Main Event

After 14 rounds, Day 1A wrapped up with 37 remaining out of the 136 total entries. Three players crossed the 300k marker, Yasheel Doddanavar with 333,000, Eka Vedantham with 323,500, and Monaco Tuan with 303,500. We will have a chip count for you soon along with a recap of the day. For now, you can read up on the day’s action right here in our live posts.

Congratulations to everyone that advanced! Day 2 is on Friday, March 22 at 12pm.

At the start of this last round, WPT Asia Pacific Player of the Year race leader Dhaval Mudgal was seen packing up. On the other, sharing the top spot in the race, Nikunj Jhunjhunwala closed Day 1A by avoiding the rail. He moved all in with A♣ 4♣ , was called by Francis Garson with A♠ Q♠ , the board ran 8♣ K♣ 2♥ 7♣ A♥ for a winning flush to Jhunjhunwala.

Lo-jack Quang Nguyen raised to 6k, cutoff Nam Phan called, big blind Monaco Tuan joined for a three-way look at the flop 8♦ 8♠ T♣ . Tuan checked, Quang checked, Phan bet 13k, Tuan raised to 32k, Quang folded, and Phan called. On the 5♣ turn, Tuan bet 37k, Phan shoved his 152k stack, Tuan called with 112k total. Tuan Q♣ 8♣ trips (higher kicker), Phan 8♥ 9♥ trips, the river J♣ ensured the win for Tuan and the massive double up to nearly 300k. Phan plummets to 40k.

Jack En Ching Wu and Richard Marquez saw a board complete 8♣ 9♣ T♦ 7♦ A♠ with 40k brewed along the way. Marquez checked, Wu bet 32.5k, Marquez folded.

Utg Quang Nguyen raised to 4500, Utg+1 Nam Phan three-bet to 12k, Quang called. At the flop J♦ T♥ 6♣ , Quang checked, Phan c-bet 16k, Quang folded. Phan up to 240k, Quang down to 70k.

Edward Yam Chun Ho raised to 4500, cutoff Andy Lim three-bet to 11k, back to Yam who called. At the flop 8♥ 5♥ A♠ , both checked. On the turn 3♥ , Yam bet 15k, Lim shoved his 17.5k stack, Yam called.

Lim K♥ K♠ Yam 6♠ 6♣

The river 4♦ was no help to Yam, he dropped to 41k. Lim goes over 60k.

Action began with Richard Marquez raising to 5k from utg. The player beside him utg+1 called and were joined by the big blind Hung Sheng Lin. At the flop 7♣ 9♣ 3♠ , Hung Sheng checked, Marquez bet 6k, utg+1 player called and again joined by Hung Sheng. On the 2♦ turn, action was checked to utg+1, he banged out 17k, Hung Sheng folded, Marquez called. On the river 5♥ , Marquez checked again, utg+1 shoved 51k, snap-called by Marquez. Utg+1 showed A♠ J♣ ace high, Marquez shipped it with A♦ 3♦ pair. Marquez rose to 245k while utg+1 busted.

Quang Nguyen raised to 3500, Alex Nguyen called, Matthieu Lamagnere three-bet to 17k, Quang jammed his 70k stack, no callers

Last time these two met in our reports, Duy Khanh tanked Thuan Nguyen to claim a sizable pot. This hand ended much different with Duy ending Thuan’s Day 1A run. From utg+1, Duy raised to 5k, Thuan shoved with 29.5k, easy call by Duy. Duy had pocket kings, Thuan with A-10, the board bricked.

Utg Tran Thanh Dat raised to 4500, down the orbit Monaco three-bet to 11k from button position, after the blinds folded, Tran called. At the flop 8♦ Q♦ 7♠ , Tran checked, Monaco c-bet 12k, Tran shoved his 73.5k stack, Monaco tanked then folded.

Once backed by a big stack, Edward Yam Chun Ho now sits with below average. One of the hands that sent him downward was against Nguyen Dac Luong. Action folded to Yam on the button, he raised to 4500, bb Luong answered with a shove of 38.5k, Yam called. Luong A♠ K♥ , Yam A♦ Q♣ , the board ran K♦ 5♣ 3♦ T♥ 9♣ for a double up to Luong. Yam dipped down to 70k.

