Main Event

Chips in play: 16,440,000

Cutoff Nevan Chang raises 10,000, button Nguyen Van Sang three-bets 27,500, Chang four-bets 175,000 (leaving himself 1,000 behind), Nguyen folds.

World Poker Tour (WPT) Vietnam Main Event wrapped up its third and last starting day with a booming 411 entries and 56 players advancing to the next round. Holding the torch as front runner was Korean superstar Nam Hyung Kim who bagged a massive 729,000 stack (145 bb). This was also more than enough to earn the top spot in the overall Day 2 counts.

Read up on how Kim amassed his chips by scrolling down to the live updates. Finishing in second rank was Germany’s Tim Schimmel with 138 bb and to round out the top three was Vietnamese pro Cao Ngoc Anh with 127 bb. All three players advanced to Day 2 in the same order.

Date: October 14, 2023 Buy in is ₫30,000,000 (~US$ 1,230) Guarantee: ₫12,000,000,000 (~US$ 492,100) *Champion will also win a package to the $40 Million guaranteed WPT World Championship in December at Wynn Las Vegas

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Day 1A: 130 entries (95 unique) / 21 advanced Day 1B: 309 entries (207 unique) / 47 advanced Day 1C: 411 entries {254 unique) / 56 advanced

Ly Tran Tien calls a short stack’s all in and is behind Q♥ T♥ against A♦ Q♣ . A ten turns up on the flop and holds.

From mid position, Nam Hyung Kim opens, small blind Vu Van Linh calls. When the board runs out 7♥ 3♣ 5♣ 3♦ 5♥ , Kim bets the flop and turn and Vu calls. On the river, the pot amassed to 108,000, Vu leads out 65,500, Kim jams, Vu tanks then folds.

Utg+2 Amit Kaushik opens 8000, button three-bets 26,500, big blind Nguyen Duc Hieu four-bets all in 97,500, Kaushik shoves as well, button folds.

Nguyen Duc Hieu K♦ K♥ Amit Kaushik Q♣ Q♠

Board runs out 6♣ J♣ A♦ 3♦ 2♥ .

Utg Somashekar KM limps, Hua Wei Lin raises 10,000, Pham Quang Van all in for 19,500, Somashekar four-bets 35,000, Lin five-bets to 150,000, Somashekar folds.

Hua Wei Lin J♣ J♠ Pham Quang Van K♣ Q♣

Board runs 7♥ J♥ 7♣ K♥ 6♠ , Pham busts.

All in preflop, Xiao Yu Cheng A♣ K♣ , Tan Wah Meng K♦ K♥ , board runs 7♠ J♣ A♦ 8♥ J♥ for a double up to Cheng.

From hijack, Manoj Pentakota opens 10,000, cutoff three-bets 33,000, Pentakota calls. At the flop T♥ 8♥ Q♥ , cutoff c-bet 16,000, Pentakota check-call. Both players check the turn 5♣ to bring the river T♠ . Pentakota leads out 38,000, cutoff raises 200,000 - just covering Pentakota’s stack, Pentakota tanks. Pentakota proceeds to use all of his remaining six time-banks and just before time runs out, he calls and doubles up.

Cutoff K♠ 8♠ Manoj Pentakota Q♣ J♣

Hijack Pham Duy Anh raises 13,000, button Yannick Leonard three-bets 36,000, big blind Ian Modder four-bets all in, Pham folds, Leonard calls for his tournament life.

Yannick Leonard J♣ J♥ , Modder A♠ 5♠ , board runs A♥ T♥ T♦ K♥ 6♥ for a flush to Leonard.

Hua Wei Lin cleans out a short stack with A♣ K♥ dominating A♠ Q♦ on a board T♣ 3♦ A♦ K♣ 2♣ .

All in preflop, Ho Koon Leong at risk with J♥ J♦ against bigger stacked Adones Carmona’s K♦ K♠ . When the flop runs 6♥ J♣ 3♥ Leong spikes a lucky two-outer, then with the turn 6♠ and river T♣ , Leong doubles up.

Blinds are up, 64 players remaining. This is the last round of play. Just announced, if the field drops to 52 players, they will bag up. Here are the chip leaders:

Heavy preflop betting leads to Justin Geronimo all in holding 8♥ 8♦ and falls to Nguyen The Anh’s K♦ K♥ .

