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Ah, San Remo. It was as if we’d barely left ye. Between the EPT and the first generation of the Italian Poker Tour, it’s as if San Remo has become our home away from hotels.

That’s right. Italy’s top poker tour is back for another stop in the land that brought us Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano.

Day 1A of the IPT San Remo saw PokerStars qualifier Giuseppe Pipino finish with the chip lead. The first flight of the event saw 130 players show up, less than half of which survived. Among the top players finishing behind Pipino are Andrea Gandini and fellow Italian Luca Topazio.

Today’s Day 1B saw poker’s most famous Luca at the felt and midway through in the day he held the flight’s chip lead. At the time the average chip stack was 23,000, Pagano was sitting on 75,000.

The IPT event in San Remo continues tomorrow with Day 2.

If you happen to be able to read in Italian (or would like to make up stories to go along with the pictures), please take a look at our Italian coverage over at the PokerStars Italian Blog.

Though we haven’t mentioned this to our wives and significant others (for perfectly legitimate reasons) Europe’s biggest city is not short on women. Not that we have noticed (because we never look and would turn our head away if one were pointed out to us), but they seem to be everywhere. So, color us surprised as we learn that EPT London is actually calling out for more women.

You might remember (not that we saved this anywhere in our memory) that Team PokerStars Pro Victoria Coren made a big splash in London a couple of years back when she won the EPT event there. Now, she and PokerStars are calling on women from around the United Kingdom to join them for EPT London.

Beginning next week, PokerStars will be running a series of a freerolls for UK women. Winners will get a trip to London, a night in a fancy hotel, and free entry into the EPT London Ladies Game. They also get a signed copy of Coren’s book and a face-to-face meet with her (and trust us, the latter is a prize in itself).

For complete details on how you can qualify, visit the EPT Ladies Game” home page.

Now, if you’ll excuse, we’re going to be looking into whether a frock and some eye liner will get us past the gates.

Like a train full of coal (or a poker player after a Vegas buffet), it takes a lot of effort to get the World Cup of Poker moving. Deciding who will fight for national pride and nearly $300,000 is a slow and sometimes lumbering process. But, like the train, once the World Cup gets going, there’s no stopping it until it crashes into the Caribbean.

This weekend ends the slow part of poker’s biggest international incident.

Last weekend saw the state and province qualifiers decide who will be representing the various parts of the big countries. Now we move on to this weekend’s regional deciding matches for the U.S., Canada, and Germany. Those fights begin on Sunday. After that, the full world action will get underway.

That celebration you see above is Team Germany in the throes of victory. Those guys made it to the live finals in the Bahamas earlier this year and went on to win the title and the big money.

The people competing this weekend have the same chance. The teams that make it to the live final get a trip to the Bahamas and a chance to represent their country under the lights.

But that is still a ways off. We still have a lot of work to do. In the meantime, good luck to all the players in this weekend’s contests. May you wave your flag hard and hit all your draws.

You can find all the World Cup events in the PokerStars tournament lobby under EVENTS and WORLD CUP. For more information on how you can get involved in the big event, see the PokerStars World Cup of Poker home page.

The good folks behind the World Cup of Poker ask that if you are a high-ranking TLB scorer, check your e-mail and see if you have been invited into the event.

By Landon Blackhall

The final 42 players have been decided for day three of the 2009 PokerStars.net APPT Macau Main Event after a gripping day at PokerStars Macau in the Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino. After eight one-hour levels, the field was slashed by more than 75 per cent from 196 to leave the remaining players firmly entrenched in the money and in the hunt for the title and first prize of HKD $4,194,000.

No dominant chip leader emerged on day two, with several players swapping the top spot back and forth until Australia’s Kyle Cheong cemented pole position for tomorrow’s penultimate day of play with a stack of 577,500 after a massive pot in the very last hand on his table, resulting in the elimination of Canadian PokerStars Qualifier Aaron Lerner.

In second place is PokerStars Qualifier Sunny Bhayana from Canada with 507,000 followed by PokerStars Sponsored Player Tom Hall from the UK (424,000), Aussie Tom Rafferty (395,500), 2008 WPT Championship winner David Chiu (391,000) and Filipino Wally Sombero (361,000).

There will be five PokerStars Sponsored players, nine PokerStars Qualifiers and six PokerStars Macau Satellite Winners playing tomorrow. APPT Tournament Director Danny McDonagh will ensure these six players will be drawn onto different tables, thereby spreading the chips around and evening out the playing field tomorrow.

