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The Asia Poker League (APL) is one of the fastest-growing tournament brands in Asia. The APL played out two editions in Vietnam this year, closing out its inaugural run at the Risemount Premier Resort in Da Nang last Saturday. The series flagged off on December 12 awarding 19 trophies and a massive VND 18 Billion in prize money!
One of the biggest events to play out towards the end was the VND 40 Million buy-in High Roller that attracted 119 hopefuls across two starting flights. The tournament eventually crowned a champion in Taiwan’s Wu En Ching who captured the top prize of VND 1,362,100,000!
The newly minted APL Brand Ambassador Sumit Sapra was a prominent presence at the stop and picked up two scores at the series that included an impressive fifth-place finish in the Main Event. Here is a complete rundown of the series.
With December typically being a slow month on the live circuit, the APL Da Nang offered players a great value offering and that too at an exotic location. The series attracted a few Indian players, the most prominent among them was the newly inducted APL Ambassador Sumit Sapra. Sapra had opened his scorecard at the series with a 39th place finish in the VND 10 Million Kickoff (VND 16,300,000 – ₹49,959) but it was the Main Event 8 Billion GTD where he really excelled, advancing to Day 2 alongside fellow countrymen Vikas Sahni and Manish Lakhotia. Both Sahni (36th for VND 49,000,000 – ₹1.49 Lakhs), and Lakhotia (53rd for VND 41,500,000 – ₹1.27 Lakhs) fell out on Day 2 but Sapra stormed his way into the final table where he finished fifth for VND 477,900,000 (₹14.68 Lakhs).
Immediately after busting the Main Event, Sapra jumped into Day 1B of the High Roller but was unable to translate his efforts into a deep run.
Player | Event | Finish | Prize Money |
---|---|---|---|
Sumit Sapra | Main Event 8 Billion GTD | 5th | VND 477,900,000 - ₹14.68 Lakhs |
Vikas Sahni | Main Event 8 Billion GTD | 36th | VND 49,000,000 – ₹1.49 Lakhs |
Manish Lakhotia | Main Event 8 Billion GTD | 53rd | VND 41,500,000 – ₹1.27 Lakhs |
Sumit Sapra | VND 10 Million Kickoff | 39th | VND 16,300,000 - ₹49,959 |
For the tournament organizers, the experiment at Da Nang proved to be hugely successful, enough to prompt them to announce a follow-up series at the venue next year.
Talking about the series, Executive Managing Director of Asia Poker League, James Kim said, “As with all new destinations and venues, everything is a challenge and the success of new joint ventures are never guaranteed. However, groups like the VSOP are exactly what we have been looking for. They understand Poker and are truly committed to the development of Poker not only in Vietnam but all of Asia as well.”
Kim added, “We would gladly return in December of 2020 and close out what looks to be a very busy 2020 for APL. And always big shoutouts to the players who continue to make APL an recognizable brand in the Poker Industry. Thank you players and we will continue to try and do our best.”
While we do not have the details of all the side event winners, the last two days at the series awarded several side event trophies and the list of winners featured names like Indian-origin player from Indian-origin pro Ceesvin Abhaham Abdulla (Deep Stack Turbo for VND 124,100,000), China’s Qian Xubo (NLH Turbo 2 for VND 146,600,000), Vietnam’s Nam Phong (KO Bounty 2 for VND 293,400,000), Vietnam’s Dinh Manh Hung (PLO for VND 108,600,000), Vietnam’s Nguyen Huu Duc (Freezeout for VND 196,900,000) and Korea’s Lee Jong Wook (Charity Event for VND 39,600,000).
