Side event winners: Lu Zheng Hao and Aleksei Varashev

It was a victorious day for another two players here at APT Kick-Off Vietnam with Lu Zheng Hao shipping the No Limit Hold’em #1 and Aleksei Varashev taking down the Deep Stack Turbo #2. Alike all side winners so far at the series, both players were first time APT champions. We’ve got the results and recaps for you below. 

APT Kick-Off Vietnam results

Just a reminder, for everyone that cashed in these events, points were awarded towards the APT Player of the Series race. You can view the standings via the link provided:

APT Player of the Series leaderboard

Lu Zheng Hao victorious at the No Limit Hold’em #1

The No Limit Hold’em 1 event ran well past the midnight hour and still players were relentless. The trophy and VND 123,280,000 (~US$ 5,300)  first prize money drove the battle until Singapore’s Lu Zheng Hao prevailed, capturing his first-ever APT win. 

Buy-in: VND 9,900,000 (~US$ 430)
Entries: 45
Prize pool: VND 392,850,000 (~US$ 17,000)
ITM: 8 places

It took seven hours of action to bring the field from 45 down to the money round of 8 players. Short stacked Hendra Choandri banged the rail one spot from earning, falling to Lu Zheng Hao. The players were moved to the feature table. You can watch the final 8 action via our media channels APT Twitch and APT YouTube. We also have a recap for you below. 

After sending off Choandri, Hao (seat 1) carried in the largest stack to the final 8. Firing up the action was second-ranked Soo Jo Kim (seat 5) who went on a spree. On the first hand dealt, Kim delivered the first casualty with A 3 turning a nut flush to end short stacked Iori Yogo (seat 6) who had K K.  Several hands after, Kim finished off short stacked Seo Myeong Jin (seat 7) A Q with Q J turned straight.  

Before the next bust, Bin Zhang (seat 2) rose from the gutter with a back-to-back double up. He survived a flip with 5-5 to Hao’s A-J then trips with J 10 to Song Daewoong‘s (seat 3) K Q top pair on a board Q 8 J J 3. Zhang shoved on the turn. After Ray Chiu (seat 4) fell in 6th place pushing with K-10 that failed against Hao’s A-5, Zhang banked another double up with J-J full house to Ang Kai Loon’s (seat 8) A-J on a board of J-A-4-4-8 with Loon shoving on the river. 

Bin Zhang

Short stacked Daewoong finished in 5th place followed by Loon in 4th place. At three-handed, Hao continued to command while Zhang and Kim battled for chips. Zhang got the best of the Korean pro with A 6 denying K Q to bring about the heads up round. Hao was ahead nearly 3:1 and held the top spot throughout, grinding down Zhang. The final hand was Hao Q J flush to Zhang’s K 7 on a board 3 6 10 9 5.

Payouts
1st Lu Zheng Hao – Singapore – VND 123,280,000
2nd Bin Zhang – China – VND 82,180,000
3rd Soo Jo Kim – Korea – VND 57,130,000
4th Ang Kai Loon – Singapore – VND 41,260,000
5th Song Daewoong – Korea – VND 30,860,000
6th Ray Yi Yin Chiu – Hong Kong SAR – VND 23,820,000
7th Seo Myeong Jin – Korea – VND 18,910,000
8th Iori Yogo – Japan – VND 15,410,000

Aleksei Varashev wins the Deep Stack Turbo #2

46 entrants rumbled the poker green at the Deep Stack Turbo #2. Rising to victory to capture his first-ever APT title was Russian player Aleksei Varashev defeating Korea’s Yongdeok Kim at heads up. Varashev collected a cool VND 84,010,000 (~US$ 3,600) and one of the newly designed APT trophies. 

Buy-in: VND 6,600,000 (~US$ 285)
Entries: 46
Prize pool: VND 267,720,000 (~US$ 11,500)
ITM: 8 places

The race for glory picked up pace after the fall of Huu Tuan Nguyen A 8 on the bubble to Yongdeok Kim J J. This left 8 players on the hunt.

Displaying plenty of aggression was Dinh Xuan Dinh (seat 5) who muscled with his big stack however it eventually cost him. On a board 5 4 A A Dinh pushed sending Kim (seat 4) tanking. After using two time banks, Kim found the courage to call for his tournament life and was happy to see his A 9 trips certain to win with Dinh showing a bluff Q 10. This awarded Kim the chip lead. Dinh later fell in 5th place to Aleksei Varashev (seat 8). 

Yongdeok Kim

Kim proceeded to knock out Hai Vo (seat 7) in 4th place with A-K dominating A-5, then Varashev finished off Ricky Cheong (seat 3) with 9-9 winning the flip against J-10. This brought about heads up. Varashev was ahead 22 bbs to 12.5 bbs. 

Aggressive action continued bringing Kim down to 4 bbs however a double up extended his stay. It didn’t last. Varashev put pressure until Kim took a stand with Q J only to run into Varashev’s A 10. The final board was J 9 2 3 A; Kim connected on the flop but fell to Varashev on the river. 

Payouts
1st Aleksei Varashev – Russia – VND 84,010,000
2nd Yongdeok Kim – Korea – VND 56,010,000
3rd Foo Yong Cheong – Singapore – VND 38,930,000
4th Hai Vo – Australia – VND 28,120,000
5th Dinh Xuan Dinh – Vietnam – VND 21,030,000
6th Saito Tatsunori – Japan – VND 16,230,000
7th Van Phinh Nguyen – Vietnam – VND 12,890,000
8th Mai Tung Duong – Vietnam – VND 10,500,000