WPT Vietnam 2018: Alok Birewar & Zarvan Tumboli Headline 13 Indians Coming Into Day 2 of Main Event

The remaining two starting flights of the 2018 World Poker Tour (WPT) Vietnam Main Event are now in the books. Reaching a total number of 679 entries and generating a prize pool of VND 13,172,600,000 ($564,750), the event broke the record that was set at the 2017 WPT India Main Event, which had garnered 527 entries.

Indian challengers came out in large numbers with the likes of MadOverPoker pro Zarvan Tumboli, Raghav Bansal, Abhisek Panda, Sajal Gupta, Amanpreet Singh, Nitin Jain, Aman Dhamija, Romit Advani, Dhaval Mudgal, Kunal Patni, Vivek Rughani, Young Gun Abhinav Iyer, Alok Birewar, Bobbe Suri, Kanishk Upreti and WSOP Bracelet winner Nikita Luther, making an appearance.

Leading the Indian challengers still in the running is Alok Birewar (263,000), followed by Zarvan Tumboli (177,000), Bobbe Suri (139,000), Sajal Gupta (138,000), Amanpreet Singh (109,500), Nitin Jain (109,000), Raghav Bansal (99,500), Kanishk Upreti (92,000), Aman Dhamija (88,000), Dhaval Mudgal (86,000), Romit Advani (60,000), Vivek Rughani (53,500) and Abhinav Iyer (45,000). They will be joined by the Day 1A qualifiers Vidwath Shetty (99,000), Vinod Megalmani (86,000), Nishant Sharma (85,000) and Chiraag Patel (41,500) on Day 2 today.

91 runners from Day 1C, will converge with the 61 players from Day 1B and 26 survivors from Day 1A. Tran Hanh (437,000) will be leading the 178 hopefuls returning for Day 2 action today.

In side event action, Vietnam’s Pham Bao defeated fellow countryman Tran Phuong heads-up to win the Bounty Event for VND 142,440,000, with an additional VND 24,000,000 in bounty rewards.

Main Event Day 1B Recap

With a new record in sight, Day 1B of the Main Event began with six tables at play with 75 runners initially joining the fray. By the end, the number of entries had reached 119.

A bigger group of Indians was seen in action at the second starting flight. While MadOverPoker pro Zarvan Tumboli, Raghav Bansal, Abhisek Panda, Sajal Gupta, Amanpreet Singh, Nitin Jain, Aman Dhamija, Romit Advani and Dhaval Mudgal started their journey through Day 1B, Kunal Patni; Vivek Rughani and Young Gun Abhinav Iyer re-entered via the second flight.

Amongst the Indians who failed to make the cut for Day 2 were Dhaval Mudgal, Kunal Patni, Abhisek Panda and Raghav Bansal.

Dhaval Mudgal was on a downward spiral right from the get go. During level 3, Mudgal lost a big pot to Hai Chuot and his stack dropped to 10,200. Mudgal was on his second bullet when in a hand against an unknown player, Mudgal pitted his against his opponent’s . Mudgal rivered a full house with the board running but despite picking up the pot, hit the rail before the day’s play ended.

Abhisek Panda had a good start as he was able to win a big pot against Markus Garberg, improving his stack to 62,000, but his luck ran out during level 10 against Nick Gorman. On the flop of , with 16,500 in the middle, Gorman checked and Panda bet 5,500. Gorman jammed with a stack that well covered Panda. Panda tanked for a while and then called putting his tournament life at risk. Gorman tabled for an open ended straight draw and Panda turned over for flopped two pairs. The remaining two streets brought and and Gorman rivered an ace-high straight to eliminate Panda.

Raghav Bansal had a swingy day himself. Him name popped up on the radar in a hand where the board brought and the pot had reached 19,200. The player in small blind was tanking while facing Bansal’s raise and the latter won the pot. In the next hand, with the board open , a player in the cutoff bet 1,500 and Bansal called to see the hand. Cutoff revealed pocket kings and Bansal mucked his hand, as his stack fell to 72,000. Bansal too failed to make the cut for Day 2.

On the heels of his Ho Chi Minh Cup win, Zarvan Tumboli started well by doubling up during level 5 when his won against. He ended the day with a healthy stack of 177,000.

Zarvan Tumboli

Amanpreet Singh won a huge pot against Indian-origin player Dhanesh Chainani to increase his count to 45,000. He eventually bagged 109,500.