Natalie Teh raised to 3500, was called by Dung God. At the flop Q♦ 3♠ 7♣ , Teh c-bet 4500, God called. On the turn 4♦ , Teh fired 8k, and still God called. The river J♠ , Teh put the brakes on, God bet 12k, Teh folded. God up to 90k.

Duy Khanh raised to 3300, Thuan Nguyen three-bet to 10k, Duy called. On the flop 2♠ 2♦ A♥ , Duy checked, Thuan c-bet 10k, Duy called. On the 3♦ turn, action was the same. Duy checked then called a 20k bet. On the river 7♥ , Duy switched up and shoved his 36.2k stack, Thuan tanked then folded.

Phachara Wongwichit raised to 3200, button player Richard Marquez three-bet to 9k, Wongwichit shoved his 27.2k stack, snap-called by Marquez. Wongwichit A♣ 5♠ , Marquez K♦ K♠ , the board favored Wongwichit as it ran 4♥ Q♥ A♠ 2♦ 4♠ .

Eka Vedantham raised to 4500, one player shoved his remaining 20k, Xiao Yin He also shoved but with a much larger 70k, sending the action back to Vedantham who called.

All in: 8♥ 9♥ Xiao J♠ J♦ Vedantham A♠ K♠

The board ran well for Vedantham A♦ Q♠ 8♣ T♥ A♣ to burn two out of Day 1A. Vedantham zoomed to 260k.

On a flop 5♣ T♠ 6♥ and 37k already brewed, hijack Linh Tran checked, button Monaco fired 26k, Linh tanked then folded. Monaco up to 200k.

Last level, Matthieu Lamagnere doubled up his short stack twice. The first one was a lucky spike with A♠ 8♠ surviving A♣ Q♣ on a board of 6♥ 8♦ J♠ 9♦ K♠ . Several hands later, he doubled up with Qx Jx improving to a straight. On this new round, he picked up more chips without having to shove.

Quang Nguyen opened with a 2800 raise, called by Nam Phan and another player, and Lamagnere. At the flop 3♥ 6♦ 7♣ , Lamagnere led for 5500, called by Nguyen while the other two folded. On the 9♥ turn, no bets arrived. When the river landed T♣ , Lamagnere bet 9k and won it with Quang folding.

Plenty of action preflop led to two players all in. The hand opened with Dhaval Mudgal raising to 2700, Maulik jammed his 18.5k stack, Kilian Loeffler followed with an 80k shove, Mudgal got out of the way. Loeffler A♣ K♣ , Maulik Q♠ Q♣ , the board granted Loeffler a higher pair J♠ 2♠ 4♠ A♦ 4♥ to ship it and but Maulik.

On a turn board T♣ 8♦ 4♠ 3♦ and 50k in the middle, Linh Tran had 45k out front sending Monaco Tran tanking. Monaco folded.

On a board 5♥ 7♣ A♠ 3♣ 9♣ and 15k weighing down the middle, Richard Marquez bet 8k, Raman Cujnal raised to 26k, Marquez tank-called. Cujnal showed K♠ Q♠ king high.

Action folded to the button Eka Vedantham, he raised to 3k. Sb Hu Jin Long three-bet to 13.2k, bb folded, and Vedantham called. On the flop 7♠ 8♦ T♦ and 9♣ turn, no bets landed. The river 5♥ , Long checked, Vedantham banged out 21k and won the pot with Long folding.

Xiaosheng Zheng raised to 2600, was called by button player and Sumit Sapra on the big blind. At the flop 5♣ A♥ 4♠ , Sapra checked, Zheng c-bet 3500, button called while Sapra folded. On the turn K♣ , Zheng fired 9k, called. On the river 3♥ , no bets landed. Zheng showed A♠ K♥ top two pair and claimed the pot.

Richard Marquez won two sizable pots back-to-back. First pot saw a raise by the utg player, called by Phachara Wongwichit, then cutoff Marquez three-bet to 8k. Initial raiser folded, Wongwichit called. At the flop T♣ 2♥ 2♠ , Wongwichit checked, Marquez bet 7k, called by Wongwichit. On the turn A♦ , check to Marquez again who fired 11k, Wongwichit folded.

