WPT Vietnam: Le Ngoc Khanh banks a billion at the Kickoff; Yoon Chang Hwan wins the opening Turbo

The first billion payout of WPT Vietnam was awarded today with Event #1 Kickoff VN₫ 4 Billion guaranteed coming to a conclusion. The envy of all was Vietnam’s own Le Ngoc Khanh who rose above the 412 entries to capture the VN₫ 1,231,890,000 (~US$ 53,000) first prize. This is now Khanh’s largest live tournament career win.

We’ve got a recap of that event for you along with the festival’s early results.

WPT Vietnam opened its games two days ago at Pro Poker Club with Event #1 Kickoff VN₫ 4 Billion guaranteed getting plenty of attention. Many of the region’s biggest names were in attendance. The hottest flight was Day 1B with 250 entrants tearing up the felt. In total, the three starting days drew 412 entries (318 uniques + 94 re-entries) and with each entry costing VN₫ 16,500,000 (~US$ 700), the guarantee was well exceeded for a much healthier VN₫ 5,994,600,000 (~US$ 258,000) prize pool.

Breaking that down:

Day 1A: 90 entries

Day 1B: 250 entries

Day 1C: 72 entries

Returning to action on the final day were 51 players, each one already guaranteed a dip in the pot. India was well represented. Not only did they have strength in numbers but also in performance. Their own Akshay Nasa led in the pack and kept his momentum high to secure one of the final 9 seats. Eventual champion Khanh brought in the largest stack to the final table.

Final table recap

The final table comprised of four Vietnamese players, four Indian players, and one from Singapore. The first to meet his doom was Tran Duc Toan (9th) with running into Nasa’s . Despite the boost in chips, Nasa tumbled out next (8th) when his pocket threes were unable to improve against Nguyen Pham The Quan’s pocket kings. This gave Nguyen the chip lead which he held for a brief moment.

Seven-handed witnessed plenty of movement starting with Laksh Pal Singh doubling up through Nguyen. It was followed by two big pots won by Huynh Duc Tai to steal the lead while simultaneously bringing Khanh down to par. After successive losses, Nguyen took 7th with RubinLabroo delivering the boot. Not long after, Singh (6th) joined the railbirds. The lone Singaporean Suren Balachandran couldn’t bring his stack to fighting form and had to settle for 5th place.

At four-handed, Huynh amassed over half of the chips in play however as the round progressed, he suffered several big hits, twice from Khanh.. Khanh landed a third double up with getting very lucky against Labroo’s on a board of . Short stacked Labroo made up for the lost chips with a double up of his own through Huynh with turning into quads on a board of .

Before the next elimination, another beauty hand was tabled with Jaideep Sajwan getting full pay for his boat. It was a battle of the blinds with Huynh initiating the action. When the board completed , all the chips were in. Huynh’s full house was way behind Sajwan’s higher boat. But as seen with some of the previous fallen, Sajwan’s rise didn’t last. His flopped top pair was outdrawn by Labroo’s that completed a straight on a board to send him out in 4th place. Heads up was reached at the fall of Huynh in 3rd place to Khanh.

Just before the final duel, Labroo and Khanh attempted on a deal but failed to agree. The game then resumed with Khanh on the advantage. The first four hands were won by Labroo to grab the chip lead however the next five all went to Khanh leading to his opponent’s demise. The final hand had Khanh all in with and Labroo. The board ran for a straight and the victory to the Vietnamese pro.

With this win, Khanh leads the WPT Asia Swing leaderboard and the Season XVIII WPT APAC Player of the Year race.