Tan Wah Meng raises 8000, big blind Yo Hwan Lim three-bets all in for 78,000, Tan tanks using up three time banks then calls. Lim has 9♠ 9♦ , Tan A♦ Q♠ , board runs J♥ A♥ 8♠ T♦ A♠ .

Utg Zheng Tian Hao opens, hijack Nguyen Tuan Anh three-bets 25,000, Zheng calls. At the flop 9♣ 4♠ 6♠ , Zheng check-calls 30,000. On the turn 9♠ , Zheng shoves, Nguyen calls and turns over K♣ K♠ overpair, Zheng is ahead with Q♠ J♠ . The river 4♥ is not a spade or a king, Zheng doubles up.

Hijack Noel Llamedo opens 8000, small blind calls, flop runs 4♦ J♦ T♥ . Doqata leads out, Llamedo jams, Doqata calls and shows 4♥ 4♣ set. Llamedo has A♣ A♥ . With the turn 6♦ and river 7♥ , Llamedo is eliminated.

Hijack opens, cutoff Amit Kaushik three-bets 28,000, hijack calls, flop comes 4♣ 2♠ Q♠ . Kaushik c-bets 12,000, hijack check-folds.

Blinds are up, 75 players left out of the 411 entry field. The heat wraps up at the end of Level 14. These are the current big stacks:

Utg+2 opens, hijack three-bets 18,000, big blind Somashekar KM calls, utg+2 four-bets all in, hijack folds, Somashekar calls. At the showdown, it’s a flip with utg+2 9♠ 9♦ and Somashekar K♣ Q♣ . The board runs A♦ Q♦ K♦ T♦ K♠ for a boat to Somashekar.

Cutoff Don Carmona opens, small blind Liang Peng three-bets 19,000, Carmona calls. At the flop Q♥ T♠ J♠ , checks, Carmona bets, Liang shoves, and Carmona calls. Liang ahead 9♣ 8♣ straight, Carmona has plenty of outs A♠ 9♠ . However with the turn 5♣ and river 6♥ , Carmona misses to pay the double up.

From utg+1, Nam Hyung Kim opens and finds three callers to the flop 7♣ 5♦ T♥ . Kim c-bets 10,000, cutoff folds, button Vu Van Linh and big blind call. On the turn 6♣ , Kim bets 25,000, Vu raises 55,000, Kim tanks then shoves, Vu snap calls.

Vu Van Linh 9♣ 8♣ straight Nam Hyung Kim T♦ 7♦ two pair

The river comes 7♠ for a full house to Kim and a double up.

From lojack Dhanesh Chainani opens 6000, hijack Justin Geronimo calls button calls, big blind Nguyen Thanh Tung three-bets 26,500, Chainani four-bets all in, fold-fold, Nguyen calls with less chips.

Dhanesh Chainani K♦ Q♠ Nguyen Thanh Tung K♥ K♣

The board comes 4♣ 9♣ 5♥ K♠ A♥ for a double up to Nguyen.

Blinds are up, 108 players remaining. The event plays to the end of Level 14.

Big stacks update:

Utg Pham Quang Van opens 5500, cutoff Somashekar KM and big blind Chen Ming Cong call, flop comes A♣ 6♥ 8♣ . Pham c-bets 11,000, Somashekar calls, Chen check-raises 41,500, Pham and Somashekar call. On the turn T♥ , Chen shoves (146,500), Pham tank-folds, Somashekar tanks using up three time-banks then calls.

Somashekar KM Q♣ T♣ draw Chen Mingcong 6♠ 8♠ two pair

The river 5♣ is the money card for Somashekar to double up.

Blinds are up, 157 players remaining out of 411 entries. Game plays to the end of Level 14. Currently in the lead is Terry Gonzaga with 370,000.

Ivan Konechnyi all in for 31,000 and K♥ T♥ , Yo Hwan Lim calls A♥ J♦ , board is 9♥ 8♦ 4♦ A♣ K♦ .

Utg Sumit Sapra opens, big blind Terry Gonzaga defends, flop comes K♣ 5♣ 2♠ . Sapra c-bets 3500, Gonzaga check-raises 8500, Sapra folds.

Yasuhiro Waki raises 4000, Bich Nguyen three-bets jams 30,000, beside him a player joins in for 31,000, action folds around, Waki folds. Nguyen A♥ J♥ is up against K♠ J♠ . Both players miss the board for a double up to Nguyen.