There are only a handful of major names that will return to the felt for day three, including 2008 APPT Manila Main Event champion Van Marcus and 2008 APPT Macau High Roller runner-up Andrew Scott.

Six players have received HKD $48,400 for their efforts (to see the payouts, click here), however it was Swedish PokerStars Qualifier David Paananen who was bestowed the unwanted title of the “bubble boy” at the hands of Sunny Bhayana.

Daniel Schreiber is the only Team PokerStars Pro still standing in the tournament. Grant Levy, Eric Assadourian, Tony Hachem, Joe Hachem, Celina Lin, Bertrand ElkY Grospellier, Jonathan Lin and Raymond Wu were all sent to the rail on day two.

Other notables eliminated today included James “Welcome Back” Potter and fellow Aussie Dennis Huntly, 2009 Aussie Millions $100,000 Hold’em Challenge winner David Steicke and Main Event champion Stewart Scott and David Saab.

After another drama-filled day at PokerStars Macau in the Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino, we’re off to analyse all the action over a cleansing Tsingtao or two. Join us tomorrow for day three from 12.15pm local time (GMT +8hrs).

Day three seat draw

Table 1

Seat 1: Mike Kim (Korea) Pokerstars Sponsored Player 248000
Seat 2: Kyle Cheong (Australia) 577,500
Seat 3: Hung Chang Lin (Taipei) Pokerstars Sponsored Player 46,500
Seat 4: Darkhan Botabavzv (Kazakhstan) 236,000
Seat 5: Van Binh Pham (Canada) 35,000
Seat 7: Tran Linh (Canada) Pokerstars Macau Satellite Winner 94,000
Seat 8: Dbinder Singh (Canada) PokerStars Qualifier 236,500

Table 6

Seat 1: Jicheng Su (China) Pokerstars Macau Satellite Winner 188,500
Seat 2: Tom Hall (UK) Pokerstars Sponsored Player 424,000
Seat 3: Michael Collins (USA) PokerStars Qualifier 201,500
Seat 4: Benjamin Haun (USA) 233,500
Seat 6: Karl Mahrenholz (UK) PokerStars Player 161,500
Seat 7: Kristoffer Myhre (Norway) 128,500
Seat 8: Daoxing Chen (China) 248,000

Table 7

Seat 1: Dermot Blain (UK) Pokerstars Macau Satellite Winner 142,000
Seat 2: Pontus Kers (Sweden) PokerStars Qualifier 228,500
Seat 3: Dane Lomas (USA) 111,000
Seat 4: Tony Makasovski (Australia) PokerStars Macau Satellite Winner 278,500
Seat 5: Chung Yiu Charles Lam (Hong Kong) 124,500
Seat 6: Bernard Vu (France) 172,500
Seat 7: Tom Rafferty (Australia) 395,500

Table 8

Seat 1: Daniel Hansson (Sweden) PokerStars Qualifier 324,000
Seat 2: Remy Bakke (Norway) Pokerstars Macau Satellite Winner 87,500
Seat 3: Wally Sombero (Philippines) 361,000
Seat 5: Youngshin Im (Korea) Pokerstars Macau Satellite Winner 163,500
Seat 6: Daniel Schreiber (USA) PokerStars Team Asia Pro 114,500
Seat 7: Roger Spets (Sweden) 51,500
Seat 8: Stefan Hjorthall (Sweden) PokerStars Qualifier 75,000

Table 15

Seat 1: Shawn Buchanan (Canada) PokerStars Player 162,500
Seat 2: David Chiu (USA) 391,000
Seat 3: Wing Leung (Andrew) Chung (Hong Kong) 309,000
Seat 4: Ang Pang Leng (Singapore) 301,000
Seat 5: Winfred Yu (China) 76,000
Seat 6: Andrew Scott (Australia) 91,500
Seat 7: Theo Tran (USA) PokerStars Qualifier 43,500

Table 16

Seat 1: Carlos Chang (Taipei) PokerStars Qualifier 123,500
Seat 3: Sunny Bhayana (Canada) PokerStars Qualifier 507,000
Seat 4: Hsuan Lee (Taipei) Pokerstars Sponsored Player 128,000
Seat 5: Stanley Hou (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 102,000
Seat 6: Brandon Demes (USA) PokerStars Player 214,500
Seat 7: Richard En (Philippines) 116,500
Seat 8: Van Marcus (Australia) PokerStars Sponsored Player 54,500

Live updates from day 2 of PokerStars.net APPT Macau Main Event brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from PokerStars Macau at the Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be found by clicking here.

