MAIN EVENT (CS) - 8 HANDED

The Lord Poker Tournament Circuit Main Event with a prize pool of $700,000 has reached the Final 9 down from 60 hopefuls that started Day 2 ten levels ago.

Chip leader William Jia - a young Australian pro who came close to a bracelet at the WSOP last year, finishing 9th out of 965 in the $10k Mystery Bounty for $80K - was 10th in chips this morning, but 2nd on his table with a great position and applied pressure from the get-go. A pivotal hand came in level 22 when he took on then chip leader Stephen Song, defending his big blind with K♠ 2♠ against a button min-raise. He called a 3BB c-bet on the flop K♦ 7♣ 8♦ and switched to a 2BB lead on the turn K♥ that got called by Song and the board completed J♦ . Jia checked, Song forked out 5,5BB and called Jia's 16BB check-raise with A♠ A♣ . Close to the end he knocked out Yang Liu after winning a flip with eights against ace-king and ended the day by eliminating AAPoker Ambassador Quan Zhou on the final table bubble, open-jamming the small blind with 4♠ 5♥ against Zhou's Q♠ 9♣ and the board ran 8♠ T♣ 2♥ 3♠ 4♣ . He brings 2,575,000 (51BB) to the final table.

Second in chips and the most experienced player at the final table is American Stephen Song who has a bracelet and six rings to his name and won the EPT Barcelona $5K Main Event last September for a whopping $1,425,651. He started Day 2 seventh in chips, but had some heavy hitters on his table with overall chip leader Bin Wang to his immediate left. His break came in level 18 when he four-bet jammed Q♠ 6♠ for 35BB and doubled up against Xuanzhi Zhao with A♥ K♦ when the board ran 7♠ 9♦ 8♥ 5♦ Q♣ and went on a tear after that. Still on the most stacked table of the tournament he knocked out Rui Sun with aces against kings and won massive pots against other greats like Martin Sedlak and Nevan Chang that took him into a massive lead during level 20 before he lost with A♠ A♣ against Jia's K♠ 2♠ in the previously mentioned hand. After a roller coaster ending to his day, he bagged 1,945,000 (39BB).

Everyone has $9,700 secure for 9th place, but all of them will be gunning for the first prize of $120,000 and the trophy along with it.

The Final 9 will start at 12:00 on Friday the 16th of May and the SMP Live Updates will be there to cover the action from start to finish.

Things are looking rather peachy for Zhou on 8♠ T♣ 2♥ 3♠ before turning pear shaped on the river 4♣ once more, eliminating him in 10th place and setting the Final 9 in stone.

Riding his big stack, Fangzhou Zhu opens another pot from under the gun for 80,000, finds no takers and scoops his 3rd consecutive pot uncontested.

None of them show up on 5♠ and 8♥ , ending Wang's run in 12th place

Small blind Nevan Chang limps and Stephen Song opts to check and see the flop 6♣ A♦ K♠ where Chang starts a triple barrel bluff for 40,000, 100,000 and a final 415,000 all-in to the river Q♦ and 8♠ . Song calls all the way and tables the winner Q♣ J♥ to knock out Chang who plays the board with 4♣ 5♣ .

Zhou's big blind special holds when the board completes 5♣ and 6♠ , giving him a boat and a much needed double up.

After sitting empty for a few hours, the TLTP Mystery Bounty is finally underway with the blinds scaled back to level 2 currently and all eight entries still left in the field.

Good news for Liu on 3♥ J♦ A♣ 5♠ before Jia's two outer hits on the river 8♣ to send Liu packing.

This $200,000 guaranteed $1,000 buy-in side event has 93 out of 132 players left and more than two hours of late registration still available.

Huan Wen limps the small blind and Zhanhui Zheng opts to check to see the flop Q♠ 6♠ A♦ that gets rejected for a free turn 9♥ . Wen puts out a 60,000 feeler that gets called and the board completes J♣ . Wen lays out another 150,000 with K♥ K♦ , but has to surrender to Zheng's Q♣ 9♦ two pair.

With a 75,000 raise from +1 and a 170,000 three-bet from the cutoff in front, big blind Weizheng Zhong cold four-bet jams 1,395,000 and finds no takers.

Wu gets up looking for his friend to tell him he is all-in when the dealer flips over 5♥ 5♦ A♣ before the turn K♠ prompts Zeng to scream 'Yessss' and and starts scooping the pot when the river J♣ makes his double up official.

Liu hits his three-outer on 3♥ 4♠ 6♠ 9♠ K♣ to stay alive for now.

With the dealer getting ready, Weizheng Zhong starts cheering for Zheng and bursts out 'Let's gooooo' after the board completed 5♠ and A♥ .

Boxin Jin makes it 55,000 from +1 and takes both blinds to the flop 4♦ T♣ A♦ that gets checked to him. He c-bets 65,000, small blind Xuecong Wu flats before Huan Wen check-raises to 225,000 to scoop the pot uncontested.

Button Stephen Song wants 50,000 with A♠ A♣ and big blind William Jia obliges to watch the flop K♦ 7♠ 8♦ hit the felt. Song's 80,000 continuation gets check called to the turn K♥ where Jia takes over the reins with a 55,000 lead and Song pays up. The river J♦ has Jia back to checking, Song forks out 135,000 and fills up after Jia check-raised to 400,000 with K♠ 2♠ to beat Song's aces.

Zhao jumps ahead on the flop T♠ K♣ 4♣ , but Wu has a ton of outs to dig for. None of them materialize when the board completes 9♠ and J♦ , sending the last remaining double qualifier to the rail.

