Main Event (1,300,000 KRW)

The first of five flights for the KPC Main Event with a KRW 800,000,000 (~$544,077) guaranteed prize pool attracted 213 players and saw 27 bag their chips for Day 2 during level 17, almost 14 hours after the first hand was dealt.

Yao Du emerged on top with 455,000 and has been among the leaders since level 9, gaining a significant boost in level 14 when he knocked out Taiwanese pro Meng Ling Lin with A♦ A♣ against her K♥ K♣ and burst the bubble in level 16 by eliminating Xiaolu Yang with Q♦ Q♠ versus J♥ J♣ .

Lili Tang also first appeared on the ladder during level 9, won a blind battle against Chen Yu with A♦ K♥ and kept chipping up, moving from 5th on the board during level 15 to second at the end, bagging 403,000. Yao Fang worked his magic away from our eyes, also being on the lower end of the Top 20 since the end of late registration and a late boost catapulting him into third with 373,000 to his name.

The remaining 27 players will have time to score some other trophies in the coming days until they can use their chips again on Saturday the 12th of April at 12:00 when Day 2 begins.

Chang Liang Sun picks up Q♦ Q♥ in +1, min-raises to 16,000 and quickly calls after small blind Shenglai Zhang puts his last 78,000 in the middle with A♣ Q♣ . The dealer gets to work, flipping over K♥ 5♦ 2♠ T♥ 3♠ to eliminate Zhang and provide everyone with a well earned break for tonight.

Zhang has to sweat till the end on Q♠ 2♥ 3♠ 6♠ A♦ , but secures another double up, just before the Day 1 bubble bursts on the other table.

The 4♠ keeps it interesting, but the river 6♦ seals the deal for Wang, catapulting up the ladder with a big blind special.

Under the gun Cheng Chen opens 12,000, small blind Lili Tang pumps it to 38,000 before Chen fills up to see the flop J♦ J♥ T♠ . Tang's 30,000 c-bet and a call is the last action we see before the board completes 8♠ and 2♦ with Lili Tang showing A♠ A♣ to scoop the pot.

Li is skiing uphill on the flop 7♠ 8♣ 9♣ , runs almost out of steam on the turn K♣ but catches a last minute lift on the river 4♥ to eliminate Shengyong Wang, who had his biggest live cash of $95,954 here in Jeju last summer after shipping the RDPT Baby Dragon.

Yang needs an excavator to dig himself out of this hole, but doesn't get more than his bare hands on 2♦ 2♠ 9♥ K♠ K♦ and becomes the bubble after more than 12 hours of play.

Things are looking peachy for Wang when the dealer tables 8♣ 5♦ 2♠ 7♦ before turning pear shaped on the river Q♦ , giving Shen a 1 in 13 swing to win the hand.

Big stack Chang Liang Sun gets the ball rolling with a 10,000 raise from the hijack, the button calls and Borui Zhang squeezes to 35,000 out of the big blind. Sun projects strength with a four-bet to 75,000, the button leaves and Zhang jams for 315,000. After tanking for a bit, Sun thinks there will be better opportunities in the future and lets it go.

Jun Li readies the minivan with a 10,000 open from +1, taking a family of five on a trip to the flop Q♦ 9♠ 5♠ where he gets rid of the kids with a 20,000 continuation, only taking Borui Zhang to the turn 2♦ . Li slows down to a check, Zhang senses weakness, lays out 35,000 and scoops the pot.

Xu Dong Jin wants 10,000 from +2 and small blind Xiaolu Yang obliges to see the flop 6♠ J♣ 6♥ where he check-calls a 15,000 c-bet for the turn 3♥ before laying it down when another 25,000 barrel from Jin entered the middle.

No miracles on A♦ and 3♠ , sending Wang to the rail.

Raising to 10,000 from the button with A♣ K♠ , Xu Dong Jin takes big blind Yi Wang to the flop 9♠ 7♠ 8♣ that gets checked to the turn 3♦ where Jin floats an 8,000 lead from Wang and hits top pair on the river K♥ , calling another 15,000 from his opponent who shows 5♠ T♠ .

Button Xiangyu Zhao opens 8,000 and jams his massive stack after small blind Kuo Wei Kao three-bet to 24,000. Kao gave it some thought before throwing his cards in the muck.

With a 9,000 open from the hijack, Chang Liang Sun takes two players to the flop Q♣ 5♣ 7♦ where Xiaofeng Zhang bets 17,000 in position, the big blind gets out of the way, but it is Chang Liang Sun who scoops the pot with a check-raise to 45,000, showing 9♣ 8♣ .

