble
As the end of Day 2 approaches for the Red Dragon before the Player Party begins, across the tournament floor the Teams Event is about to be in the money.
They’re just one player away from the bubble with 12 places paying, and the first prize set at HK$96,240.
As it stands the current frontrunners are an Indian team comprising of Raghav Bansal and Nikita Luther.
10:20pm: Kelly loses one
Level 19 – 5,000/10,000 (1,000 ante)
JP Kelly started the day as chip leader and was still going strong around an hour ago. Now, however, he appears to have slipped back into the middle of the pack.
Kelly lost another pot recently against Wei Xu when the two of them got the money in preflop with Xu’s last 172,000 at risk.
Kelly: K♥ Q♦
Xu: A♠K♦
Kelly was dominated and couldn’t turn things around as the cards fell J♦ 5♦ 2â™ 8â™ 8♥ . He now sits with only 265,000 at his disposal. — BK
10:12pm: Dominated domination
Level 19 – 5,000/10,000 (1,000 ante)
We’re on the last level of the night and the tournament is in the double digits.
Only about 85 players remain, but He Liu isn’t one of them. Liu was exactly where he wanted to be in the beginning of the hand. He moved his short stack in with K♥ 10♥ and got called by a hand he dominated.
Peng Hao had called from late position and muttered when he turned over his dominated K♣ 9♦ . Hao cheered up a bit after the flop though. The 4♣ 9♣ 4♦ 4â™ J♥ board gave Hao the 9 he was looking for while Liu hit the rail. –AV
9:40pm: Break
Level 18 – 4,000/8,000 (1,000 ante)
Players are on their final 10-minute break of the night. They’ll come back for one more level and then call it a night. –AV
9:40pm: PF with JP
Level 18 – 4,000/8,000 (1,000 ante)
JP Kelly’s preflop aggression kept paying off players in the big blind.
In the first of three attempts, Kelly raised to 18,000 from the cutoff and action folded to Allan Kia Kheng Lim on the big blind. Lim re-raised to 58,000 and Kell let it go.
Kelly was on the hijack the next hand and he raised to 18,000 again when action folded to him. Xiadong Li called from the big blind and the flop came 5♥ 2♦ 6♥ . Both players checked and checked again when the K♣ came on the turn. The river was a Q♥ and Li bet 23,000. Kelly let his cards go but tried again the very next hand.
Kelly raised to 19,000 from middle position and a confused Shiqing Han called with 18,000 from the cutoff. She laughed when she realized her mistake and threw in the extra 1,000. Action folded to He Liu’s big blind and Liu three-bet to 60,000.
It was too much for Kelly and Han, they both folded. Kelly then folded the next hand preflop. –AV
9:35pm: Geraro goes with it
Level 18 – 4,000/8,000 (1,000 ante)
On a flop of J♥ 4♣ 8♥ Edwin Geraro pushed all in for 144,000 before the decision fell on Rundulf Gonzales.
Gonzales thought about it for around two minutes, and despite cutting out a call, he flipped up K♦ J♦ and surrendered the pot.
“Call?” asked Geraro, unsure of what Gonzales had decided. “Call or fold?”
Gonzales confirmed that he had folded, and he dropped to 410,000 as Geraro collected the pot. — BK
9:15pm: Doubling Deng
Level 18 – 4,000/8,000 (1,000 ante)
In a sea of eliminations, Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody doubled a player up.
Peiyong Deng moved all-in for 91,000 from under the gun and Cody called from the button. The blinds folded and players tabled their hands. Cody tuned over A♦ J♥ while Deng showed A♦ J♥ .
The flop came 8♥ 9♥ J♠to give Deng a set, and then a 9♦ came on the turn to leave Cody drawing dead. The river was an inconsequential 6♦ and Deng doubled up to about 200,000 while Cody dipped to about 230,000.
Both players are now at about average stack and approximately 105 players remain. –AV
9:05pm: Nagakiri no more
Level 18 – 4,000/8,000 (1,000 ante)
Jumichi Nagakiri moved all in for 46,000 from early position and it folded around to Hyun Joon Yoon in the big blind. The latter made the call with the dominant hand and Nagakiri’s tournament life was in danger.
Nagakiri: K♥ Qâ™
Yoon: A♥ K♣
Nagakiri couldn’t catch up as the cards fell 6â™ 8♥ Kâ™ 5♦ 8♣ and he was sent to the payout desk. — BK
8:55pm: Falling quick
Level 18 – 4,000/8,000 (1,000 ante)
After the bubble burst, it released a flood of eliminations.
