Just nine remain in contention for MPC22 Red Dragon title
After a gruelling 11 hour day the final table of the MPC22 Red Dragon is set!
Day 3 started with 116 hopefuls and only nine remain.
Leading the way is Yunye Lu with 3,780,000 in chips. Japan's Takuya Yamashita is second in chips with 2,350,000. Amazingly, Takuya was at this very final table last August - an amazing feat to make back-to-back final tables in events with such massive fields.
Here is how the final table stacks up:
Seat 1: Takuya Yamashita - 2,350,000
Seat 2: Eileen Wang - 675,000
Seat 3: David Steicke - 1,270,000
Seat 4: Yi Won Lee - 990,000
Seat 5: Yifan Zhang - 1,825,000
Seat 6: Xiaodong Lin - 1,275,000
Seat 7: Yunye Lu - 3,780,000
Seat 8: Yuguang Li - 1,665,000
Seat 9: Fan Xu - 810,000
The final nine will return from 3:00pm Friday and play down to a winner!
There is HK$2,199,000 (~US$285,000) on the line and of course, the Red Dragon title, so be sure to return as we continue to provide live updates all the way to crowning a champion!
You can also expect to learn more about each of the nine remaining players with some final table profiles to appear on the PokerStarsBlog as soon as possible!
Click here for prize pool and payout information
2:15am: Final Table set as Yi Min eliminated in 9th
The last hand of the evening has played out and our final table of nine is now set with Min Yi the unlucky one to bubble the final day of play.
Yi was hanging on for dear life as the short stack, but with a stack of 415,000, he committed all in from under the gun with [kh][9c]. Action folded around to Yifan Zhang in the big blind who made the call and showed [ac][jc].
The board ran out [8d][5c][4d][ah][as] which was no good for Yi who takes home HK$143,500 for 10th place.
1:55am: Yuanye Chen home in 11th & final table bubble
Yuanya Chen spent much of the day as the chip leader but now finds himself on the rail in 11th place after a few hands saw him short stacked before he lost the rest to Fan Xu.
Chen had shoved all in preflop multiple hands in a row and received no action until Fan Xu made the call with [as][8c] after Chen had moved all in with [qc][9h].
The [td][js][tc][5h][4s] board gave Chen a bit of a sweat, but he ultimately hit the rail in 11th place collecting HK$118,000.
1:40am: Hsiang hung in 12th
Chi Hsiang Lee has been eliminated leaving the MPC22 Red Dragon with 11 players.
The final hand of Lee's tournament saw him all in preflop with [8c][8h] which was up against the [9d][9h] of Yunye Lu.
The board ran out [jd][3c][5s][qs][qh] and it was all over for Lee in 12th place.
Two more eliminations and we are at the final table!
1:30am: Chen slipping
Yuanye Chen has taken a large hit to his empire as Japan's Takuya Yamashita has now claimed the tournament chip lead.
The two collided in a recent pot with Chen raising preflop, before betting the flop and turn on the board of [qh][4h][5s][9s]. It was here that Yamashita got busy as he raised Chen's bet of 200,000 to make it 500,000 to go. Chen thought for a bit before making the call as the [5h] completed the board.
The pot was already enormous and so both players decided to check it down. Chen tabled [ac][9h] confidently but he was pipped as Yamashita opened [th][ts].
Chen slips to 1.25 million with Yamashita now up to 2.4 million.
1:20am: Level 25 begins, blinds 30,000/60,000 (10,000)
1:15am: Steicke finds a double up
David Steicke has managed a lucky double up, with his A-8 all in preflop and hitting a pair of eights against Min Yi's A-9. Steicke is up to a much healthier 1.1 million!
12:55am: Ke Chen railed in 13th
After a lull in the play, we have seen Ke Chen hit the rail in 13th place.
