APT Hanoi Vietnam VSOP: India’s Shardul Parthasarathi Lifts Career-Second APT Trophy in Single Day High Roller (VN₫875.61 Million)

The 2023 Asian Poker Tour Hanoi Vietnam VSOP is on its last legs, with just two days left for the curtains to fall on the APT season opener. Thursday witnessed a barrage of players making their way to the VSOP Poker Room, with the Main Event Day 2 returnees and packed fields in four side events necessitating tournament organizers to bring in eight additional tables to accommodate the overflowing crowd.

The day brought a mixed bag of results for the Indian contingent attending the first APT stop of the year. While the team got its second APT trophy at the series, the dreams of an Indian winning the VN₫10 Billion GTD APT Hanoi Vietnam VSOP Main Event were trimmed down to just one player.

Let’s begin with the good news. Six months after winning the WPT Prime Cambodia Super High Roller, Shardul Parthasarathi took down another High Roller tournament, Event #27: Single Day High Roller for VN₫875.61 Million, bagging away his second APT trophy in a live tournament (his third overall). A heads-up deal fetched Vietnam’s Pham Duy Anh VN₫875.61 Million.

Coming to the VN₫10 Billion GTD APT Hanoi Vietnam VSOP Main Event, a battalion of 12 Indians returned on Day 2, but seven of them fell out before the money bubble burst. The Day 1B chip leader Prashant Bhutoria (488,000), was the only player from the team advancing to Day 3. Russia’s German Bukharov (3,046,000) headlines the 48 players still in contention.

Event #22 NLH – Super Holdem (3 hole cards) – Hyper Turbo champion Nikita Luther (49th for VN₫59.47 Million), Jasven Saigal (57th for VN₫53.13 Million), Pranav Bagai (63rd for VN₫53.13 Million), and Zarvan Tumboli (79th for VN₫46.79 Million) were the four Indian players digging into the Main Event prize pool.

The other Indians in the Main Event, Ashish Munot, Shardul Parthasarathi, Ritesh Khatwani, Sumit Sapra, Praveen Dwarkanath, Alok Birewar, and Kunal Patni, failed to make the money line.

Spartan Poker Team Pro Zarvan Tumboli (46,500) could only muster a small cash in the Main Event, but he quickly jumped into Event #28: Thursday Thunder – Single Re-Entry, advancing to Day 2 with a workable stack. South Korea’s Jun Young Park (177,000) holds the most chips among the 29 players left standing.

Canada’s Duncan Son (Won Event #29: Hyper Turbo for VN₫67 Million) and Lithuania’s Airidas Stazys (Won Event #30: NLHE – Crazy Pineapple – Hyper Turbo for VN₫44.50 Million) grabbed the two side events trophies awarded on Thursday.

India’s Shardul Parthasarathi Clinches Career-Second APT Live Title in Event #27: Single Day High Roller For VN₫875.61 Million

Buy-in – VN₫66 Million

Entries – 47

Re-entries – 13

Prize Pool – VN₫3.492 Billion

Places Paid – 9

Young Gun Shardul Parthasarathi lifted his second APT trophy – his first in an APT High Roller – after storming past a robust 60-player field (47 unique) in Event #27: Single Day High Roller – 8 Max.

The poker coach won his first APT trophy last June when he bested Ashish Munot heads-up in the 2022 APT Vietnam Hanoi Main Event. He bagged up his second APT title (his first in an online APT tournament) in the APT Online India Series on PokerBaazi last December when he shipped APT#41 Freezeout. The Thursday win extended Parthasarathi’s APT title tally to three.

Only the top nine players got a share of the VN₫3.492 Billion prize pool.

Parthasarathi struck an even heads-up deal with Vietnam’s Pham Duy Anh, with both players nettingVN₫875.61 Million each and the Indian pro walking away with the trophy!

