APT Phu Quoc: Deepak Bothra Seventh in Chips With 48 Remaining in Main Event, Siddharth Karia & Nishant Sharma Other Indians in Contention

The 2023 APT Phu Quoc showstopper, VN₫ 10 Billion GTD Main Event, has been a raging success. The VN₫ 33 Million buy-in tourney clocked in a guarantee-crushing 507 entries, counting the 25 late registrations on Day 2, generating a massive VN₫ 14.754 Billion prize pool.

Two-hundred-and-thirty-one players returned on Day 2. All of them with one primary objective, to make it past the money bubble. With 71 places paid, most of them perished along the way, with Vietnam’s Trinh Anh Dung the last player to fall out empty-handed.

The Thursday action played out over eight 60-minute levels, concluding on level 19 as the players battled through to keep their title hopes alive.

Vietnam’s Julien Tran (1,045,000) leads the 48 remaining players, with France’s Matthieu Lamagnere making a solid comeback to finish a close second in the day-end counts.

Among the Main Event survivors was the trio of Indians, with Deepak Bothra (684,000), who entered Day 2 with the third-largest stack, ranked seventh in chips. MPL Poker Pro Siddharth Karia (489,000) and Gamezy Poker Pro Nishant Sharma (404,000) are the other ‘desi’ pros poised to make a deep run. All three Indians have locked in at least VN₫ 63.44 Million.

A group of 12 Indian players returned on Day 2, and Alok Birewar increased the count to 13 by registering directly. Most of them, namely Aditya Agarwal, Vikhyat Ahlawat, Paawan Bansal Alok Birewar, Karan Kapur, Amit Kaushik, Ritwik Khanna, Dhaval Mudgal, Shardul Parthasarathi, and Jasven Saigal busted empty-handed.

In other side events, France’s Romain Morvan (254,000) headlines the 25 players advancing to Day 2 in Event #29: VN₫ 22 Million Zodiac Classic.

Thailand’s Krishna Wadeesirisak (Won Event #28: VN₫ 55 Million Single Day High Roller for VN₫ 785.70 Million), Hong Kong’s Kong Fung (Won Event #26: VN₫ 5.5 Million Turbo for VN₫ 87.02 Million) and Australia’s Anton Lu (Won Event #27: VN₫ 16.50 Million Turbo – 8 Max for VN₫ 188.42 Million) won APT trophies on Thursday.

Vietnam’s Julien Tran Chip Leads 48 Survivors in Main Event; India’s Deepak Bothra, Siddharth Karia & Nishant Sharma Make Day 3

Buy-in: VN₫ 33,000,000

Entries: 284

Re-entries: 223

Prize Pool: VN₫ 14,753,700,000

Places Paid: 71

The APT Phu Quoc VN₫ 33 Million Main Event has exceeded expectations, surpassing the VN₫ 10 Billion guarantee with a record-breaking turnout of 507 players (284 unique). The tournament, playing out at the Sapphire Conference Room in the Corona Resort & Casino, saw an additional 25 players joining the Day 2 Main Event field just before the noon (local time) start. This swelled the Day 2 field to 231 players, all survivors vying for a portion of the impressive VN₫ 14.754 Billion prize pool.

A group of 12 Indians had made Day 2, headlined by Deepak Bothra, who held the third biggest stack. This count was increased to 13, with Alok Birewar registering on Day 2. By the end of the day’s play, only three Indians advanced to Day 2.

Deepak Bothra (684,000) once again played captain for the Indian contingent, securing the seventh-biggest stack among the 48 survivors and more than doubling the stack he brought in.

MPL Poker Pro Siddharth Karia (489,000) also made quite the run, spinning up his Day 2 starting stack over 10X and giving himself a real shot at making the final table. The Young Gun has already secured two scores in the ongoing series, both fourth-place finishes in Event #1: VN₫ 8.8 Million APT Kickoff (VN₫ 125.99 Million) and Event #11: VN₫ 5.5 Million NLH – Win The Button – Turbo (VN₫ 25.10 Million).

Gamezy Poker Pro Nishant Sharma (404,000) is not far behind Karia and, like him, gave his chances a shot in the arm with a phenomenal spin-up on Day 2. Like Karia, Sharma has scored twice earlier in the series, and this would be his third ITM finish.