Level 15 (blinds 2500-5000, ante 500)

9.30pm: And that’s a wrap

Day two in the PokerStars.net APPT Main Event has concluded with 42 players still in contention for the HKD $4,194,000 first prize. PokerStars Qualifier Justin Ostrowski was sent to the rail by Kyle Cheong in 45th after the Australian found a set of eights on the flop against the American’s A-K, which failed to connect. Tom Hall’s [4s] [4h] snuck over the line against the A-K of PokerStars Macau satellite winner William Te when the board ran out 6-2-K-8-3 – all hearts. The Filipino is our 44th-place finisher. On the final hand of the night, Cheong was at it again when he called Aaron Lerner’s all-in with [ah] [8s]. The Canadian PokerStars Qualifier was off to the races with [6s] [6c], and led all the way on a board of [kc] [kd] [5c] [4h] before the river [as] confirmed Cheong as the overall chip leader and Lerner in 43rd.

9.10pm: Rafferty rules late on day two

After a long bubble period generally comes the action. Sungling Li of Taipei was the first player eliminated in the money when he pushed all-in with [5c] [5d], only to find Tom Rafferty holding [jc] [jd]. The Aussie made a straight as the board came [kd] [4h] [ah] [10h] [qd], propelling him to more than 400,000. Then PokerStars Qualifier John Steger bowed out 47th when Josh Ang’s J-7 found a jack on the river against the American’s A-8. PokerStars Qualifier Roel Pijpers was next out (46th) when China’s Daoxing Chen paired his jack on the turn against the Dutchman’s pocket fours.

8.50pm: Did that just happen … Paananen bubbles

With 18 minutes on the clock in level 15 of the APPT Macau Main Event, the bubble has burst ensuring the remaining 48 players ensure a minimum payout of HKD $48,400. Swedish PokerStars Qualifier David Paananen earned the unwanted title of bubble boy in cruel fashion. He happily committed his chips with a flopped set of threes, with fellow PokerStars Qualifier Sunny Bhayana in lousy shape with [ah] [5c] on a flop of [3c] [10d] [8c]. Turn [2s], river [4h] – Paananen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but he was out in 49th position. The shock of the hand took a minute to wear off before the remaining 48 players gave themselves a round of applause. The clock was been wound back, so there’ll be another 30 minutes of play tonight.

8.40pm: Waiting …

We’re six hands into hand-for-hand action, well, action isn’t perhaps the best word. The aggressor was been young Aussie Tom Rafferty, who wasted little time committing his chips on a flop of [6s] [9c] [8c]. Van Binh Pham called, and showed [5c] [7c]. Rafferty? [5d] [7h] – the board ran out [6d] [8s]. Chop it up boys.

8.20pm: Top 10 chip count (approximate, with 49 players remaining)

Kyle Cheong (Australia) 400,000
Tom Hall (UK) PokerStars Sponsored Player 385,000
David Chiu (USA) 370,000
Dermot Blain (UK) PokerStars Macau Satellite Winner 320,000
Darkhan Botabayev (Kazakhstan) 300,000
Sunny Bhayana (Canada) PokerStars Qualifier 290,000
Wally Sombero (Philippines) 280,000
Daniel Hansson (Sweden) 270,000
Mike Kim (Korea) PokerStars Sponsored Player 270,000
Mike Collins (USA) PokerStars Qualifier 250,000

8.10pm: Who’ll be 49th?

Hand-for-hand play has started with 49 players remaining in the APPT Macau Main Event. Another unfortunate victim who finished just out of the money was India’s Aditya intervention Agarwal, who shoved with [kh] [[jc] only to find an opponent waiting with [ad] [as]. The board provided a roller coaster ride for Agarwal – [qs] [7h] [10c] [2d] [jd] – but ultimately brought him no joy. Hong Kong’s Andrew Cheung sent us to hand-for-hand play when he claimed two players with [as] [ad].

Live updates from day 2 of PokerStars.net APPT Macau Main Event brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from PokerStars Macau at the Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be found by clicking here.

