World Poker Championship Main Event draws 651 entries for over ₫14.2 Billion prize pool; Grant Gardner bags overall lead; 82 advance to Day 2
Full house at the Grand Loyal Poker Club on Thursday, January 12 as players converged for the final two flights of the World Poker Championship MAIN EVENT. Kicking it off was Day 1C which was the most popular with a thunderous 233 signing up. Only 29 reached the money round led by Vietnam’s Nguyen Xuan Thang who bagged 725,000 (181 BB) to give him the momentary chip lead entering Day 2.
In contrast, the final flight, Day 1D (Turbo), drew the smallest starting field of 111 entries, however by bagging time, UK’s Grant Gardner sat on a massive 783,000 (196 BB) stack to earn the overall top spot into the next round. Coming Day 2, twelve other players join Gardner and Thang with stacks of 100 BB and up.
The bustling day also saw the return of Korean pro Soo Jo Kim to the Asian live circuit. For the past three years, Kim has spent his live poker career battling it out on home turf and in Las Vegas. He bagged up the third overall largest stack of 136 BB. Also making the cut with a big stack was the newest Super Star Challenge winner Gab Yong Kim with 115 BB.
Players with 100 BB and up:
| Rank | Player | Flag | Stack | BB |
| 1 | Grant Gardner | UK | 783,000 | 196 |
| 2 | Thang Xuan Nguyen | Vietnam | 725,000 | 181 |
| 3 | Soo Jo Kim | Korea | 543,000 | 136 |
| 4 | Jun Min Park | Korea | 532,000 | 133 |
| 5 | Luckyman9999 | Vietnam | 494,000 | 124 |
| 6 | Moon Hoo Seo | Korea | 488,000 | 122 |
| 7 | Thanh Huy Le | Vietnam | 485,000 | 121 |
| 8 | Jae Hyung Park | Korea | 474,000 | 119 |
| 9 | Gab Yong Kim | Korea | 461,000 | 115 |
| 10 | Hoi Wai Tam | Hong Kong | 458,000 | 115 |
| 11 | Francis Garson | France | 457,000 | 114 |
| 12 | Yo Hwan Lim | Korea | 416,000 | 104 |
| 13 | Je Young Park | Korea | 409,000 | 102 |
| 14 | Thijs Hilberts | Netherlands | 398,000 | 100 |
Other notables through to the next round were Francis Garson(57 BB), Thijs Hilberts (50 BB), William Ysmael (45 BB), Trung Van Nguyen (28 BB), Trung Duc Vu (25 BB), Teddy Pham (24 BB),Akshay Nasa (18 BB), Nam Hyung Kim (14 BB), Terry Nguyen(12 BB), and WSOP bracelet winner Aaron Siyang Phua (11 BB).
CLICK HERE FOR DAY 2 CHIP COUNTS
Main Event review
From January 10 to 12, the WPC Main Event commenced with four starters to try to qualify into the next round. The first two days drew a combined 307 entries. By Day 1C, the ₫10B guarantee was shattered, and after the evening’s Day 1D (Turbo), a combined 344 was added to the mix to bring the total count to 651 entries. With each entry ponying up the ₫25,000,000 buy in, the prize pool settled at a handsome ₫14,244,000,000 (~$607,600).
CLICK HERE FOR DAY 2 CHIP COUNTS
Dates: January 10 to 14
Buy in: ₫25,000,000 (~$1,060)
Guarantee: ₫10,000,000,000 (~$425,080)
| Starting Day | Entries | Survivors |
| Day 1A | 139 | 17 |
| Day 1B | 168 | 22 |
| Day 1C | 233 | 29 |
| Day 1D (turbo) | 111 | 14 |
Total entries: 651
Prize pool: ₫14,244,000,000 (~$607,600)
Day 2 qualifiers / ITM: 82 players
Of the 651 entries, 82 survived. They return to the felt on Friday, January 13 and will race for a final table seat. Cards start flying at 12pm. Each one is guaranteed ₫36,000,000 (~$1,535) but what they will be hunting is the juicy winner’s purse of ₫2,710,000,000 (~$115,600). For those in the running, make sure to take note of the list below:
- 30-seconds action clock in play starting Day 2
- Day 2 onwards blinds increase every 60 minutes
- Day 2 blinds rollback to 2,000-4,000-4,000 BB Ante
- Day 2 plays down to the final 9 players
- Redraw at final 24 players and final 9 players
- Final table is on Saturday, January 14
Payouts
| Place | Payout in VN₫ |
| 1st | 2,710,000,000 |
| 2nd | 1,880,000,000 |
| 3rd | 1,140,000,000 |
| 4th | 860,000,000 |
| 5th | 680,000,000 |
| 6th | 540,000,000 |
| 7th | 425,000,000 |
| 8th | 335,000,000 |
| 9th | 267,000,000 |
| 11th – 12th | 210,000,000 |
| 13th – 14th | 170,000,000 |
| 15th – 16th | 140,000,000 |
| 17th – 20th | 116,000,000 |
| 21st – 24th | 97,000,000 |
| 25th – 32nd | 82,000,000 |
| 33rd – 40th | 70,000,000 |
| 41st – 48th | 61,000,000 |
| 49th – 56th | 54,000,000 |
| 57th – 64th | 48,000,000 |
| 65th – 72nd | 43,000,000 |
| 73rd – 80th | 39,000,000 |
| 81st – 82nd | 36,000,000 |