Cutoff Chang Liang Sun raises to 6,000 and big blind Zuyou Wang defends his big blind to see the action flop 7♣ 5♣ 6♦ . Sun's 6,000 c-bet gets jammed on for 24,500 but he is going nowhere with an open ended straight flush draw 8♣ 6♣ against Wangs two pair 6♥ 7♦ . The board completes 2♣ and 3♣ , granting him a flush, scooping another small pot.

No help for the underdog on J♦ 7♥ 2♠ K♥ T♦ , catapulting Li into the top stacks.

Under the gun Shih Hsien Yang opens 6,000 and takes two players to the flop J♦ K♦ T♦ that gets checked around to the turn 5♠ . Big blind Victor Vladimirovich Yuan leads 11,000 and finds two customers sharing the river 2♦ with. The action checks to Yunlong Jin in +1, 20,000 slide over the line and Yang calls, throwing it in the muck after Jin shows A♦ 4♣ flush.

The 4♦ changes nothing and Yang picks up one of the biggest pots of the tournament so far with 5♦ 2♦ .

Button Tao Zhangs kicks off the action with a raise to 5,000 and Zhenfang Huang defends big to lay eyes on the flop J♦ 7♦ 9♠ . A 5,500 c-bet gets called to the turn 9♣ that gets checked around to complete the board 3♣ . Huang switches gears with a 7,000 lead, but lets it go after Zhang pumped it to 22,500.

The dealer provides quick relive for Li, hitting the felt A♠ 5♥ 2♥ 7♥ 2♠ .

Meng Ling Lin opens 3,500 from +2 and takes button Li Meng to the flop 8♦ Q♦ 9♥ where a 3,500 c-bet gets called to reveal the turn A♣ . Lin fires a second bullet of 10,000, but lets it go when faced with a snap jam from Li.

Raising to 3,000, hijack Houkuan Cheng leads two players to the flop A♦ 5♥ 7♣ where his 3,000 c-bet only keeps button Yao Du in the hunt. The turn 5♣ gets checked to Du who takes it down with a 5,500 bet.

Under the gun Yong Li raises to 2,500, two players call and small blind Yao Du squeezes to 15,600, taking only Li to the flop J♥ 2♣ 5♦ . Du triple barrels 11,500, 19,500 and a jam on the river 2♦ and A♣ that is enough to make Li snap fold.

Picking up the action with a complete board A♥ K♠ J♠ T♣ A♠ and 35,000 up for grabs, Danqui Chen over-bets 50,000, Di Chen puts him all-in with A♦ J♣ aces full and Danqui calls for a total of 78,600, flipping over K♦ K♥ kings full.

The board completes 8♦ and T♥ , leaving Tang in the lead to scoop a juicy pot.

The river 4♥ gives Yu Li Chen a flush worth almost a full triple up.

The button initiates the action with a 2,600 open, small blind Xugang Zhang calls and big blind Xiaofeng Zhang ups it to 9,200. Only Xugang gets sticky, laying eyes on the flop K♥ 3♥ 2♠ where a 60,000 check-raise gets the job done against Xiaofeng's 4,500 c-bet.

Fresh from her $84,239 cash, shipping the PSC Superstar Challenge, Meng Ling Lin kicks off the action with a raise to 2,400 and takes two customers to the flop K♥ T♠ 7♠ where her 3,000 c-bet takes us heads up with Wei Cheng on the button. The 4♠ turn has her fire another 4,000 that gets met before checking it down on the river 4♣ . Cheng mucks after Lin shows K♦ Q♣ .

Drawing thin for a straight, Peng binks the T♠ and scoops the vast majority of the pot.

Not quite a straight flush, but a straight is enough for Lu on the river 9♠ to knock out Li with two levels of late registration left on the clock.

Zuyou Wang opens 2,200 from +1 and takes two players to the flop A♦ 4♦ T♣ where button Yuan Qin is the only caller of the 2,800 c-bet. The turn 2♠ and river 9♠ have Wang continue to barrel for 6,800 and 15,400 with Qin calling down to watch Wang flip over the winner A♥ K♦ before throwing it in the muck.

Chunnuan Xu raises to 2,000 from +2, the cutoff flats and small blind Li Meng pumps it to 8,000, taking only Xu to the flop 9♦ 4♥ 2♣ where Xu's 10,000 bet receives a snap fold.

Cutoff Li Yang slides out 2,000 and takes small blind Binwen Ren to the flop 7♣ 3♥ A♦ where Ren flats a 2,300 c-bet for the turn 6♥ that gets checked to the river 4♣ . Changing gears, Ren leads 3,000 and scoops the pot without a showdown.