Chen shoved all in from the cutoff with [as][9s] and was called by Yuanye Chen in the small blind with [ac][tc]. Lee was not in good shape and with a [qc][qh][7c][ad][9h] board, Chen was eliminated with a HK$97,000 score.
12:50am: Happy birthday to Rex
PokerStars LIVE Macau Tournament Director Rex Cheong has just had a playful rendition of 'Happy Birthday' sung to him throughout the tournament room.
Cheong is certainly popular in the poker room and it's no surprise considering how much hard work he puts into making this one of the best poker rooms in the world.
12:40am: Play crawling
The play has really slowed to a crawl lately, thanks in part to some slow decision making. There have been a couple of players that have had to have the clock called on them by tournament staff during this last level. Surely there will be some action soon!
12:20am: Back to play to nine
The 13 players are back from their break and the cards are back in the air.
Blinds are now 20,000/40,000 with a 5,000 ante.
The day ends after four more eliminations.
12:10am: Break for 13
The 13 remaining players have been sent on a 10-minute break.
Check back soon as continue playing towards the final table.
12:00am: Chi's turn to double
Chi Hsiang Lee had [qs][qh] in the small blind when he got his chips in against Yuanye Chen in the big blind with [ah][qd]. The [ks][8s][9s][5s][5c] board was safe for Lee and so he moved up above 1.5 million.
Despite losing this hand, Chen still has a massive stack of well over 2 million.
11:40pm: Quad aces and big double for Fan
Fan Xu looked down at [as][ad] and was happy to get his chips all in preflop against Yiwon Lee.
Unfortunately for Lee, he was just as keen to put Xu at risk with his [kc][kc].
Xu would have liked his chances to double up, but he liked it even more when a [9c][qd][ah][ac][jd] board gave him quad aces! With that, Xu moved up to 1.7 million in chips as the rail cheered on the quad aces.
Lee is now one of the shorter stacks with under 500,000.
11:35pm: Artem busts to leave us with lucky 13
Russia's Artem Lobus has been eliminated in 14th place. He was short stacked when he got his chips in with pocket sevens and unfortunately ran into the pocket kings of Min Yi. The news got worse when Yi hit a set of kings on the flop and from there Lobus ultimately hit the rail with HK$97,000 for his time.
11:25pm: Danny van Zjip done and dusted
Dutch player Danny van Zjip has hit been eliminated.
He was all in preflop with pocket fours and had to come up the pocket eights of Yuanye Chen.
No help for Zjip and it was home in 15th place collecting HK$97,000.
11:15pm: Level 23 begins, blinds 15,000/30,000 (5,000)
11:10pm: Dashing home in 16th
Dasheng Chen has hit the rail in 16th place!
Chen was all in preflop holding [5h][5d] and had to come up againt [9s][9c].
The board ran out [js]][qh][jd][ts][2s] and Chen was out with HK$77,000 for his time.
11:00pm: Wild ride for van Zjip
It's been a wild few minutes for Dutchman Danny van Zijp.
First he copped a devastating blow in a massive all-in clash with Chi Hsiang Lee. It was Lee who moved all in from under the gun for 432,000 with [ah][ks]. Van Zijp made the call with [qh][qs] and it was looking like an elimination when the first four cards were spread [5d][3s][8h][js] but a devastating [ad] landed on the river like a dagger through the heart of van Zijp. He slammed a chip down on the table and it landed onto another chip with such velocity that it managed to actually break the chip with shards of yellow plastic spraying onto the felt!
But poker is a funny game, and the luck turned for van Zijp on the very next hand.
With 160,000 in hand, van Zijp moved all in with [jh][jd] and couldn't believe it when Yunye Lu made the call with [kh][kc]. However this time the board would fall [5h][5c][4s][jc][qh] to see van Zijp spike his set for a lucky double. He's back up to around 340,000 and still in contention.
10:45pm: Raymond Wu sent packing in 17th
The MPC22 Red Dragon is down to 16 players after the elimination of Raymond Wu in 17th.
