Superstar Challenge

From hijack, Christian Harder bumps it up to 45,000, small blind Matthew Bevin three-bets all in for 310,000, Harder calls and it’s a flip. Bevin K♠ J♣ , Harder 9♣ 9♥ , board lands 6♦ 4♦ 3♠ Q♠ K♣ for a higher pair to Bevin spiked on the river.

Mike Takayama adds 9 bb to his stack after calling then railing the short stack. Takayama’s A♥ T♠ stayed ahead of K♣ J♥ that missed the board completely.

Hon Cheong Lee raises 40,000, big blind Josh McCully three-bets 120,000, Lee four-bets all in (300,000), McCully calls. Lee with 8♣ 8♠ , McCully A♦ J♦ , flop quickly grants the higher pair which holds to the end A♠ 4♠ 7♥ Q♥ 9♣ .

Facing an open from cutoff, button Josh McCully three-bets 80,000, small blind Florent Remi fout-bets all in, initial raiser folds, McCuly calls and is ahead T♣ T♦ to Remi’s 8♥ 8♠ . No help comes for Remi on board J♦ 2♦ 7♥ 9♣ 4♥ . Remi is eliminated.

Utg+2 Pham Duh Anh bumps it up to 32,000, Guy Taylor defends the big blind. At the flop 3♣ 4♠ 7♦ , Pham c-bets 40,000, Taylor check-calls. Both players opt to check the turn T♠ and river 3♦ . Taylor turns over Q♥ 7♠ , Pham mucks.

Utg+2 Nguyen Quang Huy opens and big blind Shung Er Sua defends to bring the flop 9♠ 7♣ 4♣ . Nguyen c-bets 40,000 and Sua check-calls. On the turn K♠ Nguyen fires 80,000, and takes it as Sua opts to fold.

Three players in on a raised pot, the flop runs K♥ 5♦ 7♠ . Blinds check to utg+2 Nguyen Trung Quan who c-bets 25,000, smal blind Mike Takayama check-raises 76,000, big blind folds, back to Nguyen who three-bets 200,000, Takayama shoves and wins the pot as Nguyen folds.

Utg+2 opens 31,000, two players call, small blind Josh McCully jams 453,000, no takers.

Utg+1 Lin Jian Wei opens and finds two callers. All three check the flop 8♦ 7♥ 4♣ . On the K♦ turn Lin bets 50,000, only cutoff Mike Takayama continues to the river 2♦ . Both check. Lin opens A♣ J♦ , Takayama wins it with 5♥ 5♦ .

Lester Edoc defends the big blind and heads to the flop K♣ 9♣ T♦ . Edoc check-calls the aggressor Nam Hyung Kim‘s 28,000 c-bet then both check the turn 6♦ . On the T♣ river, Edoc leads out 50,000 and wins without a challenge.

Still a long way to go with 36 players remaining and ITM at 18 players. Just a reminder, the top prize is VN₫ 3,222,800,000 (~USD 130,200).

Cutoff Pham Duy Anh raises 30,000, button Jack Salter three-bets 50,000, big blind Wei Guo Liang four-bets all in 151,000, Pham calls while Salter opts to fold.

Liang K♠ K♣ Pham A♦ 7♠

No changes on the board 8♠ 5♦ 3♦ 4♠ 5♠ for a double to Liang.

Again a preflop shove by Josh McCully with A♥ Q♥ up against Ivan Lee’s K♣ J♦ . The board ran 3♣ 8♥ T♥ 5♥ 2♥ for McCully to claim his fourth double up.

Several hands later, McCully raises 25,000 from utg+1 and finds two callers to the flop 4♠ 2♦ 9♥ . McCully c-bets 33,000, button folds, big blind Jin Hoon Le calls then both check the turn T♦ . On the river 8♣ , McCully shoves, Lee tanks using up one time back then folds.

Having just doubled up Josh McCully, Anton Lu engages in a preflop betting war with Jin Hoon Lee leading to another showdown. Lu with A♣ Q♠ , Lee K♥ K♣ , board runs 2♦ T♠ 8♣ T♣ 5♣ , kings hold.

Josh McCully was down to just 9,000 but three double ups later, he now sits with 12 bb. His latest win was three-betting A♠ 8♠ against Anton Lu’s K♣ 8♣ on a board A♣ 9♠ 4♦ 5♣ 2♦ .

Chip leader Nguyen Truong Giang opens 25,000 from utg, two spots over Jack Salter three-bets it all, Nguyen calls and it’s a flip with Salter A♣ Q♣ , Nguyen 7♦ 7♥ , board runs T♠ 4♠ 2♥ 8♦ 2♠ . With no spades around, Salter scores a double.

The only female left in the field, Nguyen Truong Giang, is currently chip-leading the 48 remaining players.

Another heavy preflop betting that ends in shoves. Cutoff Xiao Shen Zheng opens 40,000, button Nam Hyung Kim three-bets 200,000, Zheng four-bets all in for 650,000, Kim calls.

Zheng A♦ J♣ Kim Q♣ Q♠

The board run J♥ K♥ 5♣ 6♦ T♠ . The ladies clean out Zheng.

Josh McCully invincible at Superstar Challenge Day 1, bags an enormous stack

Date: March 24, 2024 Buy in: VN₫ 120,000,000 (~USD 4,938) Guarantee: VN₫ 3,000,000,000 (~USD 121,000) Entries: 118 (72 unique) Prize pool: VN₫ 12,819,500,000 (~USD 517,000) ITM: 18 players

Down to just 12 bb, Lin Jian Wei risked it all on Josh McCully’s shove and was ahead at the with A♣ K♣ against Q♠ 5♥ , but with the board dropping two fives, 5♦ 5♠ 4♣ J♣ 9♠ , that just about sealed the day with Lin falling on the bubble.

