Main Event (1,300,000 KRW)

Day 2 of the Korea Poker Cup Main Event that saw 1432 total entries over six starting flights resulting in a record breaking KRW 1,616,799,600 (~$1,178,399) prize pool started with 173 players taking a seat after the multi qualifiers picked up their bonuses - Zheng Guang topping that list with three tickets to Day 2 worth an extra KRW 7,500,000 (~$5,466) - and played for 11 levels when there were 13 players left.

Xiaqing Ji came out on top with 8,215,000 (103 BB) to his name after starting the day in the upper mid field. His meteoric rise started in level 20 with the elimination of Zi-En Huang with aces against ace-queen and an eight-bet preflop all-in that netted him around 90 BBs at the time and put him in the overall lead. The next highlight was the double elimination of You Kan Li and Day 1 chip leader Jieming Xu with J♦ J♠ against Li's A♦ K♣ and Xu's 9♣ 9♥ with the board running all blanks that catapulted him to 242 BBs at the time, more than three times of 2nd place with 80 BB. The rest of the day was a breeze, adding more than 2M to his stack in the last levels.

Chen Yu Sung - 5th in chips with 3,550,000 (44 BB) - is the only finalist from April's Main Event who finished 3rd for $71,070 back then.

The Day 3 Final will start at 12:00 noon and play until a new champion is crowned with SMP Live Updates right there with you. See you then!

Cheng Huang leads 160,000 from the cutoff, but lets it go after Xiaosheng Zheng declared all-in for 1,585,000, making this the 3rd win in the last six hands for him.

This concludes Day 2 after the scheduled 12 levels of play.

The dealer makes short work of Loo by flipping over T♠ 9♠ 3♦ 9♣ K♣ and the man from Hong Kong who proclaimed his road to the championship is paved last night after busting Chun Ming Lau with king-ten against Lau's ace-king has fallen himself.

First to act Shanghao Xie min-opens 160,000 with A♣ J♥ , Yiteng Yu jams 790,000 from +1 with A♥ J♠ and hijack Kosei Oguri gets a count before successfully isolating with a 3,700,000 over-shove holding A♦ K♦ .

The all blank board T♦ 7♣ 3♥ 6♥ 4♣ spells the end for Hu and takes us down to the last 14 players.

When the action folds to small blind Pun Kit Loo, 250,000 wander into the middle and Zhiqiang Zhang defends to see the Q♠ A♣ 8♠ flop where Loo's 225,000 c-bet gets met and the 3♥ turn is revealed. Loo slows down to a check, Zhang fires 300,000 and Loo fills up for the J♥ river to hit the felt. Both players check and Zhang's Q♦ 7♦ beats the J♣ 9♠ of Loo.

Everything is looking peachy for Zhai when the dealer flips over 4♣ K♣ 6♣ 2♠ before turning pear shaped on the 8♥ river, giving Xie a last minute set that sends Zhai to the rail.

Huang's heater continues when the board runs A♠ 9♦ A♦ Q♠ 3♦ to outdraw his opponent once more, this time sending Ledong Zhou to the rail. This leaves us with 16 players and a new table draw.

The J♠ is enough for Lin to make the nuts and the 7♥ river only a formality.

The A♣ in the window is a nightmare for Zheng, who was gearing up to get close to the overall chip leader but is now digging for a single out. The board completes 3♠ 3♦ 4♠ 6♦ and keeps Huang ahead for a massive boost into 2nd overall.

Hijack Xiaqing Ji raises to 125,000 and small blind Kosei Oguri defends to see the K♠ 6♥ 7♥ flop where Ji continues for 90,000 and fills up after Oguri check-raised to 300,000. The A♣ turn has Oguri fire another 500,000 that gets called and the board completes A♠ . Oguri jams for 1,660,000 and sends Ji in the tank for two time banks before he emerges with a fold.

Xiaosheng Zheng leads 125,000 from under the gun, but folds after Yiteng Hu jams 795,000 from the button, winning his second consecutive pot like that to get back to over 1M.

With a 125,000 open and a call in front, small blind Shanghao Xie jams for 1,380,000 and scares both opponents away.

First to act Kosei Oguri puts 125,000 in the middle, but lets it go after Xiaqing Ji increased it to 275,000 out of the cutoff to win his 2nd pot in a row uncontested.

Ho hits the Q♦ , but the J♥ 9♣ 4♠ 6♣ runout tilts the scale back into Oguri's favor who's roller coaster run finds new heights.

Button Shanghao Xie puts 100,000 in front and calls after big blind Xiaosheng Zheng upped it to 325,000 to watch the Q♦ 2♦ J♦ flop hit the felt where Zheng's 130,000 c-bet gets raised to 325,000, but Zheng fills up. The 8♠ turn gets rejected for a free 3♦ river where Zheng forks out another 600,000 that goes unanswered.

The 9♥ 8♦ 7♦ flop is enough for Zheng to not really care about the A♥ and Q♠ that followed.

