WPT Prime Vietnam: First ever WPT trophies for Huynh Ngoc Cuong, Yun Zhang, Yuan Xin, Kyle Cronin, Mike Wilklow, Armon Van Wijk, Tuan Anh Tran

The past two days at World Poker Tour (WPT) Prime Vietnam awarded a whopping seven winners, each one lifting their first ever WPT trophy. Scroll down for the recaps, results, and quotes from the winners.

More titles and trophies up for grabs with the festival running through May 29 at the Crown Poker Club in Hanoi. The Main Event is coming up in a few days, kicking off on May 25. The WPT offers a  VN₫ 12 Billion  guarantee, that’s well over half a million USD making it the largest for the brand in the country. Make sure to check the schedule for all the details. Also, a special announcement will be made by the WPT at Day 1A. 

Cuong Ngoc Huynh and his biggest little fan wins the Mystery Bounty for VN₫ 890M

With his lucky little fan, Vietnam’s Cuong Ngoc Huynh aka Winter Sea stayed cool all day to become the newest WPT Prime Vietnam Mystery Bounty champion. This was an impressive achievement by Huynh who finished 7th in this event last year.

“This was my first time to win a trophy at the Crown so it’s very special. Last year I played here and finished 7th. Very close. One of my big hands was with 10-7 when I doubled up against Quan’s Ace-high.”

Huynh outlasted a field of 79 Day 2 runners out of 614 total entries. He defeated Julian Warhurst at heads up with  5♥5♣ set over A♣J♦. For his victory, Huynh shipped the VN₫ 75,000,000 top prize and seven bounties amounting to VN₫ 140 Million, the walk away the event’s richest player with VN₫ 890,000,000 (~US$ 37,970) in total winnings. 

As for Warhurst, despite falling in 2nd place, he still collected the most number of bounties, knocking out 9 players for a total of VN₫ 180 Million in bounties added to his VN₫ 570 Million payout. He walked away with a combined score of VN₫ 750,000,000 (~US$ 32,000). 

For the day’s entering chip leader, Ha Trung Nguyen aka Hasagi, he suffered a bad beat against Quan Trung Nguyen with Ace-King falling to Ace-Nine flush to finish in 7th place. Hasagi’s disappointment quickly turned around when he pulled the second largest bounty prize of VN₫ 200 Million. In total, he claimed four bounties amounting to VN₫ 260 Million and a payout of VN₫ 125,000,000 for a combined VN₫ 385,000,000 (~US$ 16,420). 

The most coveted bounty reward of VN₫ 250 Million was found a few hours into the event with Vinh Huu Nguyen aka Hoa Vinh drawing it on his third knockout. Hoa Vinh went on to reach the final table and finished in 9th place. He earned a combined VN₫ 340,000,000 (~US$ 14,500) to walk away the fifth richest.

Watch the final table race via the livestream at Crown Poker Club YouTube.

Date: May 18-21, 2023
Buy in: VN₫ 11,000,000 (~US$ 470)
Guarantee: VN₫ 3,000,000,000 (~US$ 127,920)
Entries: 614
Prize pool: VN₫ 5,955,800,000 (~US$ 253,760)
ITM: 79 players

Yun Zhang wins the Megastack Single Day High Roller

The Megastack Single Day High Roller was a hot item on the Day 6 menu with a healthy field of 92 runners ponying up the VN₫ 77M buy in for a prize pool of VN₫ 6,246,800 (~US$ 266,425). Ten and a half hours in, the intense race saw the bubble burst on Huang Ling with A♦K♣ rivered by Sebastian Mueller’s 5♦6♦ on a board 4♦5♠A♣Q♦8♦.

From there, it took another six hours for the event to reach heads up. With light approaching, the players opted on an ICM deal then set aside VN₫ 100M plus the trophy for the champion.  Chip leader Yun Zhang went on to win it to capture his first ever WPT win.

In a brief interview with the champ, he confessed that he plays online but only three month in the live scene. This was his first ever WPT event and first ever live win.

This win is so special, it’s my first ever win. First of all I am so lucky, every card, every section I play, I didn’t have too many difficult situations so not many hard decisions, which is why I say I am lucky. Everything that I faced, I was very familiar with how to approach. The first time I doubled up, with around 45 players still left. It gave me confidence and I felt I could win. I just kept chanting that I can win it and that I needed to be patient and be aware of the details. Then I reached the final table as chip leader. I knew then, it was going to be my event.”

