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Now in its last week, Macau Poker Cup (MPC) 26 saw another record-breaking day play out on Monday with 413 players registering for Day 1B of the Red Dragon Main Event. China`s Zhun Zhong bagged the chip lead with 169,200 chips.
Running alongside the Main Event was the HK$100,000 Single Day High Roller. Spanish poker pro Sergio Aido outlasted the 81-player field for a payday of HK$2,074,000 (~₹1.79 crores). Aido defeated 2016 ACOP Super High Roller champion Yuan Li heads up to win the title pushing his career winnings over the USD $3 million mark.
In other side events, China`s Quan Zhou took down Event 14 – HK$15,000 PLO for HK$285,200 while Taiwan`s Chun-lan Chen won Event 15: HK$3,000 NLH Turbo for HK$159,047.
Day 1c of the Red Dragon begins today at 7 pm.
The second of three starting flights of the Red Dragon Main Event drew a massive 413 runners, which combined with the 304 entries from Day 1A takes the tournament total to 717.
“The passion the players have for the Red Dragon and aspiration to win it is something truly special and unique to the Macau Poker Cup series,” said Mark Blake, PokerStars Head of Live Events in the Asia Pacific.
“It’s too early to celebrate but we’re certainly optimistic about surpassing the 1,145-player record from last September’s Red Dragon.”
Tuesday’s Day 1C will need 428 to tie the record and 429 to extend the Red Dragon’s distinction as the largest freezeout in the Asia Pacific.
Like the day before, Monday’s players competed through twelve 40-minute levels, which reduced the field to 131. China’s Zhun Zhong bagged the biggest stack with 169,200 chips. However, it’s still JP Kelly — the Day 1a chip leader — who owns the overall tournament lead with 247,300.
Other notables to advance included Alan Lau, Raiden Kan, and recent Baby Dragon winner Feng Wen Chen.
Raghav Bansal fresh from his runner-up finish in Event 12 joined the action on Day 1B but was unable to proceed to Day 2.
Top 10 Day 1B Chip Counts
1. Zhun Zhong – 169,200
2. Tao Fang – 148,900
3. Yuefeng Pan – 145,900
4. Donghui Xu – 144,800
5. Mian Wei – 143,400
6. Yingjie Chen – 140,900
7. Minggeng Bo – 139,400
8. Allan Lim – 128,000
9. Wayne Beh Kok Weng – 121,500
10. Ismail Dalle – 119,800
Event 14: HK$15,000 PLO
The event attracted 66 runners and outlasting them all was China`s Quan Zhou. Zhou defeated fellow countryman Jiwei Deng heads-up to win the title and the HK$285,200 top prize!
Event 15: HK$3,000 NLH Turbo
An impressive 253 players joined the action in Event 15: HK$3,000 NLH Turbo and Taiwan`s Chun-lan Chen defeated them all to claim the title and the winners purse of HK$159,047.
The HK$100,000 buy-in Single Day High Roller attracted 81 entries with Spain`s Sergio Aido coming out on top to collect the title and HK$2,074,000 in prize money!
In total, 11 players cashed for a share of the HK$7,541,100 prize pool.
Day 1A chip leader JP Kelly used his off day from the Red Dragon to pick up HK$743,000 after scoring a 4th place finish. Team PokerStars pros Celina Lin and Jake Cody both made the money by finishing in 7th and 11th place respectively.
Aido described the win as a big lift to his confidence after coming up short in the 2016 ACOP Main Event (10th) and $50,000 NLH event (6th) the day prior.
Clearly delighted, Aido joked, “I feel so good I’m 90% sure that I’ll win the Main Event.”
Wing Cheong Chong was the chip leader when the final table began but Aido ended up eliminating the former Red Dragon champion that began a flurry of exits. In fact, it took less than an hour to eliminate seven players from the final table with Mikita Badziakouski‘s third place finish setting up the heads up duel with Li.
The heads up match was decidedly longer but 80 minutes later the final hand would arrive.
Aido moved all-in from the button and after some deliberation, Li made the call.
Sergio Aido
Yuan Li
The lead never changed as the board ran sending Aido to the winners circle.
Final Results (HKD)
1. Sergio Aido – $2,074,000
2. Yuan Li – $1,474,000
3. Mikita Badziakouski – $965,000
4. JP Kelly – $743,000
5. Jordan Westmorland – $588,100
6. Pete Chen – $460,000
7. Celina Lin – $362,000
8. Nick Wong – $283,000
9. Wing Cheong Chong – $215,000
10. Sparrow Cheung – $188,500
11. Jake Cody – $188,500
Stay tuned on PokerGuru for the latest updates from MPC 26.
Images and Content courtesy: PokerStars Blog