Main Event (1,300,000 KRW)

The second of five flights for the KPC Main Event with a KRW 800,000,000 (~$544,077) guaranteed prize pool attracted 174 players and saw 22 advance to Day 2 during level 18 with a new overall chip leader in Chinese pro Lei Yu.

The No. 24 on China's all time money list already banked more than $300,000 this year, all coming from deep runs during the Poker Dream 16 and Triton events here at the luxurious Landing Casino in Jeju. His day kickstarted after flopping a boat in level 10, extracting a lot of value with a big over-bet on the river and a massive push close to the end when he faced Zi Wei Tung - chip leader at the time - in a hand where he rivered a full house with 7♥ 7♠ on 3♦ 3♣ 9♠ J♥ 7♣ to almost double his already large stack. He will start Day 2 with 722,000.

Second in chips Kecheng Long - fresh from his biggest cash of $38,381 for shipping the Super High Roller at the Danang Poker Tour just over a month ago - arrived on the leaderboard late during level 13, doubling up against Kuo Wei Kao with A♣ K♦ against A♠ Q♠ and busting Shengyong Wang with Q♠ Q♦ against 9♥ 9♠ in level 16 that led him to bag 525,000.

Third place finisher Ye Sheng accumulated 503,000 away from our view after being down to 23 big blinds when he lost a preflop all-in with A♦ K♠ against A♥ A♠ in level 12.

Day 2 will start on Saturday the 12th of April at 12:00.

No sweat for Yan Yan's rockets on 8♥ 4♦ 2♦ 8♦ T♥ providing him with a little juicer just before the end.

Picking up the action on a complete board 3♦ 3♣ 9♠ J♥ 7♣ and a massive 180,000 up for grabs, big blind Zi Wei Tung leads 70,000, Lei Yu leaves himself one chip after raising to 255,000 which sends Tung in the tank. He eventually calls, but throws it in the muck when Yu flips over a full house with 7♥ 7♠ that catapults him into a massive lead.

The dealer keeps Zhang's hopes up until the river by dealing 2♥ T♠ J♥ K♦ 3♥ , but bursts the bubble in the end, granting the remaining players at least a min cash.

Flipping over an ace right away on A♠ 8♠ K♥ 4♥ 5♥ made Li breathe a little easier before scooping the pot.

The dealer hits the felt 6♦ 7♣ K♠ T♥ Q♦ , knocking out Liu with Liang's backdoor straight.

Overall chip leader Kecheng Long keeps the pressure up with a raise to 16,000 from +1, but Hualong Wang speaks up from the cutoff, declaring all-in for 59,000 with Q♣ Q♠ . Priced in, Long calls with 9♠ 5♣ and watches the dealer table Q♥ 2♦ K♣ 4♥ Q♦ , giving Wang quads and a much needed double up.

With 29 players left - two knockouts away from the money - hand for hand play is in progress.

Xiao likes what he sees with his opponents taking each others outs, but the dealer has other plans flipping over Q♥ J♥ 2♥ T♥ 7♣ to make Yuan Qin the only winner in this pot with an ace-high flush.

No ace for Li on 3♠ 6♠ K♣ 2♥ 8♥ leaves her with 5 BBs.

Everything is looking peachy for Jin when the dealer tables T♦ 9♠ 3♣ 8♣ before going pear shaped on the river Q♣ .

Never really a sweat for Zhang on K♣ 5♥ 4♠ 4♥ 7♠ , taking her back over 14 BBs.

34 players remain, trying to make it to the 27 ITM spots or even better, bagging chips for Day 2 as one of the last 22.

Under the gun Yan Yan slides 12,000 over the line and calls after cutoff Shih Hsien Yang three-bet to 27,000 to see the flop 7♣ 3♠ 4♠ . Yang continues for 16,500, but faces opposition with Yan moving all-in who covers him. Spending some time in the tank, Yang decides to wait for a better opportunity and surrenders.

The dealer hits the felt 4♣ 2♠ 2♦ 5♦ 2♣ , keeping Weng's kicker in play to grant her a double up.

Under the gun Hongjun Zhao lays out 10,000 and takes two players to the flop J♣ 5♠ 8♦ where his 12,000 c-bet finds a single customer in Liangyu Li on the button. The turn J♦ gets checked around to the river 9♦ . Zhao tries to steal with A♣ 7♣ , making it 40,000, but Li has his number and calls, showing J♠ T♠ .

With a pot of 42,000 and 4♥ 7♠ 8♦ K♣ in the middle, Lei Yu bets 16,000 from +2, but lets it go when faced with big blind Kecheng Long's 45,000 check-raise.

Getting his flush right away on 3♠ and A♠ , Xu Hang doubles up, but remains among the short stacks.

Wei Cheng opens 11,000 from +1 and takes cutoff Yuan Liang to the flop 7♠ Q♦ 8♠ and starts a triple barrel barrage of 12,500, 22,000 and 35,000 to a complete board 6♠ and 4♦ showing T♥ 9♥ prompting Liang to throw his hand in the muck.

None of Chen's four outs appear on the river 8♦ , giving Yan Yan a significant boost.

