APT Phu Quoc: Hu Jinlong wins Main Event, Hauls Career High Payout

China’s Hu Jinlong took care of the last four eliminations enroute to claiming the Asian Poker Tour – APT Phu Quoc Main Event title along with the prestigious 24K Golden Lion Trophy and the VND 4,710,000,000 (~US$ 185,430) top prize—his biggest in his career at the Corona Resort and Casino. It was Hu’s first APT trophy and his 13^th international title.

Hu Jinlong Wins APT Phu Quoc Main Event

Hu Jinlong came into the APT Phu Quoc Main Event Final Table third in chips and stayed relevant until he busted out Deepankur Gupta of India with what appeared to be an ill-timed 3-bet jam with 10♣8♣ while his opponent showed A♠K♣. However, the subsequent runout went 7♣2♥9♣8♠10h} and gave Hu a slim overall chip lead which he used his advantage. In a post-win interview with APT, Hu shared through an interpreter APT host Greg Liow

“I think there are two key moments for me, the first was when I made a re-jam with ten-eight suited from the big blind. There was an Indian player (Gupta) who opened, and I re-jammed. He snap-called with ace-king. But this hand with ten-eight suited, I had pushed it three times before, and each time I won it at the final table. So, I was confident this time as well, and I ended up winning with two pairs.

“The second key moment was when my biggest competitor, David (Erquiaga of the Philippines), and I both had strong hands. I opened with ace-queen suited, and he re-jammed. We were heads up, and I called, and I won. After I won that hand, I felt that I was definitely going to win because I had a huge chip advantage, and my toughest competitor was out.”

Final Table

By the time Hu upended David Erquiaga, who was the chipleader heading into the Final Table, in a coinflip with A♥Q♥ against the Filipino’s 2♥2♦ on a board of Q♦3♠J♥K♣9♠, the Chinese player had full control of the table and it was truly just a matter of time before was proclaimed the champion.

Hu held a virtual 5-1 lead over his Korean heads up opponent Oh Junseok, and although Oh made a fight off it at the onset, the 32-year-old from China who had already amassed over US$ 500,000 in career earnings prevailed.

Oh pocketed VND 2,865,000,000 (~US$ 112,795) for finishing in second, while Vietnamese actor and poker aficionado Do Tien Vu took third place for VND 2,025,000,000 (~US$ 79,725).

Hu topped a field of 795 entries in what went down to be the biggest Main Event field in APT Phu Quoc history.

Final Table Payouts

Side Event Round Up

Chudapal Siarhei Earns Career High At Double Stack

Coming into APT Phu Quoc, Chudapal Siarhei of Belarus had never had a live cash. Now, he has eight—including three titles. His third trophy was in (Event #56) the Double Stack where he bested a field of 415 entries to prevail and get the VND 773,125,000 (~US$ 30,468) top prize to add to his overall haul of VND 287,310,000 (~US$ 11,318). Siarhei also picked up victories in (Event #16) the PLO Hi-Lo 5-Card Turbo and (Event #43) the PLO Hi-Lo 5-Card Win the Button.

Korea’s Anna Jo settled for the runner-up prize of VND 490,190,000 (~US$ 19,300) while third place went to Le Van Hung of the host nation for VND 354,290,000 (~US$ 13,950).

 APT title in Hyper Turbo – High Roller

 Australia’s Jack Maris captured his fourth cash in these proceedings by taking down (Event #73) the Hyper Turbo – High Roller for his first ever APT trophy. Already garnering seven titles in the Australian circuit, Maris’ first win in Asia also came with the top prize of VND 159,895,000 (~US $6,296).

Second place went to Yoon Deyeon of Korea for VND 110,190,000 (~US$ 4,339) while Nontapat Wattana of Thailand was third for VND 70,220,000 (~US$ 2,764).

Wang Quan captures PLO High – Bomb Pot

Wang Quan of China gets his first ever live cash in dramatic fashion by taking down (Event #62) the PLO High – Bomb Pot and with it the the top purse of VND 34,826,000 (~US$ 1,370) while Taiwan’s Hsu Li Ta came in second for VND 23,220,000 (~US$ 910) while Kindaichi Kazuki of Japan finished in third for VND 14,510,000 (~US$ 570).

