Loy Abdo

Day 2 of the PS Championship Main Event brings the return of 115 players out of the total turnout of 749 entries across six flights. With each one secured a piece of the TWD 22,245,300 prize pool, the hunt for a seat at the final table takes off fast and fierce.

As the field trims to just three tables, poker legend 🇮🇩 John Juanda bows out in 18th place, 🇰🇷 Kang Ki Seok follows next, whose explosive run throughout the day ends in 17th place.

With only two tables remaining, 🇦🇺 Loy Abdo soars to the top of the chip counts after a stunning double knockout. 🇵🇭 David Erquiaga keeps pace, also wreaking havoc at his table by applying relentless pressure and eliminating several opponents. At one stage, the two heavyweights face-off resulting in Abdo dragging in a sizable pot to further widen his lead.

After ten levels of play, the field is down to 14 players. They return on Monday, March 9 for the final push toward the coveted title.

Read on below for some of the day’s biggest moments and key hands.

⭐ Final 14 – By Chip Count

⭐ Final 14 – By Seat

Koji Nagasaka

Koji Nagasaka goes all in for his last four big blinds and Loy Abdo doesn’t let him steal the blinds and ante and calls. Nagasaka has and is in strong position for a double up with Abdo turning over  . The board gives Nagasaka a slight scare on the turn then runs out for a double up.

The TD has announced the final 4 hands of Day 2.

Sung Jin Yun min-raises on the button then big blind David Erquiaga defends with a three-bet to 400,000. Yun calls for a flop of . Both players check then check the turn  as well for the river to come .

No more checking for Erquiaga, he fires an overbet of 1,800,000. Yun has 2,350,000 behind and tanks then opts to preserve his stack.

Takumi Odani

Down to around 700,000 Takumi Odani three-bets all in and Shixiang Khoo calls. Odani is flipping with ace-queen against Khoo’s pocket jacks. The board drops nothing but blanks to end Odani’s run in 15th place.

After a getting chunked in an earlier hand, Sean Tan has doubled up twice and picks up a third pot to now sit with 40 big blinds. His latest win, sees a board with around 890,000 in the pot. Tan shoves out of the small blind seat, Takumi Odani tanks then folds after using up three time extensions. Button Sung Jin Yun releases his hand as well.

Fabian Rolli opens 350,000 leaving just one chip behind worth 5,000, big blind Sin Ren Chen shoves to force him toss it in.

Fabian Roll:

Sin Ren Chen:

The board runs clean for Rolli to double up.

The two biggest stacks go head-to-head. David Erquiaga opens from under the gun and Loy Abdo calls on the button. Erquiaga continues for 120,000 at the flop and Abdo calls.

Erquiaga fires again on the turn for 200,000 and Abdo sticks with him with a call. The river slows down Erquiaga while Abdo comes out with a 400,000 bet that earns a fast fold from Erquiaga.

Level 25 is underway with blinds of 25K-50K ante 50K. Only 15 players remain out of a field of 749 total entries.

Hong Yu Chen

Hong Yu Chen opens from under the gun and the blinds call – Sung Jin Yun and Sean Tan. Chen continues for 130,000 at the flop and the three-way stays intact with the blinds check-calling.

Action slows on the turn with everyone checking then Sung bets 500,000 on the river . Tan calls and Chen tank-calls.

Sung flips open broadway and it’s a winner. Tan shows his  flush draw on the flop turned to trips.

Chen drops to 3 big blinds and is eliminated in 16th  on the next hand while Tan doubles up on the following hand with pocket kings getting paid by Takumi Odani.

Table 5

Table 6

Starting the day very strong, Kang Ki Seok was given his walking papers in 17th place by Dicky Tsang Siu Hang with a flush over a mid-pair.

The field is down to 16 players.

John Juanda

John Juanda goes all in on the small blind holding   and big blind Kuo Kai Ma defends with . Juanda is ahead though Ma’s cards are live. One of the live cards land on a board to end Juanda’s run in 18th place.

Anton Lu goes all in for his last 10,000, Sin Ren Chen raises 100,000 at cutoff and gets called by button Loy Abdo and big blind Juyeol Lee. They proceed to check the flop , then bets erupt on the turn  with Lee kicking it off for 115,000. Chen folds, Abdo raises 250,000, Lee three-bets to 480,000, and Abdo tames the action with a call.

