Main Event (16,500 NTD)

Nearly even in chips with Nick Lai ahead 46 bb to Sin Lan Chen's 43 bb, Lai raises with Q♠ Q♦ , Chen has 3♥ 3♣ and pushes, Lai snap-calls. With the board running 5♦ 6♣ 2♣ , Chen's hopes are alive however the turn 8♦ lessens her chances. With the river 8♣ , Chen's impressive run ends in 2nd place.

Due to the ICM deal, Chen still walked away with the higher payout of NTD 2,200,000 (~US$ 67,670).

Sin Lan Chen is staging a strong comeback with nonstop aggression to earn several pots. One of her bigger pots was limping in A♣ 3♥ and Nick Lai checking with 6♣ 5♣ on the big blind. At the flop 4♥ 7♥ K♣ , both check to bring the turn 2♥ . Lai leads out 700,000, Chen briefly thinks then calls to get to the river 5♠ .

With Lai pairing up, he sends out 1,000,000, Chen value-bets her straight for 2,500,000. Lai finds a reason to call to boost Chen's stack.

Back to grinding for Nick Lai to earn a few pots without reaching a showdown.

With the river K♠ , Chen earned a double up for her gutsy move.

Nick Lai is in total command picking up pot after pot without a fight to shave down Sin Lan Chen to just 11 bb.

After the massive double up, Nick Lai picked up another pot to widen his lead.

Nick Lai's recent win seemed to bring a spark as he continued to collect pots with uncalled raises and three-bets. The momentum carried earning him a huge double up to switch the counts.

During the hand, Sin Lan Chen 8♣ 7♠ opened from the button and Lai Q♥ T♣ defended his big blind. Chen continued to fire on the flop Q♣ 5♦ 4♥ , Lai check-called. Same action on the turn 2♥ for 1,200,000. On the river Q♠ , another check from Lai set the trap as Chen jammed with a bluff. Lai called and shipped it with trips to take the lead.

Raised pot preflop, dealer lays out A♠ K♦ 3♥ . Sin Lan Chen Q♥ 9♦ c-bets 300,000 and Nick Lai A♦ 8♣ check-calls from the big blind. Both keep it friendly on the turn 8♥ but on the river 5♥ , Lai comes out for 3,500,000. Chen gives it up.

Sin Lan Chen 9♣ 8♦ defends from the big blind by calling a min-raise from Nick Lai 8♣ 7♥ . Both check it to the turn 5♠ 3♥ 2♠ 6♦ . Chen sends out 800,000 that's called by Lai. On the river Q♦ , Chen fires 1,500,000, Lai snap-folds.

First hand of heads up and it is action from the get-go. Nick Lai Q♣ 3♣ raises 400,000 and big blind Sin Lan Chen J♣ 5♣ defends. On the flop A♥ 2♦ 6♣ , Lai c-bets 300,000, Chen check-raises 750,000, Lai calls for the turn 5♦ . Chen continues her strong persona with a 2,400,000 bet and wins the pot without further challenge.

The Players Series Main Event is now heads up between Sin Lan Chen and Nick Lai! One of these players will walk away as the first ever Players Series champion and win the NTD 2.5 Million top prize. Good luck to both!

From the button, Nick Lai A♦ Q♦ min-raises and massive chip leader Sin Lan Chen Q♣ J♥ defends on the big blind. After they both check the flop J♠ 7♥ 4♠ , on the turn 6♠ Chen bets 500,000 for her top pair and wins the pot easy.

Small blind Chang Ming Hung J♣ 9♥ limps in and big blind Sin Lan Chen 6♥ 3♣ checks. On the flop T♥ 2♦ K♣ , Chang bets 200,000, Chen doesn't believe and calls. The turn 4♦ is checked by both, Chang checks again on the river 4♥ while Chen bets 2,000,000. Chang folds.

From the button, Chen Sin Lan is dealt J♥ J♣ and quickly raises to 400,000. Big blind Nick Lai peeks at his T♠ T♥ and three-bets 1,200,000. Action back to Chen who four-bets all in, Lai folds.

Sin Lan Chen has been railroading the table picking up pot after pot. Zong Chi He put a pause to it raising preflop that was called by Sin Lan Chen. On the flop A♥ K♠ 8♥ , Zong continues for 300,000 and wins the pot.

