APT crowns Harry Duong at Kickoff Championships Event; Tanja Vujanic wins POS; Yohwan Lim, Vincent Li, Jin Pyeonggyu ship two

The Asian Poker Tour wrapped up its season opener in Ho Chi Minh City with 12 days of games from January 10 to 21 at Pro Poker Club. The first half saw South African national Rayhaan Adam ship the Main Event. The latter half concluded with Vietnamese pro Harry Duong lifting his second career APT championship win. We have the final results to bring you including the prestigious Player of the Series title won by Australia’s Tanja Vujanic.

₫38,500,000 Championships Event: HARRY DUONG – ₫1,330,000,000 (~US$ 57,400)

The Championships Event was the second featured tournament, it ran back to back with the main. 160 signed on which was slightly under the guarantee to keep the prize pool at ₫ 6,000,000 (~US$ 250,500). After five days of action, Vietnamese pro Harry Duong came out victorious for ₫ 1,330,000,000 (~US$ 57,400) and his second career APT championship title. He won the APT Asian Series Cambodia Main Event back in 2012.

Buy-in: ₫ 38,500,000 (~US$ 1,700)
Entries: 160
Prize pool: ₫ 6,000,000 (~US$ 250,500)
ITM: 16 places

Recapping the action, payday arrived in Day 3 at the fall of series Head Hunter winner Nguyen Quang Minh to David Erquiaga. Among the first players to dip their hands in the cash pot were APL Ha Noi Main Event champion Sam Beesley (15th), Singaporean pro Alex Wei Xiang Lee (12th), and Korean pro Soo Jo Kim (10th). Hyunil Hong missed the final 8 falling one spot shy.

The final day opened with Michal Polchlopek leading it in but stayed quiet until it was down to four players. Busy collecting chips early was Tien Thanh Nguyen at the expense of Erquiaga who lost 80 percent of his stack on a failed bluff. The remaining was claimed by Peng Yang in a three-way showdown.

Out next was Nguyen Quang Binh who entered second in chips but dropped on a cooler against Xiao Yu Cheng with trips losing to a flush. Attempting to recover, Quang Binh pushed with A-Q but ran into Harry Duong’s pocket aces. Following to the rail in 6th place was Peng whose straight fell to Tien Thanh’s flush.

At the featured final table again was Hwang Sang Yeon who finished 7th at the series Main Event. He succeeded with a better result exiting in 5th place at the hands of entering race leader Polchlopek. This boost in chips continued for Polchlopek while on the opposite end was Duong who slipped far below par. However, a lucky draw brought Duong back in fighting form then stormed to a massive lead after railing Xiao in 4th place. Duong continued to dominate, out-drawing Polchlopek to face Tien Thanh at heads up with a 6:1 advantage.

The battle for the crown was fierce. Both players charging at every hand. Tien Thanh caught up to the leader then surpassed him briefly but Duong grabbed back winning a big pot on a bluff. Duong went on to win it to become the first APT Championships Event winner of 2020.

Final 8 payouts
1st Harry Duong – Vietnam – ₫ 1,330,000 (~US$ 57,400)
2nd Terry Tien Thanh Nguyen – Vietnam – ₫ 1,253,000,000 (~US$ 54,000)
3rd Michal Polchlopek – Poland – ₫ 718,600,000 (~US$ 31,000)
4th Xiao Yu Cheng – China – ₫ 519,030,000 (~US$ 22,300)
5th Hwang Sang Yeon – Korea – ₫ 388,150,000 (~US$ 16,700)
6th Peng Yang – China – ₫ 299,570,000 (~US$ 12,900)
7th Nguyen Thanh Binh – Vietnam – ₫ 237,890,000 (~US$ 10,200)
8th David Erquiaga – Philippines – ₫ 193,820,000 (~US$ 8,300)

APT Player of the Series: TANJA VUJANIC

At every APT stop, the player with the most points accrued throughout the festival is proclaimed Player of the Series. Australia’s Tanja Vujanic was awarded this honorable title along with the corresponding trophy, an exclusive watch, and US$ 800. Vujanic’s achievements were:

1st place: Monster Stack
2nd place: Head Hunter event
4th place: Deep Stack Turbo
7th place: Pot Limit Omaha Hi

Also awarded a trophy and US$ 100 were Xiao Yu Cheng (2nd place) and Lu Zheng Hao (3rd place).

