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WPT Vietnam: Aditya Agarwal Leads 5 Indians to Day 3 of the Main Event

Attreyee Khasnabis September 10, 2019
4 Minutes Read

The VND 15 Billion (₹4.66 Crores) GTD World Poker Tour (WPT) Vietnam Main Event is now on the home stretch. Logging in 373 entries, the tournament eclipsed its guarantee to register a record-breaking prize pool worth VND 18,090,500,000 (₹5.62 Crores)! The field has now whittled down to the last 32 players who will be returning for Day 3 at 12:30 (ICT) on September 10.

Leading these 32 Day 2 survivors is Kiwi pro Hamish Crawshaw who bagged 1.28 Million at the end of Day 2. India’s poker stalwart and PokerStars India Team pro Aditya Agarwal is hot on Crawshaw’s heel with an equally monstrous stack of 1.13 Million. Agarwal had started the day with a modest stack of 51,800 but maneuvered himself brilliantly throughout the day to reach the top of the leaderboard.

Joining Agarwal on the top ten stacks of the day is his fellow compatriot Jaideep Sajwan who collected 821,000 in chips, while Rubin Labroo (544,000), Sumit Sapra (391,000) and Alok Birewar (178,000), round out the Team India chip counts for Day 3.

15 out of the 20 Indians who had bagged for Day 2, busted out before the money line was crossed. Nevertheless, the remaining five Indians who have advanced to Day 3 are all assured a minimum payout of VND 105,829,000 (₹3.28 Lakhs). Day 3 is expected to play down to the final table, with the remaining finalists scheduled to return for the last day on September 11 at 12:45 PM (ICT).

Day 2 Recap

156 entries (Day 1A – 41, Day 1B – 53 and Day 1C – 62) returned for Day 2 at the Pro Poker Club in Ho Chi Minh City. With late registrations open till 1 PM (ICT), around 29 more entries were registered on Day 2, with the final numbers of entries tallying up to 373.

India’s poker icon and PokerStars India Team pro Aditya Agarwal was among the 20 Indians who had progressed to Day 2. The poker pioneer had kicked off the year in grand fashion by taking down the DPT Colossus ₹200K Main Event for ₹31 Lakhs in May. While he ran into a bit of a dry patch at the 50^th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP), he managed to keep his scoring streak at the coveted $10K Main Event intact by picking up his eighth payout at the event.

Agarwal had carried forward a stack of 51,800 from Day 1B. He was first spotted in the live coverage during level 12 when he doubled up through Zhang Zhiwei. Agarwal’s rivered a pair of aces on the runout , besting Zhiwei’s . Agarwal’s stack rose to 65,000.

Two levels later, Agarwal raked in two big pots, catapulting him to the top stacks. In the first hand, Agarwal’s outlasted Pham Minh Tuan’s when the former hit a straight, taking his chip count to 420,000, while Tuan’s stack plunged to 16,000. The next hand saw him scoring the double elimination of Tuan and Iori Yogo. With all three players all-in, Tuan’s and Yogo’s were pitted against Agarwal’s . The board ran and Agarwal found a pair of king’s on the turn – knocking out both players. Agarwal crossed the 600K-mark in chips.

By level 19, Agarwal yet again won a huge pot against Doan Tien Thanh, taking his stack to 1.4 Million. He did lose some chips to fellow countryman Jaideep Sajwan late in the day. With the board open , Sajwan revealed and raked in the pot with three-of-a-kind aces, while Agrawal mucked his hand. Nevertheless, the poker superstar ended Day 2 with the second largest stack of 1,137,000.

As always, Agarwal kept his followers updated of his progress throughout the day via Twitter.

Day 2 of wpt Vietnam with 51k at 600-1200

— Aditya Agarwal (@AdiAgarwal_int) September 9, 2019

150k at 1.5k-3k-3k with 90/373 remaining with 47 paid #WPTDiaries

— Aditya Agarwal (@AdiAgarwal_int) September 9, 2019

67 left with 550k at 3k-5-5k #WPTDiaries

— Aditya Agarwal (@AdiAgarwal_int) September 9, 2019

49 left 800k at 4-8k #WPTDiaries

— Aditya Agarwal (@AdiAgarwal_int) September 9, 2019

30 left bagged 1.13m for day 3 at 6k-12k-12k #WPTDiaries

— Aditya Agarwal (@AdiAgarwal_int) September 9, 2019

Jaideep Sajwan was the only other Indian beside Agarwal who finished Day 2 among the top 10 stacks. He was first seen in the live coverage during level 11 when he eliminated Chi Chung Ho. With all players allowed two bullets on Day 2, the latter had re-entered the tournament having exhausted his first attempt. But it wasn’t Ho’s lucky day as he fell prey at the hands of Sajwan soon after re-entering. Ho’s was no match for Sajwan’s , sending Ho back to the rail, as Sajwan’s stack spiked to 130,000.

During level 17, Sajwan bagged a pot against Thanh Dang, increasing his count to 320,000. Sajwan’s stack breached the 800K-mark after he won the hand against Agarwal, ultimately amassing 821,000 for Day 3.

MTT specialist Rubin Labroo got the first major breakthrough for Team India at the ongoing series, finishing runner-up in the Kickoff event. He had come into Day 2 with the tenth biggest stack of 188,000 and skyrocketed to take the chip lead by eliminating Junichi Nakanawatori during level 14. The latter’s were cracked by Labroo’s which bettered to a pair of jacks with the board running . Labroo’s stack jumped to 620,000. During level 18, Labroo scooped up another huge pot, this time against Doan Tien Thanh, which saw his stack rise to 650,000. By the time the bags were brought out on Day 2, Labroo had come down from the peak, but he still managed to bag 544,000 in chips.

Sumit Sapra, who was last seen at the inaugural Asia Poker League (APL) – Hanoi, where he was the only Indian to score in the VND 11,000,000 NLH Super Deepstack, finishing eighth for VND 34,600,000 (₹1.06 Lakhs). He had started Day 2 of the WPT Vietnam Main Event with 79,000 under his belt. He had a swingy day on the felts. He first doubled up from Dao Minh Phu early on but lost some of his chips to Martin Stausholm later in the day. He ended his Day 2 run with a stack of 391,000.

Alok Birewar was the last Indian pro to make it through to Day 3 and is the only player from the Indian contingent making back-to-back deep runs in the WPT Vietnam Main Event. While he managed to bag a workable stack of 178,000, he will be looking to better his 12^th place finish from the March edition of the Main Event.

Through the nine levels of play, 15 Indians hit the rail falling short of the money bubble. While Kunal Patni and Sahil Agarwal were seen firing both bullets on Day 2, it has not been confirmed whether any of the other Indian players fired two bullets.

Following the elimination of Hieu Ngo at the hands of the defending champion Vincent Chauve, the money bubble was breached. The first player to finish in the money was You Heung Youl (47^th for VND 88,643,000). Other notables who cashed in the event were Jimmy Guerrero (33^rd for VND 105,829,000), Tom Alner (37^th for VND 96,965,000) and Dang Duy Thanh (43^rd for VND 96,965,000).

New Zealand’s Hamish Crawshaw emerged as the end-of-Day 2 chip leader with a gigantic stack of 1,281,000. He will lead the remaining 32 runners to Day 3 which is slated to commence at 12:30 PM (ICT) on September 10.