After a lengthy 15+ hours of Day 2 play, the World Poker Championship MAIN EVENT Final 8 was established. Hong Kong’s Hoi Wai Tam bagged up the mightiest stack of 81 BB and holding firm as last rank was Day 2 chip leader Grant Gardner with 15 BB. The title-chase continues on Saturday, January 14 starting at 2pm (Vietnam time). Up for grabs is the ₫2,710,000,000 (~$115,600) top prize.
Who will lift the crown? Find out via the livestream hosted on the Grand Loyal Poker Club‘s facebook page or track the action right here via the SMP live updates.
FINAL 8 PLAYERS BY CHIP RANK
| Seat | Player | Flag | Stack | BB |
| 2 | Hoi Wai Tam | Hong Kong | 4,860,000 | 81 |
| 5 | Hyun Sup Kim | Korea | 3,235,000 | 54 |
| 4 | Thang Ngoc Dao | Vietnam | 2,640,000 | 44 |
| 3 | Thanh Huy Le | Vietnam | 2,470,000 | 41 |
| 7 | Hung Van Huynh | Vietnam | 1,960,000 | 33 |
| 6 | Apoorva Goel | India | 1,935,000 | 32 |
| 1 | William Kang | UK | 1,565,000 | 26 |
| 8 | Grant Gardner | UK | 900,000 | 15 |
FINAL 8 PLAYERS BY SEAT
| Seat | Player | Flag | Stack | BB |
| 1 | William Kang | UK | 1,565,000 | 26 |
| 2 | Hoi Wai Tam | Hong Kong | 4,860,000 | 81 |
| 3 | Thanh Huy Le | Vietnam | 2,470,000 | 41 |
| 4 | Thang Ngoc Dao | Vietnam | 2,640,000 | 44 |
| 5 | Hyun Sup Kim | Korea | 3,235,000 | 54 |
| 6 | Apoorva Goel | India | 1,935,000 | 32 |
| 7 | Hung Van Huynh | Vietnam | 1,960,000 | 33 |
| 8 | Grant Gardner | UK | 900,000 | 15 |
WPC Main Event Final 8 review
Starting January 10, the WPC Main Event drew 651 entries across four starting heats to surge way past the guarantee, settling at a larger ₫14,244,000,000 (~$607,600) prize pool. 82 players advanced to Day 2, each one was guaranteed a minimum ₫36,000,000 (~$1,535).
Dates: January 10 to 14
Buy in: ₫25,000,000 (~$1,060)
Guarantee: ₫10,000,000,000 (~$425,080)
Entries: 651
Prize pool: ₫14,244,000,000 (~$607,600)
ITM: 82 players
| Starting Day | Entries | Survivors |
| Day 1A | 139 | 17 |
| Day 1B | 168 | 22 |
| Day 1C | 233 | 29 |
| Day 1D | 111 | 14 |
Day 2 was an absolute grind with nonstop action running for over 15 hours. UK’s Grant Gardner opened as chip leader and stayed afloat with 15 BB at bagging to secure his first ever Main Event Final 8 seat in Asia. Last year, Gardner finished 21st at the Poker Dream Vietnam Main Event. When he returns, he has his work cut out if he hopes to catch the leader Hong Kong’s Hoi Wai Tam who amassed 81 BB.
Tam is running red hot at the series with a victory at the Megastack and 9th place at the Superstack Turbo. At the Main Event, Tam’s mission began by racking up the second largest stack at Day 1B, entered Day 2 running 10th in chips, then closed as Final 8 chip leader with a 27 BB advantage over his closest challenger. No matter where Tam finishes, he will have scored his largest live tournament career payout.
Earning second rank was Hyun Sup Kim with 54 BB. Kim is already decorated with a title at the Hyper Turbo. He’s also had success in Korea with several high roller wins. He is the country’s last hope after Soojo Kim and Gab Yong Kim missed the mark in 11th and 9th place.
The next three players are from host country Vietnam – Thang Ngoc Dao (44 BB), Thanh Huy Le (41 BB), and Huynh Van Hung (33 BB). Of the three, only Le has prior Main Event final table experience, finishing 7th at the WPTDeepStacks Hanoi back in April 2021.
Next down the line is seasoned player Apoorva Goel who was one of two players from India that made it to Day 2. Apoorva’s impressive portfolio includes a six figure payout at the 2017 Macau Red Dragon for 3rd place and an APPT 2013 6-Max Championship title. With 32 BB at his disposal, players have much to fear.
Coming in with 26 BB is Asian circuit regular William Kang from the UK. Kang has two side event cashes – 6th at the Mystery Bounty and 16th at the Megastack. Despite his substantial list of deep runs, he is still seeking his first major Main Event title. Last month, he came close at the Hanoi Super Series placing 8th.
