Macau Poker Cup 27: Michael Soyza Wins HK$80,000 High Roller

The 27^th Edition of the Macau Poker Cup (MPC) concluded on Sunday night and was a resounding success breaking all its previous records in terms of numbers. The signature Red Dragon Main Event further extended its own attendance record to retain its position as the largest freezeout event in the Asia-Pacific region.

Indian challengers had a successful outing once again with two titles and numerous deep runs. In the recently concluded side events, Sumit Sapra and Neeraj Kumar added scores to the list. Sapra finished 19^th in the $25,000 NLH event for HK$61,500 and Kumar finished 14^th in $3,000 NLH event netting HK$7,300.

Total Indian Cashes at MPC 27:

Meanwhile, Malaysian pro Michael Soyza took down the HK$80,000 High Roller Shot Clock event for HK$2,037,000.

James Won Lee, Alan King Lun Lau, Ko Isayama, John Kim Teng Jong and Yan Li won the last few side events.

Event 28: HK$80,000 High Roller (Shot Clock, Unlimited Re-Entries)

The HK$80,000 High Roller event registered a strong field of 119 runners taking the prize pool to a cool HK$8,863,120. Malaysian pro Michael Soyza defeated Germany’s Martin Finger in the heads-up battle to claim the title after a heads-up deal. The deal paid Soyza HK$1,987,000 and Finger locked in HK$1,700,000, and the play continued for the title and an additional HK$50,000.

A total 17 players were paid in the event with the min-cash being HK$139,000 and 27-year-old Soyza banked a cool HK$2,037,000 (~US$260,725) for his efforts.

The field’s only Team PokerStars Pro, Randy Lew, made it to Day 2 but fell shy of making money.

Team India’s Raghav Bansal was another notable who made Day 2 too but unfortunately couldn’t make the money. Bansal took a nasty straight flush over straight flush beat!

Asia Pacific Poker Tour Manila champion Linh Tran, took the bubble boy tag at the event.

Notables who made it in the money but couldn’t make the final table include Scott Davies (14th place) and two-time MPC High Roller champion James Chen. Chen’s bustout came in a stunning double elimination by Soyza as he sent Chen and Japan’s Yasuyuki Tsuji to the rail in 11th and 12th respectively. The nine-handed final table was set after Xixiang Luo exited in tenth place.

Final Table Recap

Soyza eliminated five out of the eight other competitors on the final table to earn the biggest and best result of his professional career to date.

Ivan Leow was the first casualty followed by Qi Luo who fell at the hands of Italy’s Mauro Francolini, who incidentally exited immediately thereafter.

Shan Huang was the next one out followed by Canlin Chen.

The final table was surely a Soyza show with Wing Cheung Chong next followed by China`s Zhong Wang that set up the heads-up battle between Martin Finger and Michael Soyza.

The two players soon agreed upon the deal and the final hand saw Finger triple barrel the flop and bet the turn. Finger shoved on the river holding and got the call from Soyza who tabled for a flopped flush to seal the deal.

“It feels pretty good to win,” said a relaxed-looking Soyza immediately after taking down his largest-ever career score. “I felt pretty confident coming into today, as long as I didn’t get bad beat, which usually happens. It feels really good.”

“I played well, but I ran really hot as well, hit a lot of hands, coolered a lot of people, sucked out on kings – as you do when you win tournaments. I just ran good. This is my biggest result so far and my second record score for the year. I’ve no plans for the money though; I’ll just keep playing tournaments and try to win more money. Bankroll management is key,” he added.

Final Table Results (HKD)

1. Michael Soyza – HK$2,030,000*

2. Martin Finger – HK$1,700,000*

3. Zhong Wang – HK$979,000

4. Wing Cheung Chong – HK$810,000

5. Canlin Chen – HK$653,800

6. Shan Huang – HK$515,720

7. Mauro Francolini – HK$394,000

8. Qi Luo – HK$297,000

9. Ivan Seng Yee Leow – HK$222,000

*denotes heads-up deal

Event 26: $25,000 NLH ($3,000,000 Guarantee)

The HK$25,000 NLH event guaranteed a cool HK$3 million prize pool which was easily crushed thanks to the massive 306-entry field. In all, the top 36 places got their share from the massive HK$6,826,860 prize pool. America’s James Won Lee emerged victorious after defeating Vietnam’s Huu Dung Nguyen in the heads-up battle and collected a cool HK$1,604,000 for his finish.

