Minh Anh Nguyen bulldozes through APF Main Event final table for career second major title

Vietnam’s Minh Anh Nguyen slashed his way through the Asian Poker Festival Main Event final table, eliminating seven of the finalists to seize the inaugural title and a sweet payout of VN₫2,680,000,000 (~$110,400).

“Winning a poker tournament is great but winning a Main Event is just a different feeling. It feels surreal to win two Main trophies in a year. I thought it was quite impossible at first but now, a third and fourth Main Event title are in my sights.”

Leading up to Nguyen’s final table domination, he was already the player to catch and the player to fear.

“I was quite relaxed and confident in this tournament which led to very aggressive plays and reads that ended up working out. I don’t think I’ve ever put up a more dominating performance. I was chip leader at the end of Day 1, I ended Day 2 still chip leading, I continued to play well and held the chip lead throughout the entire final table.”

However, the end result does not reveal some of the struggles Nguyen faced. Late in Day 2, multiple bad beats sent his stack plunging. This left him no choice but to tighten up and fold for three straight levels until he recovered. At the final table, Nguyen had the lead but lost several all in clashes to cut his advantage.

In the end, he persevered. This was Nguyen’s second major title having first won the inaugural Poker Dream Vietnam in Hoi An on October 2022.

“I was the first Poker Dream Vietnam champion, and now I am the first Asian Poker Festival champion. I guess I am a very lucky first-timer.”

To sum up his overall experience, Nguyen shared, “for the brand’s first event, it felt just like how a professional tournament should be. Friendly staff, diverse fields, and the venue (Royal Poker Club) was easily accessible. As a newcomer to the scene I am sure APF has plenty to improve on but with this much potential coming from Chinese players, I have no doubt they will boom next year.”

Keep your eyes peeled for the champ as he intends to kick off 2024 attending the biggest events in the region starting with WPT Cambodia. and APT Taiwan.

APF Main Event

The APF Main Event ran from December 9 to 13, 2023 with a mixed bag of649 runners ponying up the VN₫ 25,000,000 (~$1,057) buy in. As advertised, players from China were among the largest contingents and many were among the 85 players that earned a piece of the VN₫ 15,000,000,000 (~$616,650) prize pool. Li Yong got the furthest of 4th place followed by Qiao Chi (5th),

Dates: December 9 to 13, 2023
Buy in: VN₫ 25,000,000 (~$1,057)
Guarantee: VN₫ 15,000,000,000 (~$616,650)
Entries: 649
Prize pool: VN₫ 15,000,000,000 (~$616,650)
ITM: 85 players

Final table payouts

*Full payouts to be posted

Day 1 review

Day 1A: 84 entries / 11 reached ITM
Day 1B: 122 entries / 16 reached ITM
Day 1C: 57 entries / 8 reached ITM
Day 1D: 242 entries / 31 reached ITM
Day 1E: 109 entries . 14 reached ITM
Day 1F: 25 entries / 5 reached ITM

Event recap

Minh Anh Nugyen entered the final table surrounded by four players from India, two from China, one from USA and one local. On his road to victory, Nguyen knocked out Laksh Pal Singh (9th), then cleaned out the rest from Zarvan Tumboli (7th) all the way to heads up against Amit Kaushik (2nd). With a massive 9:1 bb advantage at heads up, it was an easy finish. Last hand, Nguyen’s beat Kaushik’s on a board .