Runaway Loo claims big chip lead as Day 1c concludes

A huge day of action in the PokerStars Macau Poker Room as seen a capacity field of 182 players reduced to a dozen as Day 1c of the Macau Millions Main Event has come to a close.

It was a stellar lineup today, highlighted by World Champion Jonathan Duhamel and fellow Team PokerStars Pros Celina Lin and Bryan Huang. Unfortunately the trio all fell in quick succession around the first break of the day and will have to try their luck again in one of the remaining four opening flights.

Also in today’s field was the defending champion Justin Chan, who experienced a rollercoaster day. Chan spent some time on the short stack before rebuilding to get himself in contention with three tables left. He then lost a big three-way all in pot to be crippled and eliminated soon after.

At the other end of proceedings Junzhong Loo worked his way patiently through the field before going on a heater late in the day to shoot into a massive chip lead. He first doubled up with pocket tens, before a double elimination on the bubble, where his jack-ten cracked both ace-king and pocket queens, to see his chip count skyrocket to dizzy heights.

Junzhong Loo (Malaysia) – 403,000
Huimin Huang (Macau) – 216,500
Kou Yang Huang (Taipei) – 163,500
Claudia Yum (Korea) – 134,000
Wenlong Jin (China) – 130,500
Wayne Yap (Singapore) – 120,000
Qinghong Zhang (China) – 111,500
Hyoung Suob Shim (Korea) – 80,000
Clement Lau (Hong Kong) – 79,500
Tsung Ming Lin (Taipei) – 74,500
Pei Cui (China) – 69,500
Wai Bing You (Hong Kong) – 23,000
Min Soon Lim (Singapore) – 13th place

That wraps up our coverage for today from the Macau Millions, but it will be Groundhog Day all over again tomorrow as Day 1d kicks off in the PokerStars Macau Poker Room at 8:10pm local time (GMT+8). Until then, it’s goodnight from the Grand Lisboa Casino in Macau!

2:55am: What a way to end the day!

Now if you’re going to burst the bubble, you might as well do it in style! Junzhong Loo has just cracked two opponents in a huge double elimination to smash through the bubble and claim a massive chip lead as Day 1c has come to a close in dramatic fashion.

Loo held J♣ 10♦ and was gambling preflop against two short stacks who held Q♥ Q♣ and A♠ K♥ . He was going to need some help and that’s exactly what he got as the flop was spread J♦ J♥ 8♠ to give him trip jacks and leave two players on the verge of elimination. The turn was the 7♣ and river the K♦ and that’s it! We’re down to the final twelve!

Min Soon Lim held the ace-king and will receive 13th place prize money for having the bigger chip stack, while Loo will bag up over 400,000 chips.

2:35am: Jin gets out of line as Loo doubles into the lead

Wenlong Jin’s reign at the top has just been dealt a huge blow as he got a little too aggressive approaching the bubble of the Day 1c flight.

In a battle of the blinds with Junzhong Loo, Jin pushed a little too hard with J♥ 6♥ in the big blind as Loo had a real hand and made the call with 10♠ 10♣ .

The board ran out 8♠ 8♠ 2♠ 6♦ 7♥ to give Loo a huge double up to 265,000, leaving Jin back in the pack with around 80,000.

Junzhong Loo has jumped into the chip lead late on Day 1c

2:10am: Two-outer ten sends Lee packing

Saehoon Lee moved all in from middle position for his last 52,700 and found a call from Wenlong Jin in the cutoff.

Lee opened K♦ J♥ and was racing against Jin’s 10♥ 10♦ . The flop of 3♥ 2♠ 8♦ changed nothing, but Lee took the lead on the J♣ . He looked set for a big double up until the two-outer 10♠ fell on the river to see Lee to a crushing exit.

Jin is up to 190,000 with 16 players remaining.

1:55am: Steal backfires for Lim

Lai Koon Lim shoved from under the gun for around 35,000 chips but the big blind insta-called with A♦ K♦ to have Lim needing some help as his 10♦ 8♠ steal had been caught. Lim did have live cards, but the flop wasn’t good for him as it landed 5♦ A♣ 9♠ , and it didn’t get any better on the 3♥ turn and 10♥ river.

With Lim’s elimination we’re now down to the final two tables and just seven players away from reaching the money.

1:35am: Chan cut

After the previous hand, Justin Chan was left with just 4,500 in chips which he committed moments later with K♦ 9♠ and found a call from Pei Cui with A♦ Q♠ .

Chan would need some help to stay alive but couldn’t find it on the board of 4♣ 3♠ 2♦ J♣ 5♣ as Cui made a wheel to eliminate Chan from the Day 1c field with just 25 players remaining.

Justin Chan will have to try his luck again on Day 1d if he is to defend his Macau Millions crown

1:30am: Chiu chops down Chan

PokerStars qualifier Ka Ho Chiu has jumped into the chip lead after a massive three-way all-in pot has left the defending champion Justin Chan on the verge of elimination.

Chan opened the action with a raise to 6,500 before Chiu raised to 20,000. A short-stacked player moved all in for 12,900 in the blinds before action was back on Chan. He declared himself all in, and Chiu obliged with a call.

Chan: J♥ J♦
Chiu: A♥ Q♣
Short stack: A♠ K♠

The flop landed 9♠ Q♦ 8♣ and Chiu snatched the lead with a pair of queens as Chan picked up a few outs with a straight draw. The turn was the 2♠ and suddenly the short stack found some life with a flush draw, however the river bricked the 5♥ .

Chiu clenched his fists in delight at winning a huge pot worth around 140,000, leaving Chan crippled.

Ka Ho Chiu is our new chip leader after crippling the defending champ Justin Chan

1:10am: Big slick for Lim

Lai Koon Lim has just found a timely double up to put a stop to the giant-killing run of Junzhong Loo. The chips were in preflop with Lim committing his last 21,800 with A♣ K♦ as Loo made the call with A♦ Q♥ .

The board bricked out 10♣ 6♥ 4♣ 8♥ 9♣ to leave Lim in front for a double up to nearly 50,000 with Loo slipping to 85,000.

12:50pm: Cruel King dents Jones’ hopes of repeat cash

The UK’s Nigel Jones has produced two solid performances already in the two opening flights, including sneaking through as the short stack on Day 1b. However his run at a second cash was just seriously derailed in a huge preflop clash with countryman David Benoy.

It was the ultimate cooler hand with Jones’ pocket aces up against Benoy’s pocket kings. The first four community cards were an innocent 8♠ 6♠ 9♥ 10♣ but Jones was stunned as the K♠ found its way onto the river as he leapt from his chair.

Benoy doubles to over 50,000 with Jones down to just 12,000.

12:40am: Play resumes

45 players are back on the felt for the 11th level of the day. We should mention that with an official starting field of 182 players today, we are playing down until we reach the final 13 players tonight. At that point, the players will bag and tag as they will have made it safely through to Day 2 and be guaranteed HK$8,000 in prize money.

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