Main Event

Chip Counts by rank:

- ante 40000

Action folded to the button Apu Weo, he raised to 105k, then two spots over on the big blind, Johannes Felix Hoeld moved all in. Apu Weo called. Hoeld A♣ Q♣ , Apu Weo T♠ 9♦ , the board ran Q♠ 6♣ 2♣ 8♣ A♠ for a nut flush and a double up to Hoeld. Hoeld up to 1.1M.

- ante 40000

Romit Advami fell hard in 16th place with Apu Weo delivering the sick bust. Romit with A♥ A♠ , Apu Weo with K♣ K♠ . The board ran A♣ Q♣ J♣ 5♣ 6♣ for a nut flush over set. Apu Weo over 1.2M.

- ante 40000

Immediately after paying the double up, Apu Weo was all in on his small blind and BB Takao Shimizu called. Apu Weo with T♥ K♦ , Shimizu with A♦ 9♠ , the board ran Q♥ 2♦ K♠ J♣ 6♠ for a double up to 300k.

- ante 40000

Once again, Apu Weo takes a stand on his big blind but ended up having to pay Anh Khoi who moved all in from MP with Q♣ 7♣ . Apu Weo called the 385k with 8♦ 4♦ . The board ran 5♣ 9♣ T♥ 7♦ 7♥ .

- ante 40000

Action folded around the table to the small blind Norbert Koh, he laid out a huge bet that covered BB Lon Kar Doi’s stack. Lon went ahead and moved all in. Koh 9♦ 2♦ , Lon J♣ T♠ . The board ran J♥ 7♦ 6♣ Q♠ A♦ for a double up to Lon. He now has 800k. Still 16 remaining here.

- ante 30000

Duc Phuong raised to 60k, SB Cong Le shoved, Phuong called. Cong with A♦ 8♥ , Phuong with T♥ K♣ , board ran 2♦ 5♠ 9♦ 4♥ K♦ for a pair on the river for Phuong to elimined Cong in 17th place.

- ante 30000

Heavy action at table 1, a massive pot already in the middle and a flop 3♥ A♠ 6♣ . In front of DB player Nguyen Thanh Phuong was a 502k bet. SB Tran Tam had it all in with 1.195M. Phuong in the tanker. He eventually folded showing pocket jacks. Tam scooped up a large one. He is up to 2.2M.

- ante 30000

Final 17 players and approximate chip counts:

Table 1 Norbert Koh 1.25M Lon Kar Doi 500k Tai Hsing Hszung 750k Dhaval Mudgal 1.35M Nguyen Thanh Phuong 1.2M Tran Tam 1.45M Ben Andrews 1.2M Ray Chiu 2.5M

Table 2 Takao Shimizu 700k Johannes Felix Hoeld 625k Cong Le 280k Hai Chuot 2.5M Romit Advami 500k Anh Khoi 200k Duc Phuong 750k Le Ngoc Khanh - 1.55M Apu Weo - 850k

- ante 30000

Tran Son Thach shoved with 8♦ 8♣ and two spots over Norbert Koh called with A♥ K♦ . The board was very gracious to Koh running Q♥ J♦ J♠ T♦ 4♥ to give him a straight. Thach out 18th. We are down to two tables with 17 remaining.

- ante 30000

Thomas Gicquel was all in with A♦ J♥ , Apu Weo called with K♥ T♥ . The board ran K♦ 4♣ 8♣ T♦ J♦ . We are down to 18 players.

- ante 25000

We were able to get the lowdown on Dylan Wilkerson’s bust out. According to the executioner Dhaval Mudgal, he opened with a 55k raise, Wilkerson shoved with 405k, Mudgal called. Wilkerson Q-J offsuit, Mudgal 6-6. The board ran A-2-5-9-10.

- ante 25000

We missed the action but Dhaval Mudgal eliminated Dylan Wilkerson, and nearly did the same to another player. The player shoved with A-K and Mudgal had J-J. The turn produced a king to overtake Mudgal’s pair and double up. We are at 19 players here.

