APT Phu Quoc 2024: Team India Ignite a Wednesday Firestorm With 7 Final Table Finishes & a High Roller Win! Avneesh Munjal & Kunal Patni Lead the Charge!

The Asian Poker Tour (APT) Phu Quoc 2024 is popping off! Since November 8, the Corona Theatre on Phu Quoc Island has been transformed into a poker paradise, with players from all over the world battling it out for a share of the massive VN₫ 44 Billion (~$1.70 Million) prize pool spread across 82 events.

After six days of intense action, 42 champions have already been crowned, and Indian players are making big waves, adding to the country’s already impressive track record on the Asian poker circuit. So far, they’ve racked up an incredible 18 cash finishes, including 11 final table appearances and two awesome victories!

Kunal Patni got the ball rolling for India early on, but the team really hit its stride on Wednesday with an explosive performance all around. Indian players locked up a whopping ten cashes, including seven final table appearances and a stunning victory. Just a day after veteran pro Kunal Patni kicked off this winning streak by grabbing his third APT trophy in the VN₫ 4 Million Tick Tock BOOM, fellow Mumbai pro Avneesh Munjal achieved a new milestone by taking down Event #29: VN₫ 60 Million High Roller – Double Stack for a career-best ₹51.34 Lakhs.

Kunal Patni’s Consistent Success

Natural8 India Executive Director and Ambassador Kunal Patni is lighting up the APT Phu Quoc with his incredible play. This guy is a legend, known for making history as the most successful captain of the Poker Sports League. He led his team, Deccan Aces, to become the first-ever two-time champions of the Pocket52 Poker Sports League this year. And now, he’s continuing his winning ways at APT Phu Quoc 2024, with four final table finishes already, including a title win.

Patni’s journey at the festival began with back-to-back final table finishes on Sunday, including a runner-up finish in Event #19: VN₫ 4 Million Tick Tock BOOM! Super Hold‘em. He then came back the next day to conquer Event #37: VN₫ 7 Million Tick Tock BOOM, capturing his third APT trophy. And on Wednesday, he almost did it again, finishing fourth in Event #41: VN₫ 10 Million Turbo – Double Stack for a solid VN₫ 101.45 Million (~₹3.37 Lakhs) – his best score yet at the stop.

While all his deep runs have been in the smaller events (except for his deep run in the Vietnam National Cup), each one has been a final table finish. Patni’s APT Phu Quoc winnings have now reached VN₫ 312.869 Million (~₹10.40 Lakhs), making him the second-highest Indian earner of the series (so far), just behind Avneesh Munjal.

Amit Kaushik’s Double Final Table Frenzy

Amit Kaushik, a 28-year-old poker prodigy from Kurukshetra, Haryana, is making a name for himself on the international scene. Kaushik was also at the final table of Event #29: VN₫ 60 Million High Roller – Double Stack with Munjal, finishing in eighth place for VN₫ 205.30 Million (~₹6.84 Lakhs). Shortly after, he entered Event #42: VN₫ 10 Million Turbo and finished sixth for VN₫ 39.94 Million (~₹1.33 Lakhs). These back-to-back final table finishes bring his series winnings to VN₫ 245.24 Million (~₹8.15 Lakhs).

Other Indian Players Shine at APT Phu Quoc

It wasn’t just Patni and Munjal making waves on Wednesday. Young Gun Shardul Parthasarathi, fresh off a runner-up finish at the DPT Grand High Roller, continued his hot streak with a 12th-place finish in Event #41: VN₫ 10 Million Turbo – Double Stack for VN₫ 19.96 Million (~₹66,351). This brings his total winnings for the series to VN₫ 35.61 Million (~₹1.18 Lakhs) across two deep runs.

In the same event, Harsh Bharti, who final tabled Event #37: VN₫ 7 Million Tick Tock BOOM, finished 17th, adding VN₫ 17.41 Million (~₹57,875) to his series earnings. Bharti then bounced back in Event #46: VN₫ 4 Million Super Hyper Turbo, taking fourth place for an additional VN₫ 21.90 Million (~₹72,800). His total for the series now stands at VN₫ 64.05 Million (~₹2.13 Lakhs) across three deep runs.

