Anthony Cierco captures first Asia trophy and Prime Championship Package at WPT Vietnam Opener

After tackling the Vietnam felt for over a year, France’s Anthony Cierco finally secured his first trophy on Asian soil at the WPT Vietnam Opener Event. It was a grueling two hour heads up battle that saw 84 hands between Cierco and Nguyen Phuong Ngoc. At the kickoff, Cierco was behind in chips, then both players tugged at the chip lead until Cierco was finally able to close it out. In a brief interview with the champ, he shared,

“it was a very long heads up, around two hours with big swings. He was down to 10 bigs then went up to 30 bigs, then up and down, we did that for so long. It was very exhausting. But I am very happy about the result. It’s a great start.”

Prior to the final hand, with nearly even stacks, both players were all in. Cierco had , Nguyen , board ran . Nguyen plunged to 2 bb and was eliminated on the next hand.

Cierco pocketed a cool ₫657,500,000 (~$26,960) plus the coveted WPT Prime Championship Package which includes a $1,100 seat and 7 nights at Wynn Encore in Las Vegas in December. 

Read up on the pre-final table action via the Live Updates down below, and watch the final table race to victory via the CPC You Tube link provided.

Date: October 6 to 8, 2023
Venue: Crown Poker Club, Hanoi, Vietnam
Buy in: ₫11,000,000 (~US$ 450)
Guarantee: VN₫3,000,000,000 (~US$ 123,000)
Entries: 355
Prize pool: VN₫ 3,443,500,000 (~US$ 141,210)
ITM: 45 players

Final table payouts in VN₫

1	Anthony Cierco	Frane	₫657,500,000
2	Nguyen Phuong Ngoc	Vietnam	₫510,000,000
3	Yannick Leonard	France	₫327,500,000
4	Ding Pin	China	₫213,000,000
5	Deepankur Gupta	India	₫164,000,000
6	Nguyen Van Duong	Vietnam	₫136,000,000
7	Tran Duc Tuan (Steve)2,25510	Vietnam	₫114,000,000
8	Avneesh Munjal	India	₫93,000,000
9	Kaoru Kishimoto	Japan	₫73,000,000

*Champion also won a WPT Prime Championship Package inclusive of $1,100 seat and 11 nights at Wynn Encore Las Vegas in December

WPT Vietnam – Festival Results

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Chips in play: 7,100,000

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Watch the final table race to the title and WPT Prime Championship package right here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1HSlyXR0v4

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Final Table of the WPT Vietnam Opener
Level 22: 15,000-25,000 ante 25,000

Seat 1: Yannick Leonard – France – 1,580,000
Seat 2: Kaoru Kishimoto – Japan – 325,000
Seat 3: Anthony Cierco – France – 1,025,000
Seat 4: Deepankur Gupta – India – 1,050,000
Seat 5: Ding Pin – 825,000
Seat 6: Tran Duc Steve – 280,000
Seat 7: Nguyen Phuong Ngoc – 670,000
Seat 8: Avneesh Munjal – India – 315,000
Seat 9: Nguyen Van Duong – 1,025,000

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17:00: Le Nhu An Bubbles to the Final Table – 10th place for ₫61,500,000 (~$2,500)
Level 22: 15,000-25,000 ante 25,000

Anthony Cierco raises 50,000 from the button, small blind Le Nhu An shoves 140,000, Cierco calls . Le has . The board runs .

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16:55: Yashihiro Waki (12th) and Ha Van Thien (11th) – ₫61,500,000 (~$2,500)
Level 21: 10,000-20,000 ante 20,000

Next players to fall were Yashihiro Waki in 12th place and Ha Van Thien in 11th place. Both players earned a payout of ₫61,500,000 (~$2,500). 

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16:45: Pradeep Sharma Eliminated in 13th Place – ₫52,000,000 (~$2,130)
Level 21: 10,000-20,000 ante 20,000

Utg Anthony Cierco raises 40,000, small blind Ding Pan calls, big blind Pradeep Sharma calls. At the flop , Sharma jams and is called by Cierco while Ding check-folds. Sharma has , Cierco ahead with , the turn and river ends Sharma’s run in 13th place.

Anthony Cierco – 720,000 (36 bb)
Pradeep Sharma – Eliminated

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16:25: Zhi Wen Deng Eliminated in 14th Place – ₫52,000,000 (~$2,130)
Level 21: 10,000-20,000 ante 20,000

Utg+1 Zhi Wen Deng all in holding , big blind Ding Pin puts Zhi at risk with a premium . No help comes for Zhi on a board to fall in 14th place.