After the river comes , Lee leads 375,000, Abdo shoves, Lee tanks until he uses up his last time extension then calls.

Abdo has   full house and sweeps with Lee showing  straight and Lu with lower straight.

Lu finishes in 20th place, Juyeol Lee finishes in 19th place.

Table 5

Table 6

Table 7

Level 24 is underway with blinds of 20K-40K ante 40K. Only 20 players remaining from a field of 749 total entries.

The 20 remaining players are on their fourth break of the day. David Erquiaga leads with 3,920,000 followed by Loy Abdo with 2,960,000.

Brendan McManus

Brendan McManus opens with a 415,000 raise leaving just 5,000 behind. Chung Tang Lin takes a peek then shoves 465,000 swinging the action back to McManus who asks “why didn’t you just call? I wanted to see a flop.”

Lin throws back, “I forgot” and laughs.

McManus uses a time extension hoping for action at the other tables but none taking place then commits his last chip.

Brendan McManus:

Chung Tang Lin:

Lin’s pair dominates and with the board offering McManus no help, he falls in 21st place.

Action folds to the small blind Hong Yu Chen, he raises to 105,000 and is denied the steal with big blind David Erquiaga defending.

At the flop , Erquiaga bets 175,000, Chen check-raises to 320,000, Erquiaga answers with a three-bet to 725,000, sending Chen deep in the tank. After spending two time extensions, Chen releases his hand for Erquiaga to scoop it up.

Cheng Jyun Yang is next to fall as he three-bets all in with that misses the board against Kiyoung Kim’s  to finish in 23rd place.

At the other table, Chih Hsuan Chiang has king-ten offsuit and is eliminated by Hong Yu Chen with pocket queens. Chiang finishes in 22nd place.

Battle of the blinds, David Erquiaga limps in and gets to see a cheap flop with big blind Wing Ho Henry Leung. When the cards come jack-ten-four, Erquiaga lands two pair with jack-four offsuit and checks. Leung jams to his doom with king-two and falls in 25th place when the rest of the board are blanks.

Chih Hsuan Chiang is all in holding and is in dire need of help against caller Sin Ren Chen with  .

Help arrives on the board to keep his hopes alive.

Level 23 is underway with blinds of 15K-30K ante 30K. Only 25 players remaining from a field of 749 total entries.

Shinichiro Kano open jams and bangs hard into Sung Jin Yun who shoves with . The board offers no miracles nor diamonds for Kano to pack up and go.

Chung Tang Lin

Chung Tang Lin opens 50,000, Kiyoung Kim flats on the button, then big blind Or Kai Fu jams. Action swing back to Lin who jams with a covering stack and successfully isolates as Kim reluctantly surrenders his hand.

Or Kai Fu:

Chung Tang Lin:

The board initially runs clean for Fu until the river for a pair to Lin and the exit for Fu.

David Erquiaga and Shixiang Khoo have built a big pot of 680,000 by the river . Khoo checks to Erquiaga who fires 450,000 and though Khoo can afford it, he tanks then opts to fold and show  two pair.

Catching the action on a board of   with a hefty 550,000 in the pot, Loy Abdo bets 400,000. Kang Ki Seok tanks before calling then mucks to Abdo’s straight.

Sung Jin Yu

Hyun Woo Yoo is all in holding and is flipping for his tournament life against Sung Jin Yun’s .

Sung quickly improves on the flop and Yoo stands up. The turn and river doesn’t change anything for Yoo to speed off.

Kang Ki Seok

Wei Kai Lin is on his way out while Kang Ki Seok is raking it in. According to Seok Lin pushed with ace-nine and he had ace-ten.

Tae Hwan Kim has shoved multiple times and finding no callers until this hand that first opens with a raise from Ming Ken Thoo on the button. Out of the big blind, Kim shoves, Thoo calls, and they flip them over.

Tae Hwan Kim:

Ming Ken Thoo:

Kim needs the board to fade Thoo’s cards, and it does on the flop but not on fourth street with turn. The river is still a miss for Kim to head out of the tournament floor.

Anton Lu

Anton Lu is all in holding and needs to dodge Hong Yu Chen’s  . The board bricks for Lu’s ducks to survive and earn him a full boost.

Following a min-raise from Hyun Woo Yoo, two spots over Brendan McManus three-bets all in for 345,000 and Yoo tank-calls with a covering stack.

