Thursday, 28th March 2024 15:56
Home / Uncategorized / Macau Millions Day 1a: Levels 6 – 10 (blinds 1,000-2,000, ante 200)

12:25am: Ten-minute break

12:10am: Last female standing

We have one female left in our final three tables and she’s still fighting hard after finding a recent double up. Jay Tan was all in preflop for her last 6,500 from under the gun with Andrew Marks making the call in the small blind.

Tan opened K♦ Q♦ and was in great shape as Marks held a dominated K♠ 10♠ . Tan was calling for another queen but when the flop landed 4♦ A♥ J♣ , it was Marks who was calling for the lucky lady as both players flopped straight draws. The 2♥ turn and 6♦ river completed the board as Tan doubled up to around 15,000 chips.

jennette_tan_macau_millions.jpg

Jay Tan is flying the flag for the ladies

11:45pm: Beware the limper

With the blinds kicking up to 800-1,600 with a 200 ante, many players only have one move at their disposal, and that is to move all in. However Yung-Sen Lin just showed us that he has another move up his sleeve after a sneaky preflop limp with K♥ K♦ . He was looking for action, and he found it from the small blind who moved all in with A♣ 10♠ . The big blind made a reluctant fold before Lin made the call.

The board ran out 10♦ Q♥ J♠ Q♦ 3♣ to leave Lin as king as he moves up to 55,000 chips.

11:30pm: Dang Quan Dai picks up some chips

Another big stack in the room belongs to Dang Quan Dai after he raked in a nice pot after moving all in on the river on a board reading A♠ 10♠ K♦ 10♣ 2♠ . Dai had called a bet of 8,000 on the turn and then insta-shoved when checked to on the river. His opponent sighed and folded as Dai flashed the K♠ to collect the pot.

Dai is up to 70,000, with tablemate Wayne Jiang sitting holding 80,000 as two of the bigger stacks as 36 players remain in the Macau Millions Day 1a field.

11:10pm: Renaud gutterballs the chip lead

A new chip leader has emerged in Frenchman Brice “Pada” Renaud, and as we were counting his stack he added to it with a pretty rough elimination of Sammy Huang.

Renaud raised to 2,200 preflop, and Huang made the call in position to see a flop of 7♣ 10♥ 6♠ . Renaud checked it over to Huang who bet 2,800. Renaud immediately responded by putting his big stack to work as he plonked out a stack of 20,000 chips to put his opponent to a decision for his tournament life. It appeared to be a simple decision for Huang, as he snap-called and opened 7♦ 6♦ for two pair. Renaud showed A♠ 8♠ for just a gutshot straight draw, but he connected when the 9♠ appeared on the turn to give him his straight. The river was the A♣ to leave local Huang to make a disappointed exit as Renaud, who is a regular visitor to the PokerStars Macau Poker Room, is now well out in front with 90,000 in chips.

brine_renaud_macau_millions.jpg

Brine “Pada” Renaud is running away with the chip lead on Day 1a

10:50pm: Tanto suffers a Shaq attack

It appears that the magical powers of Jimmy Tanto’s shirt have disappeared. Tanto was first crippled in a huge clash with Hung-sheng “Shaq” Lin on a board of Qâ™  9♦ 10♣ A♦ . The ace was the action card as Tanto tabled A♣ 9♣ for two pair but it wasn’t quite big enough as Lin opened A♥ Q♣ .

The river was the K♦ as Lin clapped his hands in delight at a big double up to around 35,000. Tanto was down to just a few thousand in change and was eliminated soon after.

hung-sheng_lin_macau_millions.jpg

Hung-sheng Lin looking good to grab more Asia Player of the Year points at the Macau Millions

10:35pm: Celina eliminated

In this sort of format there’s very little room for second chances. One big pot or bad beat goes against you and it’s goodnight Irene. However Celina Lin was doing her best to make a remarkable comeback, but a second blow was enough to KO the Team PokerStars Pro.

After fighting back to around 4,000, Lin moved all in preflop with king-ten and when called, she was happy enough to have live cards against ace-nine. There was no help on the 3-J-J flop, but Lin took the lead when a ten spiked the turn, only to be dealt a river blow when an ace from space hit the board.

“Argh, why did I have to hit the turn only to lose on the river!” sighed Lin. “Why couldn’t it just brick and I lose that way!” she added as she departed the PokerStars Macau Poker Room.

10:20pm: Play resumes

That was a whirlwind session, but hold on to your hats as it’s only going to get wilder from here! The blinds are up to 400-800 and with 62 players left and an average stack of twenty big blinds we’re sure to see plenty of action coming up.

Hanbing “Marlboro” Wang is our likely chip leader at the moment with about 55,000 chips. Perhaps he was inspired today by the shirt of Jimmy Tanto.

jimmy_tanto_macau_millions.jpg

Words of wisdom from Jimmy Tanto

Study Poker with Pokerstars Learn, practice with the PokerStars app