Main Event

11pm: 74 advance to Day 2

Day 2 is now in the books as 74 players move on to Day 3 of the Main Event

Full recap: WPT Sanya Day 2 Recap: American WPT champs out, Chen still in, 74 remain

The money bubble has burst, 111 ITM!

was the unfortunate bubble boy as his fate was determined after two other tables first completed their hands.

Zhao, playing in Table 6, had to wait or two other all-ins with calls to be dealt, but the action that happened in Table 15 and Table only yielded double-ups or the shorter stacks.

When Tournament Director Justin Hammer indicated to the dealer at Table 6 to proceed, Zhao showed Ax Kx while his opponent tabled Ax Qx . Zhao dominated.

The board was meaningless until a Qx came out on the river sending Zhao out at 112th place while the rest of the players in contention celebrated the fact that they all made it In The Money (ITM).

Action is in Level 17 (/500) with one more level left to play before Day 2 comes to a close.

Daniel Weinman, the American pro who this year took down the World Poker Tour (WPT) Tournament of Champions and the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event has busted out of the WPT Sanya as his hunt for his first cash in Asia comes up short anew.

Weinman, who is making his first sortie in this region, failed to make the money in his first attempt at the inaugural WPT India and had barely survived Day 1B here actually gained some ground in the early goings o today’s Day 2 hostilities.

But when his chips gradually dwindled he found himself with pocket eights in the SB facing a UTG raise. Weinman shipped his 45,000 stack and after the BB folded got this reply from the original raiser: “I spite call you coz you’re white.”

The player turned over Qx 9x . A coinflip.

The flop came: Kx Jx 4x . The turn yielded a Tx to have him drawing dead to a made straight.

“I was in the (hotel) room before the river came,” Weinman quipped.

Right before the dinner break, Sam Panzica-the winner of the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Main Event last march-was also eliminated.

Panzica made an All-In Pre Flop (AIPF) move with Kx Kx and was called by a player with Ax Ax (but with a small stack). Another player in the BB with Ax Qx (who covered Panzica) also joined.

The last Ax came out on the river.

They will now have to gear up for the next WPT event in Japan next week, or jump straight into the ongoing Hublot Elite High-Roller tourney where buy-is are still being accepted at this time.

There only 115 players remaining in the Main Event and we are four bust outs away from the money bubble.

With only 180 players remaining, the payouts of the WPT Sanya Main Event have been released with 111 places paid and the eventual champion taking home $242,555.

The average stack is now at 121,527, it will probably be another two levels before we reach the money bubble as we approach the twilight of Level 14.

Here is the complete payout scheme:

 3:30pm: Hublot Elite High-Roller tourney underway

The first day of competition in the Hublot Elite High-Roller event has just commenced at the MGM Grand Hotel auxiliary competition room with 75 entrants thus far.

The structure mimics that of the Main Event with one hour level but players begin with 50,000 in chips and the starting blinds are at 100/200 (250 BBs). Registration is open until the end of Level 10.

Among the notable names in this field are Frenchman Vincent Chauve (who finished second in the WPT Thailand Main Event) along with Chinese stalwarts Cai Yan (who had two wins in the 2014 WPT Sanya side events) and 2015 WPT Sanya Main Event runner up Xin Jin.

Hublot Greater China General Manager Loic Biver is also in action.

The winner of this event, besides the money, will also be taking home a customized Hublot timepiece. Hublot, a renowned Swiss luxury watch maker, is the proud sponsor of the WPT Sanya High-Roller event.

3pm: Accountant Gen Nose wants poker boom in Japan

is the lone player from Japan in the competition here and this Certified Public Accountant (CPA) by profession is looking forward to having a poker boom happen in his home country when the World Poker Tour (WPT) has its inaugural tournament in Tokyo next week.

Nose only began playing in the Asian circuit this year and already he has copped three titles (all in Korea) with victories in the Paradise Poker Series Main Event last May, the PokerStars Cup in July and just a couple of weeks, he also took down the Last Shot Turbo event at the Japan High Roller Festival for his biggest cash thus far at $21,873.

He played his first WPT event in September in Jeju and was ecstatic about seeing action there that he committed to playing in Sanya and is more than excited about WPT’s first ever sortie in Japan; pledging that he will get all his fellow Japanese poker enthusiasts to take part in the undertaking.

Taking into account how poker is now sweeping China, Nose intends to propagate the game through the auspices of the WPT in his nation and he feels it won’t be long before the WPT becomes a staple in his nation.

2pm: Cards are in the air!

The cards are in the air as the 342 survivors of the two Day 1s hit the felt at the resumption of play here in Day 2 of the at the MGM Grand Hotel here.

Defending champion Chen Hao is among those who advanced from the starting field of 888 runners that had mostly locals who qualified for the Main Event through Ourgame’s PokerWorld site including overall chip leader Hong Xue Chun who brought 247,600 into today’s battles.Among the international campaigners still in the hunt are American WPT titlists Daniel Weinman (WPT Tournament of Champions) and Sam Panzica (WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Main Event).

More: Daniel Weinman and Sam Panzica: their WPT Asian journey