Next hand, Marquez raised to 2500 and both blinds called. At the flop 2♣ 7♥ 9♠ , everyone checked. On the Q♠ turn, sb bet 4k, called by bb and Marquez. On the river T♣ , blinds checked to Marquez who sent out 15k, sb tank-called, bb folded. Marquez opened K♣ J♦ straight and won the pot. Sb showed A♠ 7♠ . Marquez climbed to 158k.

Catching the action on a full board A♥ 7♦ 4♣ 3♦ 5♣ , button player was already all in, bb Matthieu Lamagnere bet 6500, Quang Nguyen shoved, Lamagnere tank-folded. Nguyen showed 6♣ 6♦ straight sending out button player A♣ 9♣ . Nguyen up to 75k.

Dung God raised to 2500, called by one player, Nguyen Hung three-bet to 6k, Artur Koren four-bet shoved 33.5k, God folded, next player folded, Nguyen tanked, then he too gave it up.

Linh Tran sent two players out in separate hands. His first victim was Victor Chong. On a flop J♠ 4♠ 8♥ and 6k in the middle, bb Chong checked, utg Tran bet 2k, Chong jammed his 13.3k, and Tran snap-called. Chong 3♠ 6♠ draw, Tran Q♥ Q♣ , the turn 9♣ and river T♥ were no help to Chong.

Next one out was a player who raised to 2400, Tran three-bet to 7500, initial raiser shoved 21.4k, and again a snap call by Tran. Aggressor held Q♠ 8♥ , Tran with A♥ K♣ , the board came down T♥ 5♥ T♠ 7♠ 4♦ . With no hits for either, Tran shipped it while booting one in the process.

All in preflop, Jeonggyu Cho with T♠ T♣ , Andy Lim Sung Hwan had him dominated in chips and with Q♠ Q♣ , the board bricked. Cho was eliminated. Lim up to 50k.

Action saw a raise to 1800, called by Le Tam, three-bet to 4400 by Hung Nguyen. Back to initial raiser who called followed by Tam also with a call. On the flop K♥ A♥ K♠ , Hung bet 9k. No callers to win the pot.

With a raise of 1800 before him, Artur Koren moved all in for 8800, he was joined by Sonil Mahboobani with 30k, initial raiser folded. Koren A♠ T♦ , Mahboobani A♣ K♠ , the board ran 8♥ 6♦ Q♥ K♣ J♦ for a straight and a double up to Koren.

Edward Yam Chun Ho 145K Nam Phan 130K Alan Lau King Lun 110K Dang Van Hien 110K

From cutoff, Dinh Xuan Dinh shoved his ailing short stack of 9.3k, sb Dang Van Hien. Dinh K♥ T♣ , Dang Q♦ J♦ , the board ran A♥ T♦ Q♣ 9♣ 6♦ .

Lo-jack Dung God raised to 1300, bb Edward Yam Chun Ho three-bet to 4600, God called. On the flop K♠ 3♠ 7♠ both players checked. On the turn 5♥ , Yam bet 7k and claimed the pot after God tank-folded.

WPT India Main Event champion Nikunj Jhunjhunwala booted out two players simultaneously but before doing so was a preflop war. Jhunjhunwala raised to 2100, one player called, Mohamed Tharpa called, Azex Aisec three-bet to 10k, Jhunjhunwala all in for 37k, one player folded, Tharpa all in for 12.5k, Azec all in for 13.4k.

Jhunjhunwala T♦ T♣ Tharpa 7♦ 8♦ Azec A♥ J♠

The board ran K♥ J♦ 6♣ T♥ 5♠ .

Michael Newby’s 1600 preflop raise found three callers to the flop 9♥ J♥ 4♦ . All four players opted to check and the turn landed 8♠ . Action was checked to Dung God who bet 3600. Linh Tran and Newby called. On the river 5♥ , Tran checked, Newby bet 4200, God called, and Tran folded. Newby opened two overcards A♠ Q♣ , God won the pot with K♥ T♥ flush.

Abhinav Iyer raised to 1100, Dang Van Hien three-bet to 2800, Frederic Boillet called, Iyer called. At the flop K♦ J♦ 3♥ , Iyer checked, Dang c-bet 5100, Boillet folded, called by Iyer. On the J♠ turn, Iyer checked again, Dang bet 10.1k, and this time Iyer opted to fold.

