Level 18
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
The four remaining High Rollers are on a short 10-minute break.
2017 Poker King Cup Macau
HK$80,000 High Roller
Day: 2
Level 18
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
Only an orbit or so after the elimination of Tian Tang Yuan and we have another casualty with Qiang Lin and Phanlert Sukonthachartnant tangling in a hand that saw the former's tournament come to a close.
Down to around 12 big blinds, Lin made it 22,000 to go from the cutoff, prompting button Chung Yuan Yu to ask him why he didn’t just move all-in. Lin said nothing and Yu tossed in the call before Sukonthachartnant counted out a chunky raise from the small blind and made it 100,000 to go.
Huidong Gu quickly folded his big blind, Lin stuck in the rest of his chips and Yu got out of the way.
Qiang Lin: 
Phanlert Sukonthachartnant: 
Lin found himself racing for his tournament life with two over cards up against Sukonthachartnant pocket jacks and missed the board by miles when the community cards ran out 
meaning we lose another and are now down to four.
Lin headed for the exit via the cash desk and the four remaining competitors are all guaranteed a payday of at least HK$289,000. That timely catch shoots Sukonthachartnant back into pole position and brings us to a break.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
527,000
177,000
|
177,000 |
|
495,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
469,000
69,000
|
69,000 |
|
359,000
9,000
|
9,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 18
: 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante
As the shortest stack since before the departure of Luo Xi, Tang Tian Yuan has had his work cut out for him just treading water to survive. Down to a little over 10 big blinds, Yuan shoved three times in quick succession to build back up to 15 big blinds before a misstep against Taiwan’s Chung Yuan Yu saw Terry’s tournament come to and end.
Pre-flop it was Chung Yuan Yu who opened the action with a min-raise from under-the-gun plus one and Yuan tossed in the extras to take play heads-up to the 
flop.
Yuan checked it over to Yu, who continuation bet 30,000. It did not take Yuan long to move all-in for his last 140,000 and he was called instantly by Yu.
Tang Tian Yuan: 
Chung Yuan Yu: 
While Yuan had hit a piece of the flop he was still trailing to Yu’s pocket queens and with the board already paired he would need to hit one of the deck’s two remaining nines to survive, plus if he hit he would have to fade the deck’s two remaining queens.
In short, it did not look good and the 
turn was of no help. While the 
river looked like it should be helpful, Yu had a higher two pair and edged into the chip lead as Yuan headed for the cash desk to collect his HK$165,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
470,000
120,000
|
120,000 |
|
|
400,000
-50,000
|
-50,000 |
|
|
350,000
130,000
|
130,000 |
|
|
350,000
-5,000
|
-5,000 |
|
|
180,000
-36,000
|
-36,000 |
|
Busted |
Level: 18
Blinds: 5,000/10,000
Ante: 1,000
Level 17
: 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
Luo Xi had become increasingly active on the bubble, a fact that tablemate Liang Yu had no doubt noticed. Xi had taken down a few pots uncontested but it seemed he was on borrowed time and an ill-timed bluff against Yu has just cost Xi his tournament life and burst the bubble, guaranteeing the six remaining players an HK$165,000 (~US$21,200) payday.
Pre-flop it was Xi who was the aggressor, opening the action to 20,000 from the hi-jack. Yu chose to defend his big blind and it was heads-up to a flop of 
, which brought a check from Yu and a beefy bet of 35,000 from Xi.
Yu mulled it over but decided to make the call and the dealer burned and turned the 
. This is where the fireworks happened and after Yu checked for the second time Xi thought over his options. With a stack of 124,000 and over 110,000 in blinds and antes already in the pot Xi decided to go for it and moved all-in.
Yu did not take too long before announcing the call and Xi was in a great deal of trouble, his 
drawing dead against Yu’s 
and just like that we are down to six. That also shoots Yu into pole position and he becomes the new chip leader.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
450,000
130,000
|
130,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Level 17
: 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
It took 15-minutes of cagey play after the start of level 17 before we had our first significant pot, with Chung Yuan Yu choosing to defend his big blind against a Phanlert Sukonthachartnant early position 18,000 raise.
Both players checked the 
flop and after Yu checked for the second time on the turn Sukonthachartnant took a stab for 18,000. Yu called once more and the 
hit the river and paired the board.
This brought a third check from Yu and a bet of 28,000 from Sukonthachartnant, which Yu called instantly. Sukonthachartnant turned over but this was not enough to beat Yu’s trip kings and the Taiwanese player wins some from the chip leader bringing the two almost even in stacks.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
355,000
-45,000
|
-45,000 |
|
|
350,000 |
Level: 17
Blinds: 4,000/8,000
Ante: 1,000
Level 16
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
Huidong Gu made it 15,000 to go from under-the-gun with big blind Phanlert Sukonthachartnant the only caller.
Sukonthachartnant checked the 
flop over to Gu, who continuation bet 12,000, which Sukonthachartnant called. The turn completed a possible club flush and Sukonthachartnant checked again to send Gu deep into tank mode.
After standing up in his seat, looking hard at the flop and then sitting back down Gu elected to check and it was off to the river, which was the , pairing the board.
Sukonthachartnant now decided to lead for 19,000 and after tanking some more Gu announced a raise and made it 80,000 in total. That was enough to get Sukonthachartnant to give it up and Gu pads out his stack a little.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
400,000
-49,000
|
-49,000 |
|
|
220,000
49,000
|
49,000 |
Level 16
: 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
Play had barely resumed following the break before there was a car crash of a hand that saw the short-stacked Wang Zuo move all-in from middle position.
Next to act Liang Yu peeked at his cards and could not get the rest of his chips over the line fast enough. Action folded around to Pete Chen in the cutoff and he moved all-in as well.
Wang Zuo:
Liang Yu:
Pete Chen 
Chen had both players covered and the best hand, but the flop fell king-high to give Yu top set and grant him the triple up. Zuo headed for the rail and Chen was left with a paltry 22,000.
Two hands later this was 20,000, which Chen moved all-in with from middle position with and was looked up by Luo Xi in the cutoff with 
.
The flop fell 
to give Chen a faint glimmer of hope which was quickly dashed when the turn and river ran out 
and the respectively meaning we are down to 7 and are on the bubble.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
320,000
215,000
|
215,000 |
|
|
130,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
||
|
|
Busted | |
Level: 16
Blinds: 3,000/6,000
Ante: 1,000