Level 4 Begins with All Reserve Chips Brought Into Play; Official Chip Counts

Photo:  Team Malaysia has taken the lead at the first break.

The players return from break to begin Level 4, with increased blinds of 3,000-6,000 and a big-blind ante of 6,000. With eight teams remaining, the average chip stack is about 239,000 (40 big blinds).

All of the remaining reserve chips (from teams that chose to start with only half their stack) have been brought into play, so teams no longer have a safety net.

Here are the official chip counts from the break, followed by the payouts:

Seat 1.  New Zealand  –  245,000  (41 bb)
Seat 2.  Hong Kong SAR  –  115,000  (19 bb)
Seat 3.  China  –  275,000  (46 bb)
Seat 4.  Korea  –  243,000  (41 bb)
Seat 5.  Singapore  –  190,000  (32 bb)
Seat 6.  Taiwan SAR  –  260,000  (43 bb)
Seat 7.  Netherlands  –  294,000  (49 bb)
Seat 8.  Malaysia  –  300,000  (50 bb)

1st:  KRW 27,475,000  (~US $24,625)
2nd:  KRW 16,485,000  (~US $14,775)
3rd:  KRW 10,990,000  (~US $9,850)

9th Place:  Japan