Day 1b of the Season 9 Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau HK$25,000 Main Event at PokerStars LIVE Macau at City of Dreams brought in more competition than Wednesday’s event with 286 entrants compared to 207 from Day 1a for a total of nearly 500 players vying for the silver trophy.

Jia Liang of China was the overall chip leader at the end of the event with 198,200, besting Zhifeng Yao’s Wednesday lead of 174,700. The field is now down to 188 players including 76 that advanced from day 1a. The top 59 will take home at least HK$43,600. The winner will bank HK$2,525,000.

Players returned to the room at 2pm local time today with a 5pm Qualifier to High Roller Satellite, and the start of a two day $5,000 KO Bounty at 7pm. The action wraps up with a 7pm APPT Manila Satellite on Sunday.