HomeHailong Huang has challenged the leader Aik Chuan to two head to head duels but Chuan opted to fold. In both instances, Chuan raised and Huang shoved. Huang now at average stack with over 300k.
With Paphawin Laodee’s elimination, Mitsuru Sano is now the shortest stack however he has just won a sizable pot against Aik Chuan with his full house holding 9♦ 8♥ on a running board of 5♠ A♠ A♦ A♣ 9♥. He now has 260k in chips.
Average stack is 312.5k
The first player to head to the cage at the Main Event was Thailand’s Paphawin Laodee whose higher pair was given no justice. Action began with Aik Chuan raising it up to 20k then Laodee moved all in for a total of 115k. Chuan called for the showdown.
Laodee 9♠ 9♣
Chuan 3♦ 3♠
Although Laodee was ahead and looked to be in fine shape for a double up, it was not to be with the board running 3♥ 5♦ 4♠ 6♣ 10♥. Chuan improved to a set and Laodee bowed out in 5th place. He earned USD 4,370 for his deep run.
After losing the chip lead to Liu Yi, Aik Chuan continued with his aggressive play and was rewarded with a few pots to send him back on top. His first beefy winning pot came from Hailong Huang. Huang raised to 15k preflop and Chuan defended on the big blind. No bets came until the board completed 7♥ 3♥ Q♦ J♣ J♠. Chuan bet 18k and was called. He opened up 8♥ 8♠ and Huang mucked.
Next hand was against Liu Yi. Staring down a flop 2♣ 7♦ 3♣, Chuan bet 14k onto a raised pot preflop. Yi check-raised to make it 30k, and Chuan called. On the 4♠ turn it was checked by both, but on the 6♣ river, Chuan fired out 50k and Yi gave up his stake for the pot.
Mitsuru Sano was the next player to donate to Chuan. He three-bet Chuan’s 14k raise to make it 36k. On the A♦ 3♦ 8♠ flop, Sano fired out 27k and was flat-called. On the 3♥ turn and Q♣ rive, no bets fell and Chuan won with A♠ 10♣ over Sano’s J♦ 9♠.
He was not invincible though. He lost 55k to Huang on the next hand but still leads with 400k in chips. Average stack is 250k.
Liu Yi has been doing his darndest trying to grind down aggressive playing leader Aik Chuan and was finally able to do so to take a slight lead in chips.
The hand that did it began with a raise by Yi on the button and Chuan called the 13k on his big blind. When the flop ran 6♦ 7♣ 2♦, both checked. On the 9♥ turn, Chuan bet 13k, Yi raised to 30k, and got the call. On the 6♥ river, Chuan checked, Yi bet 25k, and Chuan called. Yi claimed the pot with his A♥ 9♦. He took the lead with around 290k in chips. Chuan dropped to 250k average. It is the first time today that he has lost the chip lead.
Hailong Huang is fearless against the leader Aik Chuan even though he is the shortest stack of the bunch. Well he isn’t the shortest anymore. In the hand against Chuan, he moved all in on a board of 5♦ 6♣ 5♠ 3♠. Chuan folded, giving up his 26k bet. Huang won the next one as well to climb just over 200k in chips.
Aik Chuan is swinging at the table but his chip losses are minimal compared to his massive stack. He won against Mitsuru Sano, lost some to Yi’s full house, won a pot with no callers on the flop, then folded to Yi’s three-bet preflop from 17k to 52k.
He proceeded to win the next two hands. The first with an uncalled raise followed by a bigger pot with Q♣ 9♠ two pair against Yi’s A♥ Q♠top pair on a board of Q♥ 8♦ J♣ 9♦ 6♦.
Battle of the blinds again saw Paphawin Laodee raise to 12k and Liu Yi called on the big blind. On the flop of Q♠ 6♠ A♦, both players checked. On the 7♣ turn, Laodee slid out another 12k and was called. The river A♠ saw another 18k go in and Yi called.
Laodee Q♣ 9♣ two pair
Yi K♣ Q♥ two pair higher kicker
In a battle of the blinds, Hailong Huang won some chips off Aik Chuan with his straight. He also picked up the next pot with an uncalled raise on his small blind against the next big blind Laodee. Huang is still the shortest stack with just under 150k. Average stack is 250k.