Mystery Bounty ($565)

The action is folded to the D where Korea’s Kim Jiyoung goes all-in for her remaining 53,000 and gets a call from Alex Wong of Malaysia on the SB. Vietnamese ace Hoang Hai Nam 3-bets from the BB for 100,000 as Wong decides to call.

The flop comes J♦ 6♦ 2♦ as Wong checks. Hoang shoves his remaining 118,000 and Wong makes the call.

Kim tables A♣ Q♠ while Hoang shows A♠ A♥ . Wong covers both, but is behind with Q♣ J♠ for top pair on the flop. The turn is 4♦ ,no one has any diamonds in the hole cards—and the river is the 9♥ as the last lady left is out in 12th place and the virtual triple up by Hoang greatly damages Wong’s stack.

After a limp from the HJ begins the hand, Vietnam’s Tran Cong Huan shoves from the SB for his last 128,000 and gets re-raised all-in by Kim Jiyoung of Korea in the BB. The original limper folds.

Tran turns over A♥ J♥ and is in a coinflip for his tournament life against Kim’s 9♦ 9♥ .

The flop tilts the hand’s favor towards the Vietnamese player: 3♣ A♣ 8♠ and Kim receives no help on the turn as the Q♠ shows and the river is the Q♥ .

Tran’s double up sends Kim stack spiraling down to below 200,000 at most inopportune moment in the competition.

After another limp from early position for Roy Adi Putra of Indonesia and a call from the player on the D, Korea’s Kim Jiyoung raises all-in for 121,000 from the SB. Adi Putra calls and the player who called the limp from the D is out of the hand.

Kim tables A♥ K♥ , dominating Adi Putra’s A♣ T♣ .

The flop goes 8♥ 9♣ 3♥ to give the Korean a flush draw which she hits on the turn as the 7♥ arrives. The meaningless A♠ on the river gives Kim a much needed double up and bring’s Adi Putra’s stack below 200,000 anew.

The action is opened from the +1 position for 8,000 and gets calls from Erik Rozhynskyi of the Ukraine in the CO and Korea’s Kim Jiyoung in the BB.

The flop goes 5♠ 5♣ 3♠ as Kim checks. The original raiser CBets it to 4,000 and gets both opponents to call. The turn is the 9♣ as once again the Korean lady pro checks. The player in the +1 fires again for another 4,000 but this time gets raised by Rozhynskyi to 12,000. Kim suddenly 3-bets it to 33,000 as the +1 player folds and the Ukrainian makes the call. The river is the 9♥ and this time, both Rozhynskyi and Kim slow down to get to showdown.

Kim turns over J♣ J♥ while Rozhynskyi mucks.

The action is folded to the blinds as Kim Jiyoung of Korea completes her SB and gets greeted with a shove from the BB of Vietnam’s Dang Thanh Luong for his last 63,000. Kim calls.

Dang tables A♠ 7♥ while to everyone’s surprise, Kim called with 3♥ 5♣ .

The flop was clean for the Vietnamese player: 9♣ Q♦ 6♦ but then the 5♠ arrives on the turn to give the Korean the lead. The river is the 6♥ and Dang becomes the first elimination of the finale and Kim gets to draw her first envelope—which she defers for later.

The action gets folded to the CO where China’s Sun Yunsheng open shoves for his remaining 56,000 in chips. Right beside him on the D, Kim Jiyoung of Korea makes the call.

Sun flips over 8♥ 8♠ while Kim is a 4-1 favorite with J♠ J♣

The runout goes: Q♥ 2♦ 6♣ 5♦ 3♦ as Sun is eliminated and Kim’s stack nears the quarter-million mark.

Indonesia’s Roy Adi Putra opens from the +1 position for 6,000 and the action folds to the SB of Korean Kim Jiyoung who 3-bet shoves for her remaining 90,000. Adi Putra calls.

Kim turns over J♥ J♠ while Adi Putra had A♥ 6♥ .

The flop gave the Indonesian some more outs: 4♦ 6♠ T♠ but none of them materialized in the last two cards of the runout as the K♣ and the 7♣ completed matters.

With the win, Kim nears the 200,000 chip mark while Adi Putra barely has 100,000 in chips.

There are only 28 players left. Only 18 will make it to ITM and advance to Day 2.

Kim Jiyoung of Korea opens from the HJ for 1,800 and gets a call from Japan’s John Matsuda on the D.

The flop is T♣ K♣ Q♦ as Kim continues for 1,600. Matsuda calls. The turn is the 3♥ and the Korean keeps going, this time for 4,000. Matsuda sticks around. The river is the 4♦ and this time both players opt to take it to showdown.

Kim shows 5♦ 5♥ while the player from Japan turns over K♥ 9♥ for top pair on the flop.

With the wins, Matsuda now eclipses the 100,000 chip mark.