Ding Pin – 500,000 (25 bb)
Zhi Wen Deng – Eliminated

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16:10: Dinh Van Tien Eliminated in 15th Place – ₫52,000,000 (~$2,130)
Level 20: 10,000-15,000 ante 15,000

Next to go was Dinh Van Tien in 15th place for a pay jump to VN₫52,000,000 (~$2,130).

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15:50: Romain Bier Eliminated in 16th Place – ₫43,000,000 (~$1,760)
Level 20: 10,000-15,000 ante 15,000

Hijack Romain Bier all in for 82,000 holding , cutoff Avneesh Munjal three-bets all in for 175,000 pushing out the rest then opens . The board runs .

Avneesh Munjal – 302,000 (20 bb)
Romain Bier – Eliminated

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15:45: Antoine Demian Eliminated in 17th Place – ₫43,000,000 (~$1,760)
Level 20: 10,000-15,000 ante 15,000

Antoine Demian three-bets all in 13 bb with and runs smack into initial raiser Anthony Cierco’s . The board runs .

Anthony Cierco – 630,000 (42 bb)
Antoine Demian – Eliminated

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15:30: Yannick Leonard Gets Lucky
Level 20: 10,000-15,000 ante 15,000

Yannick Leonard thee-bet shoves with and finds luck on his side against Deepankur Gupta’s with the board running .

Yannick Leonard – 580,000 (38 bb)
Deepankur Gupta – 960,000 (64 bb)

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15:00: Daniel Tighe Eliminated in 18th Place – ₫43,000,000 (~$1,760)
Level 20: 10,000-15,000 ante 15,000

Hijack Deepankur Gupta raised 30,000, cutoff Daniel Tighe three-bets all in for 293,000, small blind Nguyen Phuong Ngoc four-bets all in for 690,000, Gupta folds. Tighe has , Nguyen has the nuts , board runs out .

Nguyen Phuong Ngoc – 1,000,000 (66 bb)
Daniel Tighe – Eliminated

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14:40: Tran Duc Steve Barrels the Entire Way
Level 19: 6000-12,000 ante 12,000

Button Tran Duc Steve raises 24,000 and Vu Duc Trung defends his big blind. At the flop and turn , Tran bets 20,000 and 75,000, Vu check-calls. On the river , check again by Vu, Tran fires 151,000, Vu folds.

Tran Duc Steve – 410,000 (34 bb
Vu Duc Trung – 225,000 (18 bb)

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14:30: Nguyen Van Duong Boots Hoang Dai Thien
Level 19: 6000-12,000 ante 12,000

Hijack Nguyen Van Duong raises 25,000 then calls big blind Hoang Dai Thien’s 125,000 shove. Nguyen has , Hoang opens , board drop a King on the flop then completes .

Nguyen Van Duong – 660,000 (55 bb)
Hoang Dai Thien – Eliminated

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14:27: Anthony Cierco Shoves Out Zhi Wen Deng
Level 18: 5000-10,000 ante 10,000

Hijack Anthony Cierco raises 20,000, button Zhi Wen Deng three-bets 115,000, Cierco four-bets all in Zhi folds.

Anthony Cierco – 590,000 (59 bb)

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14:19: Deepankur Gupta race leader 
Level 18: 5000-10,000 ante 10,000

With three tables remaining, Deepankur Gupta is way ahead of the pack with 1,270,000 (127 bb).

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14:05: Back to Back Boats for Nguyen Van Duong
Level 18: 5000-10,000 ante 10,000

Utg+1 Daniel Tighe raises 20,000, cutoff Nguyen Van Duong three-bets all in for 97,000, Tighe calls. It’s a flop with Nguyen , Tighe . The board runs .

Next hand, Romain Morvan shoves, Nguyen calls, Morvan has , Nguyen . Board runs .

Nguyen Van Duong – 360,000 (36 bb)
Daniel Tighe – 270,000 (27 bb)
Romain Morvan – Eliminated

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14:03: Le Nhu An Shoves Out Pradeep Sharma
Level 18: 5000-10,000 ante 10,000

Utg Pradeep Sharma raises  22,000, utg+2 Le Nhu An three-bet shoves 100,000, Sharma calls. At the flop , Le shoves (130,000), Sharma check-folds.

Le Nhu An – 282,000 (28 bb)
Pradeep Sharma – 262,000 (26 bb)

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13:45: Romain Bier Doubles Up Through Deepankur Gupta
Level 17: 4000-8000 ante 8000

Utg+2 Deepankur Gupta raises 20,000, big blind Romain Bier shoves 48,000, Gupta calls and shows , Bier with . The board runs out for a double up to Bier.