Button player Nick Lai K♦ 5♦ min-raises, big blind Sin Lan Chen has A♥ 4♦ and shoves. Lai folds. Next hand, Chen moves all in from the small blind and takes down another pot. Two hands later, Chen raises and finds no callers then gets a walk.

Ruei Jiun Liang has been dealt his last hand. He looked down at A♣ 8♣ and open shoved 1,785,000. From the big blind, chip leader Sin Lan Chen called with K♣ Q♦ live cards. With the board running T♦ 8♠ 7♥ Q♣ 3♠ , Chen paired up to clean out Liang in 6th place.

Sin Lan Chen has been on the rise and has now taken over the top spot. Getting her there, she opened 300,000 from hijack holding Q♥ Q♦ and big blind Nick Lai called with J♦ 4♦ . Lai landed top pair on the flop J♣ 8♥ 8♣ and check-called Chen's 200,000 c-bet. Chen fired 550,000 on the turn 5♦ and Lai matched it up. Another low card on the river 2♣ saw Chen fire 1,000,000, after three time banks, Lai couldn't resist calling with top pair and saw the bad news.

Sin Lan Chen looks down at A♥ J♦ and challenges back at raiser Zong Chi He A♣ Q♠ with a 900,000 re-raise. After using up a time bank Zong calls and they head to the flop J♠ J♥ 6♦ . Landing trips, Chen continues for 400,000 and Zong calls. On the turn T♥ , an 800,000 bet from Chen goes unmatched to claim the pot.

From cutoff, Sin Lan Chen A♦ 5♦ gave it a bump to 300,000 and the pot grew further with small blind Zong Chi He K♦ J♠ and big blind Ruei Jiun Liang 9♠ 7♣ calling. At the flop 6♦ T♦ 3♥ Zong stole command with a 450,000 bet, this was enough to get Liang to fold while Chen flats with her flush draw. On the turn A♣ , Zong continues with a 550,000 bet, this time he is met with a shove from Chen of 1,610,000, Zong gives it up.

Action folds to the button Sin Lan Chen and with A♣ K♥ on hand, she honors it with a raise. Big blind Yu Cheng Hsu looks down at A♥ 3♣ , and re-pops to 580,000, Chen flats to go to the flop Q♦ T♥ 6♣ . Hsu c-bets 300,000, and Chen calls. Despite both pairing on the turn A♦ , they pass for a free river 3♥ . With two pair Hsu bets 1,100,000, Chen can't resist calling.

Nick Lai A♠ Q♠ min-raises from utg, several spots over hijack Sin Lan Chen A♣ T♠ re-raises 500,000, Lai calls to head to the flop K♣ 6♣ 6♦ . Missing the board, Lai checks, Chen c-bets 400,000, Lai snap-folds.

From hijack, Nick Lai A♣ T♠ opens 200,000, button Lee Shun Hai J♦ T♦ calls, then small blind Sin Lan Chen is dealt K♠ K♣ and bets it all for a total of 2,260,000 and wins the pot unchallenged.

When the board ran T♥ 4♠ J♥ J♠ 6♣ , Zong's ace held to rail Looi in 9th place while Chen was dismayed at seeing the results.

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.

Button player Ruei Jiun Liang raises 125,000 and Sin Lan Chen defends her big blind. At the flop 2♦ 2♥ 7♦ , Liang continues for 120,000, Chen check-raises 300,000 and wins the pot easy.

Prior to the new level Sin Lan Chen had already been seen raking in multiple small pots. She just picked up a larger one against Wu Yi Syuan that begain with a limped pot. On the flop K♣ Q♣ 9♦ , Wu bet 105,000, Chen check-raised to 600,000, Wu quickly gave it up. Chen kindly showed her J♦ T♦ straight.

Facing a raise of 30,000 by Wang Zhi Yu that's called by a player, Sin Lan Chen goes all in for 313,000 and finds no takers.

Flipping for everything, Tse Chun Hong had A♣ 8♠ up against bigger stacked Sin Lan Chen with 4♦ 4♠ . The board was kind to Tse running 9♠ 2♥ 8♥ 7♣ A♥ .

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.