Main Event

- ante 2500

Day 1A has been bagged and tagged. Only 26 players remained out of the 105 entries. Amassing an enormous stack was Austria’s Tran Hanh with 437,000. No one came close to his stack. We will have a recap for you on the day’s action shortly. For now, enjoy the updates and relive some of the action that went down in Day 1A.

- ante 2500

Tran Duc Hanh has held the chip lead for a majority of the day and by the looks of it, he will close out the day as the leader. Hanh just railed two players to bring the field down to 27 players. His first victim had J♣ J♠ , Hanh with A♠ K♣ , the board ran K♠ T♠ 4♣ Q♣ K♦ for a dominating trips.

The next bust out was a smaller take with the short stack pushing with 9♠ 4♠ . Hanh had A♦ 9♥ and shipped it when the board ran 9♦ J♥ 6♣ K♠ 3♥ . His stack is well within the 400k range.

- ante 2500

Action folded to the button Simon Burns, he raised to 5k. Sb Tin Chan jammed his 57k stack, bb Tran Huy Hoang followed suit with his 71.5k stack, sending the action back to Burns who folded. Chan had A♥ J♦ , Hoang with K♠ Q♠ , the board ran 9♦ 2♠ 3♣ 5♠ Q♦ for a pair spiked by Hoang to eliminate Chan. Hoang climbed to 135k. We are down to 30 players.

- ante 2500

We have entered the last level of the day. 31 players remaining.

- ante 2000

Early in the day, Kazuma Inotsume was about to walk out when the community board felted a straight to keep him in the game. He has since brought his stack up and landed a double up to send him up to 146k. The hand kicked off with a raise to 8k by Ta Duy Quoc Chinh, Inotsume shoved on the big blind, Chinh called. Inotsume A♠ K♠ , Chinh T♣ T♠ , the board dragged out 4♣ 2♦ K♦ Xx 3♥ .

- ante 2000

Soo Jo Kim nursed his short stack for as long as he could and put it all in with 6♥ 6♠ however he ran smack into Ta Duy Quoc Chinh’s K♥ K♠ . With the board throwing blanks, Kim was eliminated. Chinh climbed to 160k.

- ante 2000

Action folded to the button player Nishant Sharma, he raised to 4500. Sb Iori Yogo shoved with 33.5k remaining. Bb Paul Hockin shoved as well. Sharma folded.

Yogo 8♦ 8♥ Hockin A♥ J♣ same hand against Yogo previously

The board favored Yogo again running K♥ 7♣ T♥ 8♠ 4♠ to improve him to a set (though not needed), to double up. Yogo rose to 74k, Hockin dropped to 42k.

- ante 1600

The last break of the day. There are 36 players remaining. The chip leader is still Tran Duc Hanh with 312k followed by Nishant Sharma with 175k, and Nguyen Chi Thinh with 164k.

- ante 1600

Vivek Rughani had a swinging stack all day but couldn’t keep it above water. He shoved with a desperate Q♠ J♦ put ran into Ta Duy Quoc Chinh’s K♣ K♦ . The board bricked to send Rughani out. Chinh up to 140k.

- ante 1600

Two limpers before action reached sb Iori Yogo who shoved his 12.1k short stack. Big blind Paul Hockin three-bet to around 50k pushing out the limpers for a head to head. Yogo A♠ 6♠ , Hockin A♣ J♦ , the board ran 7♠ J♥ J♠ for trips to Hockin, but Yogo had outs. The turn 6♦ wasn’t it but the 2♠ river was one of the gems he needed to stay in the game. Hockin dropped to 80k, Yogo just below starting stack.

- ante 1200

On a flop 5♦ K♠ J♠ , Pete Chen bet 5400, three spots over a player raised to 15k, then on the button was Orjan Skommo moving all in, Chen quickly folded while a call was made by the raiser. Skommo with A♠ Q♠ straight flush draw, and his opponent with A♣ K♥ top pair. The turn T♦ granted Skommo a straight to overtake, and with the 3♠ river, he improved further to flush for a double up.

- ante 1200

After a couple of double ups dished out, Simon Burns had a stack down to around 50k. It dropped further to 27k which he three-bet shoved on top of player’s 2500 raise. No call was made and he won the pot.

