|
LWPS VII: Malaysia’s Got Talent Posted by : ikelos on Tuesday, May 24, 2011 permalink
![]() 3 tournaments, cash games, SnGs, and a Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon satellite to boot. That’s a heck of a lot of poker to squeeze into 2 days, but non-stop poker is the LWPS promise, and what any kaki who attends has come to expect. The key feature of LWPS VII was the domination of Malaysian players over the course of the weekend. They came, they anted up, and they conquered the Main Event, the Corona Extra Rebuy, as well as the MPC Red Dragon satellite. In spite of the intense competition at the tables however, kakis of all nationalities found time to mingle and socialise. Judging by the good-natured banter, frequent raucous laughter, and seemingly endless rounds of commiserating beers, it seems poker truly recognizes no boundaries. As we’ve always said, if everyone played poker, there would be no wars. Main Event For the first time ever, the LWPS Main Event featured 12 online satellite qualifiers, all of whom had made their way to the main event via an 11+R Turbo on Stars. Well perhaps not all. Two of the online qualifiers - a Ukrainian and a Russian whose names the floor announcers had failed miserably to pronounce – ultimately did not materialize, which meant some extra dead money for all participants. By the time the dust had settled on registrations and re-entries, 109 entrants had ponied up for the Main Event, with some consequently juicy prizes on offer. The bubble finally burst after a gruelling 12 hours of play, with the plucky but unfortunate Joanne Lau departing in 13th spot. Play loosened up considerably thereafter, and the tournament lost Eugene Lee, Lawrence Tan, and ‘Fabulous’ Freddy Kwek in quick succession. Next to fall were Chan Chee Young and the talented Joseph Kim, who were unluckily crippled in a couple of massive flips. Watch out for these two names in future events folks. ![]() The remaining 7 were an excellent mix of seasoned and first time LWPS players. Headlining the group was 2010 Pokerkaki Player of the Year ‘Major’ Ricky Foo, closely followed by familiar stalwarts Christopher Lai and Neo Zhi Han, who was on his 3rd successive LWPS ME final table. Rounding up the field were Liew Kok Kong, playing his maiden poker tournament, Hadi Sulaiman, Yow Chee Kin and Iranian Hossein Shabannezhad, who were making their first LWPS forays. It was Liew who drew first blood, his limped middle pair eliminating Neo Zhi Han in 7th position. Ricky Foo and Hadi Sulaiman also found no joy, departing in 6th and 5th respectively. Hossein Shabannezhad would hit the rail a full 2 hours later in 4th, his greater experience failing to pay dividends when his dominating JT was improbably outrun by J8. Lots of kudos to the Iranian for his fantastic run; his play winning the respect of many of his fellow competitors. The cool-as-ice Yow Chee Kin was eliminated soon after, after he 3-bet shove his stack and found 2 callers. Liew Kok Kong bet the 5 7 8 4 board aggressively, and tabled 66 to leave Chee Kin’s KJ high and dry. Liew Kok Kong continued his dominance of proceedings in the heads-up contest, never permitting Chris Lai to eat away at his 3-1 chip lead. The final hand saw both players take a limped pot. Liew Kok Kong check-raised the Ks 9d 8d board for the minimum, promptly calling Chris Lai’s instant 3-bet shove. Chris tabled Jd 4d for the flush draw, while Kok Kong turned over Kh 4h. The Ah turn brought no help to either player, and when the subsequent Th river bricked out for Chris Lai, the LWPS crowned a new champ in Liew Kok Kong! Liew picked up a tidy $6,000 for his efforts, and shoots to the top of the LWPS Season 2 Leaderboard. ![]() Full Results The Pokerstars Freeroll: 1st: Ong Ding Xiang - LWPS VII ME Seat + T$50 1st: Mohd. Mahmed Aqarabi – LWPS VII ME Seat + T$50 1st: Eugene Chen – LWPS VII ME Seat + T$50 4th: Angelina Kwok – T$50 5th: Mark Pui – T$50 6th: Hossein Shabannezhad – T$50 7th: Eugene Lee – T$50 8th: Philip Yeo – T$50 $250 Main Event: 1st: Liew Kok Kong - $6,000 2nd: Chris Lai - $4,000 3rd: Yow Chee Kin - $3,000 4th: Hossein Shabannezad - $2,000 5th: Hadi Sulaiman - $1,500 6th: Ricky Foo - $1,200 7th: Neo Zhi Han - $1,000 8th: Joseph Kim - $800 9th: Chan Chee Young – $600 10th: Lawrence Tan - $500 11th: Freddy Kwek - $500 12th: Eugene Lee - $500 Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon Satellite 1st: Tan Chin Sun – Seat + $500 spending money 2nd: Gary Lee - $460 The Corona Extra Rebuy ($500 Additional to Champion) 1st: Lawrence Tan - $4,500 + $500 (Courtesy Corona Extra) 2nd: Jerald Tan - $2,800 3rd: Bryan Lim - $1,500 4th: Chee Chenghui - $1,200 5th: Norbert Koh - $900 6th: Kenn Tan - $700 Check out the LWPS VII Pics More Pics at our Facebook page here and here Check out the LWPS S2 Leaderboard Standings The LWPS congratulates all winners, and thanks all participants for making this weekend the grand old time it was. Massive thanks are also in order to our venue partners Leisure World, and our sponsors Pokerstars, Corona Extra, Cartamundi Asia-Pacific, and Youbet.com. |