Day 2 Concludes; Aaron Lim Leads Final 21
Day 2 of the PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Seoul Main Event has come to a close. After the field moved through another eight levels of play and popped the money bubble, Aaron Lim emerged as the man to beat.
Lim began his domination early on in the day and began his upward trend during a big confrontation with Hoi Tung Ip. The flop read and Lim checked over to Ip who fired out a bet of 10,500. Lim check-raised to 25,500 only to have Ip three-bet all in for 72,000 more on top. Lim snapped him off and rolled over for top-top. A dejected Ip shook his head and showed for a pair of tens with a smaller kicker. The turned and the rivered, ensuring that Lim would score the knockout and absorb Ip's stack. From there the sky was the limit for Lim as he continued to command the field and finished the day with 741,000 in chips.
PokerStars Team Online member and recent World Series of Poker bracelet winner Naoya Kihara finished the day with the third biggest stack in the room. When the field reached the final four tables, Kihara found himself scooping in massive chips after a straight draw came through. Kihara and Wang Ping Yuan took a flop of together and Kihara checked to his opponent. Yuan shot out 15,000 only to have Kihara check-raise to 35,000 total. Yuan wasted little time three-betting all in for his tournament life and Kihara snapped him off, having Yuan covered by only a few thousand in chips.
Kihara:
Yuan:
Yuan clapped when he saw that his middle set was the best hand at the moment. That jubilation, however, was short lived as the dealer produced the on the turn, giving Kihara a straight. Yuan failed to fill up when the finished off the board Kihara was able to send Yuan packing. This pot gave Kihara the boost he needed to run over his table in the last two levels of play. He finished the day with 528,000 in chips.
Other notable names moving on to the final day of play include Masahiro Osada (540,000), Day 1b big-stack Chane Kampanatsanyakakorn (380,000), Sixiao "Juicy" Li (237,000), Casey Kastle (165,000), Ryan Pignatelli (74,000), Jordan Westmorland (59,000), and Xuan Liu (54,000).
While all of those players will return to the felt, several others faltered on their quest to reach the final day. Aaron Peter Manley, Raiden Kan, Andrew Moreno, Foster Hays, Hong Yang Bian, and Ben Richardson are just a small sample of those who were eliminated without pay.
The bubble lasted for quite some time as eight players were able to double up before an elimination occurred. Finally, the bubble burst during a confrontation between day 2 chip leader Lim and Ryan Kim. Lim opened to 10,000 from the cutoff and Kim called to see a flop of . Kim check-called 8,000 and fourth street was the . Kim checked for a second time and Lim shot out 17,000. Kim stayed the course and the dealer produced a second pair on the river with the . Kim checked once more and Lim moved out a stack of 100,000 which was more than enough to put Kim all in.
Kim pondered for a bit before calling off his last 64,500. He tabled for for sixes and deuces with an ace kicker. Lim, however, rolled over for sixes and treys which was ultimately the best hand.
Following the elimination of Kim, Park Yu Cheung (24th), Sun Geoum (23rd), and Mike Kim (22nd) were all eliminated from play. They all collected KRW 4,750,000 for a min-cash.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank | Player | Chips |
---|---|---|
1 | Aaron Lim | 741,000 |
2 | Masahiro Osada | 540,000 |
3 | Naoya Kihara | 528,000 |
4 | Chane Kampanatsanyakakorn | 380,000 |
5 | Sung Soo Chon | 328,000 |
6 | Paul John Elliot | 309,000 |
7 | Sixiao "Juicy" Li | 237,000 |
8 | Nicky Tao Jin | 187,000 |
9 | Casey Kastle | 165,000 |
10 | Jason Lee | 147,000 |
Play will conclude on Sunday when the final 21 players will return to the Paradise Walkerhill Casino and play down to a champion. Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews as we provide you with all of the latest updates on the quest to crown the first champion of APPT Season 7!