It took nearly an hour to lose two players but in the 15 minutes since, we’ve lost over 20 players. The short stacks that were holding on for dear life are now happily jamming with some guaranteed cash.
There are still a few micro stacks dotting the tournament area and they’ll soon have to bust out or double up. If they’re lucky, they’ll grow to one of the larger stacks.
Liang Xu still appears to be in the lead with about 710,000 while Wai Kiat Lee is in a close second with 680,000. Jixue Yin has also accumulated a large stack. Yin is currently sitting with about 635,000.
JP Kelly, who started Day 2 with the lead, is also surging towards the top of the leaderboard with about 530,000. –AV
8:40pm: Bubble bursts with Xiaodong Qin’s elimination
Level 17 – 3,000/6,000 (1,000 ante)
After approximately 40 minutes of hand for hand play the Red Dragon is now in the money after Xiaodong Qin was eliminated on the bubble.
Qin was down to just 3,000 for half a big blind and when the table folded around to Shaoming Li in the small blind the rest of the field were counting on him to get them into the money. Qin stood up and shook Li’s hand as they waited for the okay to reveal their hands.
When the tournament officials gave the all clear Qin saw he had a lot of catching up to do to keep his tournament alive.
Qin: J♥ 4â™
Li: Q♠Q♣
Li had woken up with a monster and he had already locked up the pot by the turn as the cards fell K♥ A♠2♣ 8♦ 4♥ .
A round of applause and a communal wave of relief swept across the tournament floor as the remaining 144 players all locked up at least HK$31,650. — BK
8:15pm: Gallardo out in 146th
Level 17 – 3,000/6,000 (1,000 ante)
One down, one to go.
Maximiliano Gallardo was down to 13,000 and was on the big blind when Duc Bien Nguyen put him all-in from the small blind.
Gallardo called with A♥ 9â™ and was up against Nguyen’s K♣ 10♦ .
Things were looking good for Gallardo until the river of the J♦ 6♣ 2♥ 3♥ K♥ board. Nguyen chipped up to 260,000 while Gallardo hit the rail in 146th place. –AV
8:00pm: More hand for hand
Level 17 – 3,000/6,000 (1,000 ante)
The first hand of hand-for-hand brought two double ups and one triple up.
The second was quite uneventful and then there were two double ups on the third hand. The bubble is bound to pop soon since there appears to be some more all-in players this hand. –AV
7:45pm: Hand for hand
With only 146 players and 144 places paid we are now hand for hand until the bubble bursts. — BK
7:25pm: Take a break
Only 149 players remain and they have just stepped away from the tournament area for a 10-minute break.
7:20pm: King Cody
Level 16 – 2,500/5,000 (500 ante)
Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody has doubled up again.
In that hand, Shaoming Li raised to 11,500 from the cutoff and Cody threw in a three-bet from the big blind. Li had Cody covered and moved all-in. Cody called and tabled K♣ K♠while Li showed 5♥ 5♠.
The board ran A♥ 9♣ A♣ 8â™ J♦ and Cody took down the pot and doubled to about 270,000. The average stack is about 163,000 and there are about five more eliminations until we hit the bubble. –AV
7:10pm: Closing in on the bubble
Level 16 – 2,500/5,000 (500 ante)
The number of levels keeps rising while the number of players is still in a freefall.
There are about 150 players left and they’re getting ever so close to the money. Only 144 players will cash this event and they’ll all be guaranteed a minimum of HK$31,650.
That number will keep growing and they’ll be guaranteed six figures when they hit the 18-player mark. A victory will net a trophy, bragging rights for taking down the largest Red Dragon in history and HK$3,265,000.
There are still several players in the running, but some are in more enviable position than others. Liang Xu still appears to be in the lead with nearly 650,000 while Wai Kiat Lee looks like he’s in second with 600,000. –AV
7pm: Busto for Beattie
Level 16 – 2,500/5,000 (500 ante)
Kelvin Beattie has come up painfully short of a payday after a one-two punch sent him packing.
Beattie took to Twitter 20 minutes earlier to inform his followers that he was “super short with the bubble fast approaching”. Unfortunately for Beattie it appears that he couldn’t run it up as he took to Twitter again to share that he had lost king-queen suited to ace-nine and then ace-four suited to king-queen suited be eliminated.