Wu was sent home when he got his chips in from the blinds with pocket tens and ran into the [as][ah] of Yiwon Lee. The [2h][4s][6c][7c][4h] board was the last that Wu would see as he was sent home with a HK$77,000 prize.
10:30pm: Final two table draw
Here is how the final 17 players stack up!
Table 1
Seat 1: Min Yi - 1.3 million
Seat 2: David Steicke - 1.05 million
Seat 3: -- Empty --
Seat 4: Yuguang Li - 750,000
Seat 5: Xiaodong Lin - 150,000
Seat 6: Fengjiao Wang - 160,000
Seat 7: Dasheng Chen - 800,000
Seat 8: Yifan Zhang - 800,000
Seat 9: Artem Lobus - 650,000
Table 2
Seat 1: Raymond Wu - 800,000
Seat 2: Ke Chen - 455,000
Seat 3: Chi Hsiang Lee - 400,000
Seat 4: Yuanye Chen - 2.4 million
Seat 5: Danny van Zjip - 900,000
Seat 6: Takuya Yamashita - 1.3 million
Seat 7: Yiwon Lee - 825,000
Seat 8: Yunye Lu - 625,000
Seat 9: Fan Xu - 950,000
10:10pm: Back to play to final table
The players are back from their break and the cards are back in the air!
The 19 remaining are now playing blinds of 12,000/24,000 with a 4,000 ante.
9:25pm: Time for dinner
The remaining players have been sent on a 45-minute dinner break!
Play will kick back off at around 10:10pm local time.
9:15pm: One more down, 19 remain
We are now down to 19 players after the elimination of Bingzheng Zhao in 20th place. One more elimination and we will be down to the final two tables.
9:05pm: So Cong out, van Zjip building
Si Cong Hao got his chips in preflop holding [qh][qd] and was in good shape against Danny van Zjip with [as][js]. The [6d][jc][2d][ah][5h] board, however, would give van Zjip two pair and with that, Hao was on the rail in 21st place
8:55pm: Three hands to knock Zhang out
It took three hands to eliminate Zong Zhang.
The biggest of those hands was not surprisingly the first of the three.
Zhang went all in preflop with [js][jc] and lost 90% of his chips against Fan Xu with [ad][ac].
The next hand would see Zhang all in for just one big blind holding [7c][5h] against [jh][8h]. Zhang hit trip sevens on the [7d][8s][7h][2h][3s] board and more than doubled up.
Just moments later and Zhang was all in with [jh][9d] against [kd][ks] and with no help on the board, Zhang was sent home in 22nd place.
8:40pm: Double knock-out for Min Yi
A double elimination for Min Yi has shot him right into contention here at the Red Dragon.
The action flop was [qs][jc][8c] as the short-stacked Chak Fung Lam moved all in and Yi quickly followed. The third player in the hand was Alan Tsang he instantly committed all in as well!
Lam showed [qd][9d] for top pair and a gutshot, while Tsang opened [qc][kc] for top pair with a flush draw, but they both trailed Yi's [js][jd] for a set of jacks.
The turn was the case [qh] which gave Yi a full house but the other two players were still live with 0their own full house draws.
However the river was the [4s] to see two eliminated and climb Yi up to 1.25 million chips.
8:25pm: Level 21 begins, blinds 10,000/20,000 (3,000)
8:15pm: Miki eliminated, 24 remain
Yukio Miki managed to find himself at risk and double up multiple times today, but unfortunately his tournament has now come to an end in 25th place.
Miki got his chips in preflop holding [ks][qs] and was up against Dasheng Chen's [ts][th].
The [tc][5c][9s] flop gave Chen a set and despite finding a flush draw with the [7s] turn, the [2c] river meant that Miki was sent home with a HK$49,000 score.
8:00pm: Spets done in 26th
Roger Spets has been eliminated in 26th place. He was all in preflop with A-7 and couldn't compete with A-K. For that effort Spets pocketed HK$49,000.