Level 14 (blinds 2000-4000, ante 400)

7.50pm: Swedes soar as bubble looms

Swede Roger Spets holds a unique place in the APPT record books, having final-tabled to first two tour events (Manila 2007 and Seoul 2007). He’s travelling nicely towards a third after claiming a vital scalp with the bubble close. It was kings for Spets against pocket queens, with a 10-high board shipping the chips to the likeable Scandi. We’ve also farewelled James Potter, who shoved his short stack of [ad] [6d] and found a caller,
Swedish PokerStars Qualifier Stefan Hjorthall, with [jd] [js]. The board fell [7c] [3h] [5d] [10c] [6c], and Potter was out just five spots short of his second APPT Macau Main Event cash.

7.40pm: Top 10 chip count (approximate, with 54 players remaining)

Sunny Bhayana (Canada) PokerStars Qualifier 450,000
Kyle Cheong (Australia) 420,000
Tom Hall (UK) PokerStars Sponsored Player 380,000
Dermot Blain (UK) PokerStars Macau Satellite Winner 335,000
Wally Sombero (Philippines) 320,000
Mike Kim (Korea) PokerStars Sponsored Player 285,000
Daniel Hansson (Sweden) 270,000
Josh Ang Pang (Singapore) 275,000
Mike Collins (USA) PokerStars Qualifier 255,000
Darkhan Botabayev (Kazakhstan) 240,000

7.30pm: Teammate v teammate; Lin out

The brave run of Jonathan Lin is over. After a visit to hospital in the past two days due to illness – thankfully not Swine flu – the PokerStars.net Team Asia Pro returned today. In a cruel twist, he was sent to the rail by fellow Team Asia player Daniel Schreiber. Lin’s extremely short stack was committed with [kd] [8c], which was in bad shape against Schreiber’s [kc] [qh]. The board flowed [as] [3c] [jc] [ks] [6d], leaving Schreiber as the last remaining Team Asia player in the field, and still in the hunt for a record-equalling third APPT final table.

7.20pm: Tan crippled in brutal fashion

After a steady stream of eliminations all day, the scent of the money has finally kicked in with play tightening noticeably with 60 players remaining. An exception was the tough beat suffered by Ivan Tan, who called David Paananen all-in with pocket kings. Tan was in great shape against the [kh] [6h], but watched in horror as the board fell [5c] [as] [4s] [8d] [7d] to make a straight for the Swedish PokerStars Qualifier. That hand left Tan with just 15,000 and on the brink of elimination.

7.05pm: If we could be like Mike

Mike Collins has popped into the top 10 chip counts for the first time today. A reasonable slice of his stack came when he made a set of nines against the Q-J of Jonathan Karamalikis, who missed his open-ended straight draw when the board paired his queen and jack. Other recent departures have included former chip leader and UK PokerStars Player Sida Yuen, PokerStars Sponsored Player Wei Cheng “Jacko” Chiang, China’s Winfred Yu, Wing Cheong “Jack” Chong, Australians David Ewing and Mark Cornwall along with Amnon Filippi and Casey Kastle.

6.50pm: Clouds clear for Sunny

Players have just returned from the final break of the day – six levels down, two to go and just 12 short of the money (60 remain). APPT tournament director Danny McDonagh has again not scheduled a dinner break, which has proved an extremely popular innovation with players. Sunny Bhayana is our new chip leader after he cracked the pocket kings of Dutch PokerStars Qualifier Geert Jans in dramatic fashion. The Canadian held [qs] [js], and found jacks on the flop and river to make trips. He is the first player to crack 400,000.

Top 10 chip count (approximate)

Sunny Bhayana (Canada) PokerStars Qualifier 400,000
Kyle Cheong (Australia) 390,000
Dermot Blain (UK) PokerStars Macau Satellite Winner 320,000
Tom Hall (UK) PokerStars Sponsored Player 310,000
Darkhan Botabayev (Kazakhstan) 300,000
Wally Sombero (Philippines) 280,000
Daniel Hansson (Sweden) 260,000
Mike Kim (Korea) PokerStars Sponsored Player 250,000
David Chiu (USA) 225,000
Dbinder Singh (Canada) PokerStars Qualifier 210,000

Live updates from day 2 of PokerStars.net APPT Macau Main Event brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from PokerStars Macau at the Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be found by clicking here.