QKs < A9 then A4s < QKs was the fatality. Busted Event 13! #MPC26
— Acesup (@aces_up4108) February 15, 2017
Also seen leaving the tournament area was fellow Australian and previous shortstacker Stevan Chew who was recently eliminated along with Beattie. — BK
6:50pm: Li leaves us
Level 16 – 2,500/5,000 (500 ante)
The action folded around to Artem Lobus in the cutoff and he moved all in for 90,500. It got to Jun Li in the big blind and he had only 80,000 behind. With the decision for his tournament life Li went into the tank.
After around 90 seconds Li pushed his chips in and saw that he and Lobus were flipping.
Lobus: 10♥ 10♦
Li: Q♦ J♦
The 3♣ 3♦ 3♥ 7♣ A♣ brought no help for Li and he departs roughly 15 places away from the bubble — BK
6:35pm: Zhao zapped
Level 15 – 2,000/4,000 (500 ante)
Wei “zzwwzzwwzz” Zhao was down to 52,000 and moved all-in from middle position.
Ismael Bourne was on Zhao’s left and decided to move all-in as well. Bourne had Zhao covered and the rest of the table decided to leave it to them to fight it out.
Zhao tabled K♦ 10♣ while Bourne showed 8♦ 8♣ for a flip.
The board ran 4♣ 5â™ 7♣ J♥ J♦ and that was it for Zhao. Zhao hit the rail while Bourne chipped up to about 140,000. –AV
6:25pm: Win your way into the PokerStars Championship Macau
The PokerStars Championship visits Macau from March 30 to April 9 and you can win a trip to join the fun in limited edition PokerStars Spin & Go tournaments.
Running from now until February 27 PokerStars is hosting $10 Spin & Gos where the top tier prize includes a seat into the HK$42,400 PokerStars Championship Macau Main Event, eight nights’ accommodation and $1,000 travel expenses.
The Spin & Gos are available to play right now and five lucky winners have already been awarded. You can find out everything you need to know about the promotion right here.
Good luck at the tables! — BK
6:10pm: Xu’s dominance
Level 15 – 2,000/4,000 (500 ante)
Liang Xu just keeps on rising and he always seems to have it.
Dapeng Mu moved all-in on the river of a A♥ 4â™ Q♣ 7â™ 2♣ board and Xu quickly called and turned over Aâ™ A♦ . Mu mucked his hand while the rest of players gasped or laughed. Maybe they’ve become used to Xu’s utter dominance.
Xu piled the chips onto his already massive tower which now totalled about 765,000.
But then one player showed that even Xu could lose.
Inaki Santos raised to 8,000 from the button the following hand and Xu decided to call from the small blind. The flop came A♥ 2♥ 10♣ and Santos check-called a bet of 12,000. This brought a 7♣ on the turn and a 14,000 bet from Xu.
Santos thought for a bit and then moved all-in for 62,000. Xu thought for a bit but decided to let this one go. Santos’s friend came and patted Santos on the back.
Xu’s dominance can be challenged. –AV
6:10pm: Chen chops down Meng
Level 15 – 2,000/4,000 (500 ante)
Zihao Meng has fallen by the wayside after moving his short stack in preflop. It folded around to Meng on the button and he shoved for an even 25,000. It got to Daji Chen in the big blind and he let out a groan before committing the chips to put Meng at risk.
Meng: 10â™ 9â™
Chen: J♣ 9♣
Meng was dominated and couldn’t overcome the odds as the community cards fell 9♦ 4♦ 3♥ K♥ 9♦ . He leaves us as Chen chips up to 225,000. — BK
6pm: Kim and Huang hit the rail
Level 15 – 2,000/4,000 (500 ante)
Gab Yong Kim and Bryan Huang have come up short of a payday after their recent eliminations.
Kim got it in preflop with pocket jacks against the chip leader Liang Xu’s king queen offsuit. Xu found a king on the three-diamond flop, and with his queen of diamonds, another diamond on the turn meant Xu already had Kim drawing dead.
Joining Kim on the rail was Huang who informed us that he got ace-deuce suited all in from the big blind against the cutoff’s ace-nine. Unfortunately for Huang he couldn’t come from behind to keep his tournament alive. — BK
5:50pm: Dhaval dusted
Level 15 – 2,000/4,000 (500 ante)
There goes Dhaval Mudgal.
The Indian player ran into aces with ace-king. Mudgal managed to beat pocket aces earlier today –he had pocket aces himself and hit a four-card flush– but he wasn’t able to do it again.
