Vietnam’s quick and transparent approach in battling the current pandemic has proven great success as seen in its record low coronavirus cases in the recent months. The ideal outcome has enabled the country to open its doors for live poker to slowly return having hosted a couple successful series already. Catering mostly to local players given the travel restrictions imposed at the moment, skilled Vietnamese participants are making the most of their advantageous situation raking in sizable payouts from a smaller field of players.
The Vietnam National Poker League 2020 was a week-long series which ran from July 28 – August 4, 2020 at Hanoi’s premium Crown Poker Club location, hosting 13 events in total. Buy-ins for the games ranged from VND 1,800,000 (~USD 77) to as high as VND 110,000,000 (~USD 4,733) for its second Super High Roller Event on schedule. With a combined guaranteed prize pool of VND 5 billion (~USD 215,163), the highlighting Main Event was the one to look out for having a VND 2.5 billion (~USD 107,581) guarantee, relatively 50% of the total prize pool. Local players Pham Bao and Nguyen Ngoc Dai took down the festival’s major events, bagging the highest payouts for the first ever VNPL series.
VNPL Main Event 2.5B GTD: Tran Hung Manh – VND 320,000,000 (~USD 13,777)
Covering the biggest guarantee for the series, the Main Event drew in a total of 261 entries throughout the four starting flights with each posting a buy-in for VND 11,000,000 (~USD 473). Making it through to the final day, Vietnamese local Tran Hung Manh claimed the eventual victory after a deal was made three-handed. Macaron Tran added a payout of VND 320,000,000 (~USD 13,777) to his list of achievements. Just earlier in the month, Tran Hung Manh made three final table finishes amounting to VND 195,500,000 (~USD 8,452) in the Vietnam Series of Poker Championship as recorded in HendonMob. Placing 6th in his latest Main Event appearance, Tran Hung Manh booked an impressive redemption this time securing the champion title despite getting the least when the deal was discussed. Based on ICM, fellow local Pham Bao, another regular in the Vietnam live poker circuits, received the highest payout of VND 435,000,000 (~USD 18,728) for his run.
Buy-in: VND 11,000,000 (~USD 473)
Date: July 31, 2020 – August 3, 2020
Entries: 261
Prize pool: VND 2,500,000,000 (~USD 107,581)
VNPL Main Event 2.5B GTD Final Table Results
| Place | Name | Country | Prize in VND |
| 1 | Pham Bao | Vietnam | 435,000,000 (~USD 18,728)* |
| 2 | Dang Thi Hue | Vietnam | 415,000,000 (~USD 17,867)* |
| 3 | Tran Hung Manh | Vietnam | 320,000,000 (~USD 13,777)* |
| 4 | Nguyen Trung Ha | Vietnam | 185,000,000 (~USD 7,961) |
| 5 | Nguyen Quoc Anh | Vietnam | 135,000,000 (~USD 5,809) |
| 6 | Nguyen Hoang Nam | Vietnam | 105,000,000 (~USD 4,518) |
| 7 | Nam Phong | Vietnam | 85,500,000 (~USD 3,679) |
| 8 | Nguyen Huy Lam | Vietnam | 70,600,000 (~USD 3,038) |
| 9 | Le Huong Ly | Vietnam | 58,500,000 (~USD 2,517) |
*Denotes deal was made
VNPL Warm Up 1.3B GTD: Nguyen Ngoc Dai – VND 300,000,000 (~USD 12,910)
The first event on schedule attracted the highest number of entrants given its affordable buy-in of VND 4,600,000 (~USD 198) for a guaranteed prize pool of VND 1,300,000,000 (~USD 55,942). Running four starting flights similar to the Main Event, the Warm Up event attracted a total of 360 entries, surpassing the guaranteed prize pool by VND 140,000,000. A strong start was in the works for Vietnamese Nguyen Ngoc Dai as he captured the top prize of VND 300,000,000 (~USD 12,910). According to Hendon Mob, this most recent win would signify his best live cash, topping his previous record of USD 6,643. With only three results under his name all dated a year ago, the Vietnamese live poker circuit may be seeing more of Nguyen Ngoc Dai in upcoming games.
Buy-in: VND 4,600,000 (~USD 198)
Date: July 28 – 31, 2020
Entries: 360
Prize pool: VND 1,440,000,000 (~USD 61,967)
VNPL Warm Up Event 1.3B GTD Final Table Results
| Place | Name | Country | Prize in VND |
| 1 | Nguyen Ngoc Dai | Vietnam | 300,000,000 (~USD 12,910) |
| 2 | Nguyen Manh Toan | Vietnam | 190,000,000 (~USD 8,176) |
| 3 | Nguyen Minh Hoang | Vietnam | 130,000,000 (~USD 5,594) |
| 4 | Tran An Khang | Vietnam | 90,000,000 (~USD 3,873) |
| 5 | Dang Anh Son | Vietnam | 68,000,000 (~USD 2,926) |
| 6 | Tran Duc Kien | Vietnam | 53,000,000 (~USD 2,281) |
| 7 | Tran Huy Tien | Vietnam | 43,000,000 (~USD 1,850) |
| 8 | Nguyen Quoc Anh | Vietnam | 36,000,000 (~USD 1,549) |
| 9 | Nguyen Dang Lam Hong | Vietnam | 29,800,000 (~USD 1,282) |
High Roller Event 600M GTD: Nguyen Ngoc Dai – VND 285,000,000 (~USD 12,264)
Capturing the title for the Warm up event just a couple days prior, Nguyen Ngoc Dai made another impressive score after taking down the single day High Roller event. The Vietnamese local scored the highest payout from the VND 600,000,000 (~USD 25,820) guaranteed prize pool, adding VND 285,000,000 (~USD 12,264) to his previous win of similar value. Nguyen Ngoc Dai dominated a smaller field this time, besting through only 41 players as compared to the Warm up event’s 360-entry field. Having a modest record of USD 8,815 in total live earnings, Nguyen Ngoc Dai has well over tripled his total scores with his two subsequent wins.
Buy-in: VND 22,000,000 (~USD 947)
Date: August 3, 2020
Entries: 41
Prize pool: VND 600,000,000 (~USD 25,820)
VNPL High Roller Event 600M GTD Full Payouts
| Place | Name | Country | Prize in VND |
| 1 | Nguyen Ngoc Dai | Vietnam | 285,000,000 (~USD 12,264) |
| 2 | Robert Bist | USA | 170,000,000 (~USD 7,316) |
| 3 | Tran Vinh Hung | Vietnam | 125,000,000 (~USD 5,379) |
| 4 | Nguyen Khoi | Vietnam | 85,000,000 (~USD 3,658) |
| 5 | Dang Duy Thanh | Vietnam | 55,000,000 (~USD 2,367) |
| 6 | Pham Tien Dung | Vietnam | 42,200,000 (~USD 1,816) |
| 7 | Quang Vu | Vietnam | 25,000,000 (~USD 1,076) |
Other Results
Team Event – 3 Members 400M GTD
Buy-in: VND 3,500,000 per member (~USD 150)
Date: August 4, 2020
Entries: 70
Prize pool: VND 400,000,000 (~USD 17,221)
Team Event Full Payouts:
| Place | Name | Country | Prize in VND |
| 1 | Team Anh Phu | Vietnam | 200,000,000 (~USD 8,610) |
| 2 | Team DHC | Vietnam | 100,000,000 (~USD 4,305) |
| 3 | Team PVT | Vietnam | 42,000,000 (~USD 1,808) |
| 4 | Team Pay Lak | Vietnam | 42,000,000 (~USD 1,808) |
