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The first marquee event at the 2019 World Poker Tour (WPT) Vietnam, the series-opener Kickoff Event has finally crowned a champion in Le Ngoc Khanh who collected VND 1,231,890,000 (₹38.09 Lakhs) after trouncing a field of 412 entries.
Khanh is a renowned name on the South Asian circuit and is presently placed third on Vietnam’s All-Time Money List. Khanh had clinched his career-first WPT title earlier this year in the VND 6,600,000 NLH Bounty for VND 176,140,000. He added another WPT trophy to his collection yesterday when he took down the Kickoff event after besting India’s Rubin Labroo heads-up. Labroo won a whopping VND 862,923,000 (₹26.68 Lakhs) for his second-place finish.
A total of seven Indians cashed in the Kickoff event.
Player | Finish | Prize Money |
---|---|---|
Rubin Labroo | 2nd | VND 862,923,000 (~₹26.68 Lakhs) |
Jaideep Sajwan | 4th | VND 369,267,000 (~₹11.41 Lakhs) |
Laksh Pal Singh | 6th | VND 235,288,000 (~₹7.27 Lakhs) |
Akshay Nasa | 8th | VND 160,356,000 (~₹4.95 Lakhs) |
Akash Chandrashekhar | 10th | VND 103,707,000 (~₹3.20 Lakhs) |
Ashish Munot | 17th | VND 71,336,000 (~₹2.20 Lakhs) |
Jayjit Ray | 51st | VND 26,616,000 (~₹82,302) |
With the largest-ever contingent of Indians attending the series, there are sure to be many more deep runs registered by Team India. In fact, Vaibhav Sharma (258,000) and Ronak Vyas (126,000) have already made it through to the final table of the VND 6,300,000 NLH Bounty that plays down to a winner later today.
The VND 107,000,000 High Roller 1 also ran alongside these events last night. Jayjit Ray had entered the High Roller after busting the Kickoff event, but he fell short of making it through to Day 2. Austria’s Andre Lettau (3,095,000) emerged as the Day 1 chip leader among 11 survivors.
51 entrants returned for Day 2 with all of them assured a min-cash of VND 26,616,000 (₹82,302).
Among the seven Indian challengers who made it to Day 2, Kolkata-based pro Jayjit Ray was the first player to finish in the money, banking a min-cash of VND 26,616,000 (₹82,302) for his 51st place exit.
Ashish Munot was the next contender from Team India to hit the rail, finishing 17th for VND 71,336,000 (₹2.20 Lakhs).
Akash Chandrashekhar bubbled the final table, finishing 10th for VND 103,707,000 (₹3.20 Lakhs).
Final Table Recap
Local player Tran Duc Toan was the first one to be eliminated from the final table, busting out in ninth place when his pocket sevens ran into Nasa’s pocket queens.
Start-of-Day 2 chip leader Akshay Nasa saw his run come to an end in eighth place for VND 160,356,000 (₹4.95 Lakhs). Nasa’s pocket treys were no match for Nguyen Pham The Quan’s pocket kings.
While Nguyen Pham The Quan was holding the chip lead for some time after eliminating Nasa, a change in fortune saw him falling out in seventh place.
Rising talent Laksh Pal Singh was ousted next in sixth place for VND 235,288,000 (₹7.27 Lakhs).
Indian-origin Jaesh Balachandran was the next player to depart from the final table in fifth place.
Jaideep Sajwan fell short by three places from capturing the title, ending his blistering run in fourth place for VND 369,267,000 (₹11.41 Lakhs). Incidentally, Sajwan was dismissed by his fellow countrymen Labroo. The former pitted his against Labroo’s . The board revealed and Labroo turned a 10-high straight to eliminate Sajwan.
After Huynh Tai`s exit in third place, the heads-up play got going between India’s Rubin Labroo and Vietnamese player Le Ngoc Khanh. Both players attempted to negotiate a deal, but the talks fell through.
The play then resumed with Khanh in the lead. Labroo won the first few hands of the heads-up to take the chip lead away from Khanh, but eventually, the latter won the chip lead back from his Indian opponent.
On the final hand, Khanh moved all-in with and Labroo called with . The board ran out and Khanh turned a straight to take down the event for VND 1,231,890,000 (₹38.09 Lakhs). Labroo took away an equally impressive VND 862,923,000 (₹26.68 Lakhs) for his runner-up finish.
Final Table Results (VND)
1. Le Ngoc Khanh – VND 1,231,890,000
2. Rubin Labroo – VND 862,923,000
3. Huynh Tai – VND 554,860,000
4. Jaideep Sajwan – VND 369,267,000
5. Jaesh Balachandran – VND 284,144,000
6. Laksh Pal Singh – VND 235,288,000
7. Nguyen Pham The Quan – VND 197,522,000
8. Akshay Nasa – VND 160,356,000
9. Tran Duc Toan – VND 123,189,000
169 entries (137 unique and 32 re-entries) were registered at the VND 8,800,000 (₹27,211) buy-in Bounty event, creating a prize pool of VND 888,940,000 (₹27.48 Lakhs).
With a top prize of VND 233,646,000 (₹7.22 Lakhs) on offer for the eventual champion, nine finalists headlined by Neil Raine (381,000), will return later today to contend for the title.
Among the nine finalists are two Indian challengers Vaibhav Sharma (258,000) and Ronak Vyas (126,000).
Final Table Chip Counts
1. Neil Raine – 381,000
2. Aigars Plivss – 419,000
3. Magnuss Karlsson – 361,000
4. Kjell Ove Dyb – 336,000
5. Duc Hop Nguyen – 278,000
6. Vaibhav Sharma – 258,000
7. Sekine Shin – 255,000
8. Ronak Vyas – 126,000
9. Bae Jin Yong – 120,000
Attracting 47 entries (37 unique and 10 re-entries), the High Roller 1 generated VND 4,559,000,000 in prize money.
India’s Jayjit Ray who min-cashed the Kickoff event, jumped into the High Roller yesterday. However, he hit the rail early into the day’s proceedings.
Andre Lettau bagged the chip lead with a stack of 3,095,000 and was the only player to bag over 3 Million in chips. Trailing him are WSOP bracelet winner Mike Takayama (1,640,000) and Thanh Binh Nguyen (1,430,000) in second and third place, respectively.
End of Day 1 Chip Counts
1. Andre Lettau – 3,095,000
2. Mike Takayama – 1,640,000
3. Thanh Binh Nguyen – 1,430,000
4. Quang Minh Nguyen – 1,280,000
5. Vincent Huang – 1,210,000
6. Hun Hong Je – 690,000
7. Sean Ragozzini – 645,000
8. Tran Tien Ly – 605,000
9. Alex Lindop – 450,000
10. Sang In Lee – 415,000
11. Quang Huy Nguyen – 300,000
Content & Images Courtesy – World Poker Tour/So Much Poker
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