7:50pm: Miki finds another double
It wasn't too long that Yukio Miki was short stacked and finding an all in double up.
Now he's done it again.
This time Miki shoved for around 105,000 holding [qs][tc]. Dasheng Chen called from the big blind holding [9d][8h] and while he hit a pair on the flop of a [8c][6s][4c][2d][qd] board, Miki found a good river and scooped the double up.
7:35pm: Danny gets aggressive
Danny van Zjip and Xiaodong Lin took to a [5d][qs][8d] flop in a recent big hand.
When we arrived at the table van Zjip led for 80,000 and Lin raised it up to 160,000. The action flew back to van Zjip and he moved all in for 340,000. Lin went deep into the tank and eventually opted to fold his cards.
7:30pm: Yuanya with more than final table average
Our chip leader is still Yuanya Chen. With 26 players remaining he has 2.1 million in chips - more than the chip average will be when the final table is set.
7:25pm: Back for Level 20
The 27 players are back from their break and the cards are back in the air.
Blinds are now 8,000/16,000 with a 2,000 ante.
For your information, Chih Feng Li was eliminated in a hand that went deep into the break. He was the official 27th place finisher, collecting HK$49,000.
7:15pm: Three tables to break
The action has continued at a fast pace as just 27 players remain.
Those players are now on a 10-minute break.
7:00pm: Chen charging into big lead
Yuanya Chen has extended his lead at the top of the chip counts after winning another big pot. We picked it up on the turn with the board reading [8c][9c][4c][js] and Chih Feng Li checking it over to Chen who made a bet of 200,000. Li made the call.
The river [9h] paired the board and Li checked again to Chen who verbalized a bet of 450,000. Before he could slide his stacks into the middle, Li had made the call and Chen tabled his [ts][9d] for trip nines.
Li cringed and flashed his defeated [ac][ad] as he paid off his opponent.
Chen is now up to a commanding 1.85 million and is a clear chip leader with 30 players left in the Red Dragon.
6:40pm: Dasheng sends Flo home
Flo Campomanes has hit the rail, while Dasheng Chen is now up to 800,000.
The story of Campomanes' exit saw him check-raise to 100,000 on the turn of a [qd][kd][2s][8s] board after Chen had led for 48,000. After lots of thought, Chen moved all in here, with Campomanes having just 75,000 more behind. Campomanes made the call and his tournament was at risk with [qh][7h] against Chen's stronger [ac][qc].
The board completed with a [th] and with that, Campomanes was eliminated in 33rd place.
6:30pm: Another seven-figure stack
We have another player with a seven-figure stack and he goes by the name Yuguang Li.
Li moved over the 1 million mark when he eliminated Jaehun Kim.
All the chips went in on the turn of a [ts][tc][as][4d][7h] board with Kim having [ac][8c] and Li having the [kh][th] for trip tens.
The board completed with a [7h] and Kim was on the rail.
6:20pm: Big stacks with four tables remaining
There are four tables remaining.
Here are the approximate stacks of the current leaders.
Yuanye Chen - 1,300,000
Yunye Lu - 1,250,000
Takuya Yamashita - 990,000
David Steicke - 825,000
Yiwon Lee - 800,000
6:15pm: Level 19 begins, blinds 6,000/12,000 (2,000)
6:10pm: Qin another on the rail
Chen Qin is the latest to hit the rail as the Red Dragon field continues to diminish at a rapid rate.
Chunhui Ji started things off by moving all in from under the gun for around 150,000. Action folded around to Qin on the button who moved his last 50,000-or-so chips into the middle.
Qin showed [td][th] and was in good shape to double though Ji's [as][4s] but the board would be spread [6d][5h][ah][8c][qc] to pair up Ji's ace to send Qin to the rail.
6:05pm: Another gone and under 40
There are now 39 players remaining.