- ante 1200

Button player Nishant Sharma raised to 2600, sb Iori Yogo and bb Paul Hockin called. The flop A♥ 8♠ A♣ , action checked to Sharma who c-bet 2400. Only Yogo called. On the Q♥ turn, Sharma again firing sending out 8200. A quick fold from Yogo.

- ante 1200

Tran Duc Hanh continues to dust the competition, climbing to 315k after railing Eric Tsai in a sick hand. Action preflop saw one player raise, Tran three-bet from the small blind, Tsai call from the big blind, and the opener folded for heads up between the blinds. At the flop J♦ A♠ Q♠ , Tran checked, Tsai bet 8k, Tran raised, all in by Tsai, and snap call by Tran.

Tsai K♥ T♥ straight Tran Q♣ Q♦ set

The turn A♥ improved Tran to a full house and Tsai was drawing dead. The river 7♣ was inconsequential.

- ante 1000

Nguyen Chi Thinh raised to 2600 from low-jack position, called by the button player and big blind Eric Tsai. At the flop 6♣ 2♣ K♥ , everyone checked. On the Q♥ turn, Nguyen bet 3500, button raised to 7200, bb Tsai check-folded, back to Nguyen with a three-bet to 35k, and that ended the hand with button tank-folding.

- ante 1000

Nguyen Thanh Phong is sitting as the biggest stack at his table with around 170k to play with. He took a couple of hits though to drop just bit. The first pot he raised to 2500 on the button and the big blind defended. At the flop K♦ J♦ 9♦ , both players checked. On the turn Q♥ , bb bet 4k and Nguyen folded.

The subsequent hand saw a short stack jam with 13.9k, snap call by Nguyen. Short stack with A♦ A♣ that held against Nguyen’s A♠ K♣ . Nguyen dropped to 150k.

- ante 1000

Nishant Sharma raised to 2700 and the player on the small blind called. At the flop Q♦ J♥ 5♣ , action was sent to Sharma who c-bet 2200, he was called. On the 4♦ turn, Sharma fired 4200, and this time he won it with no call.

- ante 1000

Registration has closed. The official tally is 105 entries - 81 players, 24 re-entries. There are 55 remaining. Game continues until the end of Level 14.

- ante 800

Players are on another 10-minute break. Last chance to sign up. We picked up several Norwegian players in Level 9, among them Henrik Tollefsen and Markus Garberg.

Current chip leaders are:

Tran Duc Hanh - 274k Vidwath Shetty - 150k Vinod Megalmani - 140k

- ante 800

We caught the action only at the shipping with one player holding T♥ T♣ and Vinod Megalmani with J♦ J♥ . The board ran a wild J♠ A♦ Q♣ K♦ for a straight to the lower pockets but with the river K♥ , Megalmani went back on top with a full house to win it and send his opponent packing. Megalmani zoomed to 140k.

- ante 800

On a flop 5♠ 2♠ 6♣ , Simon Burns pushed and beside him Tin Chan called for his tournament life. Burns opened 4♦ 6♦ pair and Chan with 5♥ 5♣ set. The turn 9♣ and river 2♦ completed the board for a double up to Chan. He is now at 76k.

- ante 800

Late registration closes at the end of this round. Those on the rail, time to jump in. The current tally is 76 players and 24 re-entries for a total of 100 entries so far. 53 players remaining.

- ante 800

Three-way action with two players all in. Short-stacked player with 9♣ 9♥ , Cuong Trinh with A♥ K♣ , and the biggest stack with 3♦ 3♠ . The board ran 8♣ K♠ J♥ K♦ 8♦ for full house to Cuong and a triple up. He climbed to 75k.

India’s Zarvan Tumboli defeated Luat Tran at heads up of the WPT Ho Chi Minh Cup! He shipped in the VND 246,950,000 first place prize money. We will have the results of that event in our end of day recap.

- ante 600

What a nutty hand! On a flop A♥ T♥ 9♥ , Kazuma Inotsume moved all in with A♦ 8♦ top pair and was called by a player with 4♥ 5♥ flush. Getting up to leave, the turn 8♥ and river 7♥ , saved Inotsume with a higher flush on the board for a split pot. He sat back down happy to have renewed life.

