MAIN EVENT (20,000,000 VND)

Day 1A of the Main Event at the Grand Loyal Poker Championship (GLPC) in Hanoi drew a field of 311 entries (199 unique), with 39 players advancing to Day 2 and guaranteed a place in the money. Leading the way is Vietnam’s Van Quoc Vo, who closed the day with 1,334,000 chips.

Already near the top of the counts in the latter stages, Vo cemented his lead after a massive hand against Guozhi Li, where his pocket kings held against Li’s queens to add roughly half a million chips to his stack. Nearly half of Vo’s live earnings have come from a recent deep run in Jeju, and he’ll be hoping to convert that form into a major result here as he chases the lion’s share of the VND 18 billion (~USD 710,000) prize pool. Being the Day 1A chip leader, Vo also pockets a VND 40 million (~USD 1,580) bonus for his efforts.

Chasing Quoc’s tail is Mini Main Event Champion Le Viet Anh, who shows no signs of slowing down despite already claiming a title this series. He’ll take a strong 1,034,000, exactly 300,000 behind Vo, into Day 2 after a huge hand on the bubble. In a dramatic three-way all-in with short stack Bo Li at risk, action checked through the board with Li’s cards still unknown. When the hands were revealed after the river, Anh’s paired jack held firm against Li’s ace-king and Khoi Nguyen’s ace-queen, securing him a massive pot and making Li the official bubble boy of Day 1A.

The full list of chip counts will be posted as soon as they are made available. Tune in Somuchpoker tomorrow for comprehensive Main Event coverage right here on the ground in Hanoi!

Bo Li was all in before the flop with two callers, Viet Anh Le and Khoi Nguyen.

Bo Li: A♥ K♥

Khoi Nguyen: A♠ Q♠

Viet Anh Le: Q♣ J♠

Le and Nguyen check the flop 2♦ 8♣ T♦ and the turn 3♣ . Again, both players check, and Le hit the lucky river J♣ and successfully bursts the bubble, eliminating Bo Li.

With 40 players remaining, the floor has officially commenced hand-for-hand play.

Only three players remain to be eliminated before the field reaches the money. While the bubble looms, the action has slowed down, with the shortest stacks carefully navigating each hand.

Pierre Husson opened to 8,000 only to face a three-bet to 49,000 from his neighbour, Chung Ky Bang. After some thought, Husson made the call.

On the 6♥ Q♦ K♠ flop, Husson checked before springing to life after Bang’s 20,000 continuation-bet, raising to 65,000. Bang considered his options for a moment but eventually released his hand, with Husson dragging in the pot.

Players are now on their fourth scheduled break of the day. Only three more players need to be eliminated before the remaining field reaches the money.

Tran Minh Thang got the last of his ~52,000-chip stack in from the hijack, with cutoff Pierre Husson looking to take him out on the soft bubble:

Tran Minh Thang: K♦ J♠

Pierre Husson: A♣ Q♦

An unfortunate flop for Thang as the board came 5♦ J♦ A♥, pairing his jack but giving Husson top pair. The 2♠ 2♥ runout changed nothing, leaving Thang out just short of the money with three players still to go before the bubble bursts.

Van Quoc Vo scored the largest pot of the day, putting him in prime position to secure the chip leader bonus.

Guozhi Li opened to 12,000. The button raised to 35,000, and Vo called from the big blind. Li then shoved 436,000. The button folded, and Vo asked the dealer to count Li’s stack. After careful thought, Vo made the call.

Guozhi Li: Q♦ Q♠

Van Quoc Vo: K♠ K♣

Both had monster hands, and with roughly 900,000 in the middle, the tension was sky-high. The board A♥ 2♥ T♦ T♥ 7♠ ran out safely for Vo and successfully eliminated Li. Vo now have a high chance of getting the chip leader bonus worth VND 40,000,000.

Vo Van Quoc opened to 12,000 and got two calls from Tianjun Yang in the cutoff and button Guozhi Li, who three-bet to 55,000. Only Quoc stuck around.

On the Q♣ A♣ 4♠ flop, the current chip leader checked, and Li slid 32,000 into the middle, forcing a fold from Quoc.

The blinds are up, and the tension is rising. Only 7 more players need to be eliminated before the remaining field reaches the ITM. Vo Van Quoc is leading with more than a million stack.

Mini Main Event Champion, Viet Anh Le, checked the board 8♥ 8♠ 6♠ T♠ 9♦ with 80,000 in the middle. From the button, Chung Ky Bang fired 32,000.

Le tanked then folded. Bang revealed his cards 9♠ 7♠ with a grin and it was a straight flush! The table erupted as his massive hand took the pot uncontested.

Fresh off his Mini Main Event win last night, where he struck a deal heads-up with Hyunsu Lee, Le Viet Anh is back in action today looking to see if lightning can strike twice.

He’s started steadily, sitting on around 290,000 with the average at 210,000, though he did just drop a pot to Tran Minh Thang.

Anh opened to 10,000 from early position, and Thang called. On the Q♠ 6♠ T♣ flop, Anh continued for 12,000 before Thang made the call. The 9♠ turn brought a check from Anh, and he let it go after Thang fired 28,000.

Facing an early position raise, current chip leader Van Quoc Vo 3-bet to 35,000. From the big blind, Xu Pan pumped it up further to 102,000.

Vo wasted no time, then he shoved all in. Pan went deep into the tank, burning through two time banks before finally laying it down.

Vo then kindly flipped over A♠ K♠, smiling as he said, “I still have many chips even if I lose.”

The table shared a laugh as the confident chip leader continued his dominant run.

The action was joined on a board showing 9♣ 3♦ 5♦, with big blind Pham Thanh Binh, Peng Zhang and button Kennie Tay in the pot. Binh had just shoved for 53,000 and Zhang got out of the way. After confirming the count, Tay mad the call:

Pham Thanh Binh: 9♦ 7♠

Kennie Tay: 6♣ 6♥

Binh was ahead, needing to fade a six or runner-runner. The A♦ changed little, and the 7♣ on the river only improved Binh, securing the full double-up.

Zhang said he had ace-queen, thankful for his fold.

"I had six-eight of diamonds," was heard from Hengyi Yue, who had presumably folded preflop.

Another three-way all-in preflop unfolded, with Tien Dung Pham covering both Sergei Solovev and Truong Giang Pham.

Sergei Solovev: K♦ Q♣

Truong Giang Pham: Q♠ Q♦

Tien Dung Pham: T♦ 9♣

The flop 9♥ 9♠ K♥ was a disaster for both Solovev and Truong as Tien flopped trips, leaving them drawing thin. The turn 2♠ and river 8♥ brought no help, and Tien scooped it all and eliminating both opponents in one swing.

Action was joined on a completed board of Q♠ Q♣ 6♠ 6♣ K♠, with Le Ngoc Minh and Saahib Bawa battling for a pot of around 170,000.

Minh moved the rest of his 40,000 stack into the middle, declaring all in. Bawa took a brief moment before calling, asking if Minh held pocket sixes, then revealed K♥ Q♦ for a full house. Minh showed Q♥ 9♥ for trip queens and could only watch as the pot slid the other way, with murmurs of “cooler” circling the table.

He was eliminated roughly 30 players shy of the money.

Players are now on their third scheduled break of the day. There will be a chip race for the 500-denomination chips.

An all-in clash occurred preflop between Tablas Gonzales and Hong Quan Nguyen.

Tablas Gonzales: K♣ K♦

Hong Quan Nguyen: A♣ 9♠

By the time I arrived, the cards were already tabled and the board 9♣ 8♣ 8♦ 2♠ 5♦ was complete. Gonzales’ kings held strong. The dealer pushed the pot his way as Gonzales stacked up 266,500, scoring a clean double-up.

Hong Quan Nguyen opened to 6,000 and was three-bet to 12,000 by Alvaro Tablas one seat to his left. Jiang Ho Huang then four-bet shoved for his remaining 28,500 and found a lone caller in Tablas.

