Asian Poker Tour wraps up 10-day series in Phu Quoc Vietnam; pays over ₫14.1 Billion; Hue Dang crowned Main Event champion, Vamerdino Magsakay wins Player of the Series

After a two year halt, the Asian Poker Tour returned to the live beat, hosting its first full blown festival in Phu Quoc, Vietnam. This was a new destination for the brand and it was the first international poker event staged on the island. Running from April 8 to 17, the festival was held at the Corona Resort & Casino, the only casino in the country where eligible Vietnamese nationals are allowed to gamble. 

The series experienced a rough start with the Mystery Bounty opener seeing its 1 Billion guarantee abruptly canceled. Momentum built up at the Super High Rollers and carried through to the Main Event 3 Billion GTD. In the aftermath,  the series paid out an overall VN₫ 14.1 billion (~US$ 616,740) across 21 events and Vietnam’s Hue Dang became the third woman in APT history to win an APT major. At the side events, Filipino player Vamerdino Magsakay blew away the competition with three Single Day High Roller victories, the most wins by any player. He was crowned APT Player of the Series. We’ve got those stories and other festival highlights for you. 

The tour takes a short break and returns with the highly popular APT Philippines which takes place from April 27 to May 8. Like past installments, this event falls on Japan’s Golden Week holiday. The Main Event guarantee has been boosted to Php 15 Million (~US$ 286,110). More details at the bottom of the page.

HUE DANG wins the Main Event for  VN₫ 1,220,590,000 (~US$ 53,300)

The inaugural APT Phu Quoc Main Event was what everyone came out for. Its VN₫ 3 Billion guarantee and the chance at winning the bragging rights first APT major title on Phu Quoc Island attracted 378 entries. With a buy in of VN₫ 16,500,000 (~US$ 720), which was 25% less than the APT’s usual fee for this event, it smashed the guarantee for a prize pool of VN₫ 5,499,900,000 (~US$ 240,570). Out of the last five Vietnamese players remaining, the victory was claimed by newcomer Hue Dang after she weathered a deficit at heads up against Truong Vu Tran Khanh. Dang collected a personal high VN₫ 1,220,590,000 (~US$ 53,300) and her first ever live career win. She became the third woman to lift an APT Main Event title following in the footsteps of 2016 APT Daegu champion Nayoung Kim and 2021 APT Taiwan champion Kitty Kuo. 

The Main Event ran from April 12 to 17. Among the early movers and shakers was eventual runner up Truong Vu Tran Khanh who entered Day 2 as the overall starting day chip leader. Also in the Day 2 lineup were 2021 APT Online Series Championships victor India‘s Manish Lakhotia, Thai pro Phachara Wongwichit, APPT Manila Main Event champion Florencio Campomanes who went on to finish 14th, and Hong Kong’’s Yik Yin “Ray” Chiu who bubbled to the final table in 10th place. 

The final table consisted of five Vietnamese players and four international players. Dang was the only female and was running third in chips just behind Truong and leader Cao Ngoc Anh. With his big stack and experience, Cao dominated the felt and by five handed, had amassed over half of the chips in play. All of the international players were the first batch to go, then Minh Nguyen took 5th, and Nguyen Quang Huy finished 4th. The last three contenders entered the final table as the top three. Cao continued his assault but a few big pots against Truong sent him crashing out in 3rd place. Truong started heads up with a 3:1 advantage but it was Dang who dominated. She proceeded to win two called shove to steal the lead. From there, Dang went on to close it out for her first live tournament cash and title. For runner up Truong, it was also a career high VN₫ 813,710,000 (~US$ 35,600) payday. 

Buy in: VN₫ 16,500,000 (~US$ 720)
Entries: 378
Prize pool: VN₫ 5,499,900,000 (~US$ 240,570
ITM: 38 places

Final table payouts

1st Hue Dang – Vietnam – VN₫ 1,220,590,000
2nd Truong Vu Tran Khanh – Vietnam – VN₫ 813,710,000
3rd Cao Ngoc Anh – Vietnam – VN₫ 565,660,000
4th Nguyen Quang Huy – Vietnam – VN₫ 408,590,000
5th Minh Nguyen – Vietnam – VN₫ 305,570,000
6th Benjamin Schoepfer – Thailand – VN₫ 233,840,000
7th Jules Blondel – France – VN₫ 187,270,000
8th Tan Tong – Singapore – VN₫ 152,680,000
9th Mitja Kun – Slovenia – VN₫ 127,160,000

VAMERDINO MAGSAKAY ships three Single Day High Rollers and crowned Player of the Series

Filipino player Vamerdino Magsakay was on fire at the series with three Single Day High Rollers events conquered. He also cashed in two other events, nearly taking down his fourth title with a  3rd place finish. On his first victory, Magsakay outlasted 28 other runners for a payout of VN₫ 202,400,000. The next day, he split the pot with Hoa Nguyen then went on to win it for an extra pay bump and pocketed VN₫ 66,400,000. Magsakay’s last win had 21 entries for a score of VN₫ 199,280,000. These wins earned him a combined VN₫ 468,080,000 (~US$ 20,380) to boost his live tournament earnings to over US$ 213K. Having also accumulated the most number of points, Magsakay won the esteemed APT Player of the Series title which awarded him the APT’s grandest trophy, a POS ring, and US$ 800. 