Level 13 (blinds 1500-3000, ante 300)

6.30pm: Wu left to wonder

Ivan Tan is up and cheering again after doubling through David Chiu. It was the Singaporean’s K-Q against Chiu’s K-10 – the queen played and Tan was up to 135,000, while Chiu slipped to about 180,000. Team Asia representation is down to two after Raymond Wu found himself all-in with [ah] [10h] against Daniel Hansson’s [ad] [kh]. The board fell [5d] [qs] [js] [10d] [jd], hitting Wu but making a straight for the Swede, who improved to 250,000. Dan Schreiber holds 77,500 while Jonathan Lin is dangerously short-stacked with 24,000. There are 63 players remaining.

6.20pm: Top 10 chip count (approximate)

Kyle Cheong (Australia) 395,000
Tom Hall (UK) PokerStars Sponsored Player 330,000
Wally Sombero (Philippines) 315,000
Dermot Blain (UK) PokerStars Macau Satellite Winner 260,000
Darkhan Botabayev (Kazakhstan) 210,000
Daniel Hansson (Sweden) 200,000
Kristoffer Myhre (Norway) 200,000
Mike Collins (USA) PokerStars Qualifier 200,000
David Chiu (USA) 190,000
Josh Ang Pang (Singapore) 180,000

6.10pm: Jacko jolts ElkY to the exit

Just 72 players remain seated in the PokerStars.net APPT Macau Main Event with more than two hours of play to go on day two. Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand ElkY Grospellier won’t improve on his fifth-place finish in the 2007 APPT Macau Main Event after he pushed all-in with [kd] [jd]. PokerStars Sponsored Player Wei Cheng “Jacko” Chiang made the call and tabled [ad] [7d]. It was a nasty board for ElkY, running out [9d] [7h] [10d] [7s] [10h] to make a full-house for “Jacko”.

6pm: T Hachem follows J Hachem to rail

It’s been a forgettable start to level 13 for the Hachem family, with PokerStars.net Team Australia pro Tony Hachem following his older brother Joe to the rail. The money went in on the flop of [9c] [ad] [kh] with chip leader Kyle Cheong showing [ah] [jc] while Hachem held [10c] [9c]. The turn [5s] and river [jh] ended the run of the ANZPT Player of the Year. That leaves Team Asia to lead the charge – Raymond Wu holds 73,500, Dan Schreiber is holding 85,000 while Jonathan Lin (20,000) is looking for a spot to make a move.

Live updates from day 2, level 12 (blinds 1200-2400, ante 300) of PokerStars.net APPT Macau Main Event brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from PokerStars Macau at the Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be found by clicking here.

5.50pm: The king is dead, long live the king

Let the carnage begin – “King” Wally Sombero has charged to within a whisker of the chip lead after his pocket jacks decimated the stack of Josh jjprodigy Field. The board missed Field’s A-K, but Wally’s jacks played as the dealer revealed [5h] [2c] [2h] [5s] [5d]. He’s up to 320,000 and Field is on life support with just 35,000. Joe Hachem’s hopes of a second APPT Macau Main Event final table ended when Terry Fan’s [as] [kd] hit the flop against the Team PokerStars Pro’s pocket queens. Aussie Emanuel Seal has also just departed after Richard En’s queens held up against the affable South Australian’s jacks.

5.40pm: Top 10 chip count (approximate)

Kyle Cheong (Australia) 340,000
Tom Hall (UK) PokerStars Sponsored Player 320,000
Wally Sombero (Philippines) 315,000
Sida Yuen (UK) PokerStars Player 240,000
Kristoffer Myhre (Norway) 240,000
Darkhan Botabayev (Kazakhstan) 210,000
Daniel Hansson (Sweden) 210,000
Andrew Scott (Australia) 160,000
David Chiu (USA) 150,000
Aditya Agarwal (India) 140,000

5.30pm: Saab sent packing

Jenn Barr reports that there was an air of business around David Saab today, but a quieter demeanour didn’t pay off for the gregarious Aussie who has just bowed out. Battling a short stack for much of the afternoon, Saab’s demise came after he raised to 6000 in early position and Carlos Chang re-raised to 15,000 in the cut-off. Saab thought for some time before pushing all-in with about 50,000. Chang insta-called with A-Q, while Saab showed pocket eights. The board ran out 7-4-10-Q-Q, and Saab was out.

