Main Event (16,500 NTD)

Battle of the blinds begins with a limp by small blind Erwin Ng K♣ 4♦ and sees a flop T♣ 8♣ 7♥ with big blind Zong Chi He 6♣ 3♥ . They check it to the turn 5♦ . With air, Ng takes a stab at the pot for 125,000, with open ended Zong calls and the board completes J♠ .Zong comes out firing 700,000 , Ng gives it up.

Welcome to the final day of the Players Series Taipei 2024! Multiple events will be heating up the floor headlined by the Main Event where only nine players remain on the hunt for the inaugural title.

Attracting 748 entries, the prize pool remained at NTD 15 Million with the money round reached in the middle of Day 2. The field trimmed further in Day 3 with 47 players returning and bagging up at the final 9.

When the finalists return, they are all guaranteed NTD 246,000 (~US$ 7,657) however the target will be the top prize of NTD 2,503,000 (~US$ 77,000).

Cards start flying at 1pm local time. The SMP team will follow the livestream on PS YouTube which will be delayed by 30 minutes.

Just over seven hours of actual play, the Main Event field trimmed from 47 players down to the final 9 . The locals dominated with six of the players waving the flag. Bagging the chip lead was Taiwanese hotshot Zong Chi He who experienced a late game surge. Zong also railed Fu Sheng Kuang in 10th place to end the day.

Sitting only one big blind behind the leader was Hong Kong's Lee Shun Hei who railed multiple players along the way including the day's entering chip leader Chen Po Jui in 11th place.

The final 9 players return on Monday, December 23 at 1pm to chase down the inaugural PS Taipei Main Event title and the coveted NTD 2,503,000 top prize.

Already ahead, Ng further improved on a board A♣ K♥ 3♠ 3♣ 6♣ to ship a double up.

With Ng having the better kicker, it looks like the end for Zeng however the river comes down 5♠ to miraculously improve Zeng to two pair.

Min-raise by Yu Cheng Hsu is called by Erwin Ng to see a flop K♦ J♠ T♣ . Cheng checked it to Ng who bet 100,000 then Cheng called to go to the turn Q♠ . Action seemed to heat up with Ng continuing for 250,000 and Cheng check-raising 600,000, but Ng opted not to go any further and folded. Hsu flashed A♣ for the straight.

From utg, Erwin Ng initiates the action with an 80,000 raise, from the button Yu Cheng Hsu three-bets 200,000, Ng calls and the dealer lays out the flop Q♣ 4♣ 5♥ . Hsu is given the reins and fires a 150,000 c-bet only to be met with a check-raise of 400,000. Hsu is tamed and calls.

On the turn Q♠ , Ng charges with a 600,000 bet which is enough to put Hsu all in. Hsu risks for his last 350,000 and shows K♣ Q♥ trips. Ng is drawing for a flush with A♣ T♣ . With the river 2♥ , Hsu ships a massive double as Ng drops to nearly half stack.

Chang Ming Hung opens from utg, several spots over Lee Shun Hei re-raises 155,000, small blind Erwin Ng sends it further north to 450,000 and finds no callers.

With action folding to the button Chang Ming Hung, a raise of 30,000 was sent out front. Erwin Ng wasn't giving up his big blind that easy and called. At the flop K♣ J♠ A♥ , Chang continued for 18,000 and Ng called once again. Both players then kept is friendly with checks on the turn 8♥ and river J♥ . Ng flipped over his A♣ 4♥ top pair and won the pot.

The inaugural Players Series 2024 Main Event resumes with Day 3 kicking off at 1pm local time at the CTP Asia Poker Arena in Taipei City, Taiwan. Returning today are the final 47 players, each one now guaranteed NTD 68,000. The plan is to play down to the final table of 9 players.

At the top of the leaderboard is Chen Po Jui with a towering 127 bb. Chen has been in great shape since Day 1B where he bagged the chip lead and carried it into Day 2 as the second largest. Also making today's lineup is Liao Bo Lin who topped the Day 1 flights. Liao enters with a decent 33 bb.

The game gets underway with blinds at 6000-12,000 with 20:35 remaining in the clock. Average stack is 477,446 (39 bb) giving players plenty of time to maneuver.

Somuchpoker is onsite to bring you fresh updates from start to finish.

With 47 players remaining, Day 2 has reached its target number. The clock has been paused at 20:35 and will resume tomorrow. At the top of the leaderboard is Po Jui Chen who catapulted after knocking out Yoda Lin to wrap up Day 2.

Picking up the action on the river 6♠ 8♣ 3♠ 5♥ 2♠ with 24,000 in the pot we see Murly Manokharan check-jam 73,500 after Erwin Ng wanted 16,000 with 3♦ 3♥ . Deep in the tank, Erwin Ng finds the call and is relieved when Murly Manokharan flips over 2♥ 2♣ to gobble up a pot that catapults him into the lead.