Mystery Bounty ($565)

Malaysia’s Loong Yuen opens the action from the D for 12,000 and gets called by Huynh Ngoc Thai of Vietnam from the SB. Short-stacked Hong Sung Heon of Korea 3-bets all-in from the BB for his last 87,000 and gets a call from Loong. Huynh then decides to 4-bet shove to 204,000 and the Malaysian still decides to make the call.

Hong tables A♥ 9♦ while Loong shows 2♦ 2♠ and is disappointed to know that Huynh holds 7♦ 7♥ .

The flop instantly gives the Vietnamese icon a lock on the hand: J♥ Q♦ 7♠ as he gets an almost unbeatable set. The turn has both Hong and Loong drawing dead as the 6♠ arrives. The 9♠ on the river officially ousts the Korean in 18th place and brings Huynh to the half-million chip mark.

We have yet another hand joined in progress as there is a pot of already 83,000 and a board of 7♠ 3♦ T♦ A♥ between Korea’s Hong Sung Heon in the HJ and Masataka Nishada of Japan on the D.

Hong checks the turn and Nishada announces he is all-in for his remaining 83,000. Hong snap calls the shove.

Nishada turns over A♠ 3♠ for two pairs on the turn while the Korean tables A♦ T♥ for a higher two pairs on the turn. The poker gods give the Japanese player a reprieve as the 3♣ arrives on the river to give Nishada a full house and a new lease on his tournament life.

The hit reduces Hong’s stack to less than 100,000.

The action gets folded to the HJ of Korea’s Hong Sung Heon and he raises it to 9,000. The action gets to Alex Wong of Malaysia in the BB who defends.

The flop comes 4♦ T♣ 8♠ as suddenly Wong claims the betting lead and fires 15,000. The Korean calls. The turn is the J♠ and the Malaysian is unrelenting as he unloads 30,000 more, to which Hong still makes the call. The river is the 4♣ as Wong barrels again, this time for 50,000. Hong does not continue in the hand.

Hong Sung Heon of Korea opens the action from UTG for 8,000 and gets calls from Japan’s Masataka Nishada in the +1 position and Li Qinglin of China in the HJ.

The flop is 2♦ K♥ J♥ as all players skip this betting street. The turn is the 5♠ and Hong suddenly comes to life and bets 5,000. No one calls.

In a hand already in progress, Korea’s Hong Sung Heon in the +1 position is in a tussle with Loong Yuen Hong of Malaysia in the BB. There’s already 28,000 in the middle and a flop of J♦ T♥ 6♦ .

The turn card is the 9♦ as Loong checks and Hong fires 18,000 which is called by the Malaysian. The river is the 5♣ as Loong checks again. The Korean unloads for 55,000 as Loong check-raises all-in. Loong covers Hong. The Korean goes into the tank and burns two Time Bank cards in an effort to make sense of the move. Hong’s ordeal ends when he folds.

Loong now climbs to exactly 400,000 in chips and is closer to hanging with the big stacks.

Hong Sung Heon once again is in action as he raises from the HJ for 4,000. He gets a BB defense from Japan’s Nishada Masataka.

The flop comes 6♦ 4♦ A♥ as Masataka checks. Hong fires a CBet of 3,000 and gets called. The turn is the 9♦ as Masataka checks anew and once again the Korean unloads, this time for 7,500. The Japanese player still makes the call. The river is the 7♠ and Masataka checks a third time. This time, Hong checks behind.

Masataka turns over 8♦ 5♦ for a flush on the turn while Hong opts to muck. It’s been awhile since Hong has fallen below the 200,000 chip mark.

Spain’s Santiago Soriano Ramos open from the +2 position for 4,000 and gets a call from the HJ. Former chip-leader Hong Sung Heon of Korea makes a 3-bet to 15,000 as Ramos 4-bet shoves for 60,500. The caller in the HJ folds and Hong makes the call.

Ramos brandishes A♦ A♥ while Hong could only shake his head as he tables A♠ Q♥ .