Daniel Haywood continues PLO mastery in Omaholic

With all of his career wins and cashes only in Omaha, New Zealand’s Daniel Haywood snares his fourth career title in (Event #68) Omaholic. Haywood had previously won titles in Czechia, Vietnam and in Christchurch, New Zealand. This is his first APT trophy and with it came the top prize of VND 55,111,600 (~US$ 2,170).

Danino Aviel of Israel was the runner-up for VND 36,740,000 (~US$ 1,447) and Taiwan’s Wang Shih Hao was third for VND 23,620,000 (US$ 930).

Daniel Stancer goes 2 for 2, takes down Short Deck – Triple Chance

After securing his first trophy in Phu Quoc by winning (Event #52) the Turbo event, Daniel Stancer of England picks up another victory, this time in (Event #69) the Short Deck – Triple Chance and the top prize of VND 60,004,000 (~US$ 2,362). It was the Hull native’s 14^th career title.

Japan’s Nobuaki Sasaki finished in second place for VND 41,360,000 (~US$ 1,628) while Arvydas  Vilcinskas of Lithuania was third for VND 26,350,000 (~US$  1,037).

Nopparat Kongjai Triumphs At Turbo – Bomb Pot

Finishing 60^th in the Main Event primed Nopparat Kongjai for more battles in the trenches and this he emerged victorious in (Event #70) the Turbo – Bomb Pot where he eventually upended fellow Thai player Lannaphat Mahasinkornkul for the trophy and the VND39,875,000 (~US$ 1,570) top prize.

Mahasinkornkul settled for second place for VND 28,800,000 (~US$ 1,134) and third place went to India’s Anurag Rawat for VND 18,350,000 (~US$723).

Hsu Li Ta Earns Fifth Podium finish, Wins Turbo PLO Hi-Lo 5-Card (Big-O)

Taiwan’s Hsu Li Ta has finished no lower than third in all his cashes in Phu Quoc thus far and has earned his second title via his conquest of (Event #71) the Turbo PLO Hi-Lo 5-Card (Big-O) and the tip purse of VND 44,757,300 (~US$ 1,762). Hsu has now captured at least one title in all the APT events held this year. Japan’s Kentaro Hayashi was the runner-up for VND 25,170,000 (~US$ 990).

Hazel Chui victorious in Hyper Turbo

Hong Kong lady pro Hazel Chui claimed her first trophy in these proceedings by winning in (Event #72) the Hyper Turbo and with it pocketing the top prize of VND 69,916,000 (~US$ 2,753). It was Chui’s third cash here and her fifth APT title.

Yang Haiyang of China finished second for VND 50,490,000 (~US$ 1,987) and the host nation’s Nguyen Ngoc Thang got third for VND 32,180,000 (~US$ 1,267).

Wang Haozhao prevails in Super Hyper Turbo

Topping a field of 58 entries, Wang Haozhao of China cops (Event #74) the Super Hyper Turbo for VND 74,264,000 (~US$ 2,922) with Hong Kong’s Wai Ching Chiang taking second for VND 53,720,000 (~US$ 2,114) and Suprachaicharoen Prachaya of Thailand finishing in third for VND 34,660,000 (~US$ 1,364).

Update: APT High Roller Day 1 sees Phanlert Sukonthachartnant Atop leaderboard

The VND 2.5 Billion (~US$ 97,500) GTD (Event #67) APT High Roller garnered 139 entries to shatter the original guarantee and now bring the total prize pool up to a staggering VND 9,707,760,000 (~US$ 382,195) with VND 2,329,880,000 (~US$91,730) going ton the eventual champion.

Thailand’s Phanlert Sukonthachartnant brings the biggest chip stack to Day 2 with 1,221,000 and is closely followed by Taiwanese superstar Nevan Chang with 1,132,000. Vietnam’s Nguyen Duy Thuc is presently at third with 1,084,000.

Update: Do Viet Hoa leads Mini Main Event

With the prize pool now ballooning to VND 2,975,184,000 (~US$ 117,130) from the original VND 1.5 Billion (~US$ 58,500), the 284 entries in (Event #66) the Mini Main Event has been whittled down to just 41 and will now battling for the top prize of VND 600,354,000 (~US$ 23,635).

At pole position for this feat is Vietnamese veteran Do Viet Hoa who topped Flight B with 660,000. Korea’s Kim Kiyoung led the qualifiers from Flight A and is currently second in chips with 591,000 while second in Flight A was Siripong Khamklang of Thailand and is third overall with 565,000.