Catching the action on a turn board T♦ 3♠ 7♠ 2♠ and a light 6k in the middle, sb position Alex Nguyen bet 2400 and bb Natalie Teh called. On the river 4♣ , Nguyen checked, Teh bet 5800, Nguyen tanked then called. Teh showed 3♦ 3♥ set. Nguyen mucked.

Preflop action began with Jeremy raising, called by Edward Yam Chun Ho, three-bet to 3700 by Bruno Lo, Jeremy shoved, Yam shoved, Bruno joined in for a three-way party.

Jeremy A♦ K♦ Yam A♥ A♣ Lo K♥ K♠

The board ran dry 6♦ Q♥ 7♣ J♥ 3♦ . Yam stormed to 120k, Jeremy busted, and Lo dropped in chips.

Hearing players roar as cellphones simultaneously were out to take pics, we rushed over to see all hoopla. The board was T♦ 7♦ 9♦ T♥ 8♦ , one player busted holding T♠ T♣ quads while Ian Modder shipped it with K♦ J♦ straight flush. We hope to get the full action on this hand at some point.

Shortly after sending one off, Alan Lau King Lun claimed another good pot. On a turn board 7♦ 4♥ A♠ 2♣ and 8800 in the middle, Dinh Xuan Dinh checked, Lau bet 7k, Dinh called. The river 6♦ saw Dinh check again, Lau slid out 18.7k, Dinh tank-called. Lau turned over his 4♦ 4♠ set and Dinh mucked. Lau up to 130k.

Alan Lau King Lun happily scooped up an easy pot. He raised to 1200, and the bb player defended. At the flop 8♥ T♥ 3♥ , bb checked, Lau c-bet 1200, bb raised to 3200, Lau called. On the 9♥ turn, no bets by either and the river 7♣ was felted. Bb shoved his 23.8k stack, Lau called. bb showed A♠ Q♦ , for a failed bluff while Lau shipped it with A♥ 7♥ nut flush.

Dhaval Mudgal engaged in a preflop raise war that began with a player raising to 700, Mudgal called, three-bet to 2800 by Natalie Teh, called by Rex Clinkscales, initial raiser folded, Mudgal four-bet to 10k, Teh folded, Clinkscales all in, Mudgal all in for his tournament life.

Mudgal Q♣ Q♦ Clinkscales T♦ T♣

The board Q♥ 5♣ 6♠ 4♣ 3♥ . Double up for Mudgal.

Soo Jo Kim opened for 800 and found four callers to join him to the flop 6♠ 9♠ 2♦ . One player checked, Kim c-bet 2500, called by two players - Dinh Xuan Dinh and and Dang Van Hien. The turn 2♥ , Kim jammed around 9.3k, Dinh called, Dang folded, the cards were opened. Kim 8♥ 9♥ , Dinh 6♣ 9♣ , the river T♠ didn’t help Kim and Dinh’s higher two pair shipped it as Kim shipped out.

Mp player raised to 600, Dhaval Mudgal three-bet to 2100, Natalie Teh four-bet to 6500, mp bowed out while Mudgal called. At the flop Q♦ 9♣ J♥ , and 7♦ turn, both players checked. On the river Q♣ , Teh shoved her 17.4k stack, Mudgal folded.

Nam Phan is now up to 95k having railed Lim Yohwan. The hand began with a raise by utg Lim to 500, hijack Phan three bet to 1500, Lim four-bet to 5k, called by Phan. At the flop 2♠ 9♥ 8♥ , Lim bet 3500, Phan called. On the turn 3♠ , Lim stayed aggressive and fired 8k. Phan called. The river 4♦ , Lim moved all in, Phan with the snap-call. Lim showed K♠ K♥ , but was way behind Phan’s 5♠ 6♠ straight that completed on the river.

Dinh Xuan Dinh raised to 600, Dang Van Hien called. At the flop J♠ A♠ Q♣ , Dinh c-bet 700, Dang raised to 2700, Dinh called. On the turn A♣ , both checked. The river landed 5♠ , Dinh bet 3500, Dang folded while showing his J♦ Q♥ . Dinh didn’t show and claimed the pot.

