$20,000 NLH SuperStar Challenge (30,000,000 KRW)

With the A♣ in the window it is looking grim for Ding, being left with one out. The rest of the board runs J♦ 7♣ 3♠ J♥ and the #3 on China's all time money list is out in 3rd. Another great result after finishing 4th in the $15,000 Superstar Challenge on the weekend.

Chris Park kicks off the action with a button limp and calls Ding Biao's 1,800,000 raise from the big blind. The flop 6♦ 5♥ J♣ gets checked to the turn 5♦ that gets checked again to the river 4♥ . Ding has had enough of the checking, forks out 3,200,000 with top pair J♦ 8♦ and Chris Parks wants to see it and calls with king-high K♥ Q♦ , handing the lead back to Ding.

Eight hands with no flop and four walks have Sean Ooi chip up the most.

After picking up the blinds the hand before, Ding Biao opens 800,000 from the button with J♦ 9♦ and takes big blind Sean Ooi to the flop who has 9♠ 6♠ . The flop 2♥ 6♦ 4♥ has Sean Ooi check-call Ding's 1,200,000 c-bet for the turn 3♠ where a 2nd 3,000,000 barrel gets Ooi to fold.

Chris Park makes it 800,000 from the button and Ding Biao defends big. The flop A♠ T♣ K♦ gets checked to the turn 5♣ and Park's 800,000 delayed c-bet gets the job done.

Shortest stack Ding Biao opens 800,000 from the button and takes his opponents to the flop 6♦ Q♥ 9♦ where his 1,500,000 continuation doesn't find any customers.

Ding Biao kicks of the action with a 600,000 open from under the gun and takes both blinds to the flop Q♠ A♥ Q♥ where he c-bets 400,000. Chris Park folds the small blind but Sean Ooi sticks around for the turn 4♠ that gets rejected and the board completes J♥ . Ooi lays out a 1,500,000 value bet with Q♥ J♠ and after handing a time bank to the dealer, Ding hero calls with K♣ 9♣ before finding out he is behind.

Another upset dealt by the dealer flipping over A♥ Q♦ J♦ 4♦ 5♣ leaving the Canadian with almost $40M in live earnings and two bracelets with today's first 6-figure cash.

With 4 WSOP Bracelets, 2 WSOP Rings and more than $135M in live earnings between them, this final table will be a treat for every poker fan. All of them will be gunning for the $431,905 top prize. Flop well everyone!

The remaining 10 players have four familiar faces from the $15,000 Superstar Challange final table among them. Still in the hunt for a second appearance are Joseph Cheong, Yeu Wei Hsiang, Yu Lei and chip leader Ding Biao.

Christopher Park min-opens 300,000 from under the gun, Ding Biao pumps it to 900,000 from the big blind and Park fills up to see the flop 3♠ 5♠ Qj where Dings 500,000 c-bet gets called and the turn K♦ hits the felt. Ding fires a second barrel of 1,000,000 that gets the job done, taking most of his chips back from Park.

When the action folds to Ding Biao in the small blind he fills up and Christopher Park opts to check and sees the flop 8♣ A♥ 7♠ that gets checked to the turn 4♦ . Checked to Park again he lays out 300,000, Ding check-calls and the board completes 8♦ . Another 1,500,000 bet from Park sends Ding in the tank before he folds, handing 2 time banks to the dealer. That's the 3rd time Park picked up a small pot against Ding in just a few hands.

Picking up the action on the heads up turn 4♦ 5♦ 3♣ J♦ with 575,000 up for grabs Ding Biao leads 350,000, Stephen Chidwick check-calls and the river 6♣ gets checked around for Ding Biao to scoop the pot with A♣ 3♦ against Chidwick's A♦ 9♥ .

Ding Biao kicks off the action with a raise to 200,000 from the cutoff, Stephen Chidwick jams 1,650,000 with A♣ K♦ from big blind and Ding calls with A♠ T♣ . No help for Ding on 3♥ 2♣ 2♠ 2♥ 4♥ and Stephen Chidwick gets propelled back into contention on the bubble.

