The first Asian Poker Tour (APT) stop of 2019 is now in the books! After 12 days of non-stop action at the Pro Poker Club in Vietnam, the 2019 Asian Poker Tour (APT) Vietnam finally closed out late last night with the culmination of the last of the side events.

Vietnam has undoubtedly emerged as one of the fastest growing poker destinations in Asia not just for Indians, but also the big and ever-growing pool of poker professionals coming in from other Asian and international destinations. This time around, participation numbers at the series were higher than turnouts in other Asian destinations like Manila. The series played host to 585 unique players and a total of 3,800 entries representing 42 countries, giving away over VND 40 Billion (₹12,25,25,869) in cash prizes across the 22 events on the schedule.

It was a breakout series for the large Indian contingent present in Vietnam with our Indian challengers posting an impressive 23 scores at the stop. Headlining the scorecard was Young Gun Abhinav Iyer`s trailblazing win in the Main Event (VND 2,269,092,000- ₹69.60 Lakhs). Dhaval Mudgal had come into the series with fond memories from Vietnam. He had only last year won his first-ever international title at the 2018 WPT Vietnam Main Event and he was hunting for title no 2. He did come close and on more than once occasion, finally closing the series in style by posting a runner-up finish at the Monster Stack II (VND 216,711,000 – ₹6.66 Lakhs).

Though both Iyer and Mudgal were strong contenders for the APT Player of the Series (POS) title, it was Denmark’s Michael Kim Falcon (1,098.34 points) who raced ahead at the end by taking down the Monster Stack I (VND 383,346,000 – ₹11,74,348).

In side events, Steve Yea (High Rollers II for VND 559,447,000 – ₹17,15,614), Nguyen Duc Vinh (Deep Stack Hyper Turbo for VND 102,124,000 -₹3,12,643), Tai Duc Huynh (NLHE for VND 194,881,000- ₹5,96,610), Duy Ho (Deep Stack Turbo I for VND 86,957,000 – ₹2,66,211) and Jin Pyeong Gyu (Deep Stack Turbo II for VND 85,835,000 – ₹2,62,776), all won titles.

The action doesn’t stop here, as the APT will next visit Tokyo – APT Tokyo (Feb 1-11) followed by Taiwan – APT Taiwan (Feb 20-Mar 3).

Indians At 2019 APT Vietnam

The 2019 APT Vietnam proved phenomenally successful for Team India that has been performing increasingly well at major international stops. They came to Vietnam in good numbers, put up a good show and are coming back with a successful scorecard that has an impressive 23 scores on it.

Leading the charge was Young Gun Abhinav Iyer who took down the headline event at the stop i.e. Main Event for VND 2,269,092,000 (₹69.60 Lakhs). Till last year, the young star`s exploits were mostly limited to the virtual felts with very few international outings, but he certainly made his participation at the APT Vietnam count as he took down his maiden international title at the stop! Iyer’s Main Event victory makes it two-for-two for Team India following Dhaval Mudgal’s World Poker Tour (WPT) Vietnam Main Event victory late last year.

Mudgal himself wasn’t very far behind. He had set the bar fairly high when he took down the WPT Main Event in Vietnam late last year and Mudgal was once again in the firing line at this series. He narrowly missed picking up his second international title on two occasions – Monster Stack II (VND 216,711,000 – ₹6,66,044) and the High Rollers I (VND 534,621,000 – ₹16,43,116). With four cashes, Mudgal was also the most consistent Indian pro at the series.

The trailblazing run by Iyer (4th with 899.18 points) and Mudgal (6^th with 808.36 points) also got them a top 10 berth in the APT POS rankings that was eventually topped by Michael Kim Falcon.

The other standout performances came from Madhav Gupta (High Rollers I – 4^th for VND 386,147,000 – ₹11.86 Lakhs), Kunal Patni and Romit Advani who finished 16^th and 18^th in the Championships Event (VND 102,508,000 – ₹3.14 Lakhs each) respectively. Patni also went onto finish runner-up in the Deep Stack Hyper Turbo II (2^nd for VND 57,223,000 – ₹1.75 Lakhs).

Indian Scores At 2019 APT Vietnam

APT Player Of The Series

Denmark’s Michael Kim Falcon was conferred the honor of the APT Player of the Series (POS). After making a fabulous start to his run in the series, Falcon went on to score in four more events, accruing the maximum i.e. 1,098,34 points on the APT POS leaderboard. For winning the POS title, Falcon was rewarded with an exclusive watch; the APT POS customized ring and trophy, along with $800 in cash prize.

Winner of the Championships Event, Lim ‘Boxer’ Yohwan came in second in the APT POS race. Prior to pocketing VND 2,040,542,000 ($88,000) in the Championships Event, Yohwan had also posted four more cashes in the series making for a total of 1,032.56 points. Edward Yam came in third with 903.95 points. Both Yohwan and Yam were awarded $100 in cash prizes.

2019 APT Vietnam Winners

Monster Stack II

One of the last events on the schedule, the Monster Stack II featured a VND 11,00,000 buy-in. The event saw a total of 141 entries converging to the field and headlining the Indian participation were Dhaval Mudgal and Eka Vedantham, with both finishing in the money. Mudgal took the fight for the title all the way into heads-up play where he lost out to Vietnam’s Cao Ngoc Anh. Mudgal finished runner-up, while Anh claimed the title and the top prize of VND 325,0066 (₹9,96,855).

“I came into the flight with a pretty short stack and had a couple of crazy orbits that put me second in chips,” recalls Mudgal, on his run at the Monster Stack II. Mudgal’s turned nut flush was dominated by Anh’s rivered full house.

