Longyun Li Wins 2017 Poker King Cup Macau Main Event
It took four days to whittle the 490-strong Poker King Cup Macau Main Event down to the final two players, with China’s Longyun Li and Malaysia’s Michael Soyza the last men standing Friday evening at Venetian Macau.
With both players nearly evenly stacked, a deal was struck when play reached heads-up, with the two using the Independent Chip Model (ICM) to work out a prize pool chop.
Soyza held a slight lead and was guaranteed an HK$1,135,000 (~$US145,619) payday, while Li received HK$1,101,000 (~US$141,282). The two players decided to play for the other 5 percent of the prize pool and the all-important trophy and title.
Li emerged the victor after 15 hands of heads-up play, winning the first significant pot four hands into the match to take a commanding 2-1 chip lead.
With Soyza on the back foot, Li turned the screws by shipping the next big. He limped the button and Soyza checked from the big blind. Soyza check-called Li the whole way on a king-high board, but could only fold the river when Li rolled over king-seven offsuit to take the pot and more than a 10-1 chip lead.
The very next hand it was all over. Li limped the button, Soyza moved all-in from the big blind for his last 1.3 million with queen-nine suited and Li made a speedy call with king-jack off suit. Li paired his jack on the flop to pull further in front and while Soyza picked up a backdoor flush draw, the river bricked out to see Li take down his first major title and first ever live Hendon Mob score.
"I feel so happy to win," said Li after his victory. "It’s difficult to finish first in any tournament and I’m very lucky to have won and I’d like to thank my family and friends who watched from the rail."
Poker King Cup Macau Main Event Results
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (HK$) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Longyun Li | China | HK$1,225,500 | $157,259 |
| 2 | Michael Soyza | Malaysia | HK$1,135,000 | $145,619 |
| 3 | Zhong Yuan Hang | China | HK$625,000 | $80,193 |
| 4 | Liu Lifu | China | HK$462,000 | $59,273 |
| 5 | Huang Qien | China | HK$346,000 | $44,394 |
| 6 | Weizhou Zha | China | HK$278,000 | $35,670 |
| 7 | Simon Burns | UK | HK$232,000 | $29,769 |
| 8 | Linh Tran | Canada | HK$189,000 | $24,252 |
The day began with eight players, but it quickly became seven after Linh Tran and Simon Burns clashed 20 minutes into the first level of the day. While Tran’s pocket kings were leading Burns’ pocket queens, the queen-high flop left Tran on life support with just 1.5 big blinds and he departed the very next hand.
It took a further three hours of before the next casualty with the chip lead changing hands numerous times. Eventually, something had to give and it was Burns who was the next man to fall, getting all the chips in preflop with ace-seven offsuit and running into the pocket jacks of Liu Lifu.
This opened the floodgates for a slew of speedy eliminations with Weizhou Zha, Huang Qien and Lifu departing in quick succession in the space of a single 60-minute level.
While Zhong Yuan Hang enjoyed a brief stint as chip leader when play became three-handed, he was the next to fall, getting all the chips in preflop with the dominated ace-five offsuit against the ace-jack of Soyza. The Malaysian player paired his jack and sent Hang crashing out of the tournament to take play heads-up.
That concludes the PokerNews live reporting for the Poker King Cup Macau, but we will be returning to the Las Vegas of the Orient for the Triton Super High Roller Series from August 3-7, so join us then for more high-octane, big buy-in tournament thrills.
