Yuguang Li Wins Red Dragon Main Event and Macau Poker Cup High Roller Within 24 Hours
The Macau Poker Cup 22 (MPC22) at PokerStars LIVE Macau completed its headline MPC22 Red Dragon Main Event on Friday. Yuguang Li, a 36-year-old businessman, topped a field of 987 unique players to win that event for HK$1,848,000 ($238,000 USD), and he immediately jumped into the MPC22 HK$80,000 High Roller. Amazingly, he won that event too for HK$1,647,000 ($219,000 USD).
"There haven't been many greater two-day stretches in poker and certainly not here at PokerStars LIVE Macau," the PokerStars Blog boasted. "There is no doubt this will go down in history as one of Asia's most memorable poker moments."
Prior to his two wins, Li only had three cashes to his name, all of which came in Macau. His prior biggest cash was $12,421 for a fifth-place finish in the 2014 APPT Asia Championship of Poker (ACOP).
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yuguang Li | China | HK$1,647,000 |
| 2 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | HK$1,048,000 |
| 3 | Andrey Kotelnikov | Russia | HK$699,000 |
| 4 | Huihan Wu | China | HK$549,000 |
| 5 | Shashank Rathi | Hong Kong | HK$399,000 |
| 6 | Ziyang Zhao | China | HK$349,000 |
| 7 | Devan Tang | Hong Kong | HK$299,160 |
The High Roller Event attracted 67 entrants including players like David Eldridge, Rono Lo, David Steicke, Daniel Laidlaw, Mikal Blomlie, and Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang. Of those, just 34 advance to Day 2 with Japan's Masayuki Hakoda carrying the chip lead.
Just seven players were slated to get paid, which meant 27 would leave empty handed on the final day. Among those to fall short of the money were Nick Wong, Kevin Song, Joel Feldman, JP Kelly, Raymond Wu, Raiden Kan, Max Lykov, Tom Alner, and Victor Teng.
After New Zealand's Thomas Ward fell in eighth place after losing a flip with the A♠Q♥ against the 10♣10♦ of Li, the final table was set with well-known poker pro Stephen Chidwick leading the way. Fittingly, it all came down to Chidwick and Li, with the former holding a more than 2-1 chip lead at the start of heads-up play.
Li managed a couple doubles, and eventually found himself holding the lead. Then with the blinds at 60,000/120,000, Li raised to 250,000 and then called when Chidwick shoved for approximately 25 big blinds. Chidwick tabled the K♠K♥, and Li was way behind with the Q♦3♦. However, the day belonged to Li, who made a flush after the board ran out A♦8♠7♦2♦10♠. Chidwick finished as runner-up for HK$1,048,000, while Li brought his total winnings from the 24-hour period up to HK$3,495,000 (~$450,000 USD)
Here's a pic taken the moment Li clinched his second title:
In addition to the High Roller, the HK$20,000 No-Limit Hold'em Event concluded on Saturday. The three-day event, which attracted a field of 237 players and created a prize pool of HK$4,138,020, saw it all come down to ACOP Super High Roller champion Steve O'Dwyer and former World Series of Poker Main Event Octo-Niner Russell Thomas. O'Dwyer bested his opponent, and took down the HK$993,120 ($128,000 USD) first-place prize.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen O'Dwyer | Ireland | HK$993,120 |
| 2 | Russell Thomas | USA | HK$641,400 |
| 3 | Aaron Lim | Australia | HK$413,800 |
| 4 | Don Mishra | Singapore | HK$331,000 |
| 5 | Liang Yu | China | HK$260,700 |
| 6 | Chen An Lin | Chinese Taipei | HK$206,900 |
| 7 | Sam Chuan Aik Nee | Malaysia | HK$165,500 |
| 8 | David Douglas | UK | HK$134,500 |
| 9 | Justin Pak Kwan Chan | Hong Kong | HK$103,500 |
PokerStars will return to PokerStars LIVE Macau from May 20-31 for the APPT Macau, but before that, from April 21-16, the ACOP Platinum Series will take place.
For more information, head on over to the PokerStars Blog.
*Photos courtesy of PokerStars.
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