- ante 25000

Four-way action saw a flop land A♦ 5♦ T♥ . Hai Chuot bet 100 and got two callers which included Apu Weo. On the 9♦ turn, it was check, check, all in by Apu Weo. Chuot tanked then called while the other player folded. Apu Weo 3♦ 4♦ flush, Chuot A♠ J♦ top pair, river A♣ improved Chuot to trips but it was still behind the flush. Apo Weo up to 730k.

- ante 25000

Tran Tam was the bane of John Phan and now another has just fallen to him, Tung Nguyen. Tam raised to 50k from utg, Ray Chiu called, SB Tung jammed 430k, Tam called, and Chiu folded. Tam J♣ J♠ , Tung A♥ Q♠ , no hits for Tung expect the rail. Tam up to 1.5M. We are down to 22 players.

- ante 25000

Battle of the blinds saw Le Ngoc Khanh raise, Apu Weo defending his big blind with a shove, an snap call by Khanh. Khanh with A♦ 9♥ and big blind Apu Weo with T♥ 2♣ . The board ran J♥ A♣ A♠ 7♠ 9♣ for a double up to Khanh.

Next hand, Khanh shipped in a player’s stack with K-Q dominating K-10 throughout. Khanh quickly zoomed top 1.1M.

- ante 25000

John Phan got the rest of his chips in with T♥ T♠ but ran into Tran Tam’s K♦ K♣ . Phan failed to improve and was eliminated.

- ante 25000

Dhaval Mudgal raised to 55k and big stacked Romit Advami called. At the flop A♣ T♦ 4♥ , Mudgal c-bet 50k, Advami called. On the 4♦ turn, both players checked, and the river came 3♦ . Mudgal checked again, Advami bet 120k, Mudgal folded.

- ante 25000

New round begins. 26 players left in the field. Average stack is 783,462 with 20,370,000 total chips in play.

- ante 20000

John Phan raised to 50k, got popped to 135k by Ben Andrews, then after tanking, Phan folded. Next hand, Phan raised again to 45k. Andrews three-bet to 130k, Phan tanked again. Phan called and the flop ran 5♣ 5♦ 4♠ . Phan checked, Andrews c-bet a tower of purple chips that pretty much covered Phan’s stack. Phan folded.

- ante 20000

Dylan Wilkerson raised to 45k and found one caller in Romit Advami. The flop came down J♥ 6♥ 7♦ , both checked. On the 4♦ turn, Wilkerson led out for 135k, and won it.

Looks like we’ve had a bust out at a separate table, we are now down to 27 players.

- ante 20000

Short stacked Bruno Lo shoved with 9♣ 8♣ but ran right into Duc Phuong’s A♦ K♣ . The board ran 9♦ J♣ 6♠ T♠ A♠ to eliminate Lo.

- ante 15000

Ying Lin Chua was dealt his last hand here with John Phan taking all of his chips. On a flop 4♣ 7♠ T♠ , Chua was all in with 7♥ 6♠ but was still behind Phan’s Q♥ 7♣ . The turn J♣ and river 3♥ completed the board.

Just before that hand, Phan tanked for some time that led to him folding and losing some chips to Sajil Agarwal. Agarwal opened with a 30k raise, Phan three-bet to 80k, Agarwal jammed for 270k total. Phan eventually folded.

- ante 15000

Action folded to the blinds, Norbert Koh raised, BB shoved, and Koh with the snap call. Koh A♥ Q♥ , BB with J♣ 2♥ . The board ran Q♠ 2♣ 3♥ T♠ 5♠ to send all the chip to Koh. He is now up to 1.9M. 34 players remaining.

- ante 15000

Yik Yin Chiu sent another player out of the running, this time it was Alok Birewar banging the rail. Birewar was all in with A-K but it was no good against Chiu’s 9-8 that found a nine on the board. Chiu is now our leader here with 2.2M.