Zigao Yu raised to 10,500 from middle position and Mudgal moved all-in for about 80,000 from the cutoff. Action folded back to Yu and he snap-called.
Yu turned over A♥ A♣ and Mudgal was drawing slim with A♠K♥ .
The flop came 7♦ 10♣ 3â™ and Mudgal called for an jack. The turn didn’t acquiesce, but it did bring a Q♣ to keep things interesting. But a 6♣ completed the board and brought Mudgal’s tournament to an end. –AV
5:40pm: Kan can’t outflip Teng
Level 15 – 2,000/4,000 (500 ante)
Raiden Kan just lost over half of his stack after a preflop confrontation against Victor Teng.
Teng moved all in under the gun for 57,000 and after pausing momentarily, Raiden Kan who was next to act moved all in over the top for right around 100,000. The rest of the table folded and the two players saw that they were off to the races.
Kan: A♠Q♣
Teng: 10♠10♣
The run out was safe for Teng’s pocket tens as the J♥ 9â™ 8â™ 3♣ 9♥ board rolled off to see him double up. Kan meanwhile falls to 43,000 in chips. — BK
5:30pm: zzwwzzwwzz trying to get in the zone
Level 15 – 2,000/4,000 (500 ante)
Wei Zhao might be better known by a string of constant consonants. Zhao plays high stakes heads-up and 6-max on PokerStars under the moniker “zzwwzzwwzz.”
Now Zhao is trying to add a Red Dragon cash to his resume, but he’s currently got about half the average stack after losing a small pot.
Zhao was in a hand with Ke Jing Li and both players were faced with a 6♦ J♦ 4♦ flop. Li bet 6,000 and Zhao called, bringing a 9♠on the turn.
Both players checked and a 10♣ completed the board. Zhao checked and then called when Li bet 10,000. Li turned over 10♦ 4♥ for the rivered two-pair and Zhao dropped to about 60,000. –AV
5:10pm: First break of the day
The remaining 234 players have commenced their first scheduled break. Play resumes in 10 minutes. — BK
5:05pm: Rising above the field
Level 14 – 1,500/3,000 (500 ante)
“You should check” Liang Xu said. “I have a six.”
There were two sixes on a lowly rainbow board and about 140,000 in the pot. The hand was already on the river and Xu was talking to his only opponent, Gab Yong Kim, who’d just bet 110,000.
Xu stood up and looked at Kim’s stack, the Korean player only had about 130,000 behind. Xu on the other hand had about 420,000.
Win or lose, Xu would probably remain the tournament chip leader. He looked back down at his stack, grabbed two big handfuls of his largest denomination chips and plumped them in the middle.
The dealer threw in the all-in triangle for good measure.
“I told you,” Xu said. “You bet, I’m all-in.”
Kim shook his head and didn’t think for long before he folded. The hand left Kim with 130,000 while Xu took a massive lead with around 670,000. –AV
4:55pm: Controversy after Davies jams
Level 14 – 1,500/3,000 (500 ante)
Quan Zhou was just embroiled in some controversy after a hand between Scott Davies and Visha Chen.
There was around 20,000 in the pot and after Davies checked from the big blind on a flop of J♣ Q♦ 10♦ , Chen fired for 6,000. Davies then moved all in over the top with enough to cover Chen’s 37,000 behind.
Chen went deep into the tank and after several minutes the clock was called. After being informed that she had only one minute to act before her hand was dead, Chen ultimately folded with 20 seconds left.
Davies showed the 9♦ and collected the pot to move up to 195,000.
Immediately following the hand there was a commotion as apparently Quan Zhou admitted to peeking at Davies’ cards and telling the rest of the table what his other card was after Chen had folded. Davies demanded that Zhou be penalized and after lengthy discussions with two tournament directors, eventually Zhou was given a stern warning and conceded that if he committed another infraction he would submit himself to a one-round penalty. — BK
4:45pm: Cody doubles
Level 14 – 1,500/3,000 (500 ante)
A few minutes later, Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody was sitting on the big blind with A♦ 4♦ and 53,000 chips.
Action folded to Chao Shen in middle position and he looked down at 10♣ 10♠. He decided to go for a modest raise, 7,500. Action folded to Cody and the Team Pro decided to make his move.
Cody went all-in and Shen couldn’t have called quicker. Chen tabled his pocket tens while cody showed his A♦ 4♦ .
