Hao "HoHo" Chen Tops Asia's Largest Tournament Field Ever To Win Macau Millions
To close last week, the 2014 Macau Millions at PokerStars LIVE Macau at the City of Dreams shattered the record for largest poker tournament field in Asia. The tournament broke the old mark of 1,329 set in 2011 by a wide margin of nearly 500 entries, and the new record was set at 1,804.
Now, the event has a champion — Hao "HoHo" Chen.
2014 Macau Millions Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (HK$) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hao "HoHo" Chen | China | 550,000 |
| 2 | Sheng Chang | China | 400,000 |
| 3 | Kenneth Leong | Hong Kong | 270,000 |
| 4 | Chia Wei Tsui | Chinese Taipei | 190,000 |
| 5 | Ping Cheong Fung | Hong Kong | 135,000 |
| 6 | Luis Jung | Korea | 105,000 |
| 7 | Lester Pinto | Singapore | 85,000 |
| 8 | Thomas Tsang | Hong Kong | 70,000 |
| 9 | Hongbing Li | China | 56,000 |
| 10 | Miklos Viczena | Hungary | 43,760 |
Coming into the final table, Chen was in the lead. From there, the tournament reached three-handed play between Chen, Sheng Chang, and Kenneth Leong after just about two hours, according to our friends at the PokerStars Blog.
Leong was eliminated in third place thanks to Chen, and this bust out gave Chen a 2-1 chip lead heading into heads-up play against his fellow countryman, Chang. Shortly into the match, though, Chang found a double up to even the stacks. It looked like things were going to take awhile from there, but suddenly the tournament ended when the two players both clashed in a battle of big hands on the turn.
On a board of 10♣7♣6♥4♦, Chang led with a bet of 1,000,000. Chen, who had flopped a straight with the 9♠8♥, raised all in and had his opponent covered. Chang didn't back down and made the call with the 6♣4♣ for a turned two pair and a flush draw. That meant Chen needed to fade a lot of outs on the river as any six or four would give Chang a full house and a club with give him a winning flush.
The dealer burned for a final time in the hand, but it also turned out to be the final burn card of the tournament as the K♥ landed on the river to keep Chen's ten-high straight as the best hand. With the chip lead entering the pot, Chen secured the victory and pocketed the first-place prize of HK$550,000 (approx. $70,800). For his runner-up finish, Chang earned HK$400,000 (approx. $51,500).
"I was worried about the Red Dragon winner (Kenny Leong)," said Chen after his win. "My only strategy was to get rid of him. After I knocked him out, I was confident I would win."
The win did more than just put some extra money in Chen's pockets and his name on the trophy — it moved him into a four-way tie for Asia Player of the Year. You can view the full standings by clicking here.
Photo and data courtesy of the PokerStars Blog.
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