Aditya Agarwal, Vikhyat Ahlawat, Paawan Bansal Alok Birewar, Karan Kapur, Amit Kaushik, Ritwik Khanna, Dhaval Mudgal, Shardul Parthasarathi and Jasven Saigal were the other Indians who busted before the money bubble burst on Thursday.

With the top 71 places assured a min-cash of VN₫ 56.06 Million, the race to finish in the money was fierce.

Vietnam’s Trinh Anh Dung had the misfortune of getting eliminated on the bubble. After that, Russia’s Anvar Muratov became the first player to finish in the money (71st for VN₫ 56.06 Million).

Czech Republic’s Roman Hrabec (50th for VN₫ 63.44 Million) and Hon Cheong Lee (66th for VN₫ 56.06 Million) were among the notables who cashed on Day 2.

The play was paused after the elimination of Vietnam’s Duy Anh Nguyen (49th for VN₫ 63.44 Million). Vietnam’s Julien Tran (1,045,000) emerged as the day-end chip leader.

Day 3 got underway at noon (local time) on Friday, March 31, and will play down to the final table.

The Main Event final table will resume play on Saturday, April 1 at noon (local time) and will eventually crown a champion who will take home the glorious APT trophy and the VN₫ 2.848 Billion up top.

Top 10 Chip Counts For Day 3

1. Julien Tran – 1,045,000
2. Matthieu Lamagnere – 1,017,000
3. Peter Kiem – 956,000
4. Yukina Oza – 935,000
5. Albert Gorelik – 835,000
6. John Perry – 807,000
7. Deepak Bothra – 684,000
8. Jacque Ramsden – 670,000
9. Craig Jones – 651,000
10. Yuan Yilu – 621,000

France’s Romain Morvan Headlines 25 Survivors to Day 2 in Event #29: VN₫ 22 Million Zodiac Classic

Buy-in: VN₫ 22,000,000

Entries: 61

Re-entries: 10

Prize Pool: VN₫ 1,377,400,000

Places Paid: 9

The two-day-long Event #29: VN₫ 22 Million Zodiac Classic, sponsored by Natural8, registered 71 entries (61 unique), generating a VN₫ 1.377 Billion prize pool. After twelve levels of 30 minutes each, only 25 players remained in the game to compete for the top prize of VN₫ 401.52 Million.

France’s Romain Morvan (254,000) emerged as the chip leader. The defending APT Da Nang Main Event champion, Doo Sik Nam (228,500), is a close second, while Ireland’s Paul King (209,000) secured the third spot in chip counts.

India’s Karan Kapur also participated in the tournament but failed to make Day 2.

Top 10 Chip Counts at the End of Day 1

1. Romain Morvan – 254,000
2. Doo Sik Nam – 228,500
3. Paul King – 209,000
4. Victor Em – 181,500
5. Nikolay Ponomarenko – 167,500
6. Pham Ngoc Quoc Bao – 145,500
7. Sinwoo Kim – 134,000
8. Bien Mai – 129,500
9. Kiale Matthews – 122,000
10. Kaito Hirai – 121,500

Thailand’s Krishna Wadeesirisak Wins First APT Title in Event #28: VN₫ 55 Million Single Day High Roller For VN₫904.81 Million

Buy-in – VN₫ 55,000,000

Entries – 42

Re-entries – 12

Prize Pool – VN₫ 2,619,000,000

Places Paid – 8

The fifth Single Day High Roller on the APT Phu Quoc schedule saw Thailand’s Krishna Wadeesirisak topping the 54-player field (42 unique) in Event #28: Single Day High Roller – 8 Max, claiming his first APT trophy and VN₫ 785.70 Million. He championed the tournament just hours after finishing runner-up in Event #27: Turbo – 8 Max.

Wadeesirisak defeated Mongolia’s Anarbayasgalan Sainjargal (2nd for VN₫ 568.32 Million) heads-up, the latter making his third final table appearance in a high roller at the series.

The VN₫ 55 Million buy-in event collected VN₫ 2.619 Billion in the prize pool and paid out the top eight finishers.

Other notables who cashed the event included Tran Hoang Nam (3rd for VN₫ 366.66 Million), Yake Wu (4th for VN₫ 277,61 Million), Quang Huy Nguyen (4th for VN₫ 214,76 Million), Hai An Nguyen (6th for VN₫ 167,62 Million), Duy Thuc Nguyen (7th for VN₫ 133,57 Million), and Hong Quan Le (8th for VN₫ 104.76 Million).