On the last hand of the day, Sajal Gupta went all-in against Victor Chong, who called and both players tabled their cards. Gupta held and Chong showed . The board bricked and Gupta won the pot and finished the day with a stack of 138,000.

Other Indians who made it to Day 2 were Nitin Jain (109,000), Aman Dhamija (88,000), Romit Advani (60,000), Vivek Rughani (53,500) and Abhinav Iyer (45,000).

A total of 250 entries registered for Day 1B which included 202 unique entries and 48 re-entries. After the day’s proceedings, only 61 players survived.

Nguyen Thai Duong topped the remaining player with a stack of 315,500, closely trailed by Nobert Koh (307,000).

Nguyen Thai Duong

Top 10 Chip Counts At The End of Day 1B

1. Nguyen Thai Duong – 315,500

2. Nobert Koh – 307,000

3. Le Anh Tien – 279,500

4. Phan Tri Cuong – 233,000

5. Hieu Ngo – 217,000

6. Nguyen Manh Tuan – 207,000

7. Kyle Patrick Lim – 203,000

8. Ju Le – 197,000

9. Bui Anh Khoa – 180,000

10. Richard Mari – 178,000

Day 1C Recap

Day 1C was the last starting flight of the event and was expected to pull in bigger crowds than the preceding flights. Late registration closed at the start of level 10 and the final count came in at 324 entries, creating a new record with the total Main Event entries reaching 679. With a buy-in of VND 22 Million, the prize pool swelled to VND 13,172,600,000 ($564,750) which is the largest-ever live tournament poker prize pool seen in Vietnam.

Another large group of Indians featured on Day 1C including Alok Birewar, Bobbe Suri, Kanishk Upreti and WSOP Bracelet winner Nikita Luther, while Raghav Bansal, Dhaval Mudgal and Kunal Patni took another shot.

Suri had a good run at the felts and just before the break, he simultaneously eliminated two players to climb up to 115,000. His finally bagged 139,000 for Day 2.

Dhaval Mudgal returned for Day 1C to try his luck and clashed with Pham Bao in a series of huge hands. On the rundown , Bao jammed for 20,500 and Mudgal tank-folded. A few hands later, Bao raised to 3,200 and big blind called, while Mudgal 3-bet to 15,800. Bao folded and big blind followed suit. Mudgal eventually bagged 86,000.

The frontrunner from the Indian camp however was Alok Birewar. During the last level of plat, Piet Pape raised to 6,000 and Birewar raised to 17,000. Pape called to see the flop . Pape checked and Birewar check-raised 15,000, prompting Pape to fold. Birewar accumulated a massive 263,000 in chips by the time the bags were brought out and was placed second in chips overall.

Raghav Bansal (99,500) and Kanishk Upreti (92,000) also made the cut for Day 2, while Kunal Patni and Nikita Luther busted out.

Asia Player of the Year title winner Mike Takayama dominated the leaderboard with a stack of 281,500, topping the 91 survivors from Day 1C.

Mike Takayama

Top 10 Chip Counts At The End of Day 1C

1. Mike Takayama – 281,500

2. Alok Birewar – 263,000

3. Wenling Gao- 255,500

4. Takao Shimizu – 226,000

5. Francis Garson – 214,500

6. Lê Đức Anh – 213,000

7. Nguyen Ngoc Nghia – 211,500

8. Apuweo – 210,500

9. ĐỗHoàng Long – 194,000

10. Trần SÆ¡n Thạch – 190,500

Indians at WPT Vietnam Main Event:

Bounty Event

The two day-long Bounty Event attracted a field of 132 runners, resulting in a prize pool of VND 504,240,000. Day 1 had played down to the nine-handed final table and the finalists returned on Day 2 to play down to a champion.

While Yik Yin “Ray” Chiu had started they day as the chip leader, it was Pham Bao who ultimately emerged as the winner and banked VND142,440,000 for his win. This victory also catapulted him to second place in the WPT Asia Swing Standings.

Pham Bao

Final Table Results (VND)

1. Pham Ngoc Quoc Bao – VND142,440,000

2. Tran Phuong – VND90,130,000

3. Yik Yin Chiu – VND53,450,000

4. Dang Van Don – VND32,780,000

5. Tegnelia Steven – VND24,960,000

6. Nguyen Hai Trieu – VND21,180,000

7. Mason Rosenberg – VND18,400,000

8. Thuan Thanh – VND16,140,000

9. Nguyen Tien Thanh – VND14,240,000

Image courtesy: somuchpoker.com

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