FLORENCIO CAMPOMANES wins Super High Rollers for VN₫ 513,060,000 (~US$ 22,340)

The two day Super High Rollers event lit up the scene as well known local and international pros filled up seats. This resulted in 37 entries ponying up the VN₫ 55,000,000 (US$ 2,400) buy in for a prize pool of VN₫ 1,794,490,000 (~US$ 78,500). Among those pulling through to the final day were WPTDS Vietnam Main Event champion Vincent Chauve, Quang Nguyen who bagged the Day 1 chip lead, Terry Nguyen, Huy Pham, Vamerdino Magsakay, and Red Dragon champion Florencio Campomanes who entered with the second largest stack. The title came between Campomanes and Singapore’s Li Wenxuan. 

To reach heads up, Campomanes maintained his big stack throughout while Wenxuan climbed from the shortest of just 6 BB at four handed. Both players chopped then played on for an extra bump in pay. Campomanes’ stack swung before he finally nailed it down for a cool VN₫ 513,060,000 (~US$ 22,340) payday. This was his seventh career win and second at the APT. He also earned VN₫ 73,590,000 for 14th place at the Main Event for a combined VN₫ 586,650,000 (~US$ 25,550) series payout. For runner up Li, it was his first live tournament score in Vietnam. 

Buy in: VN₫ 55,000,000 (US$ 2,400)
Entries: 37 (29 unique, 8 re-entry)
Prize pool: VN₫ 1,794,490,000 (~US$ 78,500)
ITM: 7 places

Payouts

1st Florencio Campomanes – Philippines – VN₫ 513,060,000*
2nd Li Wenxuan- Singapore – VN₫ 500,000,000*
3rd Terry Nguyen – Vietnam – VN₫ 267,180,000
4th Jose Carlos Gomez Martin – Spain – VN₫ 188,260,000
5th Dang Duy Thanh – Vietnam – VN₫ 138,120,000
6th Vu The Tuan – Vietnam – VN₫ 105,140,0000
7th Satoshi Kuriga – Japan – VN₫ 82,730,000
*Heads up deal

NGUYEN PHUONG champions the two-day High Rollers

The two day High Rollers was a popular series ender with 78 runners forking out the VN₫ 33,000,000 (~US$ 1,437) buy in. This built up a healthy prize pool of VN₫ 2,095,200,000 (~US$ 91,235), 12 players earned a cut with Nguyen Phuong awarded the VN₫ 592,380,000 (~US$ 25,800) first prize for his victory. This was Phuong’s first ever APT takedown. He bested highly decorated local pros Terry Nguyen and Quang Nguyen at three-handed. Other players reaching the money round were Huu Dung Nguyen, Dennis Ng, and Vamerdino Magsakay. 

Buy in: VN₫ 33,000,000 (~US$ 1,437)
Entries: 78
Prize pool: VN₫ 2,095,200,000 (~US$ 91,235)
ITM: 12 places

Payouts

1st Nguyen Phuong – Vietnam – VN₫ 592,380,000
2nd Quang Nguyen – Vietnam – VN₫ 394,910,000
3rd Terry Nguyen – Vietnam – VN₫ 274,540,000
4th Nguyen Manh Hung – Vietnam – VN₫ 198,290,000
5th Nguyen Duc Bien – Vietnam – VN₫ 148,300,000
6th Huu Dung Nguyen – Vietnam – VN₫ 114,450,000
7th Thibaut Gaston Blondel – France – VN₫ 90,890,000
8th Nguyen Truong Giang – Vietnam – VN₫ 74,050,000
9th Dennis Ng – Hong Kong – VN₫ 61,710,000
10th Nam Duong Nguyen – Vietnam – VN₫ 51,420,000
11th Vamerdino Magsakay – Philippines – VN₫ 51,420,000
12th Dang Duy Thanh – Vietnam  – VN₫ 42,850,000

Other big winners

Monster Stack: KEITA MINAMI – Japan – VN₫ 167,700,000 (~US$ 7,300)

Super Deep Stack Turbo – Tui Zhi Hao Renzo – Singapore – VN₫ 111,880,000 (~US$ 4,870)

Sebastien Clot – France – VN₫ 112,010,000 (~US$ 4,880)

Up next: APT Philippines

Just around the corner is the tour’s most popular stop, APT Philippines, which runs from April 27 to May 8 at Resorts World Manila. This falls during Japan’s Golden Week holiday so expect a strong force of Japanese players in attendance. Over the twelve days, Php 25 Million is guaranteed across three events – Mystery Bounty series opener, Main Event, and Championships – the most ambitious guarantee put forth by the brand. Key events to mark down: 

Mystery Bounty – Php 2 Million guaranteed – April 27 to 28
Main Event – Php 25 Million guaranteed – April 29 to May 3
Championships – Php 8 Million guaranteed – May 4 to May 8

A total of 23 events are scheduled with buy ins ranging from Php 5,500 (~US$ 105) to Php 107,500 (~US$ 2,050). On the most affordable end are Turbo events and on the most expensive are High Rollers events with six in the lineup. The series offers a variety of NL Hold’em formats, Pot Limit Omaha, and Short Deck. 

See APT website for the full schedule