- ante 12000

Mike Takayama has fallen out of the running in 39th place and delivering the axe was Yik Yin Chiu. The hand opened with Takayama raising to 28k, hijack player shoved for 190k, Chiu four-bet shoved with 575k, and with less chips, Takayama joined the party for a three-way matchup. HJ has J-J, Takayama A-K, and Chiu 10-10. The board ran out with a 10 showing up and Chiu earned two stacks with his set.

- ante 12000

We caught the heavy duty action on a turn board 6♠ 2♥ K♠ 8♥ , BB Francis Garson stared down a massive pot in the middle and a bet of 120k from John Phan. It took time for Garson to act and when he did, it was a shove. Phan joined in for his tournament life. Garson K♥ J♥ top pair, Phan A♦ A♥ . The river T♠ completed the board to double up Phan to 700k. Garson dropped to around 25k and busted on the next hand.

- ante 12000

Just after winning a pot, Norbert Koh called Goonjan Mall’s 25k raise and they went to see the flop with one other caller. The cards ran A♦ K♣ 8♣ , Mall c-bet 45k and only Koh called. At the 6♠ turn, no bets arrived and as well no bets on the T♣ river. Mall was first to show, he opened A♥ T♥ and won the pot. Koh sits with 1.2M.

- ante 12000

From 178 that started the day, we are down to 5 tables with 45 remaining. Hai Chuot leads with 1.5M.

- ante 10000

Chip leader Hai Chuot continues to lead the Main Event despite having some of his towers shaved. On a flop 9♠ 8♥ 6♠ , and 140k in the middle, Chuot faced an all in by Duc Phuong amounting to 246k. Chuot tanked for a while then called. Duc had 8♣ 8♦ set and Chuot with J♣ 9♥ top pair. The turn 3♣ and river 3♠ secured the double up for Duc.

Just shortly after, we caught Chuot in another big hand with a board showing 5♦ 3♣ 2♥ 8♠ 9♥ . Hieu Ngo was all in for 305k. This tanked Chuot again but he found the courage to call once more. It was a good one with Ngo on an A♦ 6♦ bluff. Chuot won it and climbed to 1.5m with 4♦ 4♥ as the winning hand.

- ante 10000

Preflop war saw Takao Shimizu raise from the button, Apu Weo not giving his big blind without a fight three-bet, Shimizu four-bet to add another 200k, and Apu Weo opted to surrender.

- ante 10000

Hai Chuot is currently the chip leader with over 1.2M. He just won a sizable pot against Raghav Bansal. From UTG, Bansal raised to 23k, and both blinds called with Chuot on the small blind. At the flop T♦ 4♥ A♦ , action was checked to the raiser Bansal. He c-bet 45k. Only Chuot called. On the 8♦ turn, both players checked to bring down the river card A♣ . Chuot switched up and led for 125k and Bansal called. Chuot opened A♠ T♥ full house.

- ante 10000

Flo Campomanes pushed his short stack out front and John Phan called. Campomanes K♣ T♣ , Phan A♠ J♣ , no hits on the board for either and Campomanes busted. Phan up to 400k

- ante 10000

From mid position, Goonjan Mall raised to 20k, Johannes Hoeld called, then Ominami Shiuichi three-bet to 60k. Back to Mall, he called while Hoeld folded. At the flop T♣ 7♣ J♦ , Mall checked, Shiuichi jammed, and Mall called. Shiuichi had A♦ A♠ , Mall with T♠ 9♠ , the turn T♥ improved Mall to trips and with the river 4♠ , Shiuichi fell to 26k and Mall zoomed to 525k. Shiuchi was eliminated on the next hand.

- ante 10000

Apu Weo 1M Raghav Bansal 880k Romit Advami 610k Hai Chuot 530k Norbert Koh 600k Ben Andrews 620k Song Wen Long 500k Johannes Felix Hoeld 570k

- ante 10000

UTG+2 Hieu Ngo raised to 25k, BB Dylan Wilkerson three-bet to 80k, Ngo four-bet to 225k, Dylan Wilkerson shoved, snap call by Ngo. Dylan Wilkerson A♦ A♣ , Ngo A♥ K♠ . No bad beats arrived for a double up to Dylan Wilkerson to 700k.