Complete Results (VN₫)

1. Krishna Wadeesirisak – VN₫ 785,700,000
2. Anarbayasgalan Sainjargal – VN₫ 568,320,000
3. Tran Hoang Nam – VN₫ 366,660,000
4. Yake Wu – VN₫ 277,610,000
5. Quang Huy Nguyen – VN₫ 214,760,000
6. Hai An Nguyen – VN₫ 167,620,000
7. Duy Thuc Nguyen – VN₫ 133,570,000
8. Hong Quan Le – VN₫ 104,760,000

Hong Kong’s Kong Fung Ships Event #26: VN₫ 5.5 Million Turbo to Win Maiden APT Title & VN₫ 87.02 Million

Buy-in – VN₫ 5,500,000

Entries – 56

Re-entries – 19

Prize Pool – VN₫ 363,750,000

Places Paid – 11

Event #26: VN₫ 5.50 Million Turbo saw Hong Kong’s Kong Fung outclassing the 75-entry field (56 unique) to win his maiden APT title and take home the lion’s share of the VN₫ 363.75 Million prize pool worth VN₫ 87.02 Million. Switzerland’s Yves Thalmann fell one short of the finish line, raking in a profitable second-place payout worth VN₫ 84.13 Million, courtesy of a heads-up deal.

Thailand’s Rungrot Nuannoi (3rd for VN₫ 46.56 Million), South Korea’s Bini Yoo (4th for VN₫ 35.83 Million), and Vietnam’s Khoi Nguyen (5th for VN₫ 28.37 Million) round out the top five finishers.

From India, Amit Kaushik, Event #20: Freezeout champion Dhaval Mudgal and Jasven Saigal were among the initial runners, but they busted short of the money line.

Complete Results (VN₫)

1. Kong Fung – VN₫ 87,022,000*
2. Yves Thalmann – VN₫ 84,128,000*
3. Rungrot Nuannoi – VN₫ 46,560,000
4. Bini Yoo – VN₫ 35,830,000
5. Khoi Nguyen – VN₫ 28,370,000
6. Purevdorj Erdenebulgan – VN₫ 22,190,000
7. Le Thien Phuc – VN₫ 17,460,000
8. Shi Huiqi Corine – VN₫ 13,640,000
9. Tokuya Shuto – VN₫ 10,370,000
10. Egor Starovoitov – VN₫ 9,090,000
11. Van Que Nguyen – VN₫ 9,090,000

* denotes a heads-up deal

Australia’s Anton Lu Champions Event #27: VN₫ 16.50 Million Turbo – 8 Max For Maiden APT Title & VN₫ 188.42 Million

Buy-in – VN₫ 16,500,000

Entries – 30

Re-entries – 5

Prize Pool – VN₫ 509,250,000

Places Paid – 5

In Event #27: VN₫ 16.50 Million Turbo – 8 Max, Australia’s Anton Zhen Zhao Lu trounced the 35-entry field (5 unique), claiming his first-ever APT title and bagging away the most significant chunk of the VN₫ 509.25 Million prize pool worth VN₫ 188.42 Million.

Coming in at a close second was Event #28: Single Day High Roller champion Thailand’s Krishna Wadeesirisak, who earned VN₫ 129.86 Million, while Mongolian runner Temuujin Narangerel rounded out the podium for VN₫ 82.75 Million.

Vietnam’s Trung Thuy Duong (4th for VN₫ 59.84 Million) and Singapore’s Keng Yong Tan (5th for VN₫ 48.38 Million) also boarded the money bus.

The only Indian in the field, Event #20: Freezeout champion Dhaval Mudgal was also in the mix, but he fell out before the money bubble burst.

Complete Results (VN₫)

1. Anton Zhen Zhao Lu – VN₫ 188,420,000
2. Krishna Wadeesirisak – VN₫ 129,860,000
3. Temuujin Narangerel – VN₫ 82,750,000
4. Trung Thuy Duong – VN₫ 59,840,000
5. Keng Yong Tan – VN₫ 48,380,000

Content & Images Courtesy: Asian Poker Tour

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