The runout never improved Hong: 4♠ 3♦ 8♠ 8♣ T♦ .

The Spaniard now breaches the six-figure mark for the first time while Hong drops to just over 200,000.

Vietnam’s Nguyen Quang Huy is second chips at the moment and opens from UTG for 3,000. The action is folded to chip-leader Hong Sungheong and he 3-bets it to 9,000. Nguyen opts to call.

The flop is K♠ 8♦ 7♣ as Nguyen checks. Hong CBets 5,000 and gets called. The turn is the 4♦ and Nguyen checks again. The Korean now unloads 20,000 to which Nguyen still calls. The river is the 3♣ and this time, both players check.

The Vietnamese player shows A♣ K♦ for top pair, top kicker on the flop. Hong chooses to muck.

The win by Nguyen almost pulls him even with Hong atop the leaderboard.

Chipleader Hong Sung heon is in the headlines anew as he performs another raise, this time from the HJ for 2,400. Yu Lin once again calls from the CO but both get 3-bet by Vietnam’s Nguyen Quang Huy on the D to 10,200. They both call.

The flop comes Q♥ J♥ 5♦ as Hong and Yu check. Nguyen CBets 20,000 and it is enough to make both his opponents fold.

The action opens from the CO of chip-leader Hong Sungheon as the Korean raises it to 2,400 and gets two callers, one of which is former chip-leader Yu Lin of Taiwan on the D.

The flop comes 9♥ 2♥ 3♣ as the caller from the BB checks. Hong CBets 1,500 and gets a call from Yu. The BB folds. The turn is the K♠ as now the Korean fires 5,300. Yu folds.

Hong is now wielding his mighty stack.

Raising from the +1 position is chip-leader Hong Sungheon of Korea to 2,500 and the action gets folded to the HJ where Japan’s Fujishiro Kazuki 3-bets all-in for 42,000. Hong makes a snap call.

Kazuki shows 9♣ 9♦ while Hong turns over Q♠ Q♣ .

The runout goes: 6♥ J♠ 6♠ 6♣ J♦ as Hong busts Kazuki on a higher full house and now approaches the quarter-million chip mark with the victory.

Korea’s Hong Sungheon is in the CO and chip-leader Yu Lin of Taiwan is in the CO on a flop of 4♥ 5♠ 2♠ and with already 13,500 in the middle.

Yu bets 6,000 and Hong over-raises by going all-in for 108,200. Yu makes the call.

Hong turns over 5♣ 4♣ for top two pairs on the flop while Yu shows K♠ Q♠ for the second nut flush draw.

The turn is the 2♥ adding more outs for the Taiwanese player but the river card misses everything as the 8♣ arrives to give the Korean over 200,000 in chips and goes to the top of the leaderboard.

The action opens with Korea’s Hong Sungheon raising to 1,600 from the +1 position and getting called on the CO. However, Mai Bien of Vietnam re-raises from the D to 6,400 and Hong opts to call. The player in the CO folds.

It is heads up to the flop of 3♣ J♠ 8♣ as Hong checks. Mai fires 1,300 as the Korean check-raises to 4,400. Mai then proceeds to 3-bet it to 11,000 which send Hong into the tank and ends up burning one Time Bank card before eventually deciding to call. The turn is the T♣ and both players pull the breaks to check. The river is the 6♣ and nothing more happens as a one-card flush develops.

Hong shows A♣ J♥ for top pair on the flop and the nut flush on the river. Bien mucks.

Loong Yuen Hong opens the action from UTG for 800 and gets calls from Korea’s Hong Sungheon on the D and player in the BB.

The flop comes A♠ 7♣ K♦ as it is checked to Hong who takes the betting the lead for 1,700. The player in the BB folds but Loong makes the call. It is heads up to the turn and it is the 9♦ . Loong once again checks and Hong once again fires, this time for 4,500. Loong once again decides to call. The river is the A♦. Loong suddenly unloads a bet of 10,000 which sends the Korean into the tank so long that he uses two of his three allotted Time Bank cards for this phase.

Hong ultimately decides to fold