Ding Biao raises to 160,000 from the cutoff and fellow big stack Mao Renji defends big to see the flop 6♦ 9♥ T♣ that gets checked to the turn A♦ with two more checks revealing the river K♠ . Mao leads 500,000, Ding jams his massive stack with the nuts Q♥ J♠ and Mao finds the call with two pair A♣ 6♣ for his remaining 2,350,000 to hand Ding Biao a massive lead over the remaining 16 players.

Ding Biao gets the ball rolling with a raise to 120,000 from under the gun and takes button Mao Renji to the flop T♠ 2♣ A♣ . Mao bets 100,000 into a missed c-bet, gets called and the turn Q♠ hits the felt. Mao's 450,000 gets check-called again and the river K♠ kills the action, having Mao table the winner with A♠ Q♥ against Ding's K♣ T♥ .

With 410,000 in the pot and Q♣ 2♣ 9♦ on the board that gets checked to the turn T♦ we see Ding Biao lead 260,000 from the big blind and two-time WSOP ring holder Michael Jozoff check-calls for the board to complete 2♥ . Two More checks have Ding Biao scoop the pot with J♥ J♣ against Jozoff's A♦ J♠ .

With late registration concluded and a total of 81 entries, the $20,000 Superstar Challenge prize pool ballooned to a whopping KRW2,262,330,000 (~$1,585,263) and KRW622,100,000 (~$435,932) for first. We have 28 player still in the hunt with ITM starting at 11th place.

This time it is Ding who has to evade his opponents outs and does so on the river 2♦ to double up once more, being back above average.

Digging for ten outs with a gutter and two overs, Ding Biao strikes gold in the form of the turn J♥ that gives him the nuts and makes the river 2♥ just a formality.

The Poker Dream 16 $20,000 Superstar Challenge Day 1 came to a close with 30 out of 59 players remaining after 11 levels of 40min each. The total entries will certainly increase with late registration still open throughout the first 40 minutes of play tomorrow until 13:40, giving the late entries still 20BB to work with in the hunt for a slice of the already over $1,100,000 prize pool.

Canadian 2-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Dvoress bagged the biggest stack with 2,550,000, after a massive all-in against Rainer Kempe just a few hands before the end of the day. Dvoress opened 2.5BB with A♠ Q♣ from UTG+1, big blind Rainer Kempe made it 10,7BB with K♣ K♠ and Dvoress called to hit the nuts on J♦ K♦ T♥ where Kempe led 7,5BB and snapped Dvoress' 58BB jam and couldn't improve on 6♣ and 2♥ .

2nd in chips is young Malaysian poker phenom Sean Ooi with 2,280,000 who continuously picked up small to mid-sized pots, growing his stack from start to finish.

Mao Renji from China, also a bracelet winner and runner-up of the Super High Roller last night, had a steady day as well, closing the gap to the chip leader last minute in a three-way pot, knocking out Rainer Kempe and winning a small side pot against Dvoress that left him with 1,880,000.

Poker Legends like Stephen Chidwick and Isaac Haxton - who are 3rd and 9th on the all time money list with live earnings of more than $50M each - are also still in the running, most likely getting company from some more all time greats during the last level of late registration tomorrow.

The Final Day will start at 13:00 on February 24 with 40 minutes of late registration and finishes when a new champion is crowned. Live updates will be there from beginning to the end!

Arriving at another turn 8♠ 8♥ 5♠ 5♣ and 182,000 to play for Ding Biao checks, Tan Xuan lays out 80,000, Ding puts him all-in and Tan calls for his last 150,000. When Ding flips over 8♣ 6♥ , Tan already throws it in the muck, saving the dealer some work and we have China's #3 in earnings knock out #4.

Yeu Wei Hsiang opens 17,000 from under the gun and Ding Biao pays up to see the flop 5♣ J♥ A♠ . Yeu's 14,000 c-bet gets called to the turn Q♥ where he elects to check. Ding's 60,000 bet gets called and the river T♣ gets checked to him again. Separating another 100,000 from his stack, Ding sends Yeu in the tank, the latter folds, sending a time bank the dealer's way. Both players were very active at last night's $15,000 Superstar Challenge, finishing 3rd and 4th.