Overwhelming turnout at opening day of APT Hanoi Billions 2023

12/02/2023

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Hundreds of players poured in the National Convention Center for the Asian Poker Tour’s biggest event of the year- APT Hanoi Billions 2023. Throughout opening day, long lines and jam packed corridors were observed resulting in a record-breaking turnout and cancellations of side events to accommodate the rush. Here are the highlights.

Record breaking Vietnam National Cup

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The hottest ticket of the day was the Vietnam National Cup that turned up a roaring 1,527 entries (1,022 unique) across two flights. Flight A drew a massive 739 entries (639 unique) establishing a new record for the largest-ever APT single tournament flight. Flight B was equally impressive with 788 entries (654 unique). Combined, this set a new record attendance and ballooned the prize pool to VN₫ 6,665,355,000 (~$275,370).

At the close of day, 212 players advanced with Vietnam’s Chu Van Tien bagging the chip lead. Coming Day 2, Tien will be hunting down his first live tournament title. He will have his hands full though with Jose Colada, Dinh Van Tien, and Kyle Bao Diep seated at his table.

Running a strong second in chips is Bonifacio Mondalo, he is one of seven Filipino players that made the cut. Also powering through were well known players Robert Kiss, Jae Wook Shin, Kanchan Sharma, Dhaval Mudgal, Macaron Tran, and Anton Lu.

When action resumes on December 2, the players are all guaranteed VN₫ 8,230,000 (~$340) but all eyes will be on the VN₫ 1,177,195,000 (~$48,500) top prize.

Alan Lau wins the Single Day High Roller Freezeout

Hong Kong’s Alan Lau picked up the first high roller trophy of the series at the Single Day High Roller Freezeout event. Lau was the last player standing out of the 84-player field, defeating William Jia at heads up to rein in VN₫ 1,411,640,000 (~$58,150).

Buy in: VN₫ 70,000,000 (~$2,878)
Entries: 84
Prize pool: VN₫ 5,133,240,000 (~$211,470)
ITM: 12 places

Renji Mao wins the PLO Hi-Lo 5-Card

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WSOP bracelet holder Renji Mao continued his hot run this year with an early victory at the PLO Hi-Lo 5-Card. Mao topped the 55 entry-field to pocket the lion’s share of the VN₫ 336,105,000 (~$13,890) prize pool. He earned VN₫ 100,845,000 (~$4,155).

Buy in: VN₫ 7,000,000 (~$288)
Entries: 55
Prize pool: VN₫ 336,105,000 (~$13,890)
ITM: 8 places

APT Hanoi Billions 2023

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Taking place fromDecember 1 to December 10, 2023 at the National Convention Center, APT Hanoi Billions 2023 is set to be the brand’s most ambitious festival hosted in Vietnam. The ten-day series offers a diverse range of poker variants, extending beyond the usual Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha. Players can anticipate games like Razz, Stud, Single Draw, 2-7 gracing the tables. With the expanded schedule, players of all bankrolls will have the opportunity to vie for a trophy.

At the forefront is theVN₫ 25,000,000,000 (~$1,000,000) guaranteed MAIN EVENT.This is the richest prize pool ever to be announced by any brand for Vietnam and the most sought after title by every player. The Main Event runs fromDecember 4 to 9, 2023with buy in atVN₫ 36,000,000 (~$1,480).

With the headliner still several days away, it means there are ample chances to warm up and pad up the wallet. Check the schedule as there are on average 8 trophy events running per day. Buy ins run fromVN₫ 3,000,000 (~$125) to VN₫ 250,000,000 (~$10,300)at the Superstar Challenge.