MPC 21 Update: Sunny Zhang and Mike Takayama win Titles, Kavin Shah cashes

mpc21The Macau Poker Cup continued its 21st edition at the PokerStars LIVE at the City of Dreams Casino in Macau with Sunny Zhang and Mike Takayama taking down MPC side event trophies. Kavin Shah of India was the lone Indian to cash after Mayurh Aggarwal did so in the starting stages of the tourney. Shah finished 6th in the $4,000 NLHE 6-Max event which Takayama won.

The 3 events that took place this week include the following:

$2,000 Deepstack PLO
Date: August 4, 2014
Buyin: $2,000 (1,800+200)
Players: 92
Prize Pool: $160,632

This event was won by Li-Ta Hsu of Chinese Taipei who after this won catapulted to the top of the Asian Player of the year(POY) Rankings of 2014. He defeated Ka Cheong Wong of Hong Kong for the title and won HKD 43,400 for his effort. A total of 10 players cashed in the event with Devin Lo in third place and Iori Yogo in 4th place.

The top 5 finishers of the $2000 Deepstack PLO are:

Place First Name Last Name Country Prize (HKD) Prize (USD)
1 Li-ta Hsu Chinese Taipei $43,400 $ 5,600
2 Ka Cheong Wong Hong Kong $28,900 $ 3,729
3 Devin Tak Wah Lo Hong Kong $19,300 $ 2,490
4 Iori Yogo Japan $16,100 $ 2,077
5 Jung Jung Tang Chinese Taipei $12,900 $ 1,665

 

$1,500 NLH
Date: August 5, 2014
Buyin: $1,500 (1,350+150)
Players: 154
Prize Pool: $201,663

This Event was won by Sunny Zhang of China  who defeated fellow countryman Steven Zhou for the title and top prize of HKD 49,400. Mike Takayama finished 3rd in this event followed by Ichiro Arano. A total of 154 players entered this tournament and 19 finished in the money.

The top 5 finishers of the $1,500 NLH event are:

Place First Name Last Name Country Prize (HKD) Prize (USD)
1 Sunny Zhixiong Zhang China $49,400 $ 6,374
2 Steven Yibo Zhou China $33,300 $ 4,297
3 Mike Takayama Philippines $21,200 $ 2,735
4 Ichiro Arano Japan $17,100 $ 2,206
5 Svyatoslav Dvornikov Russia $13,600 $ 1,755

 

$4,000 NLH 6-max
Date: August 6-7, 2014
Buyin: 4,000 (3,600+400)
Players: 134
Prize Pool: $467,927

The third event that concluded this week before the Red Dragon kicks off was the $4K NLHE 6 Max event. Mike Takayama bettered his 3rd place finish in the $1,500 NLHE event to win this event and take the top prize of HKD 117,000. Indian Kavin Shah finished 6th in this event winning KHD 28,000.

Place First Name Last Name Country Prize (HKD) Prize (USD)
1 Mike Takayama Philippines $117,000 $ 15,097
2 Jae Chul Chang Korea $79,500 $ 10,258
3 Alvan Yifan Zheng China $51,428 $ 6,636
4 Zhenling Lin China $42,100 $ 5,432
5 Alexandre Chieng China $32,800 $ 4,232

 

The Day 1A flight of the Red Dragon- the HKD 11,000 buy-in main event of the MPC kicks off today. The Red Dragon event is structured in such a way that players have 3 day 1 flights. Winning the MPC Main Event means taking home the coveted Red Dragon trophy; something in the vicinity of HKD $2 million in prize money; and, a 2014 ACOP package which includes a HKD $100,000 Main Event entry plus hotel. In addition to this, the Red Dragon champion will be presented with a Slyde ‘Titanium’ design watch that has a retail value of CNY 52,800 (approximately USD $8,480). You can read the details of last weeks events plus coverage of the Baby Dragon here. 

Thus there is too much at stake at the Red Dragon this time around. Also new is the location of this 21st Edition MPC since the PokerStars Live poker room has moved to a brand new location. Thus while Mongolian Buyanjargal Bold will be there to defend his title but whoever is crowned will be crowned for the first time in the new PokerStars LIVE location. 

Players will also be adding valuable Player of the year points to their tally. While Akash Malik riding on his 5th place finish in MPC 20 Red Dragon Event is the highest placed Indian at 33rd spot, below is the top 15 player list of the 2014 Asia Player of the Year.

Rank Player Location Points Winnings (HKD) Final Tables Titles
1 Victor Teng Australia 3,152 $1,585,000 2 0
2 Quan Zhou* China 3,024 $2,187,746 5 1
3 Jiajun Liu China 2,957 $2,798,100 1 1
4 Pete Yen Han Chen Chinese Taipei 2,916 $758,118 4 0
5 Ka Cheong Wong Hong Kong 2,872 $405,621 7 0
6 Hao Chen China 2,870 $649,257 3 1
7 Li-ta Hsu Chinese Taipei 2,666 $333,330 6 2
8 Kenneth Yuen Kiong Leong Hong Kong 2,598 $379,828 3 0
9 Soo Jo Kim Korea 2,526 $984,097 3 2
10 Cyril André France 2,464 $1,693,000 1 0
11 Buyanjargal Bold Mongolia 2,400 $1,492,000 1 1
12 Percy Pui Suen Yung Hong Kong 2,400 $1,184,200 1 0
13 Jixue Yin China 2,358 $341,750 3 2
14 Terry Yun-hsiang Fan Chinese Taipei 2,120 $401,300 3 1
15 Chenxiang Miao China 2,060 $721,734 3 1