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MPC 24 Red Dragon: Meet the 9 finalists

Since a record setting field of 1,075 players assembled themselves for the Red Dragon tournament, the cards have been in the air, stacks have risen and fallen, and all but nine players have gone home with their hopes evaporated. For those nine survivors however, the journey goes on, and the money gets serious. The final table shapes up as follows:

Seat 1- Takashi Ogura – 2,710,000

This Japanese pro ranks in the top ten of his country’s all time money list, has $524,000 in live cashes to his name, and plenty of experience. His biggest ever cash is $106,056 for 64th place in the 2012 WSOP Main Event. With the second biggest stack here, he will be one of the favourites going into the final table.

Takashi Ogura

Takashi Ogura (Photo Kenneth Lim courtesy of PokerStars)

Seat 2 – Liang Xu – 3,375,000

Chinese national, and chip leader Liang Xu will be hoping to convert his advantage into victory tomorrow, and although he doesn’t have much tournament pedigree to speak of, he will have an excellent chance tomorrow, given the ammunition at his disposal.  Liang Xu won the ACOP Platinum Series XI last year for $21,785.

MPC24 final table chip leader liang xu

Liang Xu (Photo Kenneth Lim courtesy of PokerStars)

Seat 3 – Fan Xie – 1,110,000

Another final tablist from China, Fan Xie also has little in the way of live tournament cashes, but she has clearly been doing plenty of things correctly to get this far, and still has a shot at glory, with a playable stack.

MPC24 Day 3 Fan Xie

Fan Xie (Photo Kenneth Lim courtesy of PokerStars)

Seat 4 – Ying Lin Chua – 2,665,000

Malaysian player Ying Lin Chua will be looking to add another serious score to his live record, having won WPT Manila National, just two months ago. He picked up $86,130 for that win, which will give him some experience to draw on here, despite the fact that he isn’t a professional player as such, with his first cash coming in mid 2015. He has a dangerous looking stack here, and as talented player, has every chance of walking away with the trophy.

MPC24 Ying Lin Chua

Ying Lin Chua (Photo Kenneth Lim courtesy of PokerStars)

Seat 5 – Chengbei Lei – 1,700,000

Coming into this final table 4th in chips, Chinese national Chengbei Lei has limited experience in live tournaments, but with a very comfortable stack, there is still a good chance of an upset here. The three big stacks are situated to his right, which is always a good start.

Seat 6 – Yang Zhang – 1,375,000

Another player flying the flag for China, Zhang has a fair amount of tournament experience behind him, with $355,000 in live cashes in under two years on the circuit. Runner up in the APPT Beijing Millions in July 2014 was the first big score in Zhang’s career, and he has since followed that up with victory in the Beijing Cup. He took home over $100,000 each for those scores. With a reasonable starting stack, a decent seat draw and plenty of experience, he could still make a serious move up the chip counts tomorrow.

Seat 7 – Tom Alner – 1,030,000

The only non Asian player at this final table is Tom Alner. He is not a first timer when it comes to Asian tournaments though, having won the Red Dragon event in 2013. His list of achievements in live poker is impressive, with over $1,000,000 in live cashes, and a 4th place in a WSOP event, which netted him his biggest score of $207,000. Slightly short stacked he may be, but Alner has the quality to turn things around at this final table.

Tom Alner

Tom Alner (Photo Kenneth Lim courtesy of PokerStars)

Seat 8 – Yongqiang Huang – 520,000

Huang is our short stack at this final table, with less than half the chips of his nearest competitor. The Chinese national will need to make something happen quickly tomorrow if he is to make a run at this title. He has no real live experience to speak of, but who knows what the cards will have in store for him when play commences.

Seat 9 – Wayne Zhang – 1,610,000

Another competitor from China, Zhang has a promising list of results behind him and a fairly healthy chip stack, he can’t be counted out by any means. He will have to contend with bigger stacks to his left tomorrow, but will be hoping that doesn’t hold him back. He was recently drafted by Celina Lin for the Hong Kong Stars team in the Global Poker League.

MPC24 Wayne Zhang

Wayne Wei Yi Zhang (Photo Kenneth Lim courtesy of PokerStars)

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Louis Hartwell

Graduated in Media Communication at the University of Lausanne, Louis Hartman is a co-founder of somuchpoker.com. He began his career in Cambodia as freelance journalist. In same time he was making his living by playing poker every night at that time. Intense learner, he read dozens of poker strategy books to improve his skills during many years. With a strong interest about poker "behind the scene" in Asia and his communication skills, Louis launched Somuchpoker in 2014.

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