Hong Kong’s Hoi Wai Tam leads the World Poker Championship Main Event Final 8; VN₫2.7B ($115.6K) up top

Asia-Pacific
Live Poker
01/14/2023

After a lengthy 15+ hours of Day 2 play, the World Poker Championship MAIN EVENT Final 8 was established. Hong Kong’s Hoi Wai Tam bagged up the mightiest stack of 81 BB and holding firm as last rank was Day 2 chip leader Grant Gardner with 15 BB. The title-chase continues on Saturday, January 14 starting at 2pm (Vietnam time). Up for grabs is the ₫2,710,000,000 (~$115,600) top prize.

Who will lift the crown? Find out via the livestream hosted on the Grand Loyal Poker Club‘s facebook page or track the action right here via the SMP live updates.

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FINAL 8 PLAYERS BY CHIP RANK

Seat Player Flag Stack BB
2 Hoi Wai Tam Hong Kong 4,860,000 81
5 Hyun Sup Kim Korea 3,235,000 54
4 Thang Ngoc Dao Vietnam 2,640,000 44
3 Thanh Huy Le Vietnam 2,470,000 41
7 Hung Van Huynh Vietnam 1,960,000 33
6 Apoorva Goel India 1,935,000 32
1 William Kang UK 1,565,000 26
8 Grant Gardner UK 900,000 15

FINAL 8 PLAYERS BY SEAT

Seat Player Flag Stack BB
1 William Kang UK 1,565,000 26
2 Hoi Wai Tam Hong Kong 4,860,000 81
3 Thanh Huy Le Vietnam 2,470,000 41
4 Thang Ngoc Dao Vietnam 2,640,000 44
5 Hyun Sup Kim Korea 3,235,000 54
6 Apoorva Goel India 1,935,000 32
7 Hung Van Huynh Vietnam 1,960,000 33
8 Grant Gardner UK 900,000 15

WPC Main Event Final 8 review

Starting January 10, the WPC Main Event drew 651 entries across four starting heats to surge way past the guarantee, settling at a larger ₫14,244,000,000 (~$607,600) prize pool. 82 players advanced to Day 2, each one was guaranteed a minimum ₫36,000,000 (~$1,535).

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Dates: January 10 to 14
Buy in: ₫25,000,000 (~$1,060)
Guarantee: ₫10,000,000,000 (~$425,080)
Entries: 651
Prize pool:₫14,244,000,000 (~$607,600)
ITM: 82 players

Starting Day Entries Survivors
Day 1A 139 17
Day 1B 168 22
Day 1C 233 29
Day 1D 111 14

Day 2 was an absolute grind with nonstop action running for over 15 hours. UK’s Grant Gardner opened as chip leader and stayed afloat with 15 BB at bagging to secure his first ever Main Event Final 8 seat in Asia. Last year, Gardner finished 21st at the Poker Dream Vietnam Main Event.When he returns, he has his work cut out if he hopes to catch the leader Hong Kong’s Hoi Wai Tam who amassed 81 BB.

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Hoi Wai Tam

Tam is running red hot at the series with a victory at the Megastack and 9th place at the Superstack Turbo. At the Main Event, Tam’s mission began by racking up the second largest stack at Day 1B, entered Day 2 running 10th in chips, then closed as Final 8 chip leader with a 27 BB advantage over his closest challenger. No matter where Tam finishes, he will have scored his largest live tournament career payout.

Earning second rank was Hyun Sup Kim with 54 BB. Kim is already decorated with a title at the Hyper Turbo. He’s also had success in Korea with several high roller wins. He is the country’s last hope after Soojo Kim and Gab Yong Kim missed the mark in 11th and 9th place.

The next three players are from host country Vietnam – Thang Ngoc Dao (44 BB), Thanh Huy Le (41 BB), andHuynh Van Hung (33 BB). Of the three, only Le has prior Main Event final table experience, finishing 7th at the WPTDeepStacks Hanoi back in April 2021.

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Apoorva Goel

Next down the line is seasoned player Apoorva Goel who was one of two players from India that made it to Day 2. Apoorva’s impressive portfolio includes a six figure payout at the 2017 Macau Red Dragon for 3rd place and an APPT 2013 6-Max Championship title. With 32 BB at his disposal, players have much to fear.

