After Tuesday’s action, the Season XVI World Poker Tour Beijing Main Event moved to the final table of six. Leading in a big way was Chen Yanhan (pictured above) with a stack of 6.31 million in chips that represented more than half of the chips in play.
WPT Beijing Final Table
Seat 1: Chen Ke – 1,255,000
Seat 2: Bryan Huang – 820,000
Seat 3: Tan Yancheng – 1,300,000
Seat 4: Zhang Wenbin – 1,410,000
Seat 5: Lu Yingqi – 875,000
Seat 6: Chen Yanhan – 6,310,000
When the day began, 27 players returned to action from the original starting field of 400. One by one, the players hit the rail, and soon the final 10 had formed around one table. The goal of the day was to play down to the official WPT final table of six, and onward they went.
Zhang Chenxu was eliminated in 10th place before the field went on dinner break. Upon their return, Liu Guifang was eliminated in ninth place. Guifang was the Day 1 leader of this event and the last woman standing in the field.
Her exit was followed by Zhu Xinbaio in eighth, and that set up the bubble of the official final table with Yanhan in the lead by a large margin. At the time, he had about 4.5 million in chips and the closest player to him was Xu Xin with 1.8 million.
As it turned out, Xin would be the next player eliminated when he clashed with Yanhan in a big way. With the blinds at 25,000/50,000 with a 5,000 ante, Xin opened with a raise to 225,000 from the small blind. Yanhan moved all in from the big blind, and Xin quickly made the call with the 
. Yanhan had the 
. The 
flop kept Yanhan’s nines in the lead, as did the 
on the turn. That turn card did give Xin some additional outs with a Broadway straight draw, but the 
paired the board on the river and sent Xin packing in seventh place.
With that pot, Yanhan extended his lead in a massive way and will now have a stack of more chips than all of his opponents combined to start the final table on Wednesday.
Advancing to the final table was Bryan Huang (pictured below), a well-known player from the Asia-Pacific region with more than $1.1 million in earnings and a former member of Team PokerStars. Huang actually entered Day 4 with the chip lead atop the final 27, but he’ll be the short stack when the final six return on Wednesday at 12 p.m. Beijing time.
Even though he has been at final tables with more money on the line, Huang said the chance to be part of WPT history is what motivates him.
“It’s a really prestigious event and winning it is worth 10 times more than what the money is worth [to me],” Huang explained. “In Asia, building a brand is good for anyone.”
Huang realizes that in the Asian market, it is all about who won, so the chance to win the first-ever WPT Main Tour title in China would be a huge boost to an already solid poker résumé. He and a friend journeyed here from Singapore because they heard how much the WPT has been growing in China and they wanted to be a part of the event.
Though he is short, Huang is still a player to watch out for with his experience. He admits that the competition is not the same as he is used to when playing in more international events, but therein lies the challenge.
“It’s a very diverse final table,” Huang said of his competitors, pointing to the aggressive nature of Chinese players that makes them tough to play against. “There is more guesswork to be done. Ranges aren’t so easily narrowed down, so it will be a challenging final table.”
Yanhan, Huang, and the other four competitors return to battle for the CNY 2,063,454 (approx. $300,000) first-place prize at 12 p.m. local time on Wednesday in Beijing. Along with the title and the prize money, the winner will be awarded the first seat into the Season XVI WPT Tournament of Champions.
Stay tuned to WPT.com for continued coverage from WPT Beijing.
Looking to win your way to a World Poker Tour event for your shot at becoming a WPT champion? Play for your chance on ClubWPT.com, where eligible VIP Members can play for over $100,000 in cash and prizes each month, including seats to WPT events, no purchase necessary.