Jin Hoon Lee Q♣ Q♥ dominates Teoh Kok Wei’s 8♦ 8♣ throughout the board for a double up during the bubble round.

Down to 14 bb, Jack Salter shoves holding A♥ K♠ , Jang Dong Min calls with A♣ K♣ , board drops a bunch of clubs 9♠ 4♣ Q♣ 9♣ 8♣ to send Salter to the exit.

19 players remaining.

Mike Takayama all in for his remaining 9 bb with A♣ 9♥ then falls to Nguyen Trung Quan’s T♦ T♠ on board 5♣ 3♣ 3♦ K♠ 9♦ .

20 players remaining.

From the button, Dao Minh Phu three-bets Josh McCully then triples barrels 125,000, 250,000, and 1,000,000 a board 7♠ 3♣ J♣ 4♣ Q♦ , McCully check-calls throughout, Dao mucks.

Blinds up, 22 players remaining. Only four busts to reach ITM. From there, players race for a spot at the final table and be that much closer to winning the enormous VN₫ 3,222,800,000 (~USD 130k).

Top 5 in chips:

Utg Jack Salter raises 75,000, utg+2 Jang Dong Min calls, both check to the river Q♥ 6♣ A♠ 6♥ 3♠ . Salter leads out 125,000, Jang raises to 430,000, Salter tanks using up two time-banks then folds.

Utg Nguyen Truong Giang raises 65,000, cutoff Jang Dong Min three-bets 155,000, Nguyen four-bets 330,000, Jang stops the betting bounce by calling. At the flop 7♦ 7♠ 2♦ , Nguyen fires 205,000, Jang folds.

Utg+1 Josh McCully raises to 65,000, utg+2 Dao Minh Phu and big blind Guy Taylor call then all three check to the turn board Q♦ 7♦ 6♦ T♠ . McCully bets 70,000, Dao calls, Taylor folds. It is back to checking on the river 4♥ . McCully shows K♦ 9♥ , Dao wins it with A♠ T♥ pair.

Utg+1 Nguyen Trung Quan min-raises, cutoff Dao Minh Phu calls, both see a flop K♦ T♦ 8♥ and both check. The turn 3♠ sees Nguyen bet 50,000, Dao calls. On the A♦ turn, Nguyen checks, Dao jumps out with a 150,000 bet, Nguyen opts to fold.

Superstar Challenge - Day 1

Date: March 24, 2024 Buy in: VN₫ 120,000,000 (~USD 4,938) Guarantee: VN₫ 3,000,000,000 (~USD 121,000) Entries: 118 (72 unique) Prize pool: VN₫ 12,819,500,000 (~USD 517,000) ITM: 18 players

23 players remaining… only five to ITM then they play down to the final table.

Three way all in pre initiated by button Lester Edoc to 50,000, small blind Nishant Sharma three-bet shoves 365,000, big blind Christian Harder four-bet shoves his massive stack, back to Edoc who calls for his remaining 550,000.

Nishant Sharma Q♣ 8♣ Christian Harder A♠ K♦ Lester Edoc A♥ Q♠

The board runs T♠ 7♥ 6♥ J♠ 7♦ . Everyone misses, big slicked Harder sweeps.

Two players call Mike Takayama’s 40,000 raise and head to the flop T♠ 8♥ 5♠ . Action checks to cutoff Dao Minh Phu who slides out 70,000. Big blind folds, Takayama calls. Same action on the turn 5♣ and river 7♦ . Takayama check-calls Dao’s 100,000 and 200,00 bets. Dao shows his K♠ T♣ pair, Takayama mucks.

Utg Nam Hyung Kim min-raises, big blind Dao Minh Phu defends, flop runs A♣ K♠ 3♠ . Kim c-bets 35,000, Dao check-calls. Both players check the 4♦ turn, then Kim calls Dao’s 100,000 lead out bet. Dao shows A♦ 7♣ , Kim mucks.

Lyu Junqiang opens and is joined by two players to the flop Q♠ 4♥ K♥ . Junqiang c-bets 75,000, one player folds, big blind Thomas Ward check-raises all in for 400,000. Junqiang snap-calls and turns over Q♥ Q♣ set, Ward has a lower set 4♦ 4♣ . With the turn 9♣ and river 7♦ , Ward is elminated.

Utg+1 Pham Tien Dung calls Josh McCully’s 140,000 three-bet from the small blind. When the board completes K♥ K♦ 7♥ 3♣ Q♦ , Pham calls McCully ‘s every street bet - 90,000, 245,000, 500,000 - then mucks to McCully’s J♠ Q♥ full house.

Cutoff Teoh Kok Wei raises to 50,000, button Victor Chong three-bets 105,000, Teoh calls. Both players check the flop Q♠ J♠ 4♠ . On the turn 3♣ , Teoh leads out 50,000, Chong flats. Another 50,000 bet on the river 2♣ by Teoh, this time Chong gives up his stake on the pot.

Unfortunate end for Nguyen Quang Huy with his A♣ A♠ cracked by Lester Edoc’s J♠ 9♠ . From the button, Nguyen shoved 20 bb, small blind Edoc joined the shove to push out the big blind. Board ran 9♥ 9♦ 5♠ Q♠ 7♣ .