Goa-based poker veteran Myron Pereira almost grabbed his first-ever live victory in Event #44: VN₫ 5 Million Hyper Turbo – Hold’em “Limits.” He battled through a small field of 16 entries but ultimately finished as the runner-up, taking home VN₫ 21.85 Million (~₹72,634). Earlier in the day, Pereira also made it through Day 1C of the APT Main Event, so he’s still got a chance to make another deep run.

Adding to the Indian contingent’s success, former IPC and DPT titleholder and PSL co-founder Prajit Ghambir came close to winning his third live title in Event #46: VN₫ 4 Million Super Hyper Turbo. He finished in third place out of 63 entries, earning VN₫ 29.03 Million (₹96,502) – his first cash of the series.

Meanwhile, Akhand Shukla got his first score of the festival, finishing ninth in Event #46 for VN₫ 6.38 Million (~₹21,209).

APT Main Event Update

The VN₫ 36 Million APT Main Event, the highlight of the APT Phu Quoc 2024 series, has everyone buzzing with its massive VN₫ 25 Billion (~$1 Million) guarantee. The last two flights wrapped up yesterday, and the turnout was impressive.

Day 1C brought in 225 entries (164 unique), with 92 players making it through to Day 2. China’s Jinlong Hu, a three-time APT champion, bagged the chip lead in Flight C with a stack of 476,600, making him the overall chip leader heading into Day 2.

Two Indian players made it through Day 1C: Kishor Kumar with 164,200 chips (103 BBs) and Myron Pereira with 58,500 chips (37 BBs).

Day 1D, the final starting flight, attracted another 135 entries, with 64 players advancing to Day 2. China’s Shi Bei bagged the chip lead in this flight with 298,600 chips.

Day 2 saw 292 players return to the tables, with another 42 players jumping in for late registration, bringing the total number of entries to 795 (400 unique) – a 56% increase from last year! While the total prize pool fell just short of the advertised VN₫ 25 Billion guarantee by a slim VN₫ 14.74 Million, it still represents a 41% increase over last year’s APT Phu Quoc Main Event, reaching VN₫ 14.75 Billion (~$619,000).

With 795 entries and a VND 25 billion prize pool (~USD 1M), the #APTPhuQuoc2024 Main Event is 56 percent larger and 41 percent richer than the 2023 tour offering. As Day 2 continues, the top 119 players are set to cash out, with the ultimate prize being VND 4.71 billion (~USD… pic.twitter.com/PQp1vcZv3v

— Asian Poker Tour (@AsianPokerTour) November 14, 2024

With 119 places paid, everyone who makes the money is guaranteed at least VN₫ 56.25 Million (~$2,215). But the real prize is the VN₫ 4.71 Billion (~$185,430) first-place prize and the award-winning 24K Gold Lion APT Main Event trophy.

A total of 12 Indian players are still in contention, all hoping to make a deep run and capture the title. Natural8 India star and POY #2 Neel Joshi and Young Gun Siddharth Karia joined the field as direct entries, while Flight A chip leader Deepankur Gupta (307,800), High Roller – Double Stack champion Avneesh Munjal (167,100), Young Gun Shardul Parthasarathi (109,700), two-time GPI POY (India) Ankit Ahuja (78,700), and Tick Tock BOOM champion Kunal Patni (73,400) all bagged stacks in earlier flights. We’ve also got veteran pros Dhaval Mudgal (51,800) and Romit Advani (45,600), WSOP bracelet winner and WPT champion Aayush Arya (132,200), Amit Kaushik (98,300), Harsh Bharti (32,400), Kishor Kumar (164,200) and Myron Pereira (58,500) in the mix.

At the time of writing, the tension was high, with the money bubble approaching and 122 players remaining. Team India is looking strong, and we can’t wait to see who makes a deep run and takes home the title!

You can watch the replay of the Day 2 featured table livestream on the APT YouTube channel.

Content and Images Courtesy: Asian Poker Tour

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