APT Vietnam 2019: Oliver Helm wins the Championships Event; Terry Nguyen awarded Player of the Series; Christopher Mateo bags two
APT Vietnam Ho Chi Minh 2019 concluded its 12-day run that took place from July 3 to 14 at Pro Poker Club. The second half of the festivities witnessed several players cash in quite large. New Zealander Oliver Helm won the Championships Event, Philippine player Christopher Mateo shipped two events, and Nguyen Tien Thanh aka Terry Nguyen monied in seven events to win the Player of the Series.
Oliver Helm wins the Championships Event
The festival’s second main feature was the Championships Event with a buy-in of VN₫ 38,500,000 (~US$ 1,700). Over the course of registration, 192 signed up for a prize pool of VN₫ 6,815,400,000 (~US$ 280,500). No big names at the final table however two series Main Event finalists were in the lineup, New Zealand’s Oliver Helm and Vietnam’s Nguyen Nam Duong. Once again both players performed extremely well. In the end it was Helm who brought home the victory by fending off Philippine pro David Erquiaga at heads up. Helm captured his first-ever live tournament title and pocketed his largest live payout of VN₫ 1,218,670,000 (~US$ 52,500).
Final 8 payouts
1st Oliver Helm – New Zealand – VN₫ 1,218,670,000 (deal made)
2nd David Erquiaga – Philippines – VN₫ 1,179,400,000 (deal made)
3rd Nguyen Nam Duong – Vietnam – VN₫ 1,128,600,000 (deal made)
4th Joseph Talamayan – Philippines – VN₫ 554,120,000
5th Vamerdino Magsakay – Philippines – VN₫ 414,400,000
6th Ashish Munot – India – VN₫ 319,830,000
7th Tanaka Masatoshi – Japan – VN₫ 253,970,000
8th Lim Chor Heng – Singapore – VN₫ 206,920,000
Nguyen Tien Thanh wins the APT Player of the Series
The APT Player of the Series title was a blowout with Vietnam’s Nguyen Tien Thanh aka Terry Nguyen cashing in an astounding seven events to rack up the most number of points. His impressive list of deep finishes included 4th place at the Main Event, 14th place at the Championships Event, and a victory at the High Rollers Single Day #4 closer. He was awarded a POS Trophy, POS Ring, an exclusive watch, and US$800. Placing 2nd was Cao Ngoc Anh and in 3rd was Nguyen Nam Duong.
Other stories
Christopher Mateo wins two series events
Two players accomplished the impressive feat of winning two series side events. One of them was Philippine pro Christopher Mateo who took down the Deep Stack Turbo #1 by overcoming the 85 entries and the tougher Monster Stack #2 event rising above the 132 runners. He defeated Cao Ngoc Anh at heads up. Mateo earned a combined VN₫ 442,700,000 (~US$ 19,000).
Cao Ngoc Anh runs deep in four events
Speaking of Vietnamese pro Cao Ngoc Anh, he too had a profitable run at the series. He cashed in four events with a victory at the NLH Single Day Event #2. Anh outlasted the 85 runners to claim VN₫ 176,280,000 (~US$ 7,600). He also pocketed VN₫ 207,000,000 (~US$ 8,900) for 2nd place at the Monster Stack #2 where he lost to Mateo. His other two ITMs were 40th at the Main Event and 18th at the Championships Event.
Edward Yam Chun Ho adds two more to his 2019 list
Hong Kong’s Edward Yam Chun Ho recently broke Park Yu Cheung’s record for the most cashes in a calendar year with 68 at the end of the Boyaa Poker Tournament in Taiwan. He was spotted at the APT Vietnam festival and cashed in two events to bring him up to 70 ITMs. He finished 4th at the No Limit Hold’em #2 and 3rd at the Queen Cards Deep Stack Turbo.
Read more:Edward Chun Ho Yam breaks world record of most cashes in a year
Up next for the Asian Poker Tour
With this event concluded, the tour heads to Korea for APT Korea Incheon 2019. The festival takes place from August 2 to 13 at Paradise City Casino. 24 events populate the roster. The Main Event has a buy-in of KR₩ 1,320,000 (~US$ 1,100) and the Championships Event is KR₩ 1,980,000 (~US$ 1,700) buy-in. Both events come with a KR₩ 200 Million (~US$ 169,000) guarantee.
Article by Tricia David
