MINI MAIN EVENT (12,000,000 VND)

Zhihao Chen managed to secure himself a nice money jump a couple of hands ago at table 6, utilising his saved timebanks, which allowed him to increasing his payout by ~VND 6,000,000 (~USD 230).

Chen moved all in except for one 5,000-chip he kept over his cards. Only big blind Pham Anh Tuan made the call and they went to a flop.

Tuan tossed in the chip after the dealer spread the 6♥ 3♣ 5♣ flop, with Chen really taking his time to decide on the call... Three timebanks used before committing his last chip, showing:

Zhihao Chen: K♥ J♣

Pham Anh Tuan: A♦ J♦

Chen gathered his things as the dealer ran out the A♠ 4♥ board, heading to the payout desk.

Players are now on their second scheduled break of the day. 48 players remaining.

Table 4 features three different flight chip leaders: Hyunsu Lee from Day 1A, Bo Zhang from Day 1C, and Tran Vinh Hoan Nguyen from Day 1E. The table is stacked with top stacks, promising plenty of action.

Action folded to Thang Minh Truong, who shoved for 135,000. Xuan Duy Tran also shoved for 290,000, and Anh Dung Le called.

Thang Minh Truong: K♣ 9♣

Xuan Duy Tran: A♥ A♣

Anh Dung Le: A♠ Q♦

Board: 9♠ 7♥ 3♣ Q♠ 5♠

Tran’s aces held strong, eliminating Truong, while Le’s stack dropped to 45,000.

Xinze Li raised to 50,000 from under the gun, then folded to button Hengyi Yue's shove for 110,000. Only big blind Linghui Dai made the call, and they showed their hands:

Hengyi Yue: 3♣ 3♦

Lingui Dai: J♥ J♠

Yue looked pensive as the cards were laid down, with the A♠ A♣ 6♠ Q♠ 2♥ runout sending him to the payout desk.

Kyle Diep limped in from the small blind and Le Ngoc Minh tapped the table in the big.

Diep check-folded Minh's 30,000 bet following the 9♠ 3♣ 5♥ flop.

Below is Table 2's updated counts.

Zhiyu Wang add more chips to his towering stack.

Tingjia Cao from UTG open-shoved for 260,000. On his left, Zhiyu Wang made the call, sending both players to a showdown.

Tingjia Cao: K♠ K♥

Zhiyu Wang: A♥ A♦

Board: 3♥ 9♠ 3♣ 5♦ 9♣

A classic cooler, but Wang’s aces held strong, sending Cao out of the Mini Main with kings as his last hand.

Qingxin Li raised to 45,000 from middle position and was called only by star of the Day 1a soft bubble Tuan Anh Nguyen. Nguyen was a central part of the "no look all-in" that occurred, surviving and staying afloat as the field whittles down during Day 2.

The T♦ 8♣ Q♣ flop was fanned and Nguyen checked. Li continued for 25,000 which was enough to throw Nguyen off the pot.

_________

In the next hand, Nguyen claimed some chips back with a shove from the small blind that nobody wan't to get involved in.

_________

In the third recorded hand, Duy Thuc Nguyen raised to 40,000 from middle position and Li called from the big blind.

Li check-called Nguyen's 30,000 continuation-bet following the T♣ A♦ 6♣ flop. Both players checked the 3♣ turn to see the A♠ land on the river.

Li led out for 80,000, prompting Nguyen to utilise some time banks. It's worth noting there were 82 players in the field at this point, with a decent money jump occurring from 82-81.

After a healthy amount of deliberation, Nguyen tossed in the call, only to see Li had turned a flush with J♣ 2♣.

Big pot in the middle T♣ 7♠ 9♥ 5♦ 6♥ for 750,000. Alex Boldt checked, then Hyunsu Lee shoved for 595,000. Boldt used his entire time bank before making the call.

Hyunsu Lee: A♦ T♠

Alex Boldt: K♠ T♥

Lee showed his cards and was already ready to leave, thinking he was behind. Boldt slowly revealed his hand, realizing he lost. Lee scooped the big double up and now takes the chip lead.

Chung Ky Bang limped in from the small blind and Park Hyung Keun checked in the big.

The all-diamond queen-three-nine flop came, and Bang checked. Keun picked off 20,000 and dropped them in the middle, prompting a quick fold from Bang. Keun happily showed his K♦ as the sent his cards back to the dealer.

Li Xinze raised to 30,000 from early position, only to be three-bet to 85,000 by Tuan Anh Nguyen in middle position.

Both players checked the T♦ J♠ T♣ flop, as well as the 4♣ turn.

On the 9♦ river, Xinze moved all in for around 200,000 chips. Short stack Nguyen sat back and deliberated, before ultimately deciding to hand his cards back.

Players are now on their first scheduled break of the day. During the break there will be a chip race for the 1,000-denomination chips.

