8:00pm: Break time
The remaining players are heading on a 10-minute break.
Join us after the break in a new post.
10:10pm: Break time
The remaining players are heading on a 10-minute break and registration will close during this break.
Join us after the break in a new post.
7:50pm: Small win for Kroesen
Following an under-the-gun raise to 575, Ricky Kroesen three-bet next to act to 1,025. Following some confusion on the raise amount and if it was allowed (it was), the action passed back to the original raiser who made the call.
The dealer spread a K♦ 6♦ 6♠flop and once it was checked to Kroesen, he bet out 1,100. His opponent quickly folded and Kroesen raked in the pot on the eve of the first break.
7:30pm: Tan runs flush into flush
Jay Tan opened the action with a raise to 550 and found callers from both the small and big blind.
The 6♣ 5♣ A♣ flop was checked through before the small blind bet 300 when the 7♣ landed on the turn. The big blind passed, but Tan bumped it up to 950 and was met with a quick call as the river landed the A♥ .
The small blind quickly tossed in 600 and Tan made the call. The small blind showed his K♣ Q♥ for a king-high flush as Tan flashed her A♠Q♣ and mucked while slipping to 12,400 in chips.
7:20pm: Player upset at late arrival
Walking over to one of the inside tables we found a new player frustrated at his chip stack.
Listening to the conversation he was having with the Tournament Director, he was stating that he was upset at not beginning the tournament with a full stack even though he had already won a pot to take him over the 20,000-chip starting stack.
As the Tournament Director checked his seating ticket, he realized that the player had registered and then waited a lengthy bit of time before taking his seat therefore seeing him relinquish some chips to the blinds.
The player then calmed down and realized that it was his doing and continued along with the tournament.
7:10pm: Hong pushes river against Francis
Daniel Francis opened with a raise to 400 and Celina Lin made the call from the button before Ryan Hong three-bet the big blind to 1,300. Francis responded by four-betting to 3,500 to push Lin out as Hong deliberated for a few moments before making the call.
Hong then checked the 6♥ 2♥ 7♠flop as Francis continued for 2,000 with Hong calling before both players checked the 9♦ on the turn.
The river landed the A♦ and for the third time Hong tapped the table before Francis cut out a bet of 4,000. Hong looked the New Zealander up a few times before pushing his stack of roughly 11,800 into the middle.
Francis swiftly folded and slipped to roughly 9,300 as Hong saw his stack balloon to roughly 27,000 in chips.
7:00pm: First to fall
As time ticked into the second level of the day, the first elimination has been spotted.
On a flop of Aâ™ 8♥ 5♦ Yanji Dai raised and re-raised himself all in holding A♣ 5♣ but was in a tough spot against Triantafyllos Chadiroglou’s A♦ 8â™ .
The turn and river landed the 7♥ and 3♥ and Dai was bumped to the rail.
Level Up: Blinds 100/200
6:50pm: Guzzardi loses some
Facing a raise to 250 from middle position, Michael Guzzardi casually defended his big blind to see a 2♥ 7♥ 5♠flop.
Both he and his opponent tapped the table gently as the Q♠rolled off on the turn and Guzzardi dropped in a bet of 350. His opponent made the call, and once the A♣ landed on the river, both players elected to check.
Guzzardi flipped over his 8♦ 7♦ for third pair, but it would be his opponent’s Q♥ 10♣ that would see him capture the pot.
6:35pm: Wong sits down and wins
Ken Wong Рwho strolled into the tournament area with pregnant fianc̩ Jay Tan Рtook his seat on a table by the back wall.
After folding a few hands, Wong was met with an open to 225 which he responded by three-betting his button to 600. The big blind called, as did the original raiser before the dealer spread a 2♣ Q♣ 9♠flop.
Both players checked to Wong and he tossed in two pink 500-denomination chips. His opponents quickly folded and Wong flashed what looked to be paint cards as he scooped his first pot of the day.
6:25pm: More arrivals
The latest batch of arrivals sees PokerStars Team Asia Pros Celina Lin and Raymond Wu while WSOP bracelet winner Naoya Kihara is located on the opposite end of the poker room alongside Australian Milan Gurung.