Brendan McManus:

Hyun Woo Yoo:

The flop gives McManus a sweat with a gutshot for Yoo. The turn   is clean and so is the river  for McManus to double up.

Kuo Kai Ma

From under the gun, Joo Meng Le open-jams over 300,000 and two spots over, Kuo Kai Ma calls with a covering stack. When they flip over their hole cards, it’s a classic flip.

Joo Meng Le:

Kui Kai Ma:

The board comes   giving Ma top pair to boot Le and his ladies.

Level 22 is underway with blinds of 10K-25K ante 24K. Only 34 players remaining from a field of 749 total entries.

The PS Championship is on its third 15-minute break of the day. 34 players remaining.

With everyone folding to the small blind Darren Wee, he opens for 35,000 then gets pushed by big blind John Juanda. Wee tanks then finds reason to risk his stack.

Darren Wee:

John Juanda:  

Wee is flipping and needs some paint on the board but the deck doesn’t give any out as it runs   for a full house to Juanda to rise over 2M.

Maurice Tan

Maurice Tan wins the flip against Jae Bong Jeong with cracking on a board . Jeong plunges to just 5,000 and manages to boost it to 35,0000 then busts shortly after.

Ming Ken Thoo

Ming Ken Thoo opens from under the gun and big blind Wooseok Kim defends. As soon as the flop lands , Kim jams his last 200,000 and Thoo snap-calls.

Kim has and is only drawing to a flush against Thoo’s  set. The turn and river don’t produce it to send him to the exit.

Two hands after, Chih Hsuan Chiang opens for 40,000 then calls button player Thoo’s 130,000 reraise. They both check it to the turn where Thoo bets 55,000 and Chiang check-calls.

They go one more round of betting on the river with a Thoo sliding out 120,000, Chiang calls then folds to  trips.

David Erquiaga

David Erquiaga and Hyun Woo Yoo stare down a board of with around 335,000 in the pot. Erquiaga slides out a near pot bet of 300,000 and wins the pot after Yoo tank-folds.

Next hand, with around 160,000 in the pot on a flop of , Erquiaga bets 70,000 and Jun Yeong Park check-calls. The river comes and again Park checks. Erquiaga barrels 250,000, and once again he claims the pot unchallenged.

Level 21 is underway with blinds of 10K-20K ante 20K. Only 43 players remaining from a field of 749 total entries.

Shixiang Khoo

From early position, Tae Hwan Kim min-raises then calls button player Shixiang Khoo’s 70,000 three-bet to head to a flop that comes .

Kim checks to the aggressor Khoo who continues for 60,000. Kim answers with a raise to 200,000. Khoo repops to 560,000 which covers Kim’s stack behind. Kim folds and Khoo reveals bluff.

Shinichiro Kano
A pot of 245,000 swims in the middle and a board at the turn . Jun Yeong Park bets about half for 120,000 and Shinichiro Kano calls for the river.

With a one-card straight on the board, Park tries again with a bet of 100,000 and Kano calls once more.

Park turns over top pair, Kano flips over set getting a “wow” from his tablemates.

Chi Jen Chen

Out of the hijack seat, Chi Jen Chen makes it 30,000 to go, button John Juanda fires a three-bet to 80,000. Chen tanks then shove 290,000 after burning one time extension. Juanda gives it some thought then dumps in the call.

Chi Jen Chen:

John Juanda:

As soon as the flop lands , Juanda jumps out front with a higher pair. With the turn , Chen gets up and says “nice hand.” Then the two-outer finds the river   for Chen to sit back down and ship in the pot.

Maurice Tan opens at under the gun and finds one customer in small blind Sin Ren Chen. Action moves to the big blind Jae Bong Jeong, he takes a peek at his hole cards then goes all in for 135,000. Tan opts out while Chen tank-calls.

Jae Bong Jeong:

Sin Ren Chen:

With the better kicker, Jeong is in prime shape for a double and gets there on the ten-high board.

Andrei Chershakin is all in and is covered by caller Yu Yung Lin.

Andrei Chershakin:

Yu Yung Lin:

When the flop comes  , Chershakin jumps ahead with a lucky pair spiked but is quickly burned by the turn as Lin overtakes. With the river , Chershakin falls and Lin ships it.

Level 20 is underway with blinds of 10K-15K ante 15K. Only 52 players remaining from a field of 749 total entries.

Second break of the day with 52 players remaining.