Multi-winners: YOHWAN LIM – VINCENT KWUN NGAI LI – JIN PYEONGGYU

At our previous post we mentioned Lu Zheng Hao becoming the first player to win two events at the series. On the second half, he was joined by three players: Yohwan Lim, Vincent Kwun Ngai Li, and Jin Pyeonggyu.

Yohwan Lim aka BoxeR won the Super High Rollers and High Rollers Single Day #4 for a total ₫ 1,046,900,000 (~US$ 45,200).

Vincent Kwun Ngai Li won the High Rollers Single Day #2 and #3 for ₫ 420,040,000 (~US$ 18,000).

Jin Pyeonggyu won the Pot Limit Omaha #2 and No Limit Hold’em Single Day #2 for ₫ 273,360,000 (~US$ 11,700).

Other Events

Event 14: Super Deep Stack Turbo

Buy-in: ₫ 7,700,000 (~us$ 330)
Entries: 75
Prize pool: ₫ 509,250,000 (~US$ 21,980)
ITM: 13 places
Winner: Jiang Zhen – China – 141,080,000 (~US$ 6,000)

Event 15: Deep Stack Hyper Turbo 1

Buy-in: ₫ 5,500,000 (~US$ 240)
Entries: 56
Prize pool: ₫ 271,600,000 (~US$ 11,700)
ITM: 11 places
Winner: Zhou Yueyang – China – ₫ 80,390,000 (~US$ 3,500)

Event 16: No Limit Hold’em 2

Buy-in: ₫ 9,900,000 (~US$ 425)
Entries: 49
Prize pool: ₫ 429,770,000 (~US$ 18,500)
ITM: 9 places
Winner: Jerome Bradpiece – UK – ₫ 129,990,000 (~US$ 5,600)

Event 18: WeLoveSport Deep Stack Turbo

Buy-in: VND 6,600,000 (~US$ 285)
Entries: 47
Prize pool: VND 273,540,000
ITM: 8 places
Winner: Kong Chisung – Korea – ₫ 85,840,000 (~US$ 3,700)

Event 19: High Rollers

Buy-in: ₫ 65,000,000 (~US$ 2,800)
Entries: 5
Prize pool: ₫ 291,000,000 (~US$ 12,500)
ITM: 2 places (deal)
Winner: Punnat Punsri – Thailand – ₫ 150,000,000 (~US$ 6,500)

Event 21: Deep Stack 4

Buy-in: ₫ 6,600,000 (~US$ 285)
Entries: 25
Prize pool: ₫ 151,320,000 (~US$ 6,500
ITM: 5 places
Winner: Tan Wah Meng – Singapore – ₫ 52,110,000 (~US$ 2,200)

Event 22: Deep Stack Hyper Turbo 2

Buy-in: ₫ 5,500,000 (~US$ 240)
Entries: 30
Prize pool: ₫ 145,500,000 (~US$ 6,300)
ITM: 5 places
Winner: Suh Seong Hyun – Japan – ₫ 49,095,000 (~US$ 2,100)

Up next for APT

The tour heads to Taipei City for APT Taiwan 2020 taking place from March 4 to 15 at the Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Association (CTP Club). The 12-day series guarantees NT$ 14,000,000 (~US$ 465,000) in prizes. The featured Main Event NT$ 6M guarantee has a buy-in of NT$ 33,000,000 (~US$ 1,100) and the featured Championships Event NT$ 6M guarantee costs NT$ 49,500 (~US$ 1,700) to enter.

APT Taiwan 2020 Schedule