- ante 10000

Raghav Bansal called off Pete Chen’s shove. Bansal with 7♣ 7♠ , Chen with A♥ Q♥ , the board ran K♠ K♥ 5♥ K♣ 2♥ , giving Chen the nut flush but it was still behind Bansal’s full house. Bansal up to 880k.

- ante 8000

There are 66 players remaining.

- ante 8000

Mike Takayama doubled up vs Robert Kaggerud with yet another pocket aces improving to quads. Takayama is just below 500k.

- ante 8000

Action folded to button player Mike Takayama, he raised to 17k and both blinds called, Bruno Lo and Wenling Gao. At the flop K♥ Q♠ Q♦ , Lo checked, Gao bet 17k, and won the pot with Takayama and Lo folding.

- ante 8000

In a battle of the blinds, the board completed to Q♣ 5♦ 6♣ 2♥ 2♠ , SB player all in, BB Song Wen Long called. SB opened 3-3 then dropped to 10k after paying Song’s J♠ 2♦ trips double up.

- ante 8000

Apu Weo - 1M Mike Takayama - 520k Norbert Koh - 650k Hai Chuot - 615k John Phan 300k Sam Panzica - 150k Zarvan Tumboli - 140k Ying Lin Chua - 240k Soo Jo Kim - 110k Wenling Gao - 200k

- ante 8000

Dylan Wilkerson and Mike Takayama have been involved in two big hands that had each paying the other a double up. This time, Dylan Wilkerson landed another. On a board 8♥ 2♣ T♣ 3♦ , Dylan Wilkerson bet 92k onto a big pot in the middle, Takayama put Dylan Wilkerson all in, Dylan Wilkerson called for his tournament life. Dylan Wilkerson A♦ A♣ , Takayama T♠ 9♥ . The river 7♣ sealed the win for Dylan Wilkerson.

- ante 6000

Action folded to the button Vinh Tran who put it all in only to get snap-called by the player beside him, Jason Nguyen on the small blind. Tran J♠ 8♠ , Nguyen A♦ K♥ . Despite Tran’s friends calling out for the cards, it ran Q♦ 2♣ 9♥ 9♣ 5♠ to send him out as the bubble boy in 86th place. Everyone is now in the money.

- ante 6000

We are still at 87 players with no showdowns until now. Richard Mari was all in, called by two players Hieu Ngo and Apu Weo. Both callers checked the board down as it ran 8♣ 4♥ 7♣ Q♠ K♥ . Ngo showed K♣ 4♣ two pair, Weo mucked, and Mari turned 9♥ 9♣ to bust out 87th.

- ante 6000

Kazuma Inotsume raised to 15k, Nguyen Ngoc Nghia three-bet to 42k, back to Inotsume who shoved his 158k. Nghia folded after several seconds.

- ante 6000

Two spots before the money… players are doubling up. One of them was Tung Nguyen. He was saved on the river, landing a two-outer. He was all in with T♠ T♦ and had to fend off A♥ 8♥ . The board ran 8♠ 3♠ 6♥ A♠ to overtake Nguyen with two pair but with the river T♥ , Nguyen celebrated the win and doubled up.

- ante 6000

Another one bites the dust… Nguyen Ngoc Nghia railed one with K-Q finding a queen on the river to overtake J-J. We are down to 92 players.

- ante 6000

We are very close to the money here with players dropping out. The screens show 94 remaining. Money at 85. Recent bust was Nitin Jain all in with Q♥ J♥ . He fell to Romit Advami’s A♣ A♦ .

- ante 6000

What a cooler! Pete Chen raised to 13k, Mike Takayama called, Dylan Wilkerson three-bet to 50k, Chen folded, Takayama shoved, and snap call by Dylan Wilkerson. Takayama A♦ A♣ , Dylan Wilkerson K♣ K♥ . The board ran a dramatic A♠ A♥ 8♣ 4♣ 4♦ for a commanding quads to Takayama and a fast double up. He is up to 440k, Dylan Wilkerson dropped to 52k. Dylan Wilkerson has since chipped up and is at 110k.