The most recent player we watched hit the rail was Bin Hu.
He was all in preflop with [ks][jd] and was up against Zong Zang with [7h][7s].
Hu hit a pair on the [kh][7d][3h] flop, but Zang made a set.
The [2d][ turn and the [2h] river meant Zang had a full house and so Hu was on the rail!
5:55pm: Yukio lucky double through Chen
Yukio Miki recently found his short stack all in with [as][th] up against big-stack Yuanye Chen with [jc][js]. A third player, meanwhile, open folded pocket eights preflop - we tell you this, because he made quite the commotion when the dealer spread out a [8s][7c][9d] flop.
The at-risk Miki also made a commotion by the time a [7h] turn and a [6c] river had been turned over as he made a straight to double up.
5:40pm: First over the million
With just over 40 players remaining Chih Feng Li and Yuanye Chen are the current chip leaders. Both these players have over 1 million in chips when the average is under 400,000.
5:25pm: Yamashita over half a million
Takuya Yamashita has just moved over 500,000 after winning a bit pot off Michael Shell.
We picked up the action on the turn of a [td][8h][ah][tc] board, with Yamashita in the big blind position checking to Shell in the cut-off position. Shell bet 150,000 here and it was back on Yamashita. After a few moments, he moved all in for 335,000. Shell made the call, leaving himself with 100,000 behind.
Shell had [as][qs] and Yamashita was at risk with [ts][9s].
Yamashita's trip tens were in front and it stayed that way when the [qh] river was dealt.
5:10pm: Back for Level 18
The players are back from their break and the cards are in the air for Level 18.
Blinds are now 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante.
There are 57 players remaining and remember, today we play to a final table!
5:00pm: First break of Day 3
The 57 remaining players have been sent on their first 10-minute break.
Day 3 of the MPC22 Red Dragon continues soon!
4:55pm: Hello new chip leader
Yifan Zhang is our new chip leader after a monster preflop war with Aditya Sushant has left the Indian on the rail.
It started with Zhang raising to 18,000 before Sushant kicked it up to 46,000. Action folded back around the table to Zhang who was quick to slide out a four-bet to 93,000. It was then back on Sushant. He thought briefly and then dramatically moved his hands into a triangle symbol to declare himself all in.
Zhang asked for a count and it appeared to be exactly 400,000 in total. Zhang had that covered, but only just as he went deep into the tank.
A good five minutes passed by before Zhang decided upon a call. He opened {Ah}{Ks} and jumped to his feet when Sushant sheepishly revealed that he was a little out of line with his {As}{2s}.
The board was spread [tc][jc][8c][ts][4d] and Zhang gave a yell of delight as he now sits with close to 900,000 for the tournament chip lead. Meanwhile Sushant gave a shrug and sulked from the poker room.
4:50pm: Easy way to payjump
Jacob Martin has just been eliminated in 59th place.
How was eliminated? Well, he simply blinded out as he never showed up.
For that effort (little effort mind you), Martin will take home HK$32,900... He just has to come pick it up at some point.
4:40pm: Two ladies left
There are just two ladies remaining in the tournament with 64 total players still alive.
Of those ladies, it is Fengiao Wang who is faring the best with a stack of 285,000, while Xiaohuang Ju is also travelling strongly with 235,000 in chips.
4:30pm: Weng Seong gone
Weng Seong Wong is no longer in the tournament, while Ke Chen is up over 300,000 in chips.
Wong got his chips in with [ac][js] on a [7s][th][ad] flop and ran into the [7d][7c] of Chen.
No help came on the [3h] turn or the [8s] river and so Wong was on the rail!
4:15pm: Zhixiong latest out
More and more players have been hitting the rail throughout the early stages of Day 3 of the MPC22 Red Dragon. The field is already down to 66 remaining players.
The latest player to fall to the rail was Zhixiong Tan. He was all in preflop holding [as][td] and was eliminated by Yuanye Chen with [9d][9s].
