Main Event (1,600,000 KRW)

After a rather short day with less than six hours of play we reached the Final 9, down from 27 players who started the day. Li Dong put on another masterclass of aggressive table control with the largest stack throughout the day, bagging 12,790,000 (160BB), more than 38% of all chips in play.

Zhao Hongjun will start the final table 2nd in chips, banking 4,430,000 (55BB) largely due to a hero call where he opened 2.2BB from the button with 7♦ 7♥ , called a 15BB three-bet from Bai Junpeng in the big blind, who had around double his stack, the flop fell 8♥ 2♠ Q♥ where Bai put him all-in for 13BB with A♦ J♦ and his sevens held. He will have his work cut out for him with the chip leader just two seats behind him.

Finishing the day in 3rd with 3,900,000 (49BB), Lin Zhaoyi was chip leader on the second table and played a solid game, before having his aces cracked by jacks pre, just to reclaim most of them a few hands after with aces against kings, knocking out Ya Na in 14th place.

The Final 9 will resume play on level 27 (40,000/80,000/80,000) on February 21 at 1pm local with the live updates covering the entire action.

Final Table Draw:

With another open from the button for 160,000, Li Dong takes big blind Zhang Jason to a very spicy flop 7♠ 8♠ 9♠ that has Zhang donk-bet 120,000 which keeps Li around for the turn J♣ . Zhang slows down to a check, but calls Li's 300,000 bet to see the board complete 7♦ . Checked to Li Dong once more, his 700,000 bet gets the job done, extending his lead even further.

Zhao Hongjun lays out 175,000 from the button, Bai Yunpeng pumps it to 1,230,000 and Zhao fills up to see the flop 8♥ 2♠ Q♥ . Bai jams A♦ J♦, putting Zhao all-in for 1,005,000 who hero calls with 7♦ 7♥ and the board completes T♠ and 8♣ , putting Zhao Hongjun in great spot again.

Ma Yi opens yet another hand for 160,000 from the cutoff and Zhang Jason defends his big blind to lay eyes on the flop Q♥ 7♦ 8♣ . Zhang donk-bets 150,000 and a call from Ma reveals the turn T♠ that gets checked by Zhang and Ma forks out 350,000 that get called. The river K♥ gets checked to Ma Yi again, who puts his opponent all-in for 960,000, but Zhang surrenders.

With 11 players left and the ICM pressure increasing, Li Dong and Lin Zhaoyi are still in the best positions to bully their opponents.

Li Dong opens 125,000 from the button and takes big blind Zhao Hongjun to the flop 4♦ 5♥ 2♠ where Li's 100,000 c-bet finds a check-call for the turn 5♠ . Another 300,000 barrel gets check-called by Zhao to complete the board 2♥ who takes over the reins with a 700,000 lead. With the board hitting the big blind's range quite hard, Li Dong decides to let it go.

Under the gun Huang Weiwei declares all-in for 645,000 with 6♠ 6♦ and finds a happy customer in Ma Yi from the hijack who wakes up with A♣ A♠ . Ma's mood takes a 180 degree turn when the window shows the 6♥ and no more help on J♦ 3♣ 5♣ 2♣ arrives.

Picking up the action on J♦ 8♠ 8♦ 2♦ and a whopping 1,545,000 in the middle, Li Dong leads 350,000 in position and gets check-called from Sean Ooi to complete the board 4♦ Li puts Ooi all-in for 1,175,000 who snap calls with a flush K♦ J♥ , but receives bad news when Li Dong tables a boat with 4♥ 4♣ .

Under the gun +1 Ma Yi raises to 120,000 and takes 3 players to the flop 3♣ 7♥ 7♠ that gets checked to the turn 7♣ where a delayed c-bet of 200,000 takes it down for Ma Yi.

After Zhang Yang's exit Li Zhongyao was moved from table 2 seat 3 to table 3 seat 1 and is probably quite happy about getting out of the big stack sandwich he was in.

Under the gun +1 Zhao Hongjun min-raises to 120,000, Yang Haibo ups it to 280,000 from the hijack and Zhao forks out a hand ending 750,000 four-bet.

Under the gun +1 kicks us off with a raise to 100,000, Lin Zhaoyi makes it 225,000 from the hijack and Song Ying cold four-bet-jams her 795,000 stack with J♠ J♣ from the button. The initial raiser throws it away before Lin Zhaoyi snaps with A♠ A♥ . Song Ying has a big smile on her face when the window card is the J♥ and the board completes 6♥ 4♥ 5♠ Q♣ to cause a rapid unscheduled disassembly of Lin's rockets.

Looking at J♥ 8♥ in +1, Zhang Yang decides its go-time and declares all-in for 325,000 that quickly gets called by table leader Lin Zhaoyi with A♠ J♦ to dominate. The dealer keeps it interesting till the end on 5♥ 4♠ 6♠ 3♠ K♠ but ultimately sends Zhang Yang to the rail.

Sean Ooi opens 100,000 from the cutoff, Zhao Hongjun three-bets to 300,000 and a call from Ooi reveals the flop 9♥ T♣ T♠ where a 200,000 c-bet from Zhao gets check called for the turn 2♠ . No bets there take us to the river K♣ where Zhao Hongjun lays out a hefty 950,000 that gets the job done.

Li Dong and Lin Zhaoyi in a great position to dominate their tables playing down to the Final 9.

