It is Yang Wang's turn to give Li Yu some beats, with Wang relishing the change in circumstances from the big smile on his face after the hand.
Action folded around to Yu in the small blind, and he moved all-in, with Wang making a quick call for his tournament life.
Li Yu:
Yang Wang:
Yu was ahead, and Wang got to his feet with a look of horror on his face. The flop changed nothing, and nor did the turn, but the river saw a contented Wang sit back down and stack up to 3.6 million, while Yu dropped to around 1.65 million.
The players are mixing it up a little, and a limped pot between Wei Ran Pu and Jian Dong Yu saw the latter take some chips from the frontrunner.
With the flop reading it was Yu the man pushing the betting, with Pu check-calling on the turn and river. Pu took his time over the river call when Yu fired for 200,000, but eventually made it. Pu's cards went into the muck when Yu rolled over for the straight.
Play has reverted back to pre-flop chip flexing now that Yang Wang is getting short. Wang took the blinds after moving all-in from the small, with Wei Rang Pu flashing him before folding in the big blind.
Pu took the next hand down with a raise into Jian Dong Yu, though Yu won the hand afterward when Pu made it 225,000 on the button. Jian Dong Yu shoved from the small blind and that was that.
Since catching that ace in the earlier hand against Yang Wang, Li Yu is turning the screws and trying to apply maximum pressure, with Wang the man in Yu's sights again.
It was Yu opening the action with a raise to 225,000 from under-the-gun, with Wang responding with a three-bet from the button. Yu cracked a joke and then shoved to giggles from two out of this three other opponents, while Wang looked distinctly unimpressed.
However, Wang eventually folded, dropping down to 1.6 million, while Yu climbed to 3.2 million.
Another big pot played out that saw quite a few chips change hands with Yang Wang and Li Yu getting into it pre-flop. It was Wang who was the initial raiser, making it 200,000 to go from the cutoff and Yu moved all-in from the big blind for 1.275-million. Wang thought it over and while he did not call immediately, it did not take him too long.
Li Yu:
Yang Wang:
Yu was the underdog in the hand, and the at-risk player. The flop saw Yu take to his feet, but he sat back down just as quickly when the hit the turn. The river completed the hand, and an unhappy Wang had to ship chips Yu's way, dropping to 2.6 million, while Yu climbed to around the same.
It is all change at the top once more with the departure of Jun Fang. It was Wei Ran Pu the man to send him to the rail, having already pushed Yang Wang off a pot with a pre-flop three-bet to 725,000 the hand prior.
The hand afterward Fang was the driver, making it 200,000 from the cut off and Pu reached for raising chips again, to chuckles from the rest of the table. Pu made it a slightly cheaper 625,000 to go and Fang hit the think tank. Eventually, he emerged and moved all-in, with Pu making a quick call and the cards were flipped over.
Jun Fang:
Wei Ran Pu:
Fang was the at-risk player and it was down to a coinflip to decided his fate, and the poker gods were not feeling all that generous, with the runout coming to keep Pu's jacks in front. Fang is out in fifth for an HKD 366,300 payday, while Pu now has 6.9 million and a commanding lead.
One thing we have noticed about Li Yu is the fact that he is totally fearless and is not afraid to play big pots and pull off big bluffs. It was Wang Yang the man who picked off a big Yu bluff yesterday, but today the man who sniffed it out is Jian Dong Yu, and the two Yu's have not long played a big pot for the chip lead.
It was Jian Dong Yu the man making the moves, raising to 180,000 from under-the-gun, with Li Yu looking him up from one seat over. The flop came down, and Jian Dong Yu checked the action over to Li Yu, who cut out a bet of 150,000.
Jian Dong Yu went for a check-raise to 400,000, with Li Yu making a quick call. The turn brought in the possible flush and while both players took their time about it, both checked. The river double paired the board, and while it looked as though that might kill the action, Li Yu had other ideas, bombing for 600,000 when Jian Dong Yu checked it over again.
From the speed of his call, it was clear that Jian Dong Yu had planned for this, with Li Yu giving his opponent a cheeky grin and mucking immediately. That pot put Jian Dong Yu out in front with a stack of 4.2 million, while Li Yu dropped to 1.6 million.
Just seconds after the crazy three-way all-in and there were more fireworks. This time it was Liang Song the man in the thick of the action, moving all-in pre-flop from mid position and getting looked up by Li Yu from the button.
Liang Song:
Li Yu:
Yu had woken up with pocket tens again and even had the same suits and Song was trailing, but hit his five on the flop. However, that was as good as it got, with the turn and river completing Song's tournament and bringing the field down to the final five. Yu stacked up to 3 million so recovered the majority of what he lost the previous hand.
The elimination of Qi Cheng Du appears to have opened the floodgates and a gigantic three-way all-in played out shortly afterward that brought Cang Sheng Ni's tournament to an end.
As has been the case for a lot of the Final Table action so far, it was Wei Ran Pu who was the instigator, opening from middle position with a min-raise, which prompted a flurry of activity.
Ni moved all-in for close to a million, Li Yu re-shoved from the small blind and Pu beat him into the pot.
Li Yu:
Wei Ran Pu:
Cang Sheng Ni:
It was a set-up hand, and was one that Pu scooped to bust Ni and take a big bite out of Li Yu's stack when the board ran out to give Pu the nut flush. Ni departed shaking his head at the variance of poker, while Yu took the hit quietly.