- ante 6000

Blinds have gone up and so have the running time. Blinds increase every 60 minutes now. 108 players remaining. Bubble round at 86 players.

- ante 5000

We caught the action on a turn board 7♣ Q♣ 4♠ A♦ with 100k in the middle and Mike Takayama with a 59k bet out front. Dylan Wilkerson flat-called. On the river K♥ , Takayama bet 43k, Dylan Wilkerson shoved with 96k total, Takayama visibly upset at the river card yet still made the call. Dylan Wilkerson opened Q♠ Q♦ set and doubled up. Takayama told Dylan Wilkerson he had A-Q. Takayama down to 250k, Dylan Wilkerson charged up to 406k.

- ante 5000

We caught the action as Apu Weo was celebrating while the player beside him got up to leave. Apu Weo had 3-3 and bounced out a player with A-J on a board that ran 8-3-J-6-6 for a full house.

- ante 5000

On a flop 5♦ 5♣ 7♥ and a pot of 36k pre-brewed, Victor Chong checked, Song Wen Long bet 10k, Chong called. On the 5♥ turn, Chong checked again, this time Song shoved, and Chong opted to give up his stake on the pot.

The next hand turned out much different. Aman Dhamita moved all in for 54k, Chong called with exactly the same stack. Dhamita K♦ J♦ , Chong with 6♣ 6♠ . The board ran A♠ T♠ K♠ A♥ 7♠ for a winning flush to Chong.

- ante 5000

Tran Duc Phuong was all in with K♠ Q♣ and Nguyen Manh Tuan had him well covered with T♦ T♠ . When the board ran J♦ A♦ J♠ 2♦ A♠ , Tuan’s pair was counterfeited and Phuong doubled up. Pretty sick.

- ante 5000

We were kindly stopped by one of Norbert Koh’s friends to let us know that the Singaporean pro has racked up a mighty stack. He sure has. Koh started the day with 307k and is now the chip leader with 800k. We will keep an eye on him as we get closer and closer to the bubble round.

- ante 4000

Just before we enter the next round looks like Mike Takayama has taken the lead with over 500K. Wenling Gao just won a cooler with aces over Tran Huy Hoang’s kings. She now sits with 440k. Both Takayama and Gao are seated at table 8.

- ante 4000

Zarvan Tumboli raised, one player moved all in, Luen Hei Kwok called, and back to Tumboli with the call. At the flop T♠ T♥ Q♦ , Tumboli bet 12.5, Luen called. On the K♥ turn, both players checked. Then on the K♠ river, Tumboli bet 37k, Luen tanked, then gave up his stake at the pots. Tumboli won the side pot and the main with K♦ Q♠ full house.

- ante 4000

Kyle Lim a large portion of his stack in the previous round though we missed the hand. He met his end moments ago with T♠ T♥ falling to Yong Quan’s A♣ 9♣ that not only found an ace on the board, it also improved to a flush with three clubs turning up.

- ante 4000

Action folded to the button Huu Dung Nguyen and he announced all in with 66.5k. Two spots over was Apu Weo, the biggest stack at the table. He asked for a count then made the call. Huu opened 5♠ 5♥ and was visibly shocked to see Weo’s 8♦ 6♦ call. The board ran 2♥ Q♣ T♥ 8♣ A♣ for a higher pair to Weo and the rail for Huu. Seems Weo is making it known not to steal his big blind. He may just call with his massive stack. Weo at 300k.

- ante 4000

Nicolas Ragot raised to 10k preflop and BB Nguyen Ngoc Nghia called. When the flop landed 7♦ 6♠ Q♥ , things began to heat up. Nghia checked, Ragot bet 11k, Nghia raised to 28k, Ragot three-bet to 60k, Nghia shoved, and called by Ragot. Both players turned over K-Q and split the pot with the turn J♥ and river 3♥ .