Jiang Ho Huang: A♣ K♠

Alvaro Tablas: Q♥ T♥

Huang looked set for a double on the J♠ 5♦ 3♦ flop, but the T♣ on the turn flipped the script. The 5♠ river confirmed his exit, with no reentry available in this flight.

While the flight moves deeper, a few players have pulled away from the pack and are now in contention for the VND 40,000,000 chip leader bonus.

At table 43, UTG Quoc Hung To opened to 5,000 and found a call from hijack Philbert Lim, before Nguyen Quang Son three-bet behind. Both To and Lim eventually folded, and Son flipped over pocket kings as reassurance.

Over on table 34, Guozhi Li also raised to 5,000 from under the gun, with action folding around to big blind Nguyen Ngoc Khanh. After a brief pause, Khanh decided to let it go, and Li turned over his own pocket kings with a grin and a “Good fold.”

Action folded to the button, where Yupeng Xie raised to 5,500. Ferdinand Lu called from the small blind.

On the flop A♦ 5♥ 2♠ , Xie fired 6,500, and Lu check-called. Both players checked the turn 7♥ . When the river 5♣ landed, Lu led out for 18,000, and Xie snap-called.

Lu revealed T♦ 5♦ for trip on the river, while Xie mucked his hand as the pot slid to Lu.

Tao Li opened preflop and was met with a 3-bet from Zong Xian Lim to 22,000. Li shoved back with 70,000, and Lim snap-shoved for 122,000. Li called.

Zong Xian Lim: A♠ Q♥

Tao Li: 8♣ 8♠

Lim flopped Q♠ K♥ 4♣ a queen, then turned A♣ a second pair, giving him two pair and the strong lead. Li had just one out to eliminate Lim, but the river T♦ bricked.

Hand 1

Dorel Cohen opened to 2,000 from middle position and picked up calls from blinds Vu Van Tiep and Jules Rohr. Both checked the A♠ J♥ 6♠ flop, where Cohen continued for 8,000 to take it down.

Hand 2

Cutoff Vu Van Tiep opened to 5,000 and small blind Vo Van Quoc made the call. The flop came 9♣ 8♥ 3♥, and Quoc check-called Tiep’s 3,000 continuation-bet. When the A♣ landed on the turn, Quoc checked again but folded to a 10,500 second barrel.

Hand 3

Cohen opened to 6,000 under the gun and found calls from cutoff Rohr and button Quoc. The flop fell 9♦ 8♠ 8♣, and after checks from Cohen and Rohr, Quoc fired 12,500 into the middle. Cohen raised to 35,000, Rohr folded, and Quoc moved all in for around 200,000. Cohen tank-folded, showing pocket tens, while Quoc revealed six-seven offsuit for an open-ended straight draw.

From under the gun, David Gershun opened to 5,000, picked up a call from UTG+1, and Xuan Thuy Ngo defended from the small blind.

On the flop K♠ 3♠ 2♦ , Gershun continued for 7,000, UTG+1 folded, and Ngo check-called. The turn 3♦ saw Ngo take the lead, firing 20,000, which Gershun called.

On the river A♥ , Ngo bet again but this time 50,000. After a long tank, Gershun made the call. Ngo revealed 3♥ 5♥ for trips, and Gershun could only muck as Ngo scooped the pot.

Anzhela Vasylenko opened to 4,000 from middle position, finding calls from button Quan Qiu and big blind Rubin Labroo.

The flop came T♣ 8♠ J♦ and checked around to the 4♥ turn, where Vasylenko took the lead for 5,000. Labroo stepped aside, while Qiu made the call to see the river.

The 2♠ completed the board, and Vasylenko kept the pressure on with a 15,000 bet. Qiu thought briefly before letting it go.

Registration has now closed for Day 1a of the Main Event. There have been a total of 311 registrations (199 unique), with 137 players still remaining.

Players will continue on through 40-minute levels until 39 players remain and the ITM bubble bursts.