- ante 600

Alan King Lun Lau was on his second bullet and kicked it off with a quick double up however, it didn’t last. The Hong Kong pro began to drop in chips and pushed it all in with A♥ Q♦ . Simon Burns called with T♥ 9♥ . The board ran Q♥ 6♥ 7♦ K♥ 6♣ for a winning flush to Burns and Lau the boot. Burns at 130K.

- ante 600

Paul Hockin had K♠ K♦ and a short-stacked player had A♣ Q♣ . The board ran a doozy 6♣ K♣ 4♣ for a set to Hockin but an instant nut flush to the shorty. The turn 9♣ and river A♦ didn’t pair the board and Hockin had to pay the double up. Hockin dropped to 47k..

- ante 500

Immediately after Vidwath Shetty’s win, the next hand saw Tran Van Quan in the pot once again. He opened with a raise then called a three-bet to 3500 by the button player. At the flop T♥ 9♦ K♥ , Tran checked then called a c-bet by the button aggressor. On the turn 4♣ , Tran jammed his remaining 19.5k to send his opponent tanking. After a minute, Tran was shipped the pot with no call made. His opponent showed K♣ for top pair and Tran returned the gesture showing A♠ .

- ante 500

Heated preflop action began with a raise to 1200 by cutoff Tran Van Quan, button Vidwath Shetty three-bet to 3500, big blind Eric Tsai four-bet to 8300, Quan folded, then Shetty five-bet to 23k. Tsai folded. Good win by Shetty. He is up to 150K.

- ante 500

Catching the action on a board 5♦ 7♠ K♥ Q♥ , Kunal Patni had his remaining 9900 stack pushed out front with a 16k pot already pre-brewed. This sent fellow countryman Nishant Sharma to the tank. Though he had more than enough to cover the bet, he opted to fold and Patni scooped it up.

- ante 500

Alan King Lun Lau was one of the 17 players that utilized their second bullet. Looks like it was good decision having picked up a fast double up with pocket tens holding against ace-queen.

- ante 400

Main Event players are on their second 10-minute break. The screens currently have the entries up to 86 with 67 remaining. Victor Chong and Paul Hockin have joined the action at the previous round. Registration is still open for those that want to jump in. A buy-in of VND 22,000,000 gets you a 30K starting stack. Registration closes at the start of Level 10. Remaining players will bag up at the end of Level 14.

- ante 400

There’s a strong showing of players from India here at the Main Event. One of them is Vivek Rughani who just landed a double up with his pocket aces holding against pocket 8♠. He is still under starting stack though sitting with around 20k.

- ante 400

UK’s Simon Burns is back at the WPT felt. He had a very successful run at the Korean leg of the WPT Asia Swing. He won the Super High Roller 2 and made it to the final table of the Main Event. He is currently our chip leader here with 145k.

- ante 300

Alan King Lun Lau took a big loss to his stack. On a three-way raised pot preflop, the board showed K♣ 3♥ 4♣ , Do Hoang Quan checked, Tran Duc Hanh bet 2500, Lau called, and back to Quan who called. At the A♠ turn, betting action was the same with Tran’s 6k bet called by both players. On the river 4♠ , check by Quan, 14k bet by Tran, Lau all in for just above 20k, called by Tran. Lau showed A♣ J♣ but was behind Tran’s A♦ K♦ top two pair. Tran zoomed to over 70k while Lau nosedived to just 500. Lau was eliminated shortly after.

- ante 300

In our attempt to get a hand on Sam Panzica, instead we saw the quick rise and fall of Nguyen Dang Long. Nguyen entered three consecutive pots that sent him tumbling to the rail. The first hand was a good one for him. Panzica raised to 800 preflop, three players called. At the flop 8♦ 4♠ 6♣ , Nguyen checked, one player fired 1200, called by another, then check-raised to 3600 by Nguyen. One player called and the turn landed 3♠ . Nguyen fired another 4200 and this time he won it with no challenge.

The next hand would cost Nguyen. Four players were in preflop to build up a pot to 12k. On the flop J♥ T♣ J♠ , big blind Erik Billgren bet 4100, Panzica called, sb Nguyen check-raised to 12.5k, Billgren shoved, and Nguyen called after Panzica folded. Billgren T♥ T♠ full house over Nguyen’s A♥ J♣ trips. The turn 2♣ and river 9♠ completed the board and Billgren doubled up to 75k.

