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APL Ho Chi Minh City draws 154 to inaugural DeepStack Open event in Asia

SMP Editor
SMP EditorEditor-in-Chief

Opening day of Asia Poker League’s – APL Ho Chi Minh City – Road Series Vol.3 did not disappoint with 154 total entries attending the inaugural DeepStack Open Main Event. This was the first time the APL And DSO joined forces bringing Asian players a taste of the European tour. Flight A drew in 136 entries and Flight B turbo saw 18 entries.

Nguyen Van Trungleads followed by Norbert Koh

From the start, many notable players were in action such as Iori Yogo, Le Ngoc Khanh, SJ Kim, Natalie Teh, Lim Yohwan, Feng Zhao, Huy Coshet, however by the end of the scheduled 13 rounds, most were missing in the 31 player round up. Successfully navigating to the very top was Vietnam’s own Nguyen Van Trungtrailed closely by Singapore’s Norbert Koh.

Nguyen Van Trung
Nguyen Van Trung

Taking a closer look at the overall chip leader, Nguyen Van Trung may not be a familiar face in the live tournament circuit but after today, players will be keeping a tight watch on him. Trung racked up a dominating stack halfway through the day and continued to pile it in until the final buzzer. He amassed 394,000.

APL Ho Chi Minh City draws 154 to inaugural DeepStack Open event in Asia

In second rank was a player seemingly the direct opposite of the leader, poker pro Norbert Koh. Unlike Trung, Koh is a very familiar figure in the Asian circuit, especially in Vietnam where he has enjoyed multiple deep runs throughout the year. At the DSO, Koh shipped a double up late in the day with A-K over A-J to send his stack zooming into the upper tier. He closed with 380,500.

Both Trung and Koh were the only two players to reach the 300k marker. Among the notable players also making it through were Vi Khoa, Tzai Phua Wei, Pham Bao, Nguyen Quoc Vu, and Steffen Endres. All of these players along with everyone in the list below will be returning on Friday, November 16 for the race to the inaugural DSO Vietnam title.Only the top 20 places will earn a piece of the VND 1,344,420,000 (US$57,680) prize pool with the eventual winner claiming theVND 361,340,000(~US$15,490) first prize.

Here’s a look at the chip counts with Final Day seat assignments:

COUNTRY

NAME

CHIPS

TABLE

SEAT

VIETNAM

NGUYEN VAN TRUNG

394,000

4

6

SINGAPORE

NORBERT KOH

380,500

3

9

VIETNAM

PHAN TRONG LINH

269,000

3

8

VIETNAM

NGUYEN THE ANH

242,500

5

3

CHINA

XIAOXIN HE

239,500

5

8

FINLAND

PASI HEINANEN

235,000

4

7

FRANCE

LE

226,500

2

6

VIETNAM

VI KHOA

218,000

5

7

VIETNAM

NGUYEN QUOC HUNG

216,500

5

2

VIETNAM

LY ANH MINH

210,500

2

4

VIETNAM

PHAM BAO

160,000

4

3

HONG KONG

HWANG SANG YEON

157,500

2

3

VIETNAM

NGUYEN QUOC VU

140,000

4

2

VIETNAM

PHAM ZHANH TUNG

137,500

4

4

VIETNAM

NGUYEN VAN TU

135,500

3

2

JAPAN

YOSUKE IWATA

122,000

3

6

MALAYSIA

CHUNG FAI

114,000

3

3

VIETNAM

TRAN XUAN TRUO

112,500

3

1

SINGAPORE

SEAN CHA

99,000

5

9

JAPAN

GO MORI

98,000

5

1

GERMANY

STEFFEN ENDRES

93,000

5

6

VIETNAM

TRAN VAN QUAN

85,000

3

4

VIETNAM

TRAN KIM

84,000

4

8

SINGAPORE

PHUA TZAI WEI

83,000

2

9

THAILAND

CHINNACT T

80,500

2

7

HONG KONG

NG PUI CHEUNG

72,000

3

7

VIETNAM

THANH MAI TRUO

55,000

5

4

VIETNAM

TRAN HONG HAI

51,500

2

8

KOREA

SAE HUNG AN

48,000

2

1

VIETNAM

NGHIEN QUANG HUY

39,500

2

2

MALAYSIA

WONG WAZ YEN

32,500

4

1

You can read up on the day’s action in our Live Updates. Somuchpoker will continue to bring you full coverage of the APL Ho Chi Minh City festival so stick with us for all the latest updates and stories.

More: Deepstack Open Day – Live Updates

About the Editor

SMP Editor

The SMP Editor covers international poker and iGaming for SoMuchPoker, providing news, tournament coverage, and industry insights. With a focus on accuracy, clarity, and relevance, the editor helps readers stay informed about developments across the global poker community.