The flop came 5♦ 8♣ Q♦ and then the turn brought an Aâ™ and gasps from the table. The river was a Kâ™ and Cody doubled up to about 110,000. –AV
4:40pm: Cody still in contention
Level 14 – 1,500/3,000 (500 ante)
Jake Cody was the only Team PokerStars Pro to return today and, while his stack remains short, he is still in with a chance at taking out the Red Dragon title.
Cody took down a recent pot without a contest when Motoki Jinno raised to 7,000 in the cutoff and Cody shoved over the top for 31,500 on the button.
That was enough to take it down and Cody added a relatively big portion to his stack. — BK
4:35pm: Beattie still battling
Level 14 – 1,500/3,000 (500 ante)
Kelvin Beattie hasn’t been able to get anything going today after beginning play with a short stack, but he did just chop a pot to keep his tournament alive.
Beattie had dwindled to 17,500 and moved all in preflop before it folded around to Alan Lee in the small blind. Lee thought about it for a minute before flat-calling to put Beattie at risk. The big blind got out of the way and the hands were turned up.
Beattie: A♥ 3♦
Lee: A♦ 4♣
Beattie laughed at seeing his kicker was pipped by one, but he managed to chop the pot after the board came down 6♥ 9♦ 2♦ 10â™ 10♣ . — BK
4:30pm: Ridgway rails Huang
Level 14 – 1,500/3,000 (500 ante)
Chang Hau Huang has been eliminated early into the second level of the day. He was just felted at the hands of Benjamin Ridgway.
Huang moved all in for his last 22,500 preflop and Ridgway, who was next to act, pushed all in over the top for 73,000. The rest of the table folded and players revealed their hands.
Huang: Qâ™ Jâ™
Ridgway: A♦ K♦
Huang was live but it was all over on turn where he hit a straight but Ridgway simulatenously made the nut flush to leave Huang drawing dead. — BK
4:25pm: Big slick can’t top aces
Level 14 – 1,500/3,000 (500 ante)
Zongxin Liu is out.
The short-stacked Liu moved all-in for about 35,000 from early position with A♣ K♠and one by one, players started folding.
But then action got to Yuehui Wang on the big blind, who looked down at A♦ A♥ and called.
Liu sighed and stood up as soon as the aces were revealed and started collecting his stuff as the 4♦ 2♠10♠3♠Q♦ board got dealt.
Liu hit the rail while Wang chipped up to about 80,000. –AV
4:15pm: Disappearing chips
Level 14 – 1,500/3,000 (500 ante)
Stacks sizes are growing, but there was some physical shrinkage this level.
Play ticked into level 14 and blinds rose to 1,500/3,000 with a 500 ante. That means that the black T100 chips have become obsolete. A player at each table started buying them up and the floor came to take them out of play.
The tournament is making good progress as we’re down to under 300 players. –AV
4:10pm: Mudgal does Yea dirty
Level 13 – 1,200/2,400 (400 ante)
Steve Yea just left the tournament area after a tough beat ended his tournament run.
After a preflop raising war versus Dhaval Mudgal, Yea ended up with his entire stack of around 30,000 in the middle.
Yea: A♣ A♦
Mudgal: A♠A♥
Chances are they were about to chop it up until the board produced four spades to see Mudgal make the nut flush. Yea was left to lick his wounds as Mudgal climbed to 145,000 and took to Twitter to share the hand with his followers. — BK
Was a small pot but I just won AA to AA! #damnnnn #MPC26 @Thrill_India
— Dhaval Mudgal (@Dirtbagpoker) February 15, 2017
4:05pm: Slow start for Kelly
Level 13 – 1,200/2,400 (400 ante)
JP Kelly started the day as the overall chip leader, but he’s since dipped to less than 200,000.
That hasn’t stopped Kelly from throwing around bets though. In a recent hand, Kelly opened to 6,000 from the button and got a call from Peng Fu on the small blind.
The flop came down 4♦ 5♥ 7♥ and Kelly took it down with a bet of 8,000.
Kelly took down the pot and chipped up to 170,000, a bit shy of his starting stack of about 240,000. –AV
4pm: Chen triples as Aiba goes home
Level 13 – 1,200/2,400 (400 ante)
We arrived at the table to see chips scattered everywhere and three hands face up after a three-way all in preflop.
Zihao Meng: A♦ Q♦
Koichi Aiba: J♣ J♦
Dajia Chen: 10â™ 8â™
Meng had both Aiba and Chen covered, and after the cards fell 6♣ 4♥ A♠10♠6♠, Meng had spiked an ace to take the side pot and eliminate Aiba, while Chen found a runner-runner flush to come from behind and triple up.