Cutoff Fangzhou Zhu opens 50,000 with 8♥ 8♣ and big blind Bin Wang defends A♣ Q♠ to lay eyes on the flop K♠ 9♠ 4♠ . Fangzhou Zhu double barrels 40,000 and 105,000 to the river 8♦ and J♥ with Wang check-calling before he surrenders to Zhu's 400,000 third barrel.

The river 7♠ is a blank and Wang doubles up.

No high cards on 8♣ 6♥ 9♠ 4♦ 4♣ keeps Wu's jacks ahead and lets him join the 7-digit club.

Immediate disappointment for Jiangpu Jin on J♥ T♥ 5♦ 4♠ 4♥ , receiving a bad beat that leaves him with just over 10 big blinds.

Jiaming Zhao opens 55,000 from under the gun and takes hijack Xuecong Wu to the flop 6♠ 4♥ 5♦ that gets checked to the turn Q♥ . Zhao slides a 55,000 delayed c-bet over the line and Wu sticks around for the board to complete 6♦ . Zhao jams his massive stack and Wu plays back the entire action in his head - costing him two time banks - before he makes the fold and shows top pair A♠ Q♦ .

Under the gun Yang Liu limps before filling up Zhanhui Zheng's 65,000 raise from +1 to see the flop 9♦ K♠ 2♦ . Liu checks, Zheng c-bets 55,000 and Liu is in the tank with no time banks left.

The initial 30 seconds run down, the dealer starts another 30 second cycle thinking Liu will use a time bank, before Liu makes the call with 15 seconds left on the clock. After the protest of some players at the table the floor gets involved and rules it a call, which keeps the protesters unhappy, but the hand moves on.

Liu checks again on the turn 7♥ , Zheng fires another 160,000 and goes in the tank himself after Liu check-raised to 360,000. Zheng hands two time banks to the dealer before finding the fold.

Nevan Chang increases to 32,000 from the hijack and fills up after cutoff Stephen Song upped it to 110,000. Song's 55,000 c-bet gets called on the flop T♥ K♠ 8♦ before the turn A♥ gets checked for a free river 3♣ . Song forks out another 300,000 with the nuts Q♥ J♥ and gets paid by Chang who throws it in the muck.

Under the gun Xuanzhi Zhao opens 32,000 and finds a customer in button Stephen Song to share the flop K♠ A♣ 8♣ with. Zhao's double barrel of 40,000 and 110,000 gets called by Song to the river 3♠ and 9♥ where Zhao fires a third bullet of 200,000 before going into the tank when Song puts him all-in for another 331,000 on top. Using a time bank, Zhao begrudgingly lets it go which puts Song in an even larger overall lead than before.

Small blind Fangzhou Zhu limps and Weizheng Zhong opts to check to the flop K♣ 8♥ A♦ where Zhu's 20,000 lead gets called. Slowing down to a check on the turn 9♠ , Zhu fills up Zhong's 40,000 who fires another 160,000 on the river 4♠ with K♠ 9♥ . Zhu snaps before throwing it in the muck.

Hijack Martin Sedlak leads 32,000 and takes button Stephen Song to the flop 8♠ 7♠ 8♣ where Sedlak check-raises 70,000 into Song's 25,000 bet, but ultimately lets it go after Song put him all-in.

No help for Sun on T♥ 3♠ 8♣ T♦ J♦ and the cooler is complete.

With all 36 entries still in the running at the beginning of level 2, interested players still have until the end of level 12 to late register for this $200,000 guaranteed Circuit Event.

With a 24,000 raise from hijack Raffaele Sorrentino and a call in front, small blind Pingfeng Wu ups it to 116,000 and finds no takers.

Under the gun Martin Sedlak lays out 25,000 and takes two customers to the flop 6♣ 2♣ 2♦ that gets checked to the turn T♠ . Big blind Gailiang Chen takes the lead with a 40,000 bet and only hijack Nevan Chang pays up to watch the board complete T♥ . Chen jams 121,000 with 4♠ 4♥ , but receives bad news when Chang snaps with 6♥ 6♦ .

Hijack Yang Liu makes it 25,000 and takes button Pingfeng Wu to the flop 8♣ 4♥ 3♥ where Liu's 30,000 c-bet gets raises to 82,000. Liu puts in the rest, watches the turn fall 6♥ and checks before going in the tank when faced with another 65,000 bet from Wu. A time bank later Liu makes the call, the board completes Q♥ and lets it go after Wu fired another 250,000. Liu shows his set 4♠ 4♦ and Wu exposes his A♥ flush.

Button Martin Sedlak thought that big blind Nevan Chang opened from under the gun and puts in 66,000 for what he thought is a three-bet, but lets it go after Chang requested the all-in triangle.

After limping from +1, Yang Liu three-bets 130,000 into cutoff Yi Ye's 30,000 raise. Ye fills up and spends three time banks on the flop 6♣ J♠ 3♥ before letting it go against Liu's all-in, who then shows A♥ Q♠ .

Song's live cards improve on 7♠ 9♦ 8♥ before making a straight on the turn 5♦ which reduces the river Q♣ to a mere formality.

Pingfeng Wu leads 20,000 from the hijack and button Quan Zhou increases to 55,000 which gets met by Wu for the flop 3♥ 6♣ 6♦ to hit the felt. Wu check-calls a 33,000 c-bet before folding on the turn K♥ to a second barrel of 52,000.