All in preflop, Yeh Hung Wei’s Q♦ Q♠ delivers a knockout to a short stack with K♦ T♥ on a board 4♠ 3♦ 9♣ 6♣ J♦ .

Last break of the day is over, that means registration to the Main Event is closed. Day 1C drew the largest field of 410 entries to bring the total entries to 850. We will have the prize pool up once it has been made available. Currently 217 players left in the field. They play until the end of Level 14. Blinds go up every 60 minutes.

Chip leaders:

Richard Marquez opens 3300, button Tran Thi Xuan Ha calls, small blind Pham Tien Dung shoves 7,300, Marquez four-bets 15,800, Tran folds. Marquez has J♠ T♥ , Pham 6♣ 8♠ , the board is kind to Pham as it runs 4♦ 7♣ 2♦ A♣ 5♣ for a straight.

Utg+1 raises 3200, Heng Kien Tat and big blind call. At the flop K♣ 6♦ 3♣ , utg+1 c-bets 3200, Heng shoves, no callers.

Truong Vu Tran Khanh calls a short stack’s all in. Khanh has A♥ Q♦ , at risk player with K♦ K♠ , board runs 6♥ A♣ 6♥ 7♦ 3♦ .

Getting the action from Pham Duy Anh, utg opens, from utg+2 Pham three-bet, hijack calls, initial raiser folds. At the flop 4♥ 3♥ A♣ , Pham bets 15,000 and hijack calls. On the turn 8♦ Pham bets 25,000 and is called again. On the river 8♠ with 86,000 in the pot, Pham shoves, hijack calls for everything, Pham opens Q♦ 8♥ trips, hijack busts with A♥ 7♥ two pair.

Action folds to button Yannick Leonard who raises 2500, small blind Tran Duc Kien shoves (17,200), Leonard calls and shows A♠ 9♦ , Tran with T♥ T♣ . The board runs 3♦ 8♦ 9♠ 7♥ A♥ , Leonard spikes the ace to eliminated Tran.

Blinds are up, 371 entries (255 unique). For those just about to enter, starting stack is 40,000. Registration is open until the start of Level 10. Blinds increase every 40 minutes then to 60 minutes once registration has closed at approximately 5:30pm.

Under the gun Song Li raises 2500 and finds five callers to the flop K♥ A♣ 5♦ . Song c-bets 12,000, no callers to claim the pot.

Next hand, cutoff Nguyen Huu Tuan raises 3500, button calls, big blind Song three-bets 11,500, Nguyen and button call. At the flop 3♥ T♣ 3♣ , Song c-bets 15,000, Nguyen calls, button folds. On the K♣ turn, Song jams, Nguyen calls. Song shows A♦ Q♦ , Nguyen with A♣ A♠ . The river 7♣ further improves Nguyen to a flush to ship it and boot Song.

Utg+1 raises 2500, hijack Chhikara Himanshu calls. small blind Dinh Xuan Dinh shoves 25,100, initial raiser tank-calls for 20,100, Himanshu calls with the biggest stack.

Dinh Xuan Dinh Q♣ T♣ Utg+1 6♦ 6♣ Chhikara Himanshu A♦ A♥

Board runs out 7♠ J♥ Q♦ J♠ J♣ , Himanshu sweeps and delivers a double bust.

Nguyen Thi Bao An is all in for 13,200 with A♦ J♦ but doesn’t improve against Teddy Pham’s 4♦ 4♥ on a board 2♣ 5♣ Q♣ 6♥ 8♠ to bust out.

Hoang Viet three-bet shoves 21,100, initial raiser Dong Kyu Kim calls. Hoang A♣ 7♥ , Kim T♥ T♣ . The board runs 2♥ A♦ 3♦ K♥ J♠ for a double up to Hoang to 44,200.

Utg raises 1200, Nguyen utg+2 Nguyen Van Sang three-bets 2400, finds one caller, hijack Tan Wah Meng four-bets 12,500, no callers.

Button raises 2900, blinds call, flop comes 9♣ 7♦ 6♦ . buton c-bets 7,200, small blind folds, big blind Yinan Zhou check-raises 14,600, button jams, Zhou snap-calls. Zhou has 5♥ 8♠ straight, button qh} 9♥ top pair. With the turn T♥ and river 6♣ , Zhou ships it and boots one.

Blinds are up, 350 entries (253 unique). For those just about to enter, starting stack is 40,000. Registration is open until the start of Level 10. Blinds increase every 40 minutes then to 60 minutes once registration has closed at approximately 5:30pm.

