We are on the first break of the Final Day and we are still in the bubble round with 6 players remaining. Here are the estimated chip counts:
Liu Yi 360k
Aik Chuan 322k
Mitusuru Sano 240k
Hailong Huang 140k
Tetsuya Tsuchikawa 100k
Paphawin Laodee 71k
Aik Chuan and Hialong Huang tangled for two pots that saw the first one go to the day’s entering leader Chuan but it all went back and more to Huang on the next hand.
The first bout saw a 6k raise by Huang on the utg seat and was called by both Liu Yi and Chuan. At the flop K♦ 3♣ 7♣, all checked. On the turn 2♦, Chuan bet 8300 and only Huang called. On the K♣ river, Chuan continued and sent 14.3k out in front of him. Huang folded.
The next hand saw three player in on an unraised pot. The spread came 2♥ 7♥ 6♣, Chuan checked, Huang bet 3400, Yi called, the nChuan check-raised to 14.4k. Huang called while Yi folded.
On the 6♦ turn, Chuan led for 11.8k, Huang jammed for another 72.7k, and Chuan gave it a thought but not too long. He folded while showing his 7♦.
We are still at the bubble round with 6 players remaining. Action continues to be fast and fierce with raises sizable pots seeing the felt. Liu Yi just claimed two of those pots with one of them quite meaty against Aik Chuan.
From the utg seat, Chuan raised to 6500, Yi three-bet to 16.5k, and Chuan called. On the flop 3♣ 4♦ 2♣, Chuan checked to the aggressor Yi who slid out 12k, and Chuan matched it up. On the 9♣ turn, Chuan sent the lead top Yi once again who laid out a 65k bet. This time Chuan opted to switch directions and fold for the next hand.
Mitsuru Sano got involved in a pot with Hailong Huang helping boost up his stack. The hand saw a raised pot with three players in. At the spread of J♥ 5♠ 8♦, more bets entered the pot while one player folded. On the turn A♥another drop of chips in the middle. Then on the river 4♣, Sano fired out 35k and got the call from Huang. He won with his 5♦ 5♥ set.
Aik Chuan has just won the next three pots after eliminating Daniel Tan. He is taking full advantage of this bubble round. He was able to pick up a sizable pot against the chip leader Liu Yi.
Chuan raised to 5k preflop and found three callers, the button Hailong Huang and the blinds Paphawin Laodee and Yi. At the flop of 7♣ 6♠ Q♦, Yi bet 2400, Chuan raised to 12.8k, two folds, and Yi called.
The 5♠ turn saw both Chuan and Yi check but on the K♦ river, Chuan bet 18.2k and won it with no challenge from Yi.
Aik Chuan may have lost some chips to Hailong Huang but made up some of it by eliminating short stacked Daniel Tan. It was an all in preflop with Tan holding A-2 and Chuan with A-J. The board drew blanks.
We are down to 6 players which means it is bubble time!
Hailong Huang needed a big pick me up to get back in the running today and has been successful in his attempts. He already won two pots while shoving his stack in yet not getting the call. All that was about to change.
Action started off with a raise to 4900 by Aik Chuan followed by Huang who three-bet to 20k. Chuan quickly moved all in and after hitting the tank hard, Huang called while putting himself at risk.
Chuan A♣ Q♠
Huang 10♣ 10♠
The board dropped 8♥ 6♥ 7♠ 6♦ 4♣ and with no hits for Chuan, it was a huge double up to nearly 350K for the hot-handed Huang.
The first casualty of the final day has just been delivered and it was the fall of Malaysia’s Sam Ng. After losing chips to other players, Ng continued to get involved in the action. In a five way limped pot, the flop ran Q♦ 5♥ 8♣, three players checked and Liu Yi bet 8K. Ng on the button called while the rest folded.
On the 2♥ turn, Yi banged out 23k, and still Ng called. Then on the K♣ river, Yi snap-shoved and Ng quickly tossed in the call for his tournament life.
Yi A♣ A♠
Ng Q♠ J♦
Yi booted Ng and we are now down to 7 players. Yi now holds the chip lead with over 500K in chips.
Alike Hailong Huang, Mitsuru Sano has earned another pot for himself. He raised to 5200 on the cutoff and found one customer in Sam Ng on the small blind.
At the flop 8♣ 2♣ 5♥, Ng checked to the raiser Sano who continued with a 7K bet. Ng folded.