Mystery Bounty ($565)

The action is folded to the CO of Haile Rafik Kuo of Canada and he goes all-in for 35,500. Right beside him on the D, Vietnam’s Quynh Thuy declares she is all-in for 143,500. In the BB, Zheng Anshu covers them both and decides to make the call.

Kuo turns over A♦ 6♥ while Quynh shows Q♠ Q♣ . Zheng tables A♣ K♥ .

The flop gives the lead to Zheng: 7♣ 8♣ K♦ and there was no help in sight for the players behind as the 2♥ and the 7♦ completed the runout.

Quynh, who already has two podium finishes in the three events she’s joined was a surprise elimination to many still in contention. Now she is out of the competition along with Kuo.

Zheng now nears the half-million mark and is the de facto overall chip-leader.

Vietnam’s Mai Bien open shoves his remaining 28,000 from the +2 position and gets called by lady pro Quynh Thuy in the SB.

Mai shows A♥ Q♥ and is flipping for his tournament life against Quynh’s J♠ J♥ .

The flop brought with it some drama: 9♥ 3♦ 3♥ as Mai picked up the nut flush draw to go with his two over cards to Quynh’s pocket pair. However, the board bricked out for Mai as it went 2♦ 8♦ ejecting him from the competition and installing Quynh as a legitimate contender to make it to Day 2.

Vietnam’s Quynh Thuy opens from the HJ for 4,000 and the action folds to the BB where David Erquiaga of the Philippines 3-bet shove for his remaining 51,000. Quynh makes the call.

Erquiaga turns over A♥ 6♣ while Quynh shows T♠ T♥ .

The flop was safe for the Vietnamese player: 5♠ J♠ 2♦ but then the 6♠ arrived on the turn to give the Filipino more outs. The river, however, was the Q♠ to give Quynh a flush that shut the door on Erquiaga as Quynh also breaches the six-figure mark in terms of chips.

In Blind versus Blind action, Vietnam lady player Quynh Thuy raises from the SB to 500 and gets called in the BB by Nguyen Duc Thanh.

The flop is A♣ 7♦ 2♠ as Quynh continues for 1,000. Nguyen calls. The turn is the K♥ as Quynh fires again, this time for 2,000. Nguyen then bumps it up to 6,000 and Quynh releases her hand into the muck.

The action is folded to the D where Vietnam poker icon Hoang Hai Nam raises to 300 and gets called by fellow Vietnamese players in Quynh Thuy in the SB and Nguyen Duc Thanh in the BB.

The flop is 3♦ A♠ 4♠ as the blinds check it back to Hoang, who continues for 300 anew. Quynh calls but Nguyen raises it to 1,400 and it’s enough to take down the pot.

The action is folded to Nishada Masataka of Japan on the HJ who raises to 2,000 and is greeted by a 3-bet shove from Vietnam’s Quynh Thuy to 12,500. Masataka makes the quick call.

Quynh shows A♣ T♣ while the Japanese player has 5♠ 5♣ . It’s a coinflip for Quynh’s tournament life.

The flop goes Q♣ 6♥ 6♠ but the turn card is the 5♦ which fills up Masataka and ousts Quynh. The river card of the 8♥ solidified the ouster.

Vietnam’s Quynh Thuy opens for 3,000 UTG and the action is folded to the CO where Evgenii Zaitsev moves all in for his what’s left of his stack (8,300). Quynh calls.

Zaitsev turns over A♣ Q♠ and was appalled when as his Vietnamese opponent flips over A♥ K♠ .

However, Despair turned into hope on the flop: 5♠ Q♥ 9♥ . The turn produced a sweat card as the J♣ showed but that quickly died down when the Q♦ hit the river and gives Zaitsev a chance to grind further with the double up.