Players are now on their third scheduled break of the day. During this time there will be a chip race for the 100-denomination chips.

In the first hand, cutoff Ngo Xuan Thuy raised to 3,000 and picked up a call from big blind Hoai Anh Tran. Both checked the 8♣ 8♦ 6♦ flop and 5♣ turn. On the T♣ river, Tran led for 5,000, and Thuy called to see ace-queen for ace-high before turning over J♣ T♠ for top pair.

In the next hand, hijack Hyosung Kim opened to 3,000 and button Yiaho Jiang made the call. Jiang quickly folded to Kim’s 4,000 continuation-bet once the 6♦ 6♠ 3♠ flop hit the felt.

The third hand saw Thuy open to 3,000 again, with calls from cutoff Jiang and big blind Shankui Li. Li check-folded on the Q♠ K♦ 8♦ flop, while Thuy bet 4,000 and called Jiang’s raise to 7,500. The 8♠ turn brought a 20,000-chip barrel from Jiang, which Thuy let go of after some thought.

It was a preflop clash of monsters as three players went all in.

Dorel Cohen: A♣ A♥

Jan Peter Eickholt: K♠ K♣

Vu Chau Duong: Q♠ Q♣

An unbelievable cooler, Cohen’s pocket aces dominated both opponents. The flop T♥ 5♠ 2♥ and turn 3♥ ran safe for him, and it looked like a clean sweep. On the river K♥ , Eickholt found a set of kings, but Cohen improved to the nut flush, sealing a double knockout and raking in a massive pot.

With registration closing after this level, this is the last chance for these hopefuls to get involved in this flight.

Chengbei Li opened to 2,500 from middle position and picked up three callers: cutoff Quang Vu Dinh and blinds Nguyen Duy Tuan and Yangfeng Wang, sending four players to the flop.

The dealer spread 4♠ T♠ 9♣. Both blinds checked, and Li continued for 5,000. Dinh called, before Tuan moved all in for around 45,000. Wang folded, and Li called off his short stack, followed by Dinh after using a timebank.

Chengbei Li: K♣ T♣

Nguyen Duy Tuan: 9♥ 4♥

Quang Vu Dinh: 9♠ 7♠

Tuan led with two pair, while Dinh had a flush draw and Li held plenty of outs. The 3♥ 5♦ runout changed nothing, sending the pot to Tuan, who tripled up while Li hit the rail and Dinh was left short.

Shuphala Vongsounthon has crossed the 300K mark and continues to build momentum as the game goes on.

Action folded to the small blind, where the chip leader raised to 3,500. Weiwei Tang called from the big blind. On the flop Q♣ 9♥ 6♣ , Vongsounthon fired 3,500, and Tang called. When Vongsounthon bet 11,500 on the turn 7♥ , Tang decided to fold and another pot sliding to the dominant chip leader.

Action was joined preflop with Benjamin Setta and Kha Nguyen going heads up to the flop, both in middle position.

Nguyen checked once the dealer spread the T♥ 4♣ 2♦, and Setta paused before counting out 25,000 to bet.

Before he could place them, Nguyen quickly folded. Setta flicked over the T♦, laughing with Nguyen and mentioning another picture card as he collected the pot.

Ngoc Minh Le, Junjie He, and Jie Zheng all fell at the same time, victims of a massive hand won by Duc Canh Cu.

Junjie He and Ngoc Minh Le were already all in before the flop, and Jie Zheng joined the action. Duc Canh called with a flush draw and didn’t back down. The turn delivered exactly what he needed, completing his flush and scoring a triple knockout in dramatic fashion.

Action was joined with roughly 7,000 already in the pot as Hyosung Kim, Xinze Li, and Beomseok Son went three-ways to the flop.

The dealer spread 6♥ 7♣ 7♦, and all three players checked to the 2♠ turn. Li then took the lead for 3,500, with only Kim making the call.

On the A♥ river, Li slowed down and checked, only to fold when Kim slid out a bet of 3,500.