Complete Results (VN₫)

1. Shardul Parthasarathi – VN₫875,615,000*
2. Pham Duy Anh – VN₫875,615,000*
3. Julien Tran – VN₫476,660,000
4. Nguyen Huu Dung – VN₫359,680,000
5. Masao Watanabe – VN₫279,360,000
6. Vincent Li – VN₫216,500,000
7. Van Phuc Tran – VN₫171,110,000
8. Nguyen Manh Hao – VN₫132,700,000
9. Nguyen Nang Quang – VN₫104,760,000

*denotes a heads-up deal

Russia’s German Bukharov Leads 48 Survivors to Day 3 in the Main Event, India’s Prashant Bhutoria Advances With a Middling Stack

With late registrations in the VN₫10 Billion GTD APT Hanoi Vietnam VSOP Main Event open until the start of Day 2, an additional 14 players shelled out the VN₫27.50 Million buy-in to get in, bringing the Main Event field up to 654 entries (350 unique), drawing up a whopping VN₫15.859 Billion in the prize pool.

The top 95 places get paid, and the winner is assured a lofty VN₫3.025 Billion. The minimum cash prize of VN₫46.79 Million was still a significant sum and resulted in an intense fight between players jostling to cross the money line towards the latter half of play yesterday.

The Day 2 action sounded off with 264 runners returned to the felts and the Main Event reached its crucial money bubble stage mid-way through Level 17, with 97 players still in the game and only 95 guaranteed a payout. The tension on the tables reached its peak as two players, Indo-Canadian player Niroshan Loganathan and Vietnam’s Tran Huy Hoang were eliminated simultaneously on separate tables, resulting in a double bust out on the bubble. To soften the blow, the two players divided the VN₫23.39 Million min-cash.

Indians had a strong representation in the Main Event, with as many as 12 players progressing to Day 2. However, all but the Day 1B chip leader Prashant Bhutoria (488,000) failed to make the penultimate day`s play. The Kolkata-based player, who has last seen at the 2022 Baazi Poker Tour, is in the hunt to win his first-ever live tournament.

Of the remaining 11 ‘desi’ pros, four crossed the money line, namely WSOP bracelet winner Nikita Luther (49th for VN₫59.47 Million), Jasven Saigal (57th for VN₫53.13 Million), Pranav Bagai (63rd for VN₫53.13 Million) and Spartan Poker Team Pro Zarvan Tumboli (79th for VN₫46.79 Million).

Ashish Munot, Shardul Parthasarathi, Ritesh Khatwani, Sumit Sapra, Praveen Dwarkanath, Alok Birewar, and Kunal Patni fell out of contention before the money bubble burst.

Russia’s German Bukharov had a fantastic Day 2 session. He accumulated a ginormous stack of 3,046,000 and commands an overwhelming chip lead over the 48 qualifiers advancing to Day 3. Local players Duy Anh Nguyen (1,425,000) and Nguyen Anh Minh (1,246,000) finished a distant #2 and #3 in the day-end chip counts.

Day 3 got underway at XXXX AM on Friday and is scheduled to play down to the eight-handed final table. The eight finalists will return on Saturday, February 11, where one of them will be crowned the 2023 APT Hanoi VSOP Main Event champion.

Top 10 Chip Counts For Day 3

1. German Bukharov (Russia) – 3,046,000
2. Duy Anh Nguyen (Vietnam) – 1,425,000
3. Nguyen Anh Minh (Vietnam) – 1,246,000
4. Tran Thanh Van (Vietnam) – 1,035,000
5. Assem Kulseitova (Kazakhstan) – 969,000
6. Xiang Guang Chang (Malaysia) – 959,000
7. Tan Luan Le (UK) – 907,000
8. Buyu Sakurai (Japan) – 867,000
9. Van Quang Tran (Vietnam) –851,000
10. Pham Ngoc Tu (Vietnam) – 809,000

South Korea’s Jun Young Park Chip Leads 29 Finalists to Day 2 in Event #28: Thursday Thunder – Single Re-Entry; India’s Zarvan Tumboli in Contention

Buy-in – VN₫16.50 Million

Entries – 57

Re-entries – 3

Prize Pool – VN₫873 Million

Places Paid – 9

The two-day Event #28: Thursday Thunder – Single Re-Entry is one of the many new additions introduced by APT in the series. The VN₫16.50 Million entry buy-in tournament drew a 60-player field (57 unique), generating a VN₫873 Million prize pool. Only 29 players survived the opening day`s play.