With the board complete 4♣ 4♥ 7♥ 8♠ Q♠ and 62,000 in the middle, small blind Zi Wei Tung leads 60,000 holding 5♦ 5♠ and Shih Hsien Yang finds the call with 9♠ 9♣ from +1.

Hongjun Zhao raises to 6,500 from under the gun and big blind Hualong Wang defends to see the flop J♣ 2♥ 4♣ where Wang calls a 6,000 c-bet. The turn A♣ has Zhao fire a second bullet of 11,000 and then calls after Wang check-raised to 27,000. Wang leads 35,000 with A♥ 2♦ on the river 7♠ and Zhao calls after spending some time in the tank before throwing it in the muck.

Under the gun Sin Lan Chen opens 6,000 and takes two players to the flop J♦ J♠ T♦ where a 5,000 c-bet finds a sole customer in big blind Riku Ichimura. The turn K♠ gets checked around to the river Q♦ where Chen lays out the winning bet of 25,000.

With 46 out of 174 players remaining we will play down to 22 players that qualify for Day 2 and ITM starting at 27.

With the board complete 9♠ 6♠ 8♥ A♦ 3♦ and 57,000 up for grabs, button Yuan Liang value-bets 44,000 with 9♣ 8♣ which sends big blind Erdun Xu in the tank, before he calls and begrudgingly throws it in the muck.

Picking up the action on J♥ 6♠ 6♣ 8♠ and 35,500 up for grabs big blind Hongbin Du leads 11,000 and gets called by Shih Hsien Yang on the button. The River 3♠ prompts Du to bluff-jam for 128,000 with A♦ 5♥ , but gets caught with his pants down when Yang calls for his last 48,500, showing top pair K♦ J♠ .

The dealer flips over 2♠ and Q♥ to keep Wang in the tournament, albeit still on live support.

Leading the pack is Lei Yu - trying to break through the $2M mark in live earning this series - with 201,000 in chips which puts him among the overall leaders.

The board shows 4♠ 7♠ 4♥ with a massive 45,000 pot already in the middle, small blind Lei Yu leads 19,000 and cutoff Quan Jin calls to see the turn 4♦ that gets checked to the river K♠ where Yu checks again before going in the tank after Jin announced all-in for 70,000. He eventually lets it go.

The board runs J♠ 5♦ 2♠ A♠ 5♠ - having the table believe Yamada won with a flush and the chips going his way already - before Wang pointed out he hit a boat.

A board of blanks 7♣ 9♥ 5♦ J♥ 8♣ keeps Ha in front, juicing his stack onto the leader board.

Yirui Zhang leads 3,000 and takes two players to the flop A♦ 4♠ 4♥ that gets checked to the turn 2♥ where big blind Lei Yu takes over with a 6,500 bet that finds a single customer in Zhang. Yu forks out a massive over-bet of 51,000 on the river K♣ with A♠ 4♦ that gets called by Zhang who throws it in the muck, giving Lei Yu - who racked up over $300k in cashes this year already - a decent stack to work with.

Already skiing uphill, Yu can't catch a break on 4♥ and 7♣ and has to vacate his seat.

Under the gun Yirui Zhang opens 3,000, gets called by +2 and No.24 on China's all time money list Lei Yu three-bets to 11,500 from the cutoff before Zhang lays out the winning bet of 38,500.

No miracle for Zhu on T♠ 7♦ K♦ A♠ T♦ , giving Wang a flush and a double up in the first hand after late registration closed.

Yixi Tang opens 2,500 from +1, Yunpeng Bai fills his small blind and Jun Peng squeez-jams big blind for 15,900. Both opponent call and a friendly check down to the river A♠ 3♠ Q♥ 9♥ A♦ reveals Tang's J♣ 9♣ as the winner against Bai with J♦ T♦ and Peng's K♦ 8♥ .

With the board showing J♥ 7♠ 9♦ 7♦ and 18,500 in the pot, under the gun Xiao Liu leads 6,000 and Ziyang Xiao calls in +1. The river 6♣ has Liu jam for 16,000 with K♥ J♠ and Ziyang snap-calls with T♣ 7♣ .

Picking up the action on A♥ 9♥ J♦ 2♣ and 13,000 up for grabs, button Valeriy Pak - P1 Circuit High Roller champ for $30k a few weeks ago - bets 6,500, gets called by big blind Victor Vladimirovich Yuan who forks out a 30,000 lead on the river T♠ which gets the job done.

Easter comes early for Xu on A♥ 7♣ 7♦ 3♣ 6♦ that takes him into the 6-digits.

Zhang hits the jackpot right away on the turn 4♥ before the dealer completes the board 2♦ and starts pushing the chips into his direction.

The dealer hits the felt A♠ Q♥ 7♦ 2♣ 4♥ , giving Hung top two pair which pushes the No. 27 on Taiwan's all time money list into the top stacks.

With the board complete 6♣ K♦ 7♠ K♠ A♥ and 9,500 in the middle we see Andrew Han lead 6,000, big blind Quanyu Zeng ups it to 15,000, but lets it go after careful consideration when Han announced all-in.