By the time the flop runs , the pot is 64,000 with two players vying for it. Big blind Kuo Kai Ma bets 53,000 and Po Lun Chao flats to take them to the turn . Ma fires again, making it 90,000 to continue then wins the pot with Chao opting out instead.

Maurice Tan opens for 100,000 then commits the rest behind after Soo Hak Eo three-bets 200,000.

Tan has , Eo with , ,  the flop nearly ensures the double up with a fast set  , and it holds with the turn  and river .

Kai Hung Hu

Kai Hung Hu three-bets all in and gets Po Hao Liao to fold his open however on the very next hand, he falls on a flip. Hand opens with an open-shove from Shinichiro Kano on the button for 398,000. Hu tanks then risks his 254,000 stack, big blind folds and they flip them over.

Kai Hung Hu:

Shinichiro Kano:

The flop immediately improves Kano and it holds through the runout turn and  river.

On a board showing with a hefty 454,000 pot, Po Chia Liao bets 150,000 only to see Po Hao Liao push. Po Chia Liao releases his hand.

Shi Rong Wang

With no action before him, Shi Rong Wang open-shoves at small blind and Jangwon Moon snap-calls with a covering stack. When the cards are on their backs, Wang gets up disappointedly.

Shi Rong Wang:

Jang Won Moon:

As the flop comes , Wang still has three-outs but the turn  and river don’t produce it to pack up while shaking his head saying, “huge mistake.”

Shixiang Khoo

Shixiang Khoo opens 25,000 from cutoff then calls button player Wei Kai Lin’s 50,000 reraise. Lin continues for 50,000 at the flop of   and Khoo check-calls.

Khoo open-checks again on the turn and Lin checks back for a free peek at the river  . No more checking for Khoo who fires 330,000, Lin snap-calls then gets a shock when Khoo reveals straight.

Level 19 is underway with blinds of 6K-12K ante 12K. Only 61 players remaining from a field of 749 total entries.

On a board showing and 95,000 weighing down the middle, Yu Yung Lin bets 57,000 only to see Cheng Jyun Yang pop it to 120,000. Lin tank-folds.

According to Shixiang Khoo, he chunked down Tai Jui to just one big blind then from there, Jui won multiple showdowns and now sits with a healthy 350,000.

Po Hao Liao

John Costiniano opens 20,000 from early position then defends by calling button player Po Hao Liao’s 50,000 three-bet. Liao continues for 35,000 at the flop of , and Costiniano check-calls for the turn  .

Costiniano opens with a check again and this time Liao checks back for a free river card .  Costiniano leads out 100,000, Liao quickly calls, Costiniano has , Liao shows  for pair on the river to claim the pot.

Small pickup for Dicky Tsang Siu Hang who calls Guo Jin Zeng’s 64,000 all in.

Gui Jin Zeng:

Dicky Tsang Siu Hang:

The board runs queen high .

Out of the cutoff seat, Sean Tan min-raises then four-bets 120,000 after small blind Kim Wah Chiu’s 45,000 three-bet. Chiu defends to take the action to the flop.

After the dealer fans , Chiu checks, Tan drops in a very light 20,000 bet that draws in Chiu to bring a cheap turn card . Open-check again from Chiu, this time Tan slides out 130,000 and it induces a fold to win the pot uncontested.

Level 17 is underway with blinds of 4K-8K ante 8K. Blinds now increase every 60 minutes. Only 71 players remaining from a field of 749 total entries.

The first 15-minute break is underway with 72 players remaining.

With a big pot of 124,000 brewed by the time the turn comes around ,  Po Hao Liao bets 65,000 and Cheng Chen Whey calls for the river . Both players opt to check and Cheng wins the pot with .

Following a min-raise, Jaegeol Cho calls then is the lone caller the Wei Yu Hao’s 100,000 three-bet who leaves just 25,000 behind. At the flop of , Cho pust Wei all in who commits the rest behind.

Wei Yu Hao:

Jaegeol Cho:

Wei is ahead  but is still flipping until the turn gives Cho the lead. Wei is now looking for a spade to avoid the rail but the river comes to end his run in 77th place.

Jun Yeong Park opens from middle position, Kai Hung Hu calls at lojack, then John Costiniano three-bets 45,000 out of the hijack seat. Park opts out while Hu wants to play on and tops up.