Ben Miller almost jams from under the gun for 350,000, Huang Weiwei calls from the cutoff and the flop hits K♣ A♦ Q♣ with Miller going all-in for 5,000 holding A♣ T♦ and Huang calling with Q♦ Q♠ . The board completes A♥ and 8♦ to send Ben Miller packing.

Bai Yunpeng was just catapulted into 2nd place after winning a massive pot against a disgusted Ma Yi with 2♥ 4♠ on 7♣ 8♣ 4♥ 2♠ 4♣ .

Zhao Hongjun opens 80,000 from +1 and takes three players to the flop Q♥ 2♦ 8♦ where the action gets checked to Li Dong on the button, making it 100,000. Big blind folds, Zhao calls and Song Ying check raises from the hijack to 305,000 that takes us to the turn 8♣ three-way where Li Dong takes it down with a 405,000 bet.

After just losing a massive pot against Yang Haibo with 95% on the river, Yu Xiaotong picks up 7♥ 7♠ on the button and Yang Haibo has A♦ K♣ in the big blind. We didnt see how it happened, but both end up all-in pre with Yu Xiaotong being at risk for 950,000. Not being able to catch a break, Yu Xiaotong watches the dealer flip over 5♠ J♥ K♦ 9♥ K♠ and starts packing his things.

Yu Xiaotong has A♠ A♦ in the hijack and Yang Haibo, who just lost a massive pot, picks up J♦ J♣ on the button and they end up all-in pre. Going into day 3 as runner-up, Yang Haibo needs major help to not bust. The dealer erases almost all hope when flipping over 8♣ Q♦ 6♠ 4♣ but grants the two-outer when the river falls J♠ and Yang Haibo is back among the leaders.

Picking up the action on the turn 5♣ J♥ 5♠ K♣ with 365,000 to play for, we see Li Dong separate 250,000 from his massive stack, but Zhao Hongjun min-check-raises to 500,000 and scoops the pot right there.

Under the gun +1 kicks off the action with a raise to 80,000, Ma Yi calls in the small blind, Xu Yuan slides a big 540,000 over the line, the initial raiser gets out of the way and Ma Yi jams 1,085,000 with 9♥ 9♣ . Xu Yuan barely covers, but calls with J♣ J♥ to dominate. Things are looking peachy for Xu Yuan when the dealer flips over 3♥ K♥ 7♣ 8♣ before going pear shaped on the river 9♦ , giving Ma a set and leaving Xu with less than 4BB.

Chip leader Li Dong opens 80,000 from the button and Lam Ji Ho defends his big to see the flop K♣ T♥ 5♥ where a 55,000 c-bet gets check-called. The turn T♦ has Li Dong fork out a second barrel of 150,000, but decides to let it go after Lam Ji Ho check-jams for about 750,000.

Under the gun Huang Weiwei wakes up with 7♠ 7♣ and jams 305,000, small blind Ben Miller has a monster with A♥ Q♣ , fills up his small blind and starts digging. He doesnt strike gold on 2♥ 8♥ 9♦ 7♦ 9♥ and Huang Weiwei doubles up.

A 65,000 raise from the cutoff takes both blinds to the flop 3♥ 5♦ 6♥ where the big blinds takes a stab for 65,000, cutoff calls, but small blind Ben Miller scoops the pot with a 230,000 check-raise.

Zheng Tianhao min-raises 60,000 from under the gun, Zhao Hongjun pumps it to 150,000 from the hijack and Zheng calls to see the flop 2♥ 3♣ 5♠ where Zhao continues for 125,000 and Zheng check-calls for the turn 2♠ to hit the felt. A second barrel of 400,000 gets called again, this time with the use of a time bank, the board completes 8♦ and Zhao Hongjun forks out another 600,000 with K♦ K♠ . After the aid of an additional time bank, Zheng Tianhao finds the call, but throws it in the muck after seeing Zhao's over pair.

Zhang Yang puts 500,000 in the middle from the button, putting Sua Shung Er all-in, who finds a call after four time banks go the dealers way to flip over A♠ T♦ against Zhang's 9♣ T♥ . Sua Shung Er sweats till the end on 7♦ K♣ 6♣ J♣ A♥ , but comes out on top for a much needed Double up.

Huang Weiwei makes it 65,000 from the cutoff and takes two players to the flop 8♣ T♣ 3♠ where Huang lays out a 65,000 c-bet, raised to 150,000 by Song Ying on the button that shuts down the action.

Lin Zhaoyi kicks off the action with a raise to 60,000 from the hijack, cutoff Li Dong ups it to 160,000 and Lin calls to see the flop 9♠ Q♥ 2♦ . A 75,000 c-bet from Li forces Lin to check-fold.

Shuffle up and deal!

We are heading into Day 3 of the Poker Dream 16 Main Event at the Jeju Shinhwa World in South Korea. The event surpassed the guarantee hitting a total prize pool of KR₩ 2,580,588,000 (~USD 1,790,086) after 11 opening flights and 1,394 combined entries. A total of 151 players started Day 2 - excluding some multiples that collected Poker Dream Bonuses for their efforts - with 27 players still standing at the end who will gather later at 1pm local on February 20 to play down to the final table.

Everyone still in the running already has KRW 10,540,000 ($7,320) in the bank, but all the players will have their sights set on the top prize of 376,000,000 KRW ($261,045) and bragging rights.

Li Dong will start the day as chip leader with 4,910,000 (196BB), more than double of runner-up Yang Haibo's 2,430,000 (97BB) who is closely followed by Zhang Jason with 2,040,000 (81BB).

Live updates will be running until the end!