Watch the final table race via the livestream at Crown Poker Club YouTube.

Date: May 21, 2023
Buy in: VN₫ 77,000,000 (~US$ 3,285)
Entries: 92 (62 unique, 32 re-entry)
Prize pool: VN₫ 6,246,800 (~US$ 266,425)
ITM: 12 places

Yuan Xin wins the Superstack

With China’s borders fully open, Yuan Xin made WPT Prime Vietnam his first international poker trip and emerged as champion at the Superstack event. He outlasted a big field of 180 entries to seize the VN₫ 271,000,000 (~US$ 11,655) top prize and his first ever WPT title. 

At heads up, Xin was on the ropes, down to 12 bb against Minh Tri Mai‘s 60 bb. Impressively, he chipped away at Mai’s stack with multiple raises and triple barrels that hardly reached a showdown. On a board 6♣7♣7♦2♣5♥, with Xin firing bets at every stage, he took the lead with K♣10♦. The final hand came shorty after with a lucky 7♥9♥ outdrawing J♥J♠ on a running board 3♦9♠9♣10♦A♠.

Date: May 21,2023
Buy in: VN₫ 6,500,000 (~US$ 280)
Entries: 180 (143 unique, 37 re-entry)
Prize pool: VN₫ 1,047,600,000 *~US$ 44,680)
ITM: 23 places

Kyle Cronin wins the Bounty Event

England’s Kyle Cronin held his head high at the Bounty Event, topping a field of 124 headhunters to claim his first ever WPT title. At heads up, Cronin and Chu The Dan agreed on an ICM deal then played for the trophy. Cronin went on to win it to walk away with VN₫ 99,800,000 (US$ 4,290) and runner up Dan a higher payout of VN₫ 123,000,000 (~US$ 5,290).

Date: May 20, 2023
Buy in: VN₫ 6,600,000 (~US$ 280)
Entries: 124
Prize pool: VN₫ 473,680,000
Bounty pool: VN₫ 248,000,000
ITM: 16 places

*Bounties not included in payouts; Heads up ICM deal

Trophy hunter Armon Van Wijk wins the PLO event

One of the most eager players to win a trophy in this series was Australia’s Armon Van Wijk who was spotted playing multiple tables and joining almost every tournament. Van Wijk’s persistence paid off when he reached the final table of the Pot Limit Omaha event and crushed the competition in the 37-player field.

“It definitely feels good. I’ve had a few final tables, 3rd, 4th, 5th, so finally. Really happy, it feels good. I came into the final table with a pretty big stack and I managed to use that quite well and I also got lucky on a few spots. That helped as well.”

Date: May 21, 2023
Buy in: VN₫ 4,400,000 (~US$ 188)
Entries: 37 (28 unique, 9 re-entry)
Prize pool: VN₫ 143,560,000 (~US$ 6,115)
ITM: 5 places

Retired Mike Wilklow wins the Hyper Turbo NLH

USA’s Michael Milklow is newly retired and decided to take a trip to Asia for the first time. With WPT hosting an event in Vietnam, it worked out for Wilklow who took his chances at the Hyper Turbo NLH where he emerged a champion. He topped the 30 entry field for his first trophy on Asian soil.

Date: May 20, 2023
Buy in: VN₫ 4,400,000 (~US$ 188)
Entries: 30 (24 unique, 6 re-entry)
Prize pool: VN₫ 155,200,000 (~US$ 6,610)
ITM: 5 places

Tuan Anh Tran claims first WPT win at the NLH Turbo

Tuan Anh Tran was another happy winner on Day 6 of the series. Tran was one of the 61 that entered the NLH Turbo event. At heads up deal, Tran struck a deal with Khayal Abbasov and went on to win the trophy.

“This is very special to me, it’s my first WPT trophy. I finished 3rd last year at the Main Event, so close. I am happy I got the trophy here and maybe the Main Event.”

Tran went ahead and posed for a photo with the trophy in hand.

Date: May 21,2023
Buy in: VN₫ 4,400,000 (~US$ 190)
Entries: 61 (47 unique, 14 re-entry)
Prize pool: VN₫ 236,680,000 (~US$ 10,180)
ITM: 6 places

*Heads up deal