Final 9 payouts + points earned
Prize pool: VN₫ 5,994,600,000 – Buyin: VN₫ 16,500,000 – Entries: 412 – ITM 51 players

1st Le Ngoc Khanh (VIetnam) – VN₫ 1,231,890,000 + 100 points

2nd Rubin Labroo (India) – VN₫ 862,923,000 + 90 points

3rd Huynh Duc Tai (Vietnam) – VN₫ 554,860,000 + 80 points

4th Jaideep Sajwan (India) – VN₫ 369,267,000 + 70 points

5th Suren Balachandran (Singapore) – VN₫ 284,144,000 + 60 points

6th Laksh Pal Singh (India) – VN₫ 235,288,000 + 50 points

7th Nguyen Pham The Quan (Vietnam) – VN₫ 197,522,000 + 40 points

8th Akshay Nasa (India) – VN₫ 160,356,000 + 30 points

9th Tran Duc Toan (Vietnam) – VN₫ 123,189,000 + 20 points

Notables in the money

Among the notable players in the money were: Lim Yohwan (21st), Iori Yogo (29th), Florencio Campomanes (32nd), Alex Wei Xiang Lee (34th), Jeonggyu Cho (39th), and Vu Duc Trung (44th).

Event #2 Deepstack Hyper Turbo – Yoon Chang Hwan

Opening day witnessed the first event winner crowned with Korea’s Yoon Chang Hwan coming out strong. He rose above the 57 entrants of Event #2 Deepstack Hyper Turbo to capture his first-ever live win. Hwan pocketed VND 159,235,000 (~US$ 6,800).

Payouts
Prize pool: VN₫ 442,316,000 (~US$ 19,000) – Buyin: VN₫ 8,800,000 (~US$ 380)

1st Yoon Chang Hwan (Korea) – VN₫ 159,235,000

2nd Cao Thang Dang (Vietnam) – VN₫ 93,550,000

3rd Gaganjyot Juneja (India) – VN₫ 58,607,000

4th Quang Hai Vu (Vietnam) – VN₫ 39,808,000

5th Michael Geoffrey (Australia) – VN₫ 30,962,000

6th Kam Sang Suen (Hong Kong) – VN₫ 24,327,000

7th Kjell Ove Dyb (Norway) – VN₫ 19,904,000

8th Hoang Ton Nguyen (Vietnam) – VN₫ 15,923,000

Ongoing events: High Rollers 1 and Bounty Event

Also filling up portions of the poker room were the High Roller 1 and Bounty Event, both running Day 1. These events will complete tomorrow.

High Roller 1

Buy-in: VN₫ 107,000,000 (~US$ 4,600, largest buy-in of the festival)

Entries: 47 (37 uniques, 10 re-entries)

Prize pool: VN₫ 4,559,000,000 (~US$ 196,000)

ITM: 6 places

1st prize: VN₫ 1,778,010,000 (~US$ 76,500)

Remaining: 11 players

Total chips in play: 11,750,000

Average stack: 1,068,181

Opening blinds: 10K – 20K ante 20K (Level 14)

Andre Lettau – Austria – 3,095,000 (chip leader)

Mike Takayama – Philippines – 1,640,000

Thanh Binh Nguyen – Vietnam – 1,430,000

Quang Minh Nguyen – Vietnam – 1,280,000

Vincent Huang – Australia – 1,210,000

Hun Hong Je – Korea – 690,000

Sean Ragozzini – Australia – 645,000

Tran Tien Ly – Vietnam – 605,000

Alex Lindop – England – 450,000

Sang In Lee – Korea – 415,000

Quang Huy Nguyen – Vietnam – 300,000

Bounty Event

Buy-in: VN₫ 8,800,000 (~US$ 380)

Entries: 169 (137 uniques, 32 re-entries)

Prize pool: VN₫ 888,940,000 (~US$ 38,300)

ITM: 22 places

1st prize: VN₫ 233,646,000 (~US$ 10,000)

Remaining: 9 players

Up next: Main Event – VN₫ 15 Billion (~US$ 644,000) guaranteed

The event everyone is gearing up for hits the felt tomorrow, September 6th. Starting at 1pm local time is the much-awaited VN₫ 15 Billion guaranteed Main Event. Buy-in is VN₫ 55,000,000 (~US$ 2,400). Somuchpoker is on-site to bring you full coverage including live updates. Make sure to check back often for all the latest stories.

More: WPT Vietnam Season XVIII Coverage