APL Vietnam in full swing; VND 8 Billion GTD Main Event begins; early side event winners

Cards have been flying in Ho Chi Minh City with the Asia Poker League hosting its latest event at Pro Poker Club. APL Vietnam started on May 9 and will run a total of 12 days to conclude on May 20. A total of 18 events are on offer with the Main Event – VND 8 Billion guarantee as the top attraction.

The past few days saw a few side events wrap up. We’ve got those early results below. The Kickoff event resumes today with 54 returning players in the money and on the hunt for the title. That event drew 359 entries for a guarantee smashing VND 2 Billion prize pool.

For now, let’s take a look at what’s ahead starting with the Main Event that gets underway today.  

Main Event – VND 8 Billion guarantee

Until today, APL continues to hold the highest Main Event record turnout in Vietnam of 864 entries, although at the time their buy-in was slightly lower. Since then, players have looked forward to this distinguished festival especially with the Main Event equipped with an VND 8 Billion (~US$345,000) guarantee.

Below are all the details:

Buy-in: VND 16,500,000 (~US$720)
Dates: May 12 to May 18
Day 1A-Day 1D: May 12 to May 15 @1pm
Starting stack: 30,000 (300x opening big blind)
Blinds duration: increases every 40 minutes
Registration: closes at the start of Level 10 (approx. 8pm)

APL Main Event reigning champion, Vietnamese pro Quang Nang Nguyen, pocketed himself nearly US$70,000 last year. We expect to see him back on the felt to defend his title along with many notable players from the country. Somuchpoker will have live updates running throughout to bring you the action until a champion emerges in seven days time.

Other Events

Aside from the main, over the course of the 12 days are 17 side events to enjoy with varying buy-ins from VND 5,500,000 to VND 55,000,000. Games include No Limit Hold’em, Turbos, Deep Stack, KOs, and Pot Limit Omaha. On the high end are of course the High Roller events listed below. 

Super High Roller

Buy-in: VND 55,000,000 (~US$ 2,400)
Dates: May 19 to 20

High Roller – VND 5 Billion guarantee

Besides the Kickoff and Main Event, the only other event extending a guarantee is the High Roller. It comes with a guarantee of VND 5,000,000,000 (~US$ 215,500).

Buy-in: VND 33,000,000 (~US$ 1,450)
Day 1A-Day 1C: May 16 to 18
Final Day: May 19

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More: APL Vietnam Full schedule

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Early side event winners

With three days in the books, a few players have risen to the winner’s platform. Listed below are the festival’s early champions:

Event 2: No Limit Hold’em Turbo 1 

The first trophy was claimed by Singapore’s Lu Zheng Hao. The event drew 24 runners at VND 5,500,000 each for a prize pool of VND 116,400,000 (~US$ 5,000).

Payouts
1st Lu Zheng Hao – Singapore – VND 58,200,000
2nd Phan Anh Kiem – Vietnam – VND 34,920,000
3rd Do Huy Cuong – Vietnam – VND 23,280,000

Event 3: KO Bounty

The KO Bounty event attracted 89 hungry head hunters for a cash prize pool of VND 384,480,000 (~US$ 16,600). Outlasting them all was Vietnam’s Nguyen Hai Trieu to ship the VND 121,980,000 first prize. Buy-in for this event was VNDS 6,600,000.

Payouts
1st Nguyen Hai Trieu – Vietnam – VND 121,980,000
2nd Qinyi Tong – China – VND 73,050,000
3rd Ngeow Chung Fai – Malaysia – VND 46,140,000
4th Zhong Hai Tian – China – VND 29,800,000
5th Hwang Se Young – Korea – VND 23,070,000
6th Tri Cuong – Vietnam – VND 18,260,000
7th Park Jung Min – Korea – VND 15,380,000
8th Oleh Danilin – Ukraine – VND 13,460,000
9th Dinh Gia Long – Vietnam – VND 12,190,000
10th Judic Kim – Korea – VND 11,150,000
11th Truong Mong Hoang – Vietnam – VND 10,380,000
12th Bobby Zhue Xing Hua – Singapore – VND 9,620,000

Event 4: Deep Stack Turbo 1

24 turned up for the Deep Stack Turbo 1 and with each entry at VND 6,600,000, it created a VND 162,960,000 (~US$ 7,000) prize pool. Winning the event was Vietnam pro Julien Tran to pocket VND 73,330,000).

Payouts
1st Julien Tran – Vietnam – VND 73,330,000
2nd Phan Trong Linh – Vietnam – VND 44,000,000
3rd Huynh Yan Tan – Vietnam – VND 27,700,000
4th Kwag Oh Shin – Korea – VND 17,930,000

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More  APL Vietnam Full Coverage

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Article by Tricia David