Romain Bier – 108,000 (13 bb)
Deepankur Gupta – 1,100,000 (137 bb)

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13:35: Deepankur Gupta Soars to Over a Million
Level 17: 4000-8000 ante 8000

Cutoff Vu Duc Trung raises 18,000, button Deepankur Gupta calls, small blind Nguyen Duc Cuong three-bets 45,000, Vu folds, Gupta calls. When the board runs , Nguyen bets the entire way 32,000,90,000, all in for 234,000, Gupta calls it down. Nguyen has and busts to Gupta’s top pair.

Deepankur Gupta – 1,160,000 (145 bb)
Nguyen Duc Cuong – Eliminated

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13:10: Romain Morvan Doubles Through Daniel Tighe
Level 17: 4000-8000 ante 8000

Hijack Daniel Tighe raises 16,000, big blind Romain Morvan three-bets 81,000 leaving himself 10,000 behind. At the flop , Morvan tosses in his last 10,000, Tighe calls and shows . Morvan has top pair which holds with the turn and river .

Romain Morvan – 195,000 (24 bb)
Daniel Tighe – 130,000 (16 bb)

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12:55: Tran Duc Steve Rails Yao Yadi
Level 16: 3000-6000 ante 6000

Tran Duc Steve has less chips than when he started but still quite threatening. He added more to his arsenal by railing Yao Yadi in a battle of the blinds. Tran with spiked the Jack the dust .

Tran Duc Steve – 380,000
Yao Yadi – Eliminated

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12:26: Vu Duc Trung Wins Three Way
Level 16: 3000-6000 ante 6000

Do Anh Tai all in for 97,000 with , small blind Romain Morvan shoves 235,000 holding , big blind Vu Duc Trung all in for 83,000 and . The board runs . Vu ships the main pot, Morvan takes the side pot, Do is eliminated.

Vu Duc Trung – 255,000 (84 bb)
Romain Morvan – 166,000 (27 bb)
Do Anh Tai – Eliminated

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11:55: Nguyen Duc Cuong Doubles Up Through Vu Duc Trung
Level 15: 2500-5000 ante 5000

Utg Vu Duc Trung raises 10,500, two spots over Nguyen Duc Cuong three-bets 28,000, Vu four-bets 75,000, Nguyen tank-calls. At the flop , Vu tank-shoves , Nguyen snap-calls, Vu opens draw, Nguyen ahead with . The tiurn and river secures a double up for Nguyen.

Nguyen Duc Cuong – 340,000 (68 bb)
Vu Duc Trung – 93,000 (18 bb)

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11:23: Sumit Sapra goes down in two
Level 14: 2000-4000 ante 4000

Sumit Sapra lost his first flip with outdrawn by Do Anh Tai’s on a board . Down to 3 bb, he was again outdrawn with top pair losing to Vu Duc Trung’s flush on a board that dropped four spades.

Vu Duc Trung – 165,000 (41 bb)
Sumit Sapra – Eliminated

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11:15: Yasuhiro Waki cleans out Nguyen Tien Thanh
Level 14: 2000-4000 ante 4000

Utg Yasuhiro Waki min-raises, cutoff Nguyen Tien Thanh three-bet all in, Waki calls with , Nguyen with . The board runs .

Yasuhiro Waki – 180,000 (45 bb)
Nguyen Tien Thanh – Eliminated

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11:10: Nguyen Tuan Hoang lucky two-outer knocks out Aleksei Varashev
Level 14: 2000-4000 ante 4000

Big blind Aleksei Varashev three-bet all in for 98,000 with and was looking good for a double up against initial raiser Nguyen Tuan Hoang who called with . However, when the flop dropped . Nguyen improved to a set which held to the turn and river .

Nguyen Tuan Hoang – 200,000 (50 bb)
Aleksei Varashev – Eliminated

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11:00: Cards flying at WPT Opener Day 2, 45 players hunt down the title and WPT Prime Championship Package
Level 14: 2000-4000 ante 4000

The remaining 45 players of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Opener are now guaranteed a chunk of the more than VN₫ 3,443,500,000 (~US$ 141,210) prize pool but the question remains as to who will take down the top prize of VN₫ 727 Million (~US$ 29,800) as well as the WPT Prime Championship US$ 1,100 entry and hotel package.

Tran Duc Steve sits atop the leaderboard with 418,000 in chips which he amassed as the top performer in Day 1C. Ireland’s Daniel Tighe emerged as the overall second ranked after dominating Day 1B with 395,000 in chips, and Pradeep Sharma of India—the Day 1A leader—is ranked third with 252,000 in chips.

Keep it locked here for the live updates until a champion is crowned.