India’s Sumit Sapra was the sole Indian to cash in the event and finished 19^th for HK$61,500.

Lee has had a decent MPC series as he also had deep run in the record-breaking Baby Dragon, where he finished 29th place for a HK$24,500 payday.

Final Table Results (HKD)

1. James Won Lee – HK$1,604,000

2. Huu Dung Nguyen – HK$1,024,000

3. Wenlong Ma – HK$648,500

4. Sangjun Lee – HK$511,860

5. Zheng Shen – HK$375,500

6. Kevin James Clark – HK$307,000

7. Chye Wei Soh – HK$239,000

8. Martijn Gerrits – HK$201,500

9. Xingbiao Zhu – HK$164,000

Event 27: $3,000 NLH

Hong Kong poker professional Alan Lau needs no introduction and he once again took the number one spot on the Asia Player of the Year Leaderboard after winning the HK$3,000 NLH that netted him HK$121,800 in prize money.

The event attracted a total 184 entries to take the prize pool to HK$487,134 with the top 21 places sharing the moolah.

India’s Neeraj Kumar was also in thick of action but fell shy of the final table. He exited in 14^th place netting HK$7,300.

Lau defeated Macau’s Ip Seng Long heads-up to officially break the reigning champion Jack Wu’s record of points scored in a single season. Lau now has a shot at one of the most historic feats i.e. a second APOY title, which hasn’t been achieved yet by anyone.

Final Table Results (HKD)

1. Alan King Lun Lau – HK$121,800

2. Ip Seng Long – HK$80,400

3. Shao Yuan – HK$51,100

4. Jingxuan Zhu – HK$41,400

5. Patrick Jolas Guerrero – HK$32,900

6. Tian Xie – HK$26,800

7. Wing Chun Wai – HK$21,900

8. Wei Zhong – HK$17,034

9. Bo Ouyang – HK$12,200

Event 29: $5,000 Knockout

The Hk$5,000 Knockout attracted 143 players that created a HK$481,195 prize pool with an additional HK$143,000 awarded in bounties. The event saw the top 15 players making the money and topping them all was Japan based Ko Isayama who pocketed $125,100 after defeating China`s Liang Xu in the heads-up battle.

Final Table Results (HKD)

1. Ko Isayama – HK$125,100

2. Liang Xu – HK$84,200

3. Xavier Tan – HK$55,350

4. Hing Leung Yep – HK$43,345

5. Guangli Liu – HK$33,700

6. Fan Jia – HK$28,850

7. Ben Lai – HK$24,050

8. Tsuyoshi Ishibashi – HK$19,250

9. Yen Han Chen – HK$14,500

Event 30: $2,500 Deepstack NLH

The HK$2,500 Deepstack NLH drew 106 players to generate the HK$231,345 prize pool with the top 12 players sharing the prize money.

At the end of the day, it was local player John Kim Teng Jong who claimed the title after defeating Guangli Liu in the heads-up battle. Jong banked HK$61,300 in prize money.

Final Table Results (HKD)

1. John Kim Teng Jong – HK$61,300

2. Guangli Liu – HK$41,640

3. Junghwan Oh – HK$27,760

4. Wei Zhi – HK$22,025

5. Jia Tang – HK$17,360

6. Hanming Bernard Tay – HK$15,040

7. Jun Obara – HK$12,720

8. Burin Shinawatra – HK$10,400

9. Chia Hui Huang – HK$8,080

Event 31: $5,000 NLH Turbo

The last side event of the series i.e. HK$5,000 NLH Turbo attracted 34 entries making for a total prize pool of HK$148,410. China’s Yan Li came on top after defeating Hong Kong based Yiu Heung in the heads-up affair to pocket HK$59,360 in prize money.

Final Table Results (HKD)

1. Yan Li – HK$59,360

2. Yiu Heung – HK$35,620

3. Wing Kei Chan – HK$23,750

4. Jiabin Cui – HK$17,810

5. Park Yu Cheung – HK$11,870

That’s all for Macau Poker Cup 27. The next highlight event will be the upcoming 2017 Asia Championship of Poker that is slated to run from October 13 – 29.