Friday, 29th March 2024 06:21
Home / Uncategorized / APPT Macau: Day 1A levels 1, 2 & 3 updates (100-200, 25 ante)

3.35pm: End of the level
That’s the end of level 3. We move on to level 4 and blinds of 150-300 with a 25 ante. — SY

3.30pm: High roller takes his seat
Vladimir Geshkenbein, who beat Johnny Chan heads-up to win the high roller here in Macau last season for $226,690, has finally arrived to take his seat. He made quick work of making up for lost time, winning his first pot to move up to 27,000. — SY

3.25pm: The strife of Bryan
The day started off badly for Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang and now he’s out. He was down to his last 2,050 when he made his stand with Jâ™  5â™  but walked straight in to the big blind’s A♦ K♦ . The 9â™  10♦ 2â™  flop gave some hope of a flush, but the 6♥ turn and 10♥ river failed to fill it.

“It was a pretty tough day,” he said, “and I was never able to get going. Nothing went right, including getting queens early on which I had to lay down.” Huang won’t have far to go home, though – he lives in Macau. “You want to know the best places to go, just ask,” he said. — SY

3.15pm: Lin chops it up
With the action folding round to Celina Lin on the button, she bumped the action to 600 and found a lone caller from the big blind.

The A♥ Q♦ Q♥ flop was checked through to see the 2♦ land on the turn and Lin’s 700-chip bet check-called by her opponent.

Both players checked the 5♥ on the river to see Lin’s opponent table his Aâ™  .

“What’s your kicker?” asked the Team PokerStars Pro Asia member as she tabled her A♦ 7â™  .

Her opponent tabled the same hand – Aâ™  7♦ – and both players chopped the pot as Lin climbed back to just under her starting stack. — TD

celina_lin_appt_macau.JPG

Celina Lin

3.10pm: Bling out
Jaynarain Sookoo, the man with the bling as described in the 1.40pm post, is out. No details apart from he had flopped a flush but his opponent rivered a bigger one. — TD

2.55pm: A long way from the US
Jesse Haabak qualified for this event on PokerStars and has made a decent start, up to 35,000 from his 20,000 starting stack. On a flop of K♦ J♣ 10♣ Marc Saber made it 3,500 sending Haabak in to the tank for a minute or so. When he emerged he re-raised by another 5,325, which was too much for Saber who mucked instantly. Saber down to 16,000. — SY

2.45pm: Yoon plays nice
Daren Yoon opened to 525 from the cutoff and Raymond Wu made the call from the button.

Yoon fired out 800 on the 2♠ J♥ J♠ flop with Wu making the call before both players checked the 7♠ on the turn.

The river landed the Kâ™  and Yoon paused for a moment before once again checking as Wu quickly followed behind.

Yoon turned towards Wu and let out a sheepish smile while tabling his Kâ™  J♦ to prompt a chuckle from the Team PokerStars Pro Asia member as he mucked his hand. As Wu slips to 38,000, Yoon climbs to over 27,000 in chips. — TD

daren_yoon_appt_macau.JPG

Daren Yoon

2.25pm: Level ends
That’s the end of level two. Players are taking a ten-minute break. Of the 88 starters, 79 remain. — SY

2.20pm: All-in, no takers
The board was 7♣ A♥ 5â™  Q♥ and Paul O’Brien from Australia bet 700, only for Yu Ming Ming to bump it up to 2,100. O’Brien was going anywhere – moving all in for another 12,500, enough to put Ming at risk. The American, a PokerStars sponsored player, thought better of it and let it go. — SY

2.10pm: Chen struggling
At last season’s APPT Macau Daoxing Chen made it all the way to third place, pocketing $239,315. But he’s not enjoying that sort of form in the early running today, down now to around 11,000. On this one he had to let go on a K♥ 8♣ 7â™  2â™  3♣ board when his opponent showed Kâ™  J♣ . — SY

2.05pm: High rollers
The high roller event has just kicked off here in the PokerStars Macau Poker Room. Among the 30 or so players sitting down is PokerStars player Terrence ‘Unassigned’ Chan. This is a two-day event with a buy in of $88,000 HKD – about $9,000 USD. — SY

2.01pm: Huang clipped
Bryan Huang opened to 500 from under the gun and found action from his opponent who opted to defend his big blind.

Both players checked the 2â™  4♦ Aâ™  flop to see the 7♥ land on the turn and a check follow from Huang’s opponent. The Team PokerStars Pro Asia member tossed out a bet of 600 – which was quickly called – as the 4â™  fell on the river.

Huang’s opponent immediately splashed the pot with a bet of 3,000, and after a few moments deliberating, Huang made the call.