I had a quick chat with newcomer David Gershun from Russia, who recently moved to Phuket, Thailand just two weeks ago. Gershun traveled to Vietnam to play poker, and it’s his first time ever in the country, but he’s already loving it.

When asked what he liked most about Vietnam, he smiled and said, “The girls are really beautiful, I love the food, and the Vietnamese people are very warm, plus, they can understand me!”

Gershun is currently one of the chip leaders in Main Event Flight A, making him a strong contender for the VND 40,000,000 chip leader bonus.

Tianjun Yang and Nguyen Van Hung called button Pengyu Jia's 3,000 bet, and they headed three-ways to the flop.

Yang check-folded and Hung check-called Jia's 3,000 continuation-bet following the 3♥ 2♥ 5♠ flop.

Jia bumped it up to 6,000 once the 3♦ hit the turn; enough to shake Hung off as he folded shortly after.

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

Registration is still open until 18:10 p.m. local time, giving players ample time to get back involved should they choose to!

From under the gun, Nhu Hieu Man opened the action, and the hijack raised to 3,000. On the big blind, Junkyu Park shoved for 34,700, Man quickly called, and the hijack folded.

Junkyu Park: T♠ 7♥

Nhu Hieu Man: A♠ A♦

Man looked set with pocket aces, but the flop 7♦ 7♣ 6♥ brought trips for Park, a shocking sight for Man. The turn J♠ and river K♣ offered no help, and Park scored a huge double-up against the bullets.

In the first of Ngo Xuan Thuy’s eventual bustout hands, he raised to 1,600 from the hijack before calling big blind Dorel Cohen’s shove for around 29,000. Thuy was in good shape with ace-jack against Cohen’s king-jack, but Cohen paired his king on the 6♥ K♠ Q♠ 2♣ 8♠ board. Thuy rose from his seat, slinging his timebanks away in frustration, only for the dealer to inform him he still had around 5,000 left.

In the next hand, Thuy got it all in against button Ruiji Xie, both holding ace-nine, resulting in a chopped pot.

On his third and final hand of the bullet, Thuy moved all in again. Once Wei Xu had been woken by his tablemates to fold, Van Truyen Bien made the call with pocket sevens against Thuy’s queen-six.

Despite Thuy pairing his six, the sevens held on the 2♦ J♣ 6♠ 5♣ 5♠ board to end his first attempt at the Main Event.

Thuy was seen sat at table 40 a couple of minutes later.

With around 30,000 already in the middle 3♥ 3♦ Q♥ 8♣ A♦ , Shuphala Vongsounthon checked, then shoved for 47,200 after Trung Quan Nguyen bet 14,000. Nguyen used a time bank before making the call.

Shuphala Vongsounthon: A♥ 3♠

Trung Quan Nguyen: A♠ K♥

The river brought chaos, Shuphala hit a full house, while Nguyen also improved but to the worse hand. He could only shake his head as Shuphala scooped the pot.

From under the gun, Tom Anthony Eady opened to 1,400, and Quan Qiu 3-bet to 4,200. On the hijack, Tattana Pengduen shoved all in for 36,900. Eady made the call while Qiu stepped aside.

Tattana Pengduen: A♠ K♠

Tom Anthony Eady: K♥ K♦

Both players woke up with monsters, but Pengduen needed an ace and he found one right on the flop A♣ 6♥ 8♥ . Eady was left with just one out, but the turn 7♥ and river 3♣ bricked out, sealing a huge double-up for Pengduen.

Nguyen Van Chien raised to 1,300 from middle position, which was called by cutoff Li Fankai and small blind Chengbei Li. UTG Chen Wang then raised to 7,000, to which Chien burned through a couple of timebanks before ultimately deciding on a fold, with the two remaining players quickly folding also.