Coming in with 26 BB is Asian circuit regular William Kang from the UK. Kang has two side event cashes – 6th at the Mystery Bounty and 16th at the Megastack. Despite his substantial list of deep runs, he is still seeking his first major Main Event title. Last month, he came close at the Hanoi Super Series placing 8th.

The Final 8 are guaranteed a minimum payout of ₫335,000,000 (~$14,290) but what everyone will be eyeing is the ₫2,710,000,000 (~$115,600) winner’s purse and the champion’s trophy.

Place Payout in ₫
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

Payouts 9th to 82nd

9th Gab Yong Kim 267,000,000
10th Jae Hyung Park 267,000,000
11th Soo Jo Kim 210,000,000
12th Moon Ho Seo 210,000,000
13th Ngoc Phuong Nguyen 170,000,000
14th Sunho Yoon 170,000,000
15th Jun Min Park 140,000,000
16th Andrei Glushkov 140,000,000
17th Anh Viet Nguyen 116,000,000
18th Viet Phuong Le 116,000,000
19th Je Young Park 116,000,000
20th Francis Garson 116,000,000
21st Yong Min Kim 97,000,000
22nd Olivier Ziegler 97,000,000
23rd Ha Duc Pham 97,000,000
24th Zhao Feng 97,000,000
25th Thien Van Ha 82,000,000
26th Keung Soo Yoon 82,000,000
27th Dong Myeong Yang 82,000,000
28th Tuan Danh Luu 82,000,000
29th Jonas Magdalinski 82,000,000
30th Yohwan Lim 82,000,000
31st Jiwon Yoon 82,000,000
32nd Thijs Hilberts 82,000,000
33rd Hung Viet Le 70,000,000
34th Jeorge Lagatuz 70,000,000
35th Kisoo Byun 70,000,000
36th Cuong Hung Phan 70,000,000
37th Hieu Manh Nguyen 70,000,000
38th Trund Duc Vu 70,000,000
39th Nhat Ta Vu 70,000,000
40th Huy Quyen Dinh 70,000,000
41st Sung Kun Lee 61,000,000
42nd Anh Quyen Dang 61,000,000
43rd Quy Xuan Pham 61,000,000
44th Thang Xuan Nguyen 61,000,000
45th Jun Yeong Jeong 61,000,000
46th Dai Ngoc Nguyen 61,000,000
47th Teddy Pham 61,000,000
48th Akshay Nasa 61,000,000
49th Anthony Abram 54,000,000
50th Rahul Melwani 54,000,000
51st Dat Xuan Mai 54,000,000
52nd Son Thanh Nguyen 54,000,000
53rd Ji Bok Park 54,000,000
54th Chan Toan Truong 54,000,000
55th Vinh Huu Nguyen 54,000,000
56th Satoshi Kuriga 54,000,000
57th Nam Hai Hoang 48,000,000
58th Suk Kim 48,000,000
59th William Ysmael 48,000,000
60th Huy Quang Pham 48,000,000
61st In Sun Kang 48,000,000
62nd Dien Van Le 48,000,000
63rd Namhyung Kim 48,000,000
64th Terry Nguyen 48,000,000
65th Kien Duc Tran 43,000,000
66th Hyuk Gyu Lee 43,000,000
67th Ho JIn Kim 43,000,000
68th Duy Thuy Thi Nguyen 43,000,000
69th Trung Van Nguyen 43,000,000
70th Tan Van Dong 43,000,000
71st Anh Duy Nguyen 43,000,000
72nd Dai Yong Yol 43,000,000
73rd Que Van Nguyen 39,000,000
74th Gyu Hyuk Lee 39,000,000
75th Hao Lin 39,000,000
76th Dzmitry Budai 39,000,000
77th Phuc Ba Le 39,000,000
78th Hung Manh Nguyen 39,000,000
79th Tung Son Ta 39,000,000
80th Tu Thanh Le 39,000,000
81st Si Yang Phua 36,000,000
82nd Hansoo Moon 36,000,000

*All images from Grand Loyal Poker Club

Author:triccia