Michael Mariakis, Jay Tan, Ken Wong, Carlos Chang, Dennis Huntly and Ryan Hong round out the latest to take their seats.
6:15pm: Zalac outdone on river
Catching the action on the turn with the board reading 7♣ 4♣ 6♠5♦ and 1,250 in the pot, we found Ivan Zalac checking from the big blind to his opponent on the opposite end of the table in middle position.
Announcing a bet of 775, Zalac tossed in the calling chips as the 3♥ completed the board on the river to see a straight on the board. Zalac paused momentarily and then bet out 700 only to be raised to 3,000.
“Call! Call! Call!” quickly announced Zalac.
Zalac’s opponent tabled his 8♣ 6♣ for an eight-high straight to best what was on the board.
Zalac shuffled his cards a few times, picked them up and gazed at them for a while before stating, “we could have gotten it in on the flop.”
As Zalac reluctantly folded, he slipped down to 15,625 in chips.
6:10pm: Notables trickling in
There are roughly 100 players in the Day 1a flight so far with 15 tables currently setup.
A host of Asia-Pacific players such as Sparrow Cheung, Nathaniel Seet, Alexandre Chieng and Terry Fan are seated while Australian’s Michael Guzzardi, Ricky Kroesen, Ivan Zalac, Edison Nguyen and Michael Kanaan are also in the field.
Scottish player David Vamplew is also playing while the mega satellite has just finished which will see 13 players enter tonight’s flight.
6:00pm: Play underway
APPT President Danny McDonagh has welcomed the Day 1a players into the tournament area and has announced that famous poker catchphrase of “shuffle up and deal!”
Each player will begin with a 20,000-chip start bank and endure 60-minute levels. Day 1a registration is set to close after 4 hours, so with that, good luck players!
Welcome to the 2013 ACOP Warm-Up!
Good evening everyone from the PokerStars Live at the City of the Dreams in Macau for the Asia Championship of Poker (ACOP) HK$25,000 Warm-Up (HK$5 million Guarantee)!
Today marks the first of a two day 1 opening flights that will see some of the best players from Macau, Hong Kong, Japan and all over the world battle it out to see who can become the second ACOP Warm-Up Champion. Players have now adjusted happily to the new poker room that is located adjacent to the gaming floor after moving here in April from the Grand Waldo. Comfortable and padded swivel chairs, open spacing between tables and expert staff make playing here in Macau a very pleasant experience. Winning also helps!
In November last year, Australian Jeff Rossiter captured the HK$1,777,000 first prize over the 358-player field on a stacked final table that featured former November Niner Joseph Cheong (3rd), Daoxing “Bobo” Chen (5th) and 10-time bracelet winner Johnny Chan (7th).
Unfortunately for Rossiter, but fortunately for everyone else playing, he will not be able to defend his title as he is currently at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe in Enghien-les-Bains, France playing Day 2 of the €25,600 High Roller event.
Having the super-talented Rossiter not here also bodes well for those players looking to make a run at claiming the 2013 Asia Player of the Year (APOY) title. After taking a fifth place in the ACOP Platinum Series II, Japan’s Tetsuya Tsuchikawa climbed to the top of the table edging out long-time leader Terry Fan. However with 12 qualifying events during the series, the title is still up for grabs, and like years before, it will most likely come right down to the wire.
2013 Asia Player of the Year Standings
1: Tetsuya Tsuchikawa (Japan) – 3,515
2: Terry Fan (Chinese Taipei) – 3,400
3: Neo Li Han Chen (Chinese Taipei) – 3,375
4: Sparrow Cheung (Hong Kong) – 3,265
5: Gie Reyes (Philippines) – 3,120
6: Ryan Yu (China) – 3,100
7: Alexandre Chieng (China) – 2,827
8: Yoshitaka Okawa (Japan) – 2,671
9: Chris Chong (Singapore) – 2,653
10: Kyung Sik Jung (Korea) – 2,348
*Standings as of October 17th, 2013
Play is set to begin at 6:00pm local time with an estimated 150 players expected to take part today. So make sure to keep your screens – whether of the computer, iPad or iPhone nature – locked to the PokerStars Blog as we provide the exclusive live updates of all the ACOP Warm-Up Day 1a action.
Back to Top