Utg+2 opens 2200, three players call, big blind three-bets 7200, utg+2 and lojack Pham Quang Van call, cutoff Nguyen Nang Quang folds, button calls for four-handed to the flop A♦ T♣ 9♣ . Two checks, Pham bets 12,000, no callers.

Blinds are up, 314 entries (238 unique). For those just about to enter, starting stack is 40,000. Registration is open until the start of Level 10. Blinds increase every 40 minutes then to 60 minutes once registration has closed at approximately 5:30pm.

Players are on their second 15-minute break. Quite a few have chips well over 100K, here are the some of the big stacks:

Utg opens, lojack Nguyen Quang Minh three-bets 5000, hijack and cutoff Hieu Ngo call, utg folds. Three players to the flop A♦ 2♦ Q♦ , action is checked to Hieu who bets 5000, Nguyen raises 10,000, hijack jams, Hieu and Nguyen call.

Hijack A♣ K♥ Hieu Ngo T♦ 9♦ Nguyen Quang Minh A♠ K♦

With the turn {10h and river A♥ , Hieu’s flush holds for a triple up. Nguyen and hijack split the side pot.

Utg Aayush Arya opens 1800, three players call, small blind three-bets 8500, big blind Richard Marquez shoves for 33,800. Initial raiser Arya calls, utg+1 joins the all in with 23,500, two players fold, small blind folds.

Richard Marquez A♣ K♠ Aayush Arya Q♥ Q♠ Utg+1 7♠ 8♠

The board runs K♦ 4♥ 4♠ 8♠ 6♣ , Marquez ships it while booting one in the process.

Utg+1 Nam Hyung Kim raise 1600, hijack John Tech three-bets 5100, Kim four-bets 14,000, Tech calls, flop comes 8♥ 6♥ 7♦ . Kim c-bets 8000, Tech calls. On the turn 4♥ , Kim shoves, Tech is covered and tanks using up two time banks then folds. Tech asks Kim if he had Ace-Five hearts, Kim said no.

Four way all in at the flop 3♥ 8♣ 9♣ , one player with 3♣ 3♦ set, Nguyen Van Trung 6♦ 6♠ , Chen Dong Yue K♥ K♦ overpair, shortest with Q♣ T♦ gut shot. No change on the turn 5♥ but on the river K♣ , Chen scores the higher set and sweeps sending three players to the rail.

Blinds are up, 273 entries (228 unique). For those just about to enter, starting stack is 40,000. Registration is open until the start of Level 10. Blinds increase every 40 minutes then to 60 minutes once registration has closed at approximately 5:30pm.

Cutoff Nguyen Duc Hieu opens, blinds call, flop comes Q♣ 2♣ 3♦ . Nguyen c-bets, small blind Ankit Wadhawan calls, big blind folds. Both players check the turn 7♠ , then Wadahawan leads out 10,400 on the river 5♣ , Hieu raises 35,000, Wadhawan tanks using up five time banks then calls. Nguyen has A♣ 3♣ nut flush, Wadhawan shows his K♣ 7♣ second nuts.

Utg+1 raises 1100, three players call to see the flop Q♣ 4♠ 6♦ . Utg+1 c-bets 2700, two players call, big blind Heng Kien Tat check-raises 8200, only lojack calls. On the turn 9♥ , Heng shoves (~80k), lojack (17.7k) tanks then calls for his tournament life. Heng is ahead K♥ Q♦ top pair, lojack 6♠ 8♠ lower pair, Heng ships it on the river 2♣ .

From hijack, Vu Van Linh raises 2600, button Marc Rivera shoves 9600, Vu tank-calls and shows K♦ Q♦ . Rivera slightly ahead with A♥ 5♦ . Board runs K♣ 5♥ 6♦ J♠ 9♣ . Vu improves to rail Rivera.

Blinds are up, 236 entries (205 unique). For those just about to enter, starting stack is 40,000. Registration is open until the start of Level 10. Blinds increase every 40 minutes then to 60 minutes once registration has closed at approximately 5:30pm.

Shortly after paying a double up when his Q♣ 8♣ lost the flip against 7♥ 7♦ , Duy Ho is at risk on a queen high flop with Q♣ J♣ that’s dominated by Heng Kien Tat’s K♥ Q♥ . No improvement on the turn and river to bust. Duy quickly re-enters.

