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The 2023 WPT Prime Vietnam, hosted at Hanoi’s Crown Poker Club, has witnessed some heated competition since it kicked off on May 16. A strong team from India has joined the action, with several players gearing up to stay on for the subsequent APT Vietnam Hanoi from May 26 to June 4.
Indian players have already made early inroads at the series, with the 2018 WPT Vietnam Main Event champion, Dhaval Mudgal, posting a runner-up finish in Event #3: Deepstack NLH, for VN₫ 49.25 Million.
However, the standout event in the opening days has been Event #1: VN₫ 8.8 Million WPT Prime Vietnam Opener. The series opener`s last two starting flights concluded on Wednesday after a bustling Day 1A, which recorded 112 entries. Day 1B and Day 1C added 221 and 177 entrants, respectively, and 65 players, including 14 from Day 1A, returned for Day 2 today.
Given these numbers, the tournament effortlessly surpassed the VN₫ 2 Million guarantee, amassing a hefty prize pool of VN₫ 3,957,600,000 ($168,750). Leading the charge into Day 2 is Vietnam’s Ngọc Anh Cao, a previous WPT trophy holder with a formidable stack of 639,000.
Cao, ranked eighth on Vietnam’s all-time money list, is well-known for his poker exploits in Hanoi, having won the 2022 WPC VN₫88 Million NLHE – Megastack last September.
Hot on Cao’s trail in stacks is compatriot Lưu Danh TuấN (638,000), with Indian pro Avneesh Munjai (503,500) rounding out the top three stacks for Day 2.
Munjal, who topped the NPS India 2023 leaderboard, has two scores at the WPT Prime Cambodia from last August. Munjal ran amok on Day 1C and ended his run in the flight as the chip leader among the 28 advancing players. He won a massive pot on Day 1C against Jin Yong, his ace queen hitting a full house to dominate the latter’s jack-ten. The hand catapulted Munjal straight into the chip lead.
While he was the only Indian to make it from Day 1C, joining Munjal on Day 2 is Mohit Bohra (331,000), who bagged the fourth-biggest stack from Day 1B and is positioned eighth overall among the 65 qualifiers.
Bohra is fresh off a hugely successful outing at the just-concluded APPT Cambodia 2023, where he posted four cash finishes, including a trophy victory in Event #14: $300 6-Handed Hyper Turbo. The Indian has cashed once in the WPT in the past, finishing 83rd in the 2023 WPT Prime India Main Event last month for ₹1.19 Lakhs.
Both Munjal and Bohra are already assured of a min-cash of VN₫ 13,500,000 ($575) but will undoubtedly have their sights set on the prestigious WPT trophy and the top prize of VN₫ 770,000,000 ($32,280).
Among the heavyweights who missed bagging in the last two flights of the series opener were the 2019 WPT India Main Event champion Ashish Munot, Dhaval Mudgal, and the 2021 WPTDeepStacks Hanoi Main Event winner Phinh Van Nguyen.
Day 2 began at 10.30 AM (local time) on Thursday, May 18. According to the latest updates, the field is down to the nine-handed final table. The good news, Avneesh Munjal is chip-leading!
You can watch the final table action live (on delay) below.
Top 10 Chip Counts for Day 2 (Combined)
Content Courtesy: So Much Poker & World Poker Tour
Images Courtesy: So Much Poker & Crown Poker Club
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