The Final 8 are guaranteed a minimum payout of ₫335,000,000 (~$14,290) but what everyone will be eyeing is the ₫2,710,000,000 (~$115,600) winner’s purse and the champion’s trophy.
| Place | Payout in ₫ |
| 1st | 2,710,000,000 |
| 2nd | 1,880,000,000 |
| 3rd | 1,140,000,000 |
| 4th | 860,000,000 |
| 5th | 680,000,000 |
| 6th | 540,000,000 |
| 7th | 425,000,000 |
| 8th | 335,000,000 |
Payouts 9th to 82nd
| 9th | Gab Yong Kim | 267,000,000 |
| 10th | Jae Hyung Park | 267,000,000 |
| 11th | Soo Jo Kim | 210,000,000 |
| 12th | Moon Ho Seo | 210,000,000 |
| 13th | Ngoc Phuong Nguyen | 170,000,000 |
| 14th | Sunho Yoon | 170,000,000 |
| 15th | Jun Min Park | 140,000,000 |
| 16th | Andrei Glushkov | 140,000,000 |
| 17th | Anh Viet Nguyen | 116,000,000 |
| 18th | Viet Phuong Le | 116,000,000 |
| 19th | Je Young Park | 116,000,000 |
| 20th | Francis Garson | 116,000,000 |
| 21st | Yong Min Kim | 97,000,000 |
| 22nd | Olivier Ziegler | 97,000,000 |
| 23rd | Ha Duc Pham | 97,000,000 |
| 24th | Zhao Feng | 97,000,000 |
| 25th | Thien Van Ha | 82,000,000 |
| 26th | Keung Soo Yoon | 82,000,000 |
| 27th | Dong Myeong Yang | 82,000,000 |
| 28th | Tuan Danh Luu | 82,000,000 |
| 29th | Jonas Magdalinski | 82,000,000 |
| 30th | Yohwan Lim | 82,000,000 |
| 31st | Jiwon Yoon | 82,000,000 |
| 32nd | Thijs Hilberts | 82,000,000 |
| 33rd | Hung Viet Le | 70,000,000 |
| 34th | Jeorge Lagatuz | 70,000,000 |
| 35th | Kisoo Byun | 70,000,000 |
| 36th | Cuong Hung Phan | 70,000,000 |
| 37th | Hieu Manh Nguyen | 70,000,000 |
| 38th | Trund Duc Vu | 70,000,000 |
| 39th | Nhat Ta Vu | 70,000,000 |
| 40th | Huy Quyen Dinh | 70,000,000 |
| 41st | Sung Kun Lee | 61,000,000 |
| 42nd | Anh Quyen Dang | 61,000,000 |
| 43rd | Quy Xuan Pham | 61,000,000 |
| 44th | Thang Xuan Nguyen | 61,000,000 |
| 45th | Jun Yeong Jeong | 61,000,000 |
| 46th | Dai Ngoc Nguyen | 61,000,000 |
| 47th | Teddy Pham | 61,000,000 |
| 48th | Akshay Nasa | 61,000,000 |
| 49th | Anthony Abram | 54,000,000 |
| 50th | Rahul Melwani | 54,000,000 |
| 51st | Dat Xuan Mai | 54,000,000 |
| 52nd | Son Thanh Nguyen | 54,000,000 |
| 53rd | Ji Bok Park | 54,000,000 |
| 54th | Chan Toan Truong | 54,000,000 |
| 55th | Vinh Huu Nguyen | 54,000,000 |
| 56th | Satoshi Kuriga | 54,000,000 |
| 57th | Nam Hai Hoang | 48,000,000 |
| 58th | Suk Kim | 48,000,000 |
| 59th | William Ysmael | 48,000,000 |
| 60th | Huy Quang Pham | 48,000,000 |
| 61st | In Sun Kang | 48,000,000 |
| 62nd | Dien Van Le | 48,000,000 |
| 63rd | Namhyung Kim | 48,000,000 |
| 64th | Terry Nguyen | 48,000,000 |
| 65th | Kien Duc Tran | 43,000,000 |
| 66th | Hyuk Gyu Lee | 43,000,000 |
| 67th | Ho JIn Kim | 43,000,000 |
| 68th | Duy Thuy Thi Nguyen | 43,000,000 |
| 69th | Trung Van Nguyen | 43,000,000 |
| 70th | Tan Van Dong | 43,000,000 |
| 71st | Anh Duy Nguyen | 43,000,000 |
| 72nd | Dai Yong Yol | 43,000,000 |
| 73rd | Que Van Nguyen | 39,000,000 |
| 74th | Gyu Hyuk Lee | 39,000,000 |
| 75th | Hao Lin | 39,000,000 |
| 76th | Dzmitry Budai | 39,000,000 |
| 77th | Phuc Ba Le | 39,000,000 |
| 78th | Hung Manh Nguyen | 39,000,000 |
| 79th | Tung Son Ta | 39,000,000 |
| 80th | Tu Thanh Le | 39,000,000 |
| 81st | Si Yang Phua | 36,000,000 |
| 82nd | Hansoo Moon | 36,000,000 |
*All images from Grand Loyal Poker Club
Tricia David
Tricia David has long experience as a recreational poker player and has been covering poker events since 2010 for numerous outfits in Asia. She spent one year working part time with Poker Portal Asia then became editor and lead writer for all event coverage of the Philippine Poker Tour (PPT). Under the PPT, she overlooked content for their website, and produced live updates on all their events. In addition, she served as the live and online events website content writer for the Asian Poker Tour. Currently, she does live events reporting in Asia for online news site Somuchpoker and is also one of their news contributors.
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