Chihwei Fan bags Flight A chip lead
Flight A of the GOP Taipei Main Event stretched deep into the night, grinding past twelve hours of play before the bubble finally burst a few hands into Level 13. When it did, it was UK’s Alfie Adam who brought the hatchet down on short stacked Hung Te Lee.
While Adam delivered the money, the day ultimately belonged to Taiwan’s Chihwei Fan. The local star emerged as the dominant force with a commanding 2,375,000 bagged, which was far and away the largest stack to survive Day 1A.
As the bubble approached, Fan picked off several players, including Nishant Kumar with a dominated ace before turning the bubble round into his personal hunting ground. Applying relentless pressure with repeated raises, Fan controlled the table to scoop up pot after pot.
Joining him in the two-million-chip club was fellow countryman Chun Yu Yeh who closed the day with 2,060,000. Yeh’s run was fueled by a series of late day eliminations that included the takedown of Kevin Choi with ace-king cracking pocket queens.
Completing the top three stacks was Philippine contender Elmer Kalaquian, who bagged 1,955,000. Like Fan, Kalaquian capitalized during the bubble stretch, extracting value with a made flush and a rivered pair.
When play concluded, 19 players survived from the 136-entry field. Each one is now guaranteed a share of the NT$ 21,000,000 (~US$ 660,000) prize pool. They have several days off as they await the results of the next four flight before returning on January 16 for Day 2.
To read up on the day's action, just scroll down.
For the complete list of survivors, click here.