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The 13-day-long World Poker Championship Loyal Hanoi, hosted at the Grand Loyal Poker Club, culminated on Sunday, January 15. The 24-tournament-long series, touted to be the biggest poker festival held in Vietnam, saw Team India raking in numerous deep runs, but the title eluded the contingent till the very last day.
On Sunday, well-known Indian pro Jasven Saigal took down the penultimate tournament of the series, Event #23: High Roller Single Day, lifting the WPC trophy and the VN₫ 528 Million up top. Saigal had a good run on the Asian felts last year, winning Event #13: ₱22K NLHE at the APT Philippines and Event #23: Superstack at WPT Prime Cambodia. He has persisted with his stellar form in 2023, firing up six deep runs in Hanoi for VN₫ 700 Million!
Another consistent scorer for the team, Amit Kaushik, eyeing a second title in Hanoi (his first at the series), came excruciatingly close to taking down Event #19: Bounty Hunter, placing second for VN₫ 96.5 Million. Korea’s Shin Kyeong Rim won the title for VN₫ 150 Million. Kaushik had an eventful outing at the WPC with five deep runs and VN₫ 195.86 Million in total earnings.
Vietnam’s Nguyen Van Trung (Won Event #18: Turbo Event for VN₫ 84.81 Million), Korea’s Kim Nam Hyung (Won Event #20: Super High Roller for VN₫ 1.725 Billion), Singapore’s Lin Hao (Won Event #21: Monster Stack for VN₫ 514 Million), Korea’s Kim Jin Young (Won Event #22: Megastack for VN₫ 179 Million), and Vietnam’s Ha Manh Tuong (Won Event #24: Megastack Closer for VN₫ 56.28 Million) won the last few side events at WPC Loyal Hanoi.
The Megastack Closer champion Ha Manh Tuong was awarded the Player of the Series (POS) trophy and received a Main Event ticket to the 2023 World Poker Championship.
Vietnam’s Nguyen Van Trung Champions Event #18: Turbo Event For VN₫ 84.81 Million
Event #18: Turbo Event attracted 91 participants, generating a prize pool worth VN₫ 264.81 Million. Only the top 11 finishers got paid, and adding to Vietnam’s title tally at the stop was Nguyen Van Trung, who defeated compatriot Hoang Thanh Tung (2nd for VN₫ 53 Million) heads-up to win the title for VN₫ 84.81 Million.
Complete Results (VND)
Korea’s Shin Kyeong Rim Wins Event #19: Bounty Hunter For VN₫ 150 Million; India’s Amit Kaushik Finishes Runner-up For VN₫ 96.5 Million
The VN₫ 8.80 Million buy-in Event #19: Bounty Hunter took place on Friday, January 13, with 109 hopefuls buying for a share of the VN₫ 518.84 Million prize pool.
The Indian contingent was in the hunt for its first title victory of the series and the Noida-based Amit Kaushik came incredibly close to accomplishing the dream, falling one short of the finish line.
Korea’s Shin Kyeong Rim claimed the title for VN₫ 150 Million, while Kaushik, making his third FT appearance in the festival, collected a runner-up payday of VN₫ 96.5 Million – his fifth score of the series.
Final Table Results (VN₫)
Korea’s Kim Nam Hyung Ships Event #20: Super High Roller For VN₫ 1.725 Billion
The fourth of the five Super High Roller events at the WPC Loyal Hanoi series, VN₫ 66 Million buy-in Event #20: Super High Roller, saw Korea’s Kim Nam Hyung overcoming the star-studded 94-player field to clinch the title for VN₫ 1.725 Billion. Hyung’s fellow countryman Kang Byung Jin finished runner-up for VN₫ 1.04 Billion.
Event #20 paid out the top 11 places a share from the VN₫ 5.47 Billion prize pool.
Complete Results (VND)
Singapore’s Lin Hao Wins Event #21: Monster Stack For VN₫ 514 Million
Event #21: Monster Stack featured a VN₫ 11 Million buy-in, and with 221 entrants joining the action, VN₫ 2.14 Billion was collected in the prize pool. The top 28 finishers got paid at least VN₫ 17 Million.
Singapore’s Lin Hao was the last player standing and won the title for VN₫ 514 Million after besting Vietnam’s Vu Duc Trung heads-up, the latter banking VN₫ 343 Million in second place.
The long-time pro Jasven Saigal was the only Indian to finish in the money. Entering the event on the back of deep runs in Event #7: Superstack (24th for VN₫ 10.5 Million), Event #9: HSOP Main Event (14th for VN₫ 66 Million), Event #13: Mystery Bounty (19th for VN₫ 24 Million), and Event #17: NLH Freezeout (12th for VN₫ 23.50 Million), Saigal booked his fifth score of the series, netting VN₫ 48.70 Million in 9th place.
Final Table Results (VND)
Korea’s Kim Jin Young Wins Event #22: Megastack For VN₫ 179.50 Million
Event #22: Megastack had 101 participants eyeing a share of the VN₫ 587.82 Million prize pool, and only 13 made the payouts list.
Korea’s Kim Jin Young championed the event for VN₫ 179.50 Million after defeating Vietnam’s Pham Huu Son (2nd for VN₫ 110 Million) in the heads-up play.
Complete Results (VND)
India’s Jasven Saigal Champions Event #23: High Roller Single Day For VN₫ 528 Million
On the last day of the series, seasoned pro Jasven Saigal finally made India’s dream of lifting a WPC trophy come true. The Mumbai-based reg stomped over the 49-entry field in Event #23: High Roller Single Day and bested Tomazoy Andreas (2nd for VN₫ 314 Million) heads-up to win his first title of 2023 (his sixth live title overall) and the VN₫ 528 Million top prize.
Saigal made six ITM finishes in the series, including this title win and another FT finish.
Final Table Results (VN₫)
Ha Manh Tuong Wins Event #24: Megastack Closer For VN₫ 56.28 Million
The final event of the WPC Loyal Hanoi, the VN₫ 33 Million buy-in Event #24: Megastack Closer saw Vietnam’s Ha Manh Tuong taking down the 31-player field to win VN₫ 56.28 Million. Korea’s Kim Jang So placed runner-up for VN₫ 32 Million.
This was Ha Manh Tuong’s fifth ITM finish at the series and his third FT appearance, earning him the Player of the Series trophy.
The top 4 places earned a share of the VN₫ 120.28 Million prize pool.
Complete Results (VND)
Content & Images Courtesy: Life of Poker