Player | Event | Prize Money |
---|---|---|
Nguyen Minh Tuan | VND 20 Million Main Event VND 8 Billion GTD | VND 2,026,500,000 |
Wu En Ching | VND 40 Million High Roller | VND 1,362,100,000 |
Nguyen Hoang Linh | VND 10 Million Kickoff | VND 739,100,000 |
Trung Nguyen | VND 15 Million Super Deep Stack | VND 389,500,000 |
Im Sangguk | VND 3 Million High Roller – 1 Day | VND 349,200,000 |
Nam Phong | VND 11 Million KO Bounty 2 | VND 293,400,000 |
Im Sung Gok | VND 10 Million Deep Stack | VND 285,500,000 |
Nguyen Huu Duc | VND 16.5 Million Freezeout | VND 196,900,000 |
Kim Jae Hwan | VND 8.8 Million NLHE | VND 160,700,000 |
Qian Xubo | VND 7.7 Million NLH Turbo 2 | VND 146,600,000 |
Li Shin Hung | VND 6.6 Million KO Bounty Turbo | VND 142,400,000 |
Ceesvin Abdulla | VND 8 Million Deep Stack Turbo | VND 124,100,000 |
Dinh Manh Hung | VND 7.7 Million PLO | VND 108,600,000 |
Aigars | VND 8 Million 6-Max Turbo | VND 94,300,000 |
Nguyen Huu Duc | VND 6 Million NLHE Turbo 1 | VND 83,500,000 |
Lee Jung Wook | VND 5.5 Million Hyper Turbo | VND 79,400,000 |
Kwon Hyuk Jin | VND 5.5 Million Hyper Turbo 2 | VND 69,500,000 |
Lee Jong Wook | Charity Event | VND 39,600,000 |
The VND 40 Million buy-in High Roller began proceedings with the first of its two starting flights playing out on December 18. Day 1A attracted 50 hopefuls, 16 of which qualified for Day 2. Another 63 runners signed up on Day 1B including India’s Sumit Sapra. Fresh off his deep run at the Main Event, Sapra made a strong bid for another deep run but fell out before the end of the day. Only 23 players made it out of Day 1B taking the total count of players returning on Day 2 to 39. Along with six late registrations on Day 2, the event logged in a total field size of 119 entrants.
A rapid pace of eliminations set the final table on Day 2 and the day ended with Taiwan’s Wu En Ching holding the trophy in his hands. Ching had to fend off stiff competition coming his way from the likes of Canada’s Nguyen Hong Kong but he defeated the latter heads-up to pocket the winner’s purse worth VND 1,362,100,000. Kong banked a runner-up payday worth VND 842,600,000.
The event paid out 15 places with a min-cash worth VND 103,900,000 and some of the notable scorers were Soo Jo Kim (7th for VN 175,500,000), Michael Falcon (12th for VND 120,000,000), Alex Lee (13th for VND 103,900,000) and Tobias Peters (15th for VND 103,900,000).
Final Table Results (VND)
One of the final side events to culminate on the closing day was the VND 8 Million buy-in Deep Stack Turbo. The tournament drew 41 entries and culminated after Singapore-based Indian-origin pro Ceesvin Abraham Abdulla defeated Australia’s Anthony Abram heads-up to win the title for VND 124,100,000. Abram pocketed VND 72,200,000 for finishing second.
Final Table Results (VND)
A total of 60 players ponied up the VND 7.7 Million buy-in to enter the NLH Turbo 2, generating a prize pool of VND 407,400,000. Racing ahead of the rest was China’s Qian Xubo, who captured the title to take home VND 146,600,000.
Xubo defeated Korea’s Edgar Kim Eui Woong heads-up and the final hand between the two saw Xubo’s spiking two-pair on the board that dominated Woong’s .
Final Table Results (VND)
Outlasting a field of 135 entries, Vietnam’s Nam Phong took down the VND 11 Million buy-in Knock Out Bounty 2. Phong beat Korea’s Hong Woo Suk to the finish line to capture the title and the winner’s cheque worth VND 293,400,000.
The event accrued a prize pool of VND 1,039,500,000 and paid out the top 17 finishers. Additionally, players earned VND 2,000,000 for every knockout.
Final Table Results (VND)
The VND 7.7 Million buy-in PLO was the only PLO event on the schedule. The event drew 41 hopefuls to collect VND 278,400,000 in prize money and crowned a champion in Vietnam’s Dinh Manh Hung. Victory didn’t come easy for Hung who had to get past PLO specialist, Australia’s Anthony Abram heads-up. Defeating the latter, Hung snagged his first-ever live title along with a hefty payday of VND 108,600,000.
Final Table Results (VND)
The VND 16,500,000 buy-in Freezeout attracted 64 players generating a VND 931,200,000 prize pool. Only the final eight players could cross the money line and topping them all was Vietnam’s Nguyen Huu Duc. Duc defeated Korea’s Song Daewoong heads-up to pocket the top prize of VND 335,200,000. Daewoong earned a runner-up payout worth VND 196,900,000.
Final Table Results (VND)
The VND 2.5 Million buy-in Charity Event was hosted as part of the series to collect funds for the Da Nang Hospital for Women and Children. The tournament attracted 63 entries and of the prize pool collected, 30% along with the add-ons amounting to a total of VND 47,300,000 was donated. The remaining VND 110,200,000 was awarded to the top eight finishers of the event. In the end, Korea’s Lee Jong Wook proved triumphant and walked away with the top prize of VND 39,600,000.
Final Table Results (VND)
Content & Images Courtesy: Somuchpoker and APL