With numerous pros at table 8, there’s been no shortage of action. This hand saw Tan Wah Meng raise to 600, Alan Lau King Lun three-bet 1800 from hijack, button Gorge Ni called, and back to Tan who called. At the flop 9♣ 2♦ 6♥ , no bets landed for a free turn T♥ . Tan led for 2500, Lau called, Ni folded. The river A♠ , Tan slowed back to a check, Lau banged out 9k, and Tan called. Lau opened T♣ A♦ two pair, Tan mucked.

Action folded around to button player Soo Jo Kim, he raised to 500. Both blinds called. The flop ran K♠ 6♦ 9♣ , sb Gorge led for 1k, called by bb and Kim. On the 3♣ turn, Ni sent out 2100, bb folded, Kim raised to 7k, Ni called. The river Q♣ , both checked. Ni showed K♦ 3♦ two pair and claimed the pot with Kim mucking.

Acknowledging notables that are now slugging it out there… Abhinav Iyer, Alan Lau King Lun, Soo Jo Kim, Dang Van Hien, Victor Chong, Quang Nguyen, Lim Yohwan, Hung Sheng Lin, Natalie Teh, Kilian Loeffler, and En Ching Wu. We have reached 100 entries. Registration closes at the start of Level 10.

In our attempt to get a hand on the defending champion Dhaval Mudgal, we instead landed a nice pot earned by Kok Jun Yan who is seated at the same table. Action opened with mp player raising to 500, called by three players - cutoff Nguyen Duy Vu, button Kok Jun Yan, and bb Mudgal. At the flop Q♥ 6♥ 7♠ , two checked, Nguyen bet 1200, called by Yan and Mudgal, mp folded. On the T♥ turn, action was checked to Yan, he bet 3500, no callers to take it down.

Dhaval Mudgal has arrived! Not only will he be defending his WPT Vietnam Main Event title, he will also be looking to pad up more points towards the WPT Asia Pacific Player of the Year race. WPT Live Events Specialist Danny McDonagh has just announced that 1500 points will be awarded to the winner of the Main Event.

Michael Kim Falcon is one of the early casualties of Day 1A. He lost all his chips to Nam Phan, a player he tangled with several hands prior. On a flop 5♦ J♠ J♣ , and 2500 in the middle, Phan checked, mp player bet 1k, Falcon called, Phan raised to 2400, mp folded, and Falcon called. On the turn 8♣ , Phan checked, Falcon slid out 4k, smooth-called by Phan. The river 2♥ , Phan checked, Falcon moved all in with 17.5k, was snap-called by Phan. Falcon opened Q♣ 9♦ failed bluff, Phan shipped it with A♦ J♦ trips. Phan up to 70k.

Nazih Sibaei raised to 300, late position Hu Jin Long and bb player called. At the flop 6♥ 8♠ 9♣ , bb checked, Sibaei c-bet 900, Long called, bb called. On the turn A♣ , check again by bb, Sibaei sent out another 1400, Long raised to 4600, bb folded, called by Sibaei. The river 3♠ , Sibaei checked, Long fired a sizable 16k bet, Sibaei tanked, then folded while showing 8♦ 9♥ two pair. Long didn’t show.

More notables have joined the Main Event action, among them are: Linh Tran, WPT Kickoff champion Rex Clinkscales, Richard Marquez, Dinh Xuan Dinh, Benjamin Gonzva, and Madhav Gupta.

Hijack player raised to 500, called by cutoff Michael Kim Falcon, three-bet by Nam Phan on the button. After the blinds folded, hijack folded as well, Falcon called. At the flop 9♠ 7♦ 4♥ , Falcon checked, Phan c -bet 2200, called. On the 4♦ turn, Falcon led for 7k, Phan tanked, then folded. Falcon up to 55k.

Getting an early start are several notables: Raiden Kan, Aso Seitaro, Johannes Felix Hoeld, Hwang Sang Yeon, Michael Kim Falcon, and Jeonggyu Cho.

With 2300 already in the middle, two players looked on a flop K♥ 3♠ 4♥ . Utg+1 Meherzad Munsaf bet 1800, called by Daniel Jo Ocean on the button. The turn 3♥ and river 6♦ , both players opted to check it. Munsaf won it with pocket jacks in the hole.