South Korea’s Jun Young Park topped the Day 1 chip counts, ending play with 177,000 chips, followed by Russia’s Evgeni Gaidukov (158,000) and Switzerland’s Sandro Burkhard (146,000).

Spartan Poker Team Pro Zarvan Tumboli jumped into the day’s action after busting out of the Main Event (79th for VN₫46.79 Million) and bagged a below-average 46,500.

India’s Ritesh Khatwani had also participated in the event but failed to survive the day`s onslaught.

The tournament will pay the top nine spots, with the winner receiving a VN₫254.48 Million cash prize and a min-cash worth VN₫26.19 Million.

Top 10 Chip Counts at the End of Day 1

1. Jun Young Park – 177,000
2. Evgeni Gaidukov – 158,000
3. Sandro Burkhard – 146,000
4. Woosuk Hong – 138,000
5. Guillem Segarra – 112,000
6. Evgenii Chernyi – 111,500
7. Anton Kotliar – 107,000
8. Willy Portier – 103,000
9. Dmitrii Gnusaev – 98,000
10. Yang Liu – 97,000

Canada’s Duncan Son Scores a Second Title Victory in Event #29: Hyper Turbo For VN₫67 Million

Buy-in – VN₫16,500,000

Entries – 14

Re-entries – 3

Prize Pool – VN₫247,350,000

Places Paid – 4

Event #16: Monday Madness winner Canada’s Duncan Son became the first player to win two titles at the ongoing series after taking down the VN₫16.50 Million buy-in Event #29: Hyper Turbo – 8 Max for VN₫67 Million. He defeated Hong Kong’s Wai Kit Tong heads-up to secure his second win of the series, bagging his third APT title and third cash at the series!

With 17 players (14 unique) competing in the tournament, the prize pool touched VN₫247.35 Million, and the top four places were paid.

The final three then made an ICM deal, with Son receiving VN₫67 Million, Tong taking home a better VN₫68.10 Million, and Vietnam’s Ngoc Dai Nguyen locking in VN₫66.10 Million in third place.

Czech Republic’s Lukas Machala (4th for – VN₫46.15 Million) was the only other player to cross the money line.

Complete Results (VN₫)

1. Duncan Son – VN₫67,000,000*
2. Wai Kit Tong – VN₫68,100,000*
3. Ngoc Dai Nguyen – VN₫66,100,000*
4. Lukas Machala – VN₫46,150,000

*denotes a three-way deal

Lithuania’s Airidas Stazys Wins First-Ever Event #30: NLHE – Crazy Pineapple – Hyper Turbo For VN₫44.50 Million

Buy-in – VN₫4,400,000

Entries – 21

Re-entries – 10

Prize Pool – VN₫120,280,000

Places Paid – 5

The APT Hanoi VSOP 2023 series saw another exciting addition in the VN₫4.4 Million buy-in Event #30 NLHE – Crazy Pineapple – Hyper Turbo. The tournament drew 31 players, with 21 of them being unique, creating a prize pool of VN₫120.28 Million.

Lithuania’s Airidas Stazys emerged as the first-ever APT Crazy Pineapple champion after defeating Event #26: Tick Tock champion from the day before, China’s Jinlong Hu heads-up. Stazys took home the top prize of VN₫44.50 Million, while Hu, who was chasing his second title of the series, had to settle for the runner-up prize of VN₫30.67 Million – his fourth score in the series.

The tournament variant is played with standard Texas Hold’em rules, with players getting dealt three-hole cards, and one card is discarded after the betting round post-flop.

A total of five players made the payouts and Soraya Thongprapai (3rd for VN₫19.55 Million), Eric Ceret (4th for VN₫14.13 Million), and Marco Wiederkehr (5th for VN₫11.43 Million) were the others to finish ITM.

Complete Results (VN₫)

1. Airidas Stazys – VN₫44,500,000
2. Jinlong Hu – VN₫30,670,000
3. Soraya Thongprapai – VN₫19,550,000
4. Eric Ceret – VN₫14,130,000
5. Marco Wiederkehr – VN₫11,430,000

Content & Images Courtesy: Asian Poker Tour

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