WPT Vietnam: Yixuan Dong rules the Survivor Bounty for second trophy, most bounties, and Prime Championship Package; Alvin Sembrano, Nguyen Huu Vinh win trophies

SMP EditorEditor-in-Chief

Updated: 2026.10.02

China’s Yixuan Dong is experiencing the best poker run of her career at World Poker Tour (WPT) Vietnam. Returning to Crown Poker Club Hanoi after having bricked in September, she won the PLO on October 8, then this evening, she seized the Survivor Bounty 8-Max for her second festival trophy and career second victory.

“This is my second time in Vietnam. Last time I earned zero, so winning this time is special. I am very happy! And I am also very lucky. I beat two players with pocket Kings, so luck was on my side.”

For Dong’s incredible achievement, she pocketed the ₫824,700,000 top prize, redeemed an astounding 11 bounties – the most by any player – amounting to ₫330,000,000 for a combined ₫1,154,700,000 (~US$ 47,350) payday. She was also awarded the coveted WPT Prime Championship Package worth $2,850.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NfI9HxyyU8

Date: October 9 to 11, 2023

Buy in: ₫16,500,000 (~$675)

Guarantee: ₫3,000,000,000 (~$123,000)

Total entries: 524

Prize pool: ₫4,374,700,000 (~US$ 179,400)

Bounty pool: ₫3,180,000,000 (~US$ 130,400)

Bounties: 107

ITM: 67 players

Final table payouts

1	Dong Yixuan	₫1,154,700,000 + $2,850 WPT Prime Package
2	Santos Dexter	₫760,000,000
3	Li Chao	₫614,000,000
4	Zheng Tianhao	₫510,500,000
5	Pham Duy Anh	₫316,000,000
6	Edwards Lawford Stephe	₫172,000,000
7	Nguyen Vu Lam	₫252,000,000
8	Yannick Leonard	₫133,000,000
9	To Bao Tuan	₫201,000,000

Full payouts in WPT Vietnam – Festival Results

Day 1 results

Day 1A: 121 entries (88 unique) /16 advanced

Day 1B: 252 entries / 32 advanced

Day 1C: 151 entries / 19 advanced

Winner Recap

Yixuan Dong entered the final day wedged in the middle of the pack. By the time the field was down to 18 players, she was one of the big stacks, then entered the final table in second rank after knocking out Thomas Ray Liffick in 10th place.

At the final table, Dong eliminated Yannick Leonard in 8th place to take the lead. Her stack then surged after cleaning out Nguyen Vu Lam “Sigma”in 7th place with winning the flip against . Pham Duy Anh (5th) was next on her list, calling with and pairing the Ace to boot . At three-handed, her cracked Chao Li‘s on a board .

Facing Dexter Santos for the title, Dong was ahead 83 bb to 38 bb. Closing in on one hour of heads up play, Santos cut the gap to 5 bb difference when the final hand was tabled. Dong had , Santos , the board ran .

Deepak Bothra falls in 11th place

It was a tough end for the day’s entering chip leader, Deepak Bothra, who carried in a mighty stack and held rank until three tables where he plunged and was ultimately stopped in 11th place. Bothra’s fall happened in three consecutive showdowns. The first loss was to Lawford Edwards whose dominated Bothra’s . Next was a flip with losing to Yannick Leonard‘s Ten on the board. His third clash was his last with missing the board against Zheng Tian Hao‘s .

Another final table for Yannick Leonard

For Day 1A chip leader Yannick Leonard, at four tables remaining he was down to 2bb and shoved holding that found four callers. As the board ran out , he quintupled up though still short.

At 15 players remaining, Leonard dropped to 6 bb and jammed with which survived Bothra’s . Shortly after, Leonard faced Bothra again (mentioned above) to rise to health leading to his biggest double up.

On a board that completed To Bao Tuan bet the turn and jammed the river. Leonard tank-called for his tournament life and shipped it with dominating Tuan’s bluff. Leonard entered the final table running 3rd in chips, marking his second final table of the festival.

Despite his big stack, Leonard was stopped in 8th place. He plunged below 20 bb after calling Dexter Santos four-bet shove with , only to lose to . Dropping to 17 bb, he shoved on the button with and bricked out in 8th place to Yixuan Dong’s .

Alvin Jeff Sembrano wins the Freezeout

Buy in: ₫5,500,000 (~US$ 225)

Players: 42

Prize pool: ₫203,700,000 (~US$ 8,350)

ITM: 6 places

1	Sembrano Alvin Jeff	Philippines	₫72,200,000
2	Ha Van Thien	Vietnam	₫48,500,000
3	Robertson Peter Murray		₫32,000,000
4	Liu Tianyou	China	₫22,500,000
5	Chen Dong Yue	China	₫16,000,000
6	Seroor Othman Fadhil	Iraq	₫12,500,000

Nguyen Huu Vinh wins the Megastack

The ₫500M guaranteed Megastack drew a 112 entry field, and with buy in at ₫8,800,000 each, the prize pool ballooned to ₫869,120,000. Clement Haro delivered the bubble pushing on the small blind with and spiking the King on the river to eliminate big blind . Haro went on to fall in 6th place.

At five remaining, Nguyen Huu Vinh went on a knockout spree, eliminating every player to reach heads up against Dinh Van Tien. Backed by a massive chip advantage, Nguyen finished off Dinh with dusting on a board .

Buy in: ₫8,800,000 (~US$ 360)

Guarantee: ₫500,000,000 (~US$ 20,500)

Entries: 112 (87 unique)

Prize pool: ₫869,120,000 (~US$ 33,640)

ITM: 14 places

1	Nguyen Huu Vinh	₫237,620,000
2	Dinh Van Tien	₫158,500,000
3	Sermsirimongkol Mr.Songklot	₫108,000,000
4	Liu Chen Chieh	₫76,000,000
5	Nguyen Manh Tuan	₫55,500,000
6	Haro Cleement Jean – Michel	₫42,500,000
7	Huynh Ngoc Cuong	₫33,500,000
8	Yun Sung Hee	₫27,500,000
9	Cho Miyoung	₫24,000,000
10	Do Anh Tai	₫24,000,000
11	Ahuja Ashish	₫21,500,000
12	Bazerli Demian	₫21,500,000
13	Zhukov Vladislav	₫19,500,000
14	Robertson Peter Murray	₫19,500,000

WPT Vietnam Passport to World Championship – Schedule
WPT Vietnam – Photo Gallery
WPT Vietnam – Coverage and Festival Results

World Poker Tour announces unprecedented USD 40M guarantee for WPT World Championship! Win your way via WPT Vietnam in October

Upcoming WPT Vietnam guarantees 10 passport packages to the World Championship

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About the Editor

SMP EditorEditor-in-Chief

The SMP Editor covers international poker and iGaming for SoMuchPoker, providing news, tournament coverage, and industry insights. With a focus on accuracy, clarity, and relevance, the editor helps readers stay informed about developments across the global poker community.