From being a monster stack to chip leader to the Final Table bubble boy! India’s Kunaal Chandra came that close to his Red Dragon dream! Chandra led the final 16 of the Red Dragon Event at the Macau Poker Cup(MPC) 21 in parts and was a monster stack of 1.6 Million before he lost a crazy hand to Hu Liu. Crippled he dramatically exit in 10th place letting the others breathe easy and form the final table. India’s dream of making back to back final tables close on the heels of Akash Malik’s 5th place finish in MPC20 were thwarted. The smiling Chandra exit in 10th place(HKD 100,000) to Liu who ultimately starts the FT of the Red Dragon in chip lead.
Hu Liu is now the big stack on the table with 3,155,000 chips and is in a good position to slay the dragon for China. He is not alone in his dream for China with Countrymen Enming Zhang – 735,000, Zhenru Xie – 1,275,000 and Chen Wang – 1,140,000 giving him company. The China dominated FT also has Mathew Ryan(Australia) from down under with a substantial chance holding 1,765,000 chips. The there is the lone Malaysian Wai Leong Chan(445,000 chips), the Lone Vietnamese John Q Hoang(980,000 chips) and the only Japanese Takuya Yamashita(1,220,000 chips) on the table. All of whom hold a chance but surely not the edge with Liu being in pole position with a huge chip advantage.
Coming back to the Indian story of Chandra who was climbing well up the chip ladder. Going strong and heady with 1.6 M chips, his Ladies ran into Liu’s . Starting off with the better pocket hand, the flop 4♦K♠J♥ gave Liu the set he wanted and the Turn J♣ was the nail in the coffin. Chandra lost this crucial hand but was still around a million chip stack.
Back to back losses saw Chandra exit as he first lost a big hand to Yamashita and then to Liu. In the final hand that he exit, chandra went all in from the button with J♦T♠ and Liu called. The board ran 6♣J♥T♣7♥7♦ and what looked like a good triple up for Chandra saw his hopes being killed as Liu turned over his 7♣4♥. With this Liu scopped the pot and the chip lead and sent Chandra packing.
The Day 3 story began with 46 runners and ended with the final 9 standing. Action will resume soon with play going on till a Champion is crowned. Will Hu Liu be able to keep his chip lead and win his first ever Red Dragon Trophy? Keep watching this space for more news!
Here’s what the final nine look like:-
Seat 1: Takuya Yamashita (Japan) – 1,220,000
Seat 2: Wai Leong Chan (Malaysia) – 445,000
Seat 3: Enming Zhang (China) – 735,000
Seat 4: Zhenru Xie (China) – 1,275,000
Seat 5: Chen Wang (China) – 1,140,000
Seat 6: Pete Yen Han Chen (Chinese Taipei) – 1,250,000
Seat 7: John Q Hoang (Vietnam) – 980,000
Seat 8: Hu Liu (China) – 3,155,000
Seat 9: Mathew Ryan (Australia) – 1,765,000