5.20pm: Blue times for green and gold

Tough times for the big-name Aussies in the past few minutes, with Tony Hachem losing a big pot to Wally Sombero that took him down to less than 30,000. Sombero bet 20,000 on the river after the board came [ad] [2c] [qc] [10s] [ac], and the PokerStars.net Team Australia pro reluctantly released his hand. Sombero showed [ah] [10h] for a boat. Van Marcus was almost felted when he ran A-J into the pocket aces of fellow Australian Tom Rafferty, but he chipped up to 15,000 on the next hand when he flopped trip fives against the A-K of Swede Roger Spets.

5.10pm: Myhre makes his move

It’s been a down and up day for the overall day one chip leader Kristoffer Myhre, who has steadily leaked chips all day until bounding back up the ladder. He’s just taken out one opponent with A-Q against Q-J on a board that didn’t improve either player, and the Norwegian was back to almost 250,000. We’re getting down to the business end of the tournament, with the remaining 82 players now spread over just 10 tables, less than half the capacity of the PokerStars Macau poker room.

4.50pm: Kazuchi takes a breather

The second break of the day proved timely for the last Japanese player in the PokerStars.net APPT Macau Main Event field, Kazuki Ikeuchi. He bet all the way on a board that ran out [8d] [7s] [qd] [qh] [7c], but elected to fold when his opponent shoved all-in for 35,000. That left him with approximately 40,000. Exactly 100 players have been eliminated in the first four levels of the day, leaving 96 in pursuit of an in-the-money finish. Other recent departures have included Young Phan, Peter Nguyen, Corwin Cole, David Plastik, Kai Paulsen and US PokerStars Qualifier Shawn Ryan.

Live updates from day 2, level 11 (blinds 800-1600, ante 200) of PokerStars.net APPT Macau Main Event brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from PokerStars Macau at the Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be found by clicking here.

4.30pm: Assadourian’s Macau mission over

PokerStars.net Team Australia’s Eric Assadourian has been eliminated, ending his hopes of another major title after inning the APPT Macau High Roller event here two years ago. He took a hit when 2008 WPT Championships winner David Chiu shoved pre-flop with pocket nines, which held up against Assadourian’s A-8. The Sydneysider then found himself in bad shape with A-9 against pocket eights and pocket kings. The eights improved to a set on the turn, and Assadourian was out, finishing just inside the top 100 but short of the money.

4.20pm: Move over Steicke!

Andrew Scott is trying to emulate the “Great Wall of Steicke”, the description given to the arrangement of chips devised by his good friend David Steicke. The 2008 APPT Macau High Roller, with his new mental conditioning coach Jamie Glazier following his every move, just rocketed to 170,000 after flopping a set of eights against an opponent’s pocket aces. He’s closing on the top five of Suen Kit Cheong (360,000), Tom Hall (320,000), Sida Yuen (310,000), Kristoffer Myhre (240,000) and Josh Field (180,000).

4.10pm: Woo for Wu as Ray shines

Latest on Teams PokerStars midway through day two finds the Asian contingent in good shape, with Raymond Wu up to 96,000, Jonathan Lin on 86,000 and Dan Schreiber consolidated on 76,500. The Korean-based American had been well above 100,000 but lost a big pot to Aussie youngster Jonathan Karamalikis. Schreiber’s [jc] [10d] improved to top pair on the river, but he was always beaten after Karamalikis flopped a set of nines. Team Australia’s Tony Hachem holds 65,000, a less-than-happy Joe Hachem is on 50,000 with Eric Assadourian staying under the radar on 47,000.

4pm: Tan eyes more Macau success

One of the most successful players from Asia over the past two years has been Ivan Tan. Runner-up in the 2007 APPT Macau Main Event, the Singaporean just doubled through to more than 100,000 after racing his [qs] [qh] against an opponent’s [ad] [kd]. Normally reserved, Tan was highly animated as the flop landed [ah] [qd] [10s], with the turn [6s] [10h] handing him the pot. Andrew Scott is also on the comeback – down to around 30,000, he’s up to 95,000. All-in with [as] [qs] on a flop of [7s] [2c] [9s] against [4c] [4s], he missed the flush but the [ac] on the turn was enough.