4:05pm: Big preflop action for Nicky
Former Red Dragon champion Nicky Tao Jin recently got into a preflop raising war with big stack Guangcheng Chen. The hand started with Chen opening to 15,000 from under the gun plus one. The player in the hijack made the call before Jin three-bet to 41,000. Back on Chen and he four bet to 66,000. The action flew back to Jin and after a few moments, he moved all in for 197,500 total, with Jin having around 220,000 behind. Chen tanked and eventually folded.
This hand makes Jin one of the chip leaders.
4:00pm: Level 17 begins, blinds 4,000/8,000 (1,000)
3:55pm: Zhou doubles through Shell
Guongfang Zhou recently managed a double up through Michael Shell.
Zhou open-shoved for 53,000 from early position and Shell made the call from the big blind.
When the cards were turned over it was revealed Zhou had [as][qc] against Shell's [ts][tc].
The [5c][kc][ac] flop meant Zhou had hit the lead and while the [tc] turn gave Shell a set, it also gave Zhou the nut flush. The meaningless [4c] completed the board on the river and Zhou scooped up the double.
3:50pm: Kunal doubles through Darian
Kunal Patni has managed to double up through Darian Tan.
Patni had his short stack all in preflop holding [td][7s] and was up against Tan's [9h][8s].
The board ran out [ks][7c][qc][7h][8c], with Patni's trip sevens good to rake in the double.
3:40pm: Stefan the next one out
Stefan Gruenewald is the latest in a barrage of eliminations.
Gruenewald was short stacked when he got his chips in good holding [qc][jd] against Deigo Gomez in the blinds with [8h][5c]. The [5s][as][kh][5h][8d] board, however, meant that Gomez had amazingly made a full house to send Gruenewald to the rail!
Gomez began the day as one of the chip leaders and is still moving along nicely here on Day 3.
3:30pm: Gone in a flash
Amazingly there have been 13 quick eliminations to start off Day 3 of the MPC22 Red Dragon.
These are the players who hit the rail: Changrak Choi, Liming Zhang, Chang Hai Huang, Victor Chen, Kezhang Gao, Naqing Xue, Kwan Kit Kwok, Tao Fang, Jeffrey Kat, Chih Fang, Lu Chen, Ochiai Satsuki and Jumma Tomiyama.
There official placings will soon be displayed on the MPC22 prize pool page.
3:20pm: Cards finally flying
After a bit of a rush to get the players in their seats and the bags opened, the cards are finally in the air on Day 3 of the MPC22 Red Dragon!
With the bubble taking so long last night, the clock has been wound back 40 minutes. Blinds are the same 3,000/6,000 with a 500 ante that they were to end Day 2.
Remember, everyone is already in the money and today we play down to a final table.
3:00pm: Delayed start
We have just been informed there will be a 10-minute delay!
Expect cards in the air at around 3:10pm local time. Stay tuned!
Time for the MPC22 Red Dragon to play down to a final table
Welcome back to PokerStars LIVE Macau!
It's business time in the MPC22 Red Dragon Main Event.
Today sees 116 players return to the felt and every single one of them will be looking to fill one of nine spots on the final table. Below is a look at the top ten players, along with a link to the Day 3 seating draw.
MPC22 - Day 2 Top Ten
Yiwon Lee (Korea) - 585000
Jaehun Kim (Korea) - 494500
Stephen Miles (UK) - 395000
Diego Gomez (Portugal) - 373500
Takuya Yamashita (Japan) - 341000
Yifan Zhang (China) - 321500
Yuanye Chen (China) - 310500
Aditya Sushant (India) - 281000
Zhenwu Wang (China) - 275500
Darian Tan (Malaysia) - 269000
Click here for Day 3 seating draw
Cards are in the air from 3:00pm local time today (Thursday) and right here on this page is where you will find full live updates of Day 3 of the MPC22 Red Dragon.