The aftermath: Aiba exits, Meng has 49,000 and Chen now sits with 46,000. — BK
3:50pm: Eights don’t cut it for Cody
Level 13 – 1,200/2,400 (400 ante)
Tong Shen raised to 6,000 from the cutoff and Chao Shen called from the button. Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody was on the big blind and called as well.
The flop came 8♦ 9â™ 2♦ and action checked to the button. Shen bet another 6,000 and only Cody called. A 2â™ came on the turn and both players checked. They checked again when the 3♦ came on the river and Cody tabled Aâ™ 8♣ to Chen’s J♥ 9♥ .
Chen took down the pot while Cody dropped to 34,500. –AV
3:40pm: Huang dips
Level 13 – 1,200/2,400 (400 ante)
Daji Chen raised to 5,300 from middle position and Bryan Huang called from the button. The big blind did the same and players got dealt a J♦ 2♣ 3♥ flop.
The big blind checked, Chen bet 7,500 and Huang called. The big blind then fired it up to 24,000 and both players folded.
The hand left Huang with less than half the average stack with about 28,500. –AV
3:30pm: Kim KO’d
Level 13 – 1,200/2,400 (400 ante)
Dong Kim’s Red Dragon run has come to an end in the first level of the day here after a battle of the blinds went the way of Ke Jing Li.
Players folded around to Kim in the small blind and he shoved for 45,800 with K♠7♠. Li woke up with A♦ 10♠in the big blind and made the call to put Kim at risk.
Kim flopped the world when the dealer spread 6♣ 5â™ 8â™ – picking up both an open ended straight draw and flush draw to go with his live cards – but unfortunately for Kim the board would ultimately brick out as the 8♣ turn and J♥ river signalled the end of his tournament run. — BK
3:25pm: Song silenced
Level 13 – 1,200/2,400 (400 ante)
With the return of a few shortstacks today we’ve already seen chips flying thick and fast, and the latest casualty of all the action was Puwei Song.
It folded around to Song in the small blind and he slid his last 19,700 into the middle. Zhe Ren Chen was in the big blind and he called it off to put Song at risk.
Song: 9♥ 7♥
Chen: A♥ 8â™
Song was behind, and while he had live cards, the 7â™ A♣ K♦ 6♣ 4♥ runout failed to save him. He exits as one of today’s first evictees while Chen chips up to 78,000. — BK
3:15pm: Zhang doubles up
Level 13 – 1,200/2,400 (400 ante)
Jinhai Zhang is utilizing the first level of the day – he just scored himself a double up through Kevin Choi. The action folded around to Zhang in the small blind and he moved all in for 37,100. Choi made the call in the big blind and the cards went on their backs.
Zhang: A♠6♥
Choi: K♥ Q♣
Zhang was in front and he stayed that way as the cards fell 9♣ 10♦ 2♦ 2♣ 9♥ . He moves up to 77,000 as Choi dips to 44,000 in chips — BK
3:00pm: Play underway
Level 13 – 1,200/2,400 (400 ante)
Cards are in the air for Day 2 of the MPC26 Red Dragon.
Blinds are starting at 1,200/2,400 with a 400 ante and we’ve moved up to one-hour levels. We’ll be playing seven levels before we call it a night.
We’ll see how many of the 368 players can make it through. –AV
Red Dragon Day 2 kicks off shortly
Yesterday the Red Dragon once again established itself as the largest freezeout tournament ever held in the Asia Pacific region – outdoing itself with a monstrous 1,216 runners trying their luck over the three Day 1 flights.
Now it’s almost time for cards in the air once more as the 368 lucky survivors continue the hunt for the best trophy in poker and HK$3,265,000!
Leading the charge this afternoon will be notable pro JP Kelly who bagged up 247,300 on Day 1A. Some others you may recognize still in contention include Dhaval Mudgal (96,300), Raiden Kan (93,500), Patrick Mahoney (62,400), Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody (58,400), Kosei Ichinose (51,400) and Bryan Huang (44,400).
You can view the full Day 2 seating draw right here.
The action recommences at 3pm so be sure to join us then for all your live coverage needs direct from the tournament floor here in Macau! — BK
Reporting in Macau brought to you by Alexander Villegas and Brad Kain. Photography by Kenneth Lim Photography courtesy of PokerStars LIVE Macau.
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