Both players check it to the turn  . Hu checks again then calls Costiniano’s 60,000 delayed c-bet. After the river felts Hu open-checks again, Costiniano checks back, Hu shows and wins the pot.

Jangwon Moon opens from cutoff and big blind Koji Nagasaka defends. When the board runs  no more bets land.

Nagasaka flips open , Moon is surprised to see his bottom pair is good.

Level 17 is underway with blinds of 4K-8K ante 8K. Blinds now increase every 60 minutes. Only 88 players remaining from a field of 749 total entries.

Vincent Wong uses up his last six time extensions hoping for someone to bust but no one does and he raises 53,000 leaving 6,000 behind. Next door neighbor Jun Yeong Park calls then pushes on the flop . Just before his 30 seconds runs out, Wong commits his last big blind behind.

Vincent Wong:

Jun Yeong Park:

By the time the turn and river are table, no one busts for Wong to finish in 89th place, just one hump to a payjump.

Not long after his first double up, Po Lun Chao lands another, this time through Lai Koon Lim on a flip.

Po Lun Chao:

Lai Koon Lim:

The flop runs clean for Lim until the turn and with the bo

ard completing .

Min Jin Hee entered Day 2 as the shortest with just 25,000 (5 bb) and was able to survive several orbits however she was eventually eliminated by Po Chia Liao. The hand opens with a 12,000 raise from Shinichiro Kano, Hee three-bets all in for 33,000, Liao isolates with a four-bet shove that gets Kano to fold.

Min Jin Hee:

Po Chia Liao:

No ace comes on the board for Hee.

Po Lun Chao opens jams 83,000 and Ki Jun Baek isolates with a jam for 314,000.

Po Lun Chao:

Ki Jun Baek:

The board is for Chao to rake in a double up.

Level 16 is underway with blinds of 3K-6K ante 6K. Blinds now increase every 60 minutes. Only 110 players remaining 0ut of the 749 total entries.

Hyun Woo Yoo opens 10,000 from lojack, Yu Hao Wei at hijack flats, then cutoff Yong Chun Chu squeezes for 105,000. Button Jin Hwan Kim calls, sending the action back to Hyun who fires it all in for 177,000. After seconds of tense moments, the three players release their hands for Hyun to scoop a good pickup.

Three-way all in preflop with Bum Suk Kang the shortest with 76,000, Sakunchai Kenganantanon next with 93,000, and Cheng Jyun Yang covers them both.

Bum Suk Kang:

Sakunchai Kenganantanon:

Cheng Jyun Yang:

The board runs for a triple up to Kang and Kenganantanon takes the side pot.

Battle of the blinds at Table 8 with 43,000 in the pot by the time the flop comes . They check it to the turn  where small blind Ta Wei Wei checks once more. Big blind Koji Nagasaka slides out 32,000 and heads to the river with a call from Wei. After the tables, both players tap it.

Wei has pair, Nagasaka takes down the pot with   top pair.

Table 9: Entering the day ranked second in chips,  small blind Shixiang Khoo, big blind Sung Jin Yun, and under the gun Sing Wen Chen boost the pot to 45,000 preflop then check it to the turn . Action is checked to Chen who bets 25,000 and earns a small chip up after Khoo and Sung fold.

Table 10: With around 100,000 in the pot by the turn board , Chak Hei Chan bets 55,000 and wins the pot after chip leader Ming Ken Thoo lets it go.

Table 3: Chi-Ying Lin opens from hijack then calls Sean Tan’s 30,000 reraise out of the small blind. Tan slides out another 30,000 bet at the flop and Lin continues to defend to bring the turn . Tan comes out firing 90,000 and that’s enough to take it down uncontested.

The first deal of Day 2 is underway! Only ten minutes of blinds 2K-5K ante 5K then blinds increase every 60 minutes for the duration of the tournament. Good luck to all!

With all starting flights completed, the PS Championship Main Event resumes today with 115 players returning for Day 2, each one guaranteed a share of the TWD 22,245,300 prize pool.

Play begins at 11AM with blinds of 2K-5K ante 5K for only ten minutes before shifting to 60-minute levels for the remainder of the day. A total of ten complete levels will be played today or to the final table, whichever is first reached.

Buy-in: TWD 33,000
Entries: 749
Prize pool: TWD 22,245,300
Day 2: 115 players
Bagging time: End of Level 25: 25K / 50K Ante 50K