Down to a very short stack, Nguyen shoved on the next hand with K-Q and fell to a player’s 9-9 with no hits on the board.

- ante 200

On a flop T♦ Q♣ 2♦ , two players were all in, one with A♠ Q♥ , and Tu Le with A♣ A♥ . The turn 4♠ and river 6♠ completed the board for a double up to Le. He now has 65k.

- ante 200

WPT multi champion Sam Panzica has joined the action. Panzica has numerous titles under his belt earned mostly in his home country USA. He has over $4M in live tournament earnings with $1.37M of that won in 2017 at the WPT Shooting Star Main Event in San Jose, California. We’ll be tracking him today and see how he shapes up against the Asian force.

Other late arrivals were Nishant Sharma, Soo Jo Kim,and Pete Chen.

- ante 200

Players have returned from the first break of the day. There are 61 entries so far with 7 tables running. Plenty of time for players to jump in. Starting stack is 30,000. That’s still very deep compared to the blinds. In the previous level, Vincent Li busted after just spending 20 minutes at the table. We will likely see him use his second bullet sometime today.

Immediately after the hand below, UTG Ng Pui Cheng and UTG+1 Dang Xuan Canh went head to head for a pot. On a raised pot preflop to 2k, both players saw the cards land 7♠ T♣ 7♦ . No bets arrived. The turn 6♥ re-ignited the action with Cheng laying out 1500, Dang raised to 6k, and Cheng with the call. On the river 2♠ , both checked and Cheng won with 9♦ 9♣ . Dang mucked.

- ante 100

Table 3 is seeing some good betting action with sizable pots being won. Suen Kam Sang was the beneficiary of one of those pots. Action began with hijack player Dang Xuan Canh limping in, cutoff joined, then button player raised to 1k. Big blind Sang defended, and it was a four way look at the flop with Dang and cutoff also calling. The flop A♥ 7♣ 7♥ , everyone checked. On the 9♠ turn, action was checked to Dang who bet 2200. Cutoff and button called while Sang check-raised all in for a total of 17.7k. Dang and cutoff quickly folded but the button player tanked. He eventually folded showing A♦ Q♥ . Sang scooped up the pot and kindly showed his A♠ 7♠ full house.

- ante 100

Level 3 has kicked off which means players have now entered the ante stage. We are up to 7 tables with more soon to open up. More pros have jumped in, some of them coming off the WPT Ho Chi Minh Cup. Among the notables are Dhaval Mudgal, Iori Yogo, Alan King Lun Lau, and Vincent Li. Huy Coshet is also on his way to the felt. Another player seen frequenting the Asian circuit these past couple months, Kazuma Inotsume, is also in action here at the main.

Tran Huy Hoang is our leader at the moment with 73k. He knocked out two players simultaneously in a three-way showdown holding A-A vs K-K vs K-Q. It was all in preflop. Aces held. Also with a big stack is Do Hoang Quan with 64k seated at a separate table.

A lady player from the hijack seat limped in, cutoff Julien Tran raised to 800, button player called, and after the blinds folded, the hijack player joined in for three-way look at the flop. The flop ran 4♠ 2♠ 5♦ . Hijack checked, Tran c-bet 1100, button folded, hijack called. On the [7h] turn, no bets landed and the river felted 8♠ . Hijack checked, Tran bet 3100, Tran won the pot with no call. Tran has 32K.

We are now up to four tables here. Blinds have gone up. Registration stays open until the start of Level 10. For those thinking about entering, buy-in of VND 22,000,000 gets you a deep 30K starting stack.

While the Main Event is taking flight, the WPT Ho Chi Minh Cup is on its final day with 28 players remaining out of 207 entries. Only 26 reach the money which means two players will bounce out empty-handed. We will have the results of that event as it concludes. Good luck to all those players!

We’ve had a light start here with just two tables running at the moment. Players are trickling in though unlike the rain that’s coming down outside. Currently at the felt are Julien Tran, Dang Xuan Canh, and Kunal Patni. The first 100 players will get a free WPT cap and they’re pretty cool.