3.50pm: Top 10 chip counts (approximate)

Sida Yuen (UK) PokerStars Player 300,000
Tom Hall (UK) PokerStars Sponsored Player 290,000
Kristoffer Myhre (Norway) 220,000
Dane Lomas (USA) 170,000
Brandon Demes (USA) PokerStars Player 165,000
Darkhan Botabayev (Kazakhstan) 155,000
Peter Nielsen (Denmark) 140,000
Josh Field 130,000
Wei Cheng “Jacko” Chiang (Taipei) PokerStars Sponsored Player 125,000
Suen Kit Cheong 120,000

3.40pm: It’s still Wally’s world

Already 79 players have been sent to the rail today, leaving 117 contenders for the 2009 PokerStars.net APPT Macau Main Event title. We just watched Filipino poker icon Wally Sombero scoop up the chips of PokerStars Qualifier Christian Jagersbacher, when his [ad] [qh] improved to two-pair on a board of [2h] [7s] [7d] [ah] [qc] against the Austrian’s [8h] [5h]. Sombero then found himself in a big three-way pot holding [qh] [qc] against PokerStars.net Team Asia pro Raymond Wu, who was all-in for 16,000 with [ac] [ad], while another player showed [ah] [kd]. The board stayed low – [7d] [9c] [5c] [7c] [5d] – giving Wu a timely triple-up and sending Sombero the sidepot.

Live updates from day 2, level 10 (blinds 800-1600, ante 200) of PokerStars.net APPT Macau Main Event brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from PokerStars Macau at the Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be found by clicking here.

3.30pm: Takashi swept away by river

Jenn Barr has just watched the end of Takashi Ogura’s tournament. The Japanese Mahjong pro re-raised his opponent pre-flop from the button. His opponent shoved and Ogura called with his [ac] [ks]. The other player showed [ah] [8h]. The flop came [4c] [10h] [6c], keeping Ogura ahead, but his opponent was walking on water when the [9h] landed on the turn, giving him both straight and flush draws, in addition to the three 8s. The [qh] on the river sealed Ogura’s fate. “That’s poker,” he said, we assume in Japanese!

3.20pm: Sida shoots to lead

UK PokerStars Player Sida Yuen is the new chip leader with more than 270,000. We just watched as he aggressively bet pre-flop against Josh Ang Pang, with a shove of 130,000 enough for the frustrated Singaporean to throw his cards into the muck, only after several minutes of deliberation. Shortly after, he went bowling with [as] [9s] against an opponent’s [8d] [8c] after the flop showed [9d] [2s] [2c. The turn [ah] and [qc] kept Yuen’s nose in front as he overtakes Tom Hall for the chip lead.

3.10pm: Celina’s sad farewell

Macau Poker Cup leader and PokerStars.net Team Asia Pro Celina Lin has been eliminated from her “home” APPT event. Short-stacked all day, Lin made her final stand [as] [qs] against the [ac] [kc] of Shawn Buchanan. The board flowed out [ah] [10s] [6d] [10c] [5c], meaning the Canadian’s king played and the Asia’s own poker princess was on her way to the rail.

3pm: Van’s afternoon out with four ladies

Almost one-third of the field has been KOed early on day two of the PokerStars.net APPT Macau Main Event, with recent departures including Russian Yury Kerzhapkin, Aussie PokerStars Qualifier Ricky Kroesen and Kristian Lunardi. David Long has also departed after his opponent made runner-runner quads against the American’s A-Q, which completely missed the board. PokerStars Sponsored Player and 2008 APPT Manila champ Van Marcus also just took down a nice pot with quad queens, which he flopped! His opponent’s 10-8 actually improved to a full-house, but all too late.

2.50pm: Hall-mark of success

Well-known Asian poker personality Tom Hall started the day prominently placed and has maintained his lofty spot, with thanks Wing Cheong Chong. After Hall’s pre-flop raise, he found himself in four-way action on a flop of [jc] [kh] [qs]. Hall bet big after the flop, with Chong along for the ride. The Kong Kong player pushed in 20,000 on the turn of [5s], Hall shoved all-in and Chong reluctantly folded. Hall flashed red aces, and added a slab of Chong’s chips to his stack, which now comprises 180,000.

2.40pm: Demes back in the spotlight

Day 1A chip leader and PokerStars Player Brandon Demes is back near the top of the chip count after taking down a big pot against Andrew Scott. With a board of [6d] [8h] [2s] [10s] [2h], the action was checked on the river, with Demes thrilled to find his [ah] [jd] was good, propelling him up to 175,000.