Unfortunately Huang was forced to muck his hand at the sight of his opponent’s 4♥ 3♦ as the Singaporean slipped to just 5,000 in chips. — TD

bryan_huang_appt_macau.JPG

Bryan Huang

1.45pm: Saber aggression
Alexandre Chieng started this off with a bet of 400, called by Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang from Singapore. It was folded around to Marc Saber in the small blind who made it 2,400 – called only by Chieng. The flop was 4â™  4♦ 9♥ and Saber wasted no time betting 2,000. Chieng looked a little anguished, but soon let his hand go. — SY

marc_saber_appt_macau.jpg

Marc Saber

1.40pm: Bling-a-ling
We’re used to seeing poker players sporting a certain amount of bling. Be it Ed Hardy shirts or the occasional flashy watch or bracelet. But the prize for the most bling we’ve seen for many a tournament goes to Jaynarain Sookoo from South Africa, who has rings, bracelets, necklaces, golden earphones, golden watch… the lot! With all that weight, it’s a wonder he has the strength to peek at his cards. — SY

jaynarain_sookoo_appt_macau.jpg

Jaynarain Sooko: the Midas touch

1.36pm: Wu flushed with chips
Carl Christer Andersson opened to 250 from the hi-jack and Team PokerStars Pro Asia member Raymond Wu made the call from the button.

The flop of 6♣ 3♣ J♦ was checked by Andersson to see Wu fire out a bet of 400. Andersson made the call as the 9♣ landed on the turn and Wu continued again with a bet; this time amounting to 1,250. Andersson again made the call as the Q♦ fell on the river as he once again checked the action over to Wu.

After some careful calculation, Wu tossed in a bet of 6,675 to put Andersson into the tank for over two minutes before eventually making the call.

Andersson however mucked at the sight of Wu’s Q♣ 8♣ as the Team PokerStars Pro Asia member raked in the pot to send him to over 41,000 in chips.

“Must be nice to be Raymond Wu. Must be nice!” added friend and fellow table member Daren Yoon. –TD

1.30pm: Video!
The video team have been at work to describe the start of Day 1A here in Macau…

1.25pm: Level up
The first level is done and dusted already – and players are not hanging around. With registration open until the end of level two, we have 87 signed up so far – and already nine of them are out. — SY

1.20pm: Ewing cracks Aces
Mei Ngok opened with a raise to 300 and only David Ewing made the call from the button to see a K♣ 5♦ K♦ flop fall.

Ngok check-called a 425-chip bet from Ewing to see the 7♥ land on the turn before being faced with a 725-chip bet after checking once again. This time however Ngok took the more aggressive line by check-raising to 2,500 to put Ewing under some pressure
Ewing took about sixty seconds before making the call to see the 4♦ fall on the river and checks follow from both players.

Ngok tabled her A♣ A♥ , but it would be Ewing’s K♥ Jâ™  for flopped trips to see the Australian rake in the pot and move to 25,000 in chips. — TD

1.10pm: Luske suited and booted
Wearing his customary suit, Team PokerStars Pro Marcel Luske is quickly settling in to life on the APPT. He’s chipped up to 26,000 in the early running without much resistance. On this one he opened for 300 and got a call from the big blind. Both checked the 8♥ 7â™  10â™  flop, but on the 2♣ turn Luske bet 500 and that was enough to take the pot. — SY

marcel_luske_appt_Macau.JPG

Marcel Luske at the APPT Macau opening ceremony

12.50pm: Powell picks up early pot
On a board reading 5♣ 4♠ K♣ 6♦ J♠ Chin Te Chiu fired out a bet of 1,500 into a pot of 2,700.

His lone opponent in the hand – Australian high stakes player Julian Powell – mulled over a decision before tossing in an arrangement of chips amounting to a raise to 4,650.

Chiu took near on three minutes before making the call tabling his K♥ J♦ , but it would be Powell’s 5♦ 5♥ for a flopped set enough to rake in the pot and see the youngster climb to over 26,000 in chips. — TD

12.35pm: Oh Boye! Man down already
In one of the fastest tournament eliminations I’ve ever seen, we have lost Pan Xiao Long from China. He satellited his way in to this event but lasted only a couple of hands before getting all in with Q-10 against PokerStars’ qualifier Jan Boye’s Q-Q. The two pair was never good against a set (which made a full house on the river) on the Q♦ 10â™  2♥ 7♦ 7♣ board, and Germany’s Boye is our first chip leader of APPT Macau season 4. — SY

pan_xiao_long_macau.JPG

Pan Xiao Long, standing, gives his friend the bad news

12.30pm: Shuffle up and deal… Dutch style
Team PokerStars Pro Marcel Luske get things started. After the vibrant welcome (details below), he took to the microphone and thankfully didn’t sing. Instead, he said: “It is great to see so many people putting so much energy into an event. I have never been to Macau before, but I am very pleased to be here and looking forward to lasting a long time in the event. Let’s shuffle up and deal.” — SY

12.25pm: Thriller of a start
We were promised a grand opening ceremony, and that’s exactly what we’re getting. Right now, five feet to my left, a dancer dressed in rather scary local costume is performing a dance to Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean. I think it’s going to be that sort of day. — SY

dancer_appt_macau.JPG

12.05pm: Getting ready
We’re scheduled to start at 12.15pm, and judging by the way tournament boss Danny McDonagh and his staff are calling players to their seats, we could well get off on time.

Players will sit down nine-handed with 20,000 chips and begin with blinds at 50-100. We’re expecting around 80 players for this day 1A, with more than that scheduled for days 1B and 1C.

While we ready for the off, you can read our APPT Macau welcome post right here. — SY

pokerstars_macau_table.JPG

PokerStars Blog reporting team in Macau: Tim Duckworth and Simon Young. Photos Joe Giron

Study Poker with Pokerstars Learn, practice with the PokerStars app