The T♣ Q♥ 6♦ flop puts a massive smile on Gao's face, before the K♣ turn makes it a sweat again that ends with him boating up on the T♦ river for a triple.

The 5♥ turn favors Wang, but the Q♦ river gives Huang a straight to take Wang's last chips.

Cutoff Chuan Wang leads 100,000 and big blind Cheng Huang defends to see the 9♠ K♥ 8♣ flop where Wang's 90,000 c-bet gets called and another 210,000 on the A♣ turn. When the K♦ river hits, both players elect to check and Huang reveals 2♦ 2♠ with some players at the table laughing, but its good enough to make Wang muck.

The dealer flips over 8♣ J♥ 6♦ 5♥ 8♠ to give Zhai a boat and a double up by gifting him one of his two outs.

The board runs 4♦ T♦ 6♠ J♥ 6♣ , drawing a smile on Na Ye's face thinking she won, until realizing she is up against a boat from Wang.

With Bin Zhao busting in 25th place there is going to be a redraw for the last three tables and everyone has at least KRW 8,050,000 (~$5,860) secure.

Pain in the window for Bin Zhao in form of the 9♦ which is followed by 8♥ 2♦ 8♣ Q♦ to send him home and Chen Yu Sung up the leaderboard by claiming yet another massive pot.

Chen Yu Sung wakes up with A♥ A♠ , puts 80,000 in front and both blinds defend to see the 3♦ 4♠ 6♠ flop that hits the blind's ranges hard, so Sung decides to pot control and check back for a free A♣ turn. Checked to Sung again, 130,000 wander over the line, small blind Chuan Wang folds, but big blind Ledong Zhou check-raises to 400,000. No reason to bloat the pot further, Sung decides to call, the 8♦ river completes the board and a last 100,000 bet from Sung gets called, followed by a muck when Ledong watches Sung table A♥ A♠ .

The A♥ appears, but is followed by 7♥ K♠ Q♣ T♥ which keeps Tay ahead and sends Sun to the showers.

When the action folds to small blind Pun Kit Loo 80,000 go into the middle and Joey Wong defends to see the 3♦ 9♥ K♠ flop where Loo's 100,000 c-bet gets met and the Q♦ turn is rejected for a free A♥ river. Betting another 110,000 with J♣ J♥ , Loo convinces Wong to call and muck.

The A♣ in the window is bad news for Yamada, even when the board completes a flush J♣ 6♣ 2♣ K♣ with Qian's 3♣ still keeping him ahead.

All blanks on 8♥ 8♦ 6♦ T♠ 3♠ keeps Zhao ahead, taking him back to almost 1M.

The board runs 9♣ 4♦ 6♥ A♥ and Cao starts celebrating like he scored a goal, not jinxing it when the river J♣ keeps him ahead.

No two-outer for Zhou on the 8♦ river and Sung collects a nice double up to break into the 1M.

Getting to the action on the 8♥ 7♣ 7♥ Q♥ turn and 455,000 in the middle, Pun Kit Loo leads 70,000 from under the gun and Joey Wong calls to see the 4♠ river where Loo fires another 150,000 with Q♦ T♦ , but Wong calls with A♦ A♥ for the higher two pair.

Cutoff Po Lam Lun lays out 60,000 and button Yifan Cao comes along for the ride to the Q♣ K♣ 8♣ flop where he starts a triple barrel sequence of 50,000, 175,000 and 400,000 to the A♦ turn and 9♠ river with Cao calling all the way making two pair A♥ 9♦ , but has to surrender the pot to Lun's K♠ K♥ set.

The 6♥ 8♣ T♦ 6♠ T♠ leaves Ji in front to extend his lead even further.

Hijack Cheng Huang lays out 50,000 and fills up after small blind Kosei Oguri reraised to 175,000 to see the K♠ A♠ Q♠ flop where Oguri continues for 50,000 and Huang sticks around for the Q♥ turn. Oguri slows down to a check-call of 175,000 and the 4♥ river gets checked with A♦ 2♦ from Oguri being good enough to scoop the pot.

With another blind battle going full distance we come to the table when someone slammed his chips, finding out that on a complete board 4♥ A♠ 5♦ 3♣ 2♥ and 545,000 in the middle, small blind Pun Kit Loo shoved for 465,000 with K♦ 6♦ and big blind Joey Wong found a A♣ T♣ hero call, playing the board.

Xiaosheng Zheng leads 50,000 and takes two customers to the Q♣ K♦ 2♦ flop where his 75,000 c-bet gets called by big blind Cheng Huang only. The 8♦ turn is checked to the 7♥ river where Huang leads 160,000 with 2♠ 8♠ and Zheng calls, showing the K♠ before throwing it in the muck.

A terrible J♦ T♥ 4♥ flop for Oguri has him get up, trying to come to terms with the potential knockout when the 8♥ turn triples his outs with one of them materializing on the 9♣ river that almost makes him jump before sitting back down.