In the next hand at table 50, Chien raised to 1,300 again, when big blind Quang Vu Dinh moved the entirety of his 30,000 stack into the middle. Chien quickly called and they showed their hands:

Nguyen Van Chien: J♥ J♣

Quang Vu Dinh: A♠ Q♦

Bad news for Chien as Dinh paired his ace immediately on the A♣ 7♦ K♣ 7♥ 8♦ runout, as Chien was leaving the table Dinh gleefully said "Thank you bro!" and palmed his hands together.

Hand 1

Pavel Kratsov raised to 1,000 but folded to Bubna Harsh's 3,200 three-bet.

Hand 2

Button Tuan Nghia Tran raised to 1,000 and received a call from big blind Roman Nikulin. Nikulin check-called a 1,000 continuation-bet following the A♥ 6♥ Q♠ flop.

Both players checked the remainder of the 7♣ Q♦ runout to see that Nikulin held K♣ 6♠ for middle pair, and Tran mucked.

Hand 3

Kevin Hunter raised to 1,000 and received a call from Tran, and action checked through the Q♦ 6♦ 6♣ 7♥ flop and turn to the 9♣ river, where Hunter check-folded Tran's 1,000 bet.

Hand 4

Button Nikulin raised to 1,000, then folded to big blind Anh Tuan Dang's 3,700 three-bet.

Hand 5

Xiaotong Yu raised to 1,000 from early position and found a call from big blind Harsh. Harsh check-called Yu's 900 bet following the 3♣ 5♣ J♥ flop.

Both players checked the 9♦ turn. to the J♦ river, where Harsh led out for 900. Yu made the call to see Harsh's K♠ 5♣ for middle pair, mucking his own cards.

Facing an early position raise, Radev Radoslavov 3-bet to 3,000. Van Hung Tran defended his big blind while the initial raiser folded.

Tran check-called both the flop A♥ Q♣ 7♣ and turn 9♥ as Radoslavov fired 2,500 and 8,000. When the river J♦ hit, Tran suddenly donked all in. After using a time bank, Radoslavov made the call for his remaining 42,000.

Radev Radoslavov: A♠ Q♥

Van Hung Tran: T♣ 8♣

Tran completed his gutshot straight on the river, leaving Radoslavov in disbelief. “Why did you call the flop with that hand?” he asked. Tran just smiled and now sitting as the new chip leader.

Players are on their first scheduled break of the day.

Peng Zhang raised to 800 from under the gun and received calls from cuttoff Ziaohui Wang and button Le Nhu an. Small blind Shuphala Vongsounthon three-bet to 2,500 and only Zhang stuck around to see the flop.

The dealer laid out 9♣ K♦ J♣, and Vongsounthon checked. Zhang put 10,000 into the middle and received a call.

On the 7♦ turn, Vongsounthon checked again but instantly folded to Zhang's shove, and he scooped up the pot.

Xu Pan raised to 600 from middle position and was called by cutoff Cu Duc Canh and big blind Jun Kyu Park.

On the 9♣ 8♥ J♣ flop, both Pan and Park check-folded following a 1,700 bet from Canh, who claimed back a modest pot after losing to Jie Zheng the hand prior, where Zheng spiked a king on the river to beat him with two pair.

Small blind Oh Ryun Kwon raised to 2,200, and button Quang Son Nguyen stuck around with a call.

Kwon continued for 3,000 once the dealer fanned the 9♥ 4♣ 3♠ flop, Nguyen made the call once more.

On the 6♥ turn, both players checked through to see the 2♠ river where Kwon fired off 7,000. Nguyen quickly made the call to see the bad news; Kwon held T♦ 3♦ for a pair of threes, pipping Nguyen's K♠ J♣ for king-high.

The action was joined on a board of 8♥ A♣ J♣ 5♦, where Le Manh Cuong check-called a 6,400-chip bet from Bubna Harsh. Also in the pot were Donghyeok Lee and Vo Van Quoc, although they didn't hang around this time.

Action was cautious on the 4♦ river, where both players opted to check after a period of deliberation. Cuong flicked over Q♠ T♣ for a busted straight draw; Harsh scooped the pot with A♠ Q♣, adding to his ever-growng stack of chips.