WPT Prime Vietnam: Filipinos dominate side events; Florencio Campomanes clinches Super Stars Challenge for VN₫ 1.8BN; Christopher Mateo wins Bounty Event

The launch of WPT Prime has been heating up the Crown Poker Club in Hanoi, Vietnam and aside from the massive turnout of the WPT Opener, the other Day 3 side events also drew plenty of attention. Two players from the Philippines dominated, and after a long night, they both walked away as the newest champions. Here are the highlights.

Super Stars Challenge – FLORENCIO CAMPOMANES – VN₫ 1,832,000,000 (~US$ 79,067)

The Super Stars Challenge Invitational was an ambitious entry to the WPT Prime Vietnam schedule with its jaw-dropping VN₫ 210,000,000 (~US$ 9,100) price tag. This was the largest buy-in ever introduced in the country, and it clearly set apart the masses and high rollers from the short list of super high stakes enthusiasts. After eight rounds of registration, it was well worth the inclusion with an impressive 21 entries (17 unique, and 4 re-entry) for a good-looking prize pool of VN₫ 4,074,000,000 (~US$ 175,830).

Among the players, it was no surprise to see WSOP bracelet winners Kartik Ved (India), Mike Takayama (Philippines), and Vietnamese pros Nang Quang Nguyen, Huu Dung Nguyen, Trong Hieu Ngo all take on the challenge. However, their bid for the title fell short. Highly decorated Filipino pro Florencio Campomanes clinched it to claim the hefty VN₫ 1,832,000,000 (~US$ 79,067) first prize. This bumped up his Hendon Mob tracked earnings to over US$ 1.23M.

Buy in: VN₫ 210,000,000 (~US$ 9,100)
Entries: 21 (17 unique, 4 re-entry)
Prize pool: VN₫ 4,074,000,000 (~US$ 175,830)
ITM: 4 places

1st Florencio Campomanes – Philippines – VN₫ 1,832,000,000
2nd Trong Hieu Ngo – Vietnam – Vietnam – VN₫ 1,019,00,000
3rd Quang Huy Nguyen – Vietnam – VN₫ 7234,000,000
4th Nang Quang Nguyen – Vietnam – VN₫ 489,000,000

Recapping the action at six handed, Campomanes and Ngo shared the chip lead until a big pot sent the Filipino pro soaring. On a board that completed , Ngo triple barreled with trips and was rivered by Campomanes straight. From there, Campomanes gained a commanding lead which was never overcome.

Unlike Campomanes, short stacked Quang struggled and was first to the money with all his chips claimed by Ngo. Ngo went on to deliver a nasty bad beat to Quang Huy Nguyen in 3rd place. Ngo‘s rivered a straight to bustHuy’s . This brought about heads up with Ngo behind Campomanes by just 5 BB.

Twenty minutes into the title chase, Campomanesdrained a good portion of Ngo’s stack. He nearly had him but could not pull the trigger on Ngo’s push. On a board that completed , Ngo check-jammed bottom pair, Campomanes tanked using up his remaining time banks then folded mid pair. The small rise in chips were the most Ngo would get from Campomanes. After forty minutes of heads up play, the final hand was tabled. Campomanes , Ngo , the board ran for a dominating flush triumph over straight.

Event 6: Bounty – CHRISTOPHER MATEO – VN₫ 172,000,000 (~US$ 7,420)

The Bounty Event was salvation for many players that fell out of the running in the opener. 97 players jumped in plus another 44 re-entries for 141 total entries. With buy in at VN₫ 6,600,000 (~US$ 285) each, it generated a combined prize pool and bounty pool of VN₫ 820,620,000 (~US$ 35,417). After a grueling 11 hours of play, Filipino Christopher “big time” Mateo shipped it to claim the VN₫ 150,000,000 top prize. In addition, Mateo won 11 bounties worth VN₫ 2M each to pocket a total of VN₫ 172,000,000 (~US$ 7,420). Mateo’s poker career is littered with cashes including 11 titles from around Asia. This was his first ever WPT takedown.

Picking up the action at the final table,Mateocarried in the biggest stack and dominated throughout. The first showdown was a three-way with Tien Trung Tranbusting 9th while Belgium’s Coralie Naudergot lucky with againstVan Trung Nguyen’s when two-outer 10 spiked on the turn.

After three players fell, Trung reclaimed the chips being on the bright side of a cooler against Nauder. Trung versus Nauder . Down to four players, big stacked Mateo attempted to rail nearly every short stack that shoved but instead paid them out.Quyet Tien “Teddy” Phamdoubled up with spiking the ace against Mateo’s pocket Sixes then doubled up again through the leader with pairing th eight to survive .Julien Meletalso chipped up with pairing the king against Mateo’s .

The losing streak finally ended on Melet’s next shove. This time Mateo outdrew him when his met a king on the flop to rail Melet’s . Trung followed in 3rd place with Pham cleaning him out. This kicked off the heads up round. It only took several hands to find the victor. Big stacked Mateo shoved, Pham limp-called , the board ran for a pair and a maiden WPT title to the Filipino pro.

Buy in: VN₫ 6,600,000 (~US$ 285)
Entries: 141 (97 unique, 44 re-entry)
Prize pool: VN₫ 538,620,000
Bounty pool: VN₫ 282,000,000
ITM: 18 places

Payouts (bounties not included)

1st Christopher Mateo – Philippines – VN₫ 150,000,000
2nd Quyet Tien “Teddy” Pham – Vietnam – VN₫ 95,000,000
3rd Van Trung Nguyen – Vietnam – VN₫ 56,500,000
4th Julien Melet – France – VN₫ 34,000,000
5th Coralie Nauder – Belgium – VN₫ 26,500,000
6th Van Hoang Nguyen – Vietnam – VN₫ 22,000,000
7th Anh Tuan Hoang – Vietnam – VN₫ 19,120,000
8th Thai Bao Vu – Vietnam – VN₫ 17,000,000
9th Tien Trung Tran – Vietnam – VN₫ 15,000,000
10th Quang Thai Phan – Vietnam – VN₫ 13,200,000
11th David Erquiaga – Philippines – VN₫ 13,200,000
12th Kim Truong Son Nguyen – Vietnam – VN₫ 13,200,000
13th Hoang Tien Phan – Vietnam – VN₫ 11,500,000
14th Nicolas Blake Reynolds – UK – VN₫ 11,500,000
15th Worawat Kiatponglap – Thailand – VN₫ 9,800,000
16th Thai Son Hoang – Vietnam – VN₫ 11,500,000
17th Tien Thanh Dinh – Vietnam – VN₫ 9,800,000
18th Chi Hei Sung – Hong Kong – VN₫ 4,900,000 (split)
18th Thi Hue Dang – Vietnam – VN₫ 4,900,000 (split)

Player of the Festival leaderboard

Here is the updated Player of the Festival leaderboard. Current front runner is Nguyen Manh Tuan who cashed in two events with a victory at Event 3: Hyper Turbo. More points to earn with plenty of events still to conquer. The player that accrues the most points at the end of the series will win a WPT Passport worth US$ 5K to be used at any WPT Main Tour of choice.

Full WPT Prime Vietnam schedule

*No points were awarded for the Super Stars Challenge Invitational

Stay tuned to Somuchpoker as we bring you daily recaps and highlights of the inaugural WPT Prime Vietnam from start to finish.

Event articles:

WPT Prime debuts in Hanoi
Launch day of WPT Prime Vietnam
WPT Prime Vietnam – Day 1 results
WPT Prime Vietnam – Day 2 results
WPT Prime Vietnam – Locals heat up Day 1C
WPT Prime Vietnam – Day 3 results