The final hand saw Mudgal limp in with and Anh checked his option with . The flop fell and Anh checked-called with top pair. The turn gave Mudgal the nut flush and improved Anh, who now had two-pair but was still a big underdog . Anh needed help and he got there with the on river completing his full house. He induced action with a bet and Mudgal obliged by moving all in. Anh made the call to win the title!

Mudgal banked VND 216,711,000 (₹6.66 Lakhs) for his runner-up finish, while Vedantham added a 13^th place (VND 23,515,000 – ₹72,271) finish to his scorecard. Japan’s Tetsuya Tsuchikawa (7^th for VND 49,874,000) also final-tabled the event.

Final Table Results (VND)

1. Cao Ngoc Anh – VND 325,066,000
2. Dhaval Mudgal – VND 216,711,000
3. TrịnhHuyThông – VND 150,655,000
4. Bin Zhang China 108,815,000 228.82
5. Kwok Ting Shum – VND 81,376,000
6. DongkyoonSeo – VND 62,806,000
7. Tetsuya Tsuchikawa – VND 49,874,000
8. Zhibin Zhang – VND 40,634,000
9. Jeonggyu Cho – VND 33,862,000

High Rollers II

The High Rollers II attracted 27 players and topping them all was Korea’s Steve Yea, who won the top prize of VND 559,447,000 (₹17,15,614) after defeating Andreas Korn in the heads-up play.

Final Table Results (VND)

1. Steve Yea – VND 559,447,000
2. Andres Korn – VND 324,274,000
3. Kwun Ngai Vincent – VND 200,736,000
4. IoriYogo – VND 132,379,000
5. Michael Kim Falcon – VND 92,664,000

Deep Stack Hyper Turbo

Another event that played down to a winner yesterday was theDeep Stack Hyper Turbo that registered 76 entries. Local talent Nguyen Duc Vinh claimed the golden lion at the event, along with VND 102,124,000. (₹3,13,176) cash prize.

India`s Kunal Patni (13^th for VND 7,388,000- ₹22,656) was the first of the 13 players to finish in the money, and the only Indian to score in the event.

Final Table Results (VND)

1. Nguyen Duc Vinh – VND 102,124,000
2. Ngeow Fai Chung – VND 68,083,000
3. Shinhan Sid Kim – VND 47,331,000
4. Chi Chung Ho – VND 34,186,000
5. Chang Tae Hoon – VND 25,566,000
6. Tsai-feng Liu – VND 19,731,000
7. Chun Ho Edward Yam – VND 15,669,000
8. Yik Yin Chiu – VND 12,766,000
9. Norbert Koh – VND 10,638,000

No Limit Hold’em

For a buy-in of VND 8,800,000 (₹26,940), the two-day long No Limit Hold’em event pulled in 97 entries creating a prize pool of VND 752,720,000 (₹23,04,385). Local pro Tai Duc Huynh won his second golden lion trophy of the series becoming the first player to win two side events at APT Vietnam. Huynh pocketed VND 194,881,000 (₹5,96,610) for his win.

You can watch the final table action here.

Final Table Results (VND)

1. Tai Duc Huynh – VND 194,881,000
2. Min Zhang – VND 129,920,000
3. Ben Soon Yung Loo – VND 90,318,000
4. Zhewen Hu – VND 65,235,000
5. Taegyun Kim – VND 48,786,000
6. Yusuke Moriyama – VND 37,652,000
7. Vu Hai Phong – VND 29,899,000
8. Nguyen Viet Long – VND 24,360,000

Deep Stack Turbo I

Outlasting the 65 runners in the Deep Stack Turbo 1, USA’s Duy Ho clinched the fourth APT title of his career for a winner’s payday of VND 86,957,000 (₹2,66,211), following a three-way deal with Hieu Duong (runner-up for VND 80,230,000 – ₹2,45,617) and Chris Morrison (3^rd for VND 65,401,000 – ₹2,00,219).

You can catch the final table action right here.

Final Table Results (VND)

1. Duy Ho – VND 86,957,000*
2. Hieu Duong – VND 80,230,000*
3. Chris Morrison – VND 65,401,000*
4. Yik Yin Chiu – VND 36,551,000
5. Tsai-feng Liu – VND 27,334,000
6. Nguyen Vu Huy – VND 21,096,000
7. Ishikawa Shoma – VND 16,752,000
8. Anthony Thong Boon Tee – VND 13,649,000

*denotes three-way deal

Deep Stack Turbo II

The Deep Stack Turbo II attracted a far smaller field than its predecessor with only 47 entries that helped generate a prize pool of VND 273,540,000 (₹8,37,418). Korea’s Jin Pyeong Gyu was crowned the champion after he defeated India’s Kunal Patni in the heads-up play. Gyu banked VND 85,835,000 (₹2,62,776) in first-place prize money.

On the final hand, Patni’s were cracked by Gyu’s on the board , Gyu flopped two pairs of nines and treys to eliminate Patni in the runner-up spot for VND 57,223,000 (₹1,75,183).

Catch the thrilling final table action here.

Final Table Results (VND)

1. Jin Pyeong Gyu – VND 85,835,000
2. Kunal Patni – VND 57,223,000
3. Ang Kai Loon – VND 39,780,000
4. Wipat Udomkanjananan – VND 28,733,000
5. Yik Yin Chiu – VND 21,487,000
6. Ngeow Fai Chung – VND 16,584,000
7. Tsai-feng Liu – VND 13,169,000
8. Yusuke Moriyama – VND 10,729,000

Images & Content courtesy: Asian Poker Tour