All in on a flop Q♠ 2♠ 2♦ , at risk player Frank Lillis holds K♠ Q♣ , Tran Van Quang A♠ 5♠ , turn J♥ and river 5♦ is double up for Lillis.

Immediately after, cutoff Tran opens from cutoff, Lillis three-bets 5000 from the small blind, Tran four-bets 10,500, Lillis five-bet shoves, Tran calls and opens A♣ A♠ , Lillis with Q♦ Q♣ . No bad beat on the board, Tran doubles up.

Big blind Thomas Liffick is down to 9000 (18 bb) and sends it all in with A♠ K♥ , initial raiser Albert Nguyen on utg calls with T♥ T♣ . Liffick bricks on a board 6♣ 3♥ 5♥ 7♠ 2♠ .

Blinds are up, 187 entries (169 unique). For those just about to enter, starting stack is 40,000. Registration is open until the start of Level 10. Blinds increase every 40 minutes then to 60 minutes once registration has closed at approximately 5:30pm.

Two hours has quickly passed. Players are now on their first 15-minute break of the day. Registration is open until the start of Level 10. Blinds increase every 40 minutes then to 60 minutes once registration has closed at approximately 5:30pm.

Button Deepak Bothra opens, small blind calls, big blind three-bets all in for his last 2700, call-call. At the flop T♥ T♣ 6♦ , Bothra bets 2500 for a side pot but sb folds. Leem has A♦ T♦ , Bothra 4♠ 6♠ . The turn A♥ seals the win and the river T♠ quads is overkill.

Utg+1 Chu Tien Thanh raises 1000, small blind three-bets 4200, Chu calls, flop comes A♥ 6♦ 3♦ , sb c-bets 1500, Chu calls. On the turn 4♥ , sb checks, Chu bets 6000 and wins the pot.

Utg+2 Bich Nguyen raises 800, cutoff three-bets 2700, button calls, Nguyen calls to make it a three-way to the flop T♦ 4♦ 3♣ . Action is checked to button who bets 6500, Nguyen calls, one player folds. The turn 2♦ , Nguyen jumps out with a shove that well covers button’s stack. Button folds.

From lo-jack Truong Vu Tran Khanh opens, button Tony T three-bets 3000, small blind Dong Kyu Kim four-bets 9000, Truong and Tony call. At the flop 9♥ 4♦ T♦ , it is checked to Tony who bets 10,000, no callers.

Blinds are up, 132 entries (124 unique). For those just getting to the venue, starting stack is 40,000. Registration is open until the start of Level 10. Blinds increase every 40 minutes then to 60 minutes once registration has closed at approximately 5:30pm.

Utg opens 700, utg+1 calls, big blind Nguyen Phuc Tan three-bets 3500, utg folds, utg+1 calls. At the flop 6♥ 2♠ 8♣ , Nguyen c-bets 4500 and is called. Same action on the 8♥ turn with 5500 called. On the river A♥ , both players check. Nguyen shows J♥ J♠ , utg+1 mucks.

Hijack Truong Vu Tran Khanh raises 1100, button Dong Kyu Kim three-bets 4,000, Truong shoves, Kim snap-calls. Truong has A♣ K♣ , Kim A♥ K♠ , board runs 9♥ Q♠ 3♥ T♥ 5♦ for a split pot.

Several hands after, small blind Truong three-bets 2700, called by initial raiser Dong Kyu Kim and button Nguyen Thi Bao An. They all check the flop K♥ J♠ 3♠ . On the turn A♥ , Truong bets 6500, no callers.

Utg+1 Yun Kyu Song raises 900, hijack Nguyen Van Trung three-bets 3100, small blind calls, back to Song who four-bets 12,500, no callers.

Over 100 entries with notables scattered around the room. Among them are local stars Vu Thai Bao, Nguyen Van Trung, Pham Tien Dung, Khoi Nguyen, Bien Mai, and Nguyen Thi Bao An.

Among the international players are newly minted Victor Chong, Deepak Bothra, Nishant Sharma, Jean Mathieu Malouch, Jinlong Hu, Marc Rivera, and Hyunsup Kim.

Blinds are up, 99 entries (97 unique). For those just getting to the venue, starting stack is 40,000. Registration is open until the start of Level 10. Blinds increase every 40 minutes then to 60 minutes once registration has closed at approximately 5:30pm.