After half an orbit of shoves getting through, Nguyen Thanh Long's luck finally ran out when small blind Wei Wei Tang called looking to eliminate him.

Hijack Long had two less cards to hit as Tang had pocket eights to his A♦ 8♥.

Tang's eights held on the 9♠ K♦ Q♣ 7♣ K♥ runout, and Long was eliminated just before the break.

After capturing his first title at the GLPC Hanoi 2025 Superstar Challenge, Tran Vinh Hoan Nguyen is now chasing a second trophy in the Mini Main Event. He entered Day 2 with 890,000 chips and has since built his stack to over 1,200,000, keeping his momentum alive.

Ming Ken Thoo open shoved for 151,000. Big blind Georgios Skarparis woke up with kings and made the call.

Ming Ken Thoo: A♦ 9♦

Georgios Skarparis: K♣ K♥

Before the flop was shown, Skarparis told me, "Derick, give me some luck," and fist bumped me. I said good luck, but then the flop T♥ 9♣ 5♠ gave Skarparis a sweat, the turn 3♥ was safe, and the river 9♠ gave Thoo trips.

Skarparis could only smile and shake his head as Thoo scored a lucky double up.

Bo Zhang climbed to 1,600,000 after winning a flip against Ashwin Vijayvergiya. With that pot, Zhang not only secured the Flight C chip lead but also became the overall chip leader heading into Day 2, holding a stack far ahead of the rest of the field.

Hand 1

Phung Duc Chinh moved all in from middle position with hijack Quang Van Thoo calling to put himself at risk. Chinh had A♠ 6♦, Pham had A♦ J♥.

The board ran out clean for the short stack, pairing his jack early on the J♣ 2♣ 9♠ Q♥ K♦ runout, leaving Chinh with just 6,000 left.

Hand 2

Kun Han Lee raised to 20,000 and Chinh tossed in his last two chips. Lee had 7♥ 7♣, Chinh had A♦ Q♦.

Chinh couldn't win the second time around either, with the 8♠ 5♠ 3♦ 3♣ 7♦ board improving Lee to a set on the river, just to add insult to injury (and elimination.)

Hand 3

Pham raised to 22,000 but promptly folded when button Georgios Skarparis three-bet to 67,000.

Hand 4

Lee shoved from the small blind and got it through.

Hand 5

Lee shoved from the button and got it through.

With 125,000 already in the pot, Duc Dong Dang checked from the big blind, prompting chip leader Bo Zhang to fire a strong 70,000 bet.

Dang used a time bank before raising it up to 160,000. Zhang thought it over but eventually folded his hand. Dang proudly flipped over K♣ 6♣ , just bottom pair. Showing he wasn’t afraid to challenge the leader.

A♠ Zhang smiled and said, “I’ll remember you,” Dang coolly replied, “No bluff.”

Dang Tu Nguyen raised to 50,000 from the hijack and Anzhela Vasylenko called from the small blind.

Nguyen continued for 11,000 once the Q♠ Q♣ 2♥ flop hit the felt and Vasylenko stuck around.

Both players checked through the T♠ turn to see the 3♣ river, where Nguyen fired off 50,000. The table chip leader thought on it for a moment before ultimately sliding her cards back to the dealer.

Just one level into Day 2 of the Mini Main Event and the bust-outs are coming thick and fast, with play continuing until a champion is crowned later today!

These two hands saw pocket kings both eliminate someone and save another from eliminated.

Tuan Minh Tran got his ~130,000-chip stack in preflop against table chip leader Tran Vinh Nguyen, with Nguyen holding kings and Tran with pocket sixes. The 4♦ J♦ 4♣ 9♣ Q♦ ran out clean for Nguyen who secured yet another elimination, boosting his already hefty stack.

A few hands later, Wayne McGregor got his 65,000-chip stack in against Shu Liu, with short stack McGregor holding the kings this time around against Liu's ace-deuce of clubs.

McGregor faded draws as well as an ace on the 7♦ T♥ 4♠ 9♠ 9♣ runout, doubling up.

Gia Tu Dinh opened to 135,000, leaving just 3,000 behind. On his left, Van Phong Tran called all in for his remaining 131,000, and both players tabled their hands.

Gia Tu Dinh: 8♦ 7♦

Van Phong Tran: 9♦ 9♠

Board: T♣ Q♣ 8♥ 5♥ Q♠

Tran’s pocket nines held strong to secure the double-up, while Dinh was left with just 7,000 in chips.

Chengshan Wu fired a 5-bet jam to put maximum pressure on Nan Wei.

Wei opened to 18,000, and Wu, on his left, raised it up to 55,000. The action went back to Wei, who bumped it again to 150,000. Without hesitation, Wu shoved all in, forcing Wei into the tank, but not for long.

Wei eventually folded, and Wu scooped the pot without a showdown. Easy money for Wu.