Mark Mierkalns opened the pot with a button raise, and both Marcel Luske and Robin Koh came along from the blinds.
The flop brought , and the blinds checked to the raisier. Mierkains continued out with 800 chips, Luske ducked out, and Koh made the smooth call.
Fourth street came the , and both players checked to the river. When Koh checked again, Mierkains made one more bet of 1,100. The call came instantly, and Mierkains flipped up his airball , and Koh's earned him the pot with the full house. He's climbed a bit, but Koh is still down around 11,000 after that pot.
After some fiddly fiddling with our new photo gallery, it appears to be working. Without further ado, here's a little batch of photos from the first two levels.
Bryan Huang is hanging on for dear life. He was all the way down below 3,000 chips when he stole a few rounds of blinds. Then he open limped his button. The small blind folded, and the big blind let Huang see a free flop. It came , and both players checked. The turn brought the . and the big blind bet out 600. Huang folded, and his opponent showed him a courtesy king. Huang heads into the break with 3,675.
Raymond Wu raised from middle position to 550 before Nathanael Seet reraised from the button to 1,750. The woman in the big blind flat called and then Wu folded. After a flop of , the woman fired 3,300 into Seet. Seet tanked for a minute or two and then let his hand go. He was left with 19,000 chips.
From middle position, Bryan Huang jacked things up to 500. Only the player in the big blind made the call and the flop came down . The big blind checked and then Huang checked behind.
The turn put the on board and the big blind checked. Huang fired 500 and was called before the completed the board. The big blind check-called a bet of 1,500 this time from Huang. Huang held to beat his opponent's and scoop the pot.
Despite winning that pot, Huang is still down over half his stack. He's now at 9,100.
Action folded to Daren Yoon in middle position and he raised it up to 625. Nathanael Seet was on the button and paused for some thought when action folded over to him. Eventually, he three-bet to 2,025. The blinds folded and then Yoon was up again. He checked his stack size, but then let his hand go. Seet's up to about 27,000 chips and Yoon is on just over 28,000.
In a big pot that took several minutes to unfold, Dao Xing Chen was deep in the tank studying a board. On the river, his opponent had bet 4,500 into an approximately 7,000-chip pot. While Chen tanked, Celina Lin complained to Daren Yoon, who was sitting one table over, that "We're only getting in like five hands an hour." Perhaps prompted by the complaint, Chen folded a few seconds later.
It looks like Team PokerStars Asia pro Bryan Huang is having a rough go of it here in the first couple levels of Day 1a. His starting stack of 20,000 has more-than-half been parted out and he's down to 7,000 chips.
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, and the blinds checked to the raisier. Mierkains continued out with 800 chips, Luske ducked out, and Koh made the smooth call.
, and both players checked to the 
river. When Koh checked again, Mierkains made one more bet of 1,100. The call came instantly, and Mierkains flipped up his airball 
, and Koh's 
earned him the pot with the full house. He's climbed a bit, but Koh is still down around 11,000 after that pot.
, and both players checked. The turn brought the 
. and the big blind bet out 600. Huang folded, and his opponent showed him a courtesy king. Huang heads into the break with 3,675.
, the woman fired 3,300 into Seet. Seet tanked for a minute or two and then let his hand go. He was left with 19,000 chips.
. The big blind checked and then Huang checked behind.
on board and the big blind checked. Huang fired 500 and was called before the 
completed the board. The big blind check-called a bet of 1,500 this time from Huang. Huang held 
to beat his opponent's 
and scoop the pot.
board. On the river, his opponent had bet 4,500 into an approximately 7,000-chip pot. While Chen tanked, Celina Lin complained to Daren Yoon, who was sitting one table over, that "We're only getting in like five hands an hour." Perhaps prompted by the complaint, Chen folded a few seconds later.