- ante 4000

We are into a new level. Looks like 25 players have fallen in the previous round with 153 remaining.

- ante 3000

The seat beside Hai Chuot had just been vacated with Lim Yohwan falling early today. The seat was then filled by another player who was also sent packing. Catching the action at the flop J♦ 7♥ 4♠ , SB Hai Chuot check-raised and the BB called. On the 8♣ turn, Chuot led for 20k, BB shoved, Chuot called. Chuot had J♣ T♠ while BB had 9♠ 7♣ . The river K♦ completed the board and top pair held.

Chuot lost a little of it on the next hand against Flo Campomanes. Action folded to the button Chuot. He raised to 7500. SB Campomanes three-bet to 22.5k. Chuot folded.

- ante 3000

It was a quick day for Paul Hockin. He was all in with A-J but Phan Hoang Tu had his number with J-J. The board bricked. Tu also won the next hand with a three-bet. Sahil Agarwal raised to 6k, Tu re-raised to 17k, Agarwal folded. Tu showed his hand, pocket jacks again.

- ante 3000

Julien Tran raised to 7k and big blind Piet Pape defended. On the flop Q♦ 7♠ 3♥ , Pape checked to the aggressor Tran who fired 6k, Pape called. On the 9♣ turn, Pape checked again, Tran sent out 13k, and this time he won the pot with Pape folding.

- ante 3000

Tran Duc Dong raised to 11k and big blind Huu Dung Nguyen defended. At the flop Xx T♣ Q♣ , Huu was quickly all in and Dong risked it with his lesser stack. Dong was ahead with A♦ A♥ but Huu had a beauty draw K♣ J♣ straight flush draw. The turn K♠ and river 7♥ were misses for Huu and Dong doubled up.

- ante 3000

Big hands tabled with Vinod Megalmani all in holding A♥ K♦ and Tran Duc Phuong calling with A♠ Q♦ . No hits for either for a double up to Megalmani.

- ante 3000

WSOP double bracelet champion John Phan raised to 7500 then tanked for some time with Tran Hung Manh shoving his 83.5k stack. Phan eventually folded.

- ante 3000

Day 2 is in full swing here at the Pro Poker Club with returning players back from the Day 1 flights. 178 advanced though it looks like some are still missing in action. Players will start off with the usual 40-minute blinds then starting Level 18, they jump to 60-minutes. Agenda for today is to play down to the Final 9 players or the maximum of 12 rounds.

Charging in with a stack that dwarfs all others is Austria’s Tran Hanh with 437,000. Hanh is a decorated WSOP champion having won this year at a 2-7 Lowball event. Coming in second is Nguyen Thai Duong with 315,500 followed by Norbert Koh with 307,000.

Other pros high in the count are WSOP bracelet winner Mike Takayama with 281,500 and Gao Wenling at 255,500. Of course there are many familiar names and faces out there. Ones to watch out for among the local force are Huu Dung Nguyen, Apu Weo, Le Anh Tien, Hai Chuot, and Le Duc Anh. We will track them and many others throughout the day and bring you as many hands as possible.

The Main Event drew in a combined 679 entries over the course of three starting days. With each buy-in at VND 22M, this generated a record-breaking prizepool of VND 13,172,600. This is the largest poker prize pool the country has ever seen. For sure, the money will be reached today with 85 paid. The biggest chunk of the pot won’t be claimed until tomorrow but here is what they’ll all be hunting down - VND 2,427,580 (~US$104,000).

With that said, good luck to all!

- ante 3000

First deal of the day, we hunted down the chip leader who is at table 12. His table has quite the power lineup with SJ Kim, Chang Gon Lee, Le Ngoc Khanh, Vu Duc Trung, Raghav Bansal, and Bruno Lo. Hanh kicked off the first hand of the day with a raise to 6500 and won it with no callers.

A total of 178 has made it to Day 2 of WPT Vietnam Main Event. Action will resume at 12pm at Pro Poker Club. Seat draw below: