Dao Minh Phu wins the Superstar Challenge; Nguyen Anh Tuan, Tommy Nguyen, Huy Pham win trophies

Awards galore at Day 3 of the APT Summer Festival Hanoi – VSOP 2022 with four players lifting trophies. The newly crowned were Dao Minh Phu, Nguyen Anh Tuan, Tommy Nguyen, and Huy Pham. We’ve got those recaps for you. Also completing was Day 1A of the Main Event with 23 remaining. With six events done and dusted, the APT Player of the Series race is well underway; Mystery Bounty winner Kyle Bao Diep holds command. 

Main Event Day 1A recap

Up next are a variety of events on Friday, July 15. Another Main Event heat gets on the floor with Day 1B cards flying at 11am. If you’re looking to enter for cheap, give the morning Main Event satellite a go at 10am. Buy in is VN₫ 2,400,000. There is also an evening satellite at 6pm. For those looking to score a fast trophy, the High Rollers Single Day and Super Deep Stack Turbo are your ticket. 

Day 3 Results

DAO MINH PHU shines at the Superstar Challenge

After two days of intense play, the Superstar Challenge concluded with Vietnam’s Dao Minh Phu defeating fellow countryman Nguyen Quang Minh at heads up. Phu is a well known player in the local high roller circuit who up until this moment had yet to bag an APT title. He has now overcome that hump winning the most expensive tournament of the series for a payout of VN₫ 1,118,000,000 (~US$ 47,737). You can watch the recorded stream via the APT FB page. 

Buy in:  VN₫ 108,000,000 (~US$ 4,610)
Entries: 27 (18 unique, 9 re-entry)
Prize pool: VN₫ 2,619,000,000 (~US$ 111,827)
ITM: 5 places 

Payouts

1st Dao Minh Phu Vietnam 1,118,000,000
2nd Nguyen Quang Minh Vietnam 648,550,000
3rd Dang Van Hien Vietnam 401,470,000
4th Ta Son Tung Vietnam 264,760,000
5th Tran Van Thinh Vietnam 185,330,000

 

The Superstar Challenge was a two-day super high roller event with buy in of VN₫ 108,000,000 (~US$ 4,610). By the end of Day 1, 16 coughed up the hefty price tag with 8 remaining led by Hieu Ngo. With registration open for one final level in Day 2, another 11 joined the hunt to bring up the prize pool to VN₫ 2,619,000,000 (~US$ 111,827). Just over six hours in, Ta Son Tung delivered the bubble by booting Huu Dung Nguyen.

With the money intact, it took another three hours before the champion emerged. Along the way, Phu and Nguyen were the stacks to shave. Tung attempted by triple barreling Phu only to see his bluff lose to bottom pair. Tung recovered some of the chips by eliminating Tran Van Thinh in 5th place. Despite the added chips, Tung dropped next with Nguyen shipping it. Dang Van Hien followed out next with A Q dominating Q J

Heads up got underway with Phu sitting on 71 BB to Nguyen’s 18 BB. It took just five hands to seal the win. The final hand was Q J outdrawing 5 5 on a board 7 A Q 3 9

NGUYEN ANH TUAN holds his head high at the Head Hunter 

The two-day Head Hunter is one of the most aggressive tournaments in the lineup with players looking to scalp from the get-go. For every head delivered, the winner instantly receives a VN₫ 2M reward. 100 turned up with money starting at 17th place. At the end of Day 1, only 8 remained. When the game resumed, it was a brutal race to the finish. USA’s Peter Kiem clawed out of the danger zone while China’s Yang Hai Yang busted first with Q Q outdrawn by Nguyen Manh Hung‘s A K turned quads on a board 6 K K 6 K

After the fall of the day’s entering chip leader Mai Van Son (7th), more nutty hands followed with India’s Ankit Jajodia doubling up off Nguyen holding 7 7 full house over Q J flush on a board K J 7 J 9. Despite the rise in chips, Jajodia fell next with David Tran aka Tran Duc Son‘s pocket Tens dominating pocket Sevens. At five handed, Kiem was denied a massive scoop when his K J top pair was river by Pham Hung Cuong‘s 6 3 trips on a board 4 J 6 10 6. After Nguyen busted in 5th place, Pham lost momentum and busted in 4th place, then was joined by Tran shortly after.

Heads up kicked off with Kiem slightly edging Nguyen Anh Tuan but a few hands in, it quickly switched. Tuan claimed pot after pot to grind down Kiem to 5 BB. Tuan went on to win it with 9 9 beating J 4. Tuan shipped the  VN₫ 98,910,000 first prize plus an additional 7 bounties amounting to  VN₫ 14,000,000. He walked away with a combined payout of  VN₫ 112,910,000 (~US$ 4,820) and climbed to third rank in the APT Player of the Series leaderboard. Runner up Kiem also fared well with six bounties added to his winnings. 

Buy in:  VN₫ 6,600,000 (~US$ 280)
Entries: 100
Main prize pool:  VN₫ 382,000,000 (~US$ 16,330)
Bounty pool:  VN₫ 200,000,000 (~US$ 8,550) 
ITM: 17 places

Final 8 payouts

TOMMY NGUYEN wins first APT title at Pot Limit Omaha 

The first non-Hold’em event awarded Norway’s Tommy Nguyen the trophy after defeating India’s Zarvan Tumboli at heads up. Both players were chip leading at the start of the money round and eventually faced off at heads up. Before proceeding, they struck an ICM deal that ensured Nguyen the bigger payout. He went on to win it with both players all in on a turn board Two-Six-Ten-King with Nguyen ahead with King-Ten against Tumboli’s King-Six. The river didn’t help Tumboli to just miss his career third APT win. For third placer Ankit Kumar Jajodia, he was on his second final table. He climbed up the ranks in the APT Player of the Series leaderboard. 

The PLO event drew 28 runners for a prize pool of VN₫ 217,280,000 (~US$ 9,290). The top five got paid with Nguyen pocketing the largest of VN₫ 80,460,000 (~US$ 3,440). 

Buy in: VN₫ 8,800,000 (~US$ 375)
Entries: 28
Prize pool: VN₫ 217,280,000 (~US$ 9,290)
ITM: 5 places

Payouts


*Heads up deal

HUY PHAM bulldozes to victory at the High Rollers Single Day

The High Rollers Single Day got off to a slow start with less than a handful interested at starting time. This delayed the game until a few more signed up. From there, it picked up momentum to close registration with 44 entries and a prize pool of VN₫ 1,280,400,000 (~US$ 54,735). Into the tenth hour of play, Huy Pham emerged victorious, railing the last four players that included Nang Quang Nguyen at heads up. 

Recapping the action during the money round, Shardul Parthasarathi booted Hao Seo in 8th place, Luu Danh Tuan eliminated Siddanth Kripalani, then Parthasarathi with another takedown, denying Chu Thai Thinh to bring the table down to five players. From this moment onwards, it was all Huy Pham. He first doubled up through Tuan with 8 8 over K Q. He then eliminated Victor Lam aka Vu Hoai Lam with K 5 spiking the five to beat K 10. Minutes later, Pham cleaned out Tuan with A K over Q J, then one level after, he sent the axe down on Parthasarathi with pocket Sixes dusting overcards. 

This set up a heads up match between Pham and Nguyen, both quickly agreeing to play it out. Nguyen chimed “this is my bestfriend but no deal!” Pham was ahead 48 BB to Nguyen’s 22 BB. Nguyen nearly brought it to par but Pham surged to widen the gap. After half an hour of heads up, with both players seemingly very exhausted, Pham grinded down Nguyen to bits. The final hand was Pham 8 8, Nguyen A 5, the board J 9 3 7 for a flush draw to Nguyen that missed on the river K

Buy in: VN₫ 32,500,000 (~US$ 1,390)
Entries: 44 (33 unique, 11 re-entry)
Prize pool: VN₫ 1,280,400,000 (~US$ 54,735)
ITM: 8 places

Payouts

1st Huy Pham Vietnam 401,780,000
2nd Nang Quang Nguyen Vietnam 267,850,000
3rd Shardul Parthasarathi India 186,210,000
4th Luu Danh Tuan Vietnam 134,490,000
5th Vu Hoai Lam “Victor” Vietnam 100,580,000
6th Chu Thai Thinh Vietnam 77,630,000
7th Siddanth Kripalani Indonesia 61,640,000
8th Hao Seo Vietnam 50,220,000

 

APT Player of the Series update 

After six events, these are the top 5 in the race. Mystery Bounty winner Kyle Bao Diep is out front with over 130 points ahead of Pham Tien Dung. On Pham’s tail is Head Hunter champion Nguyen Anh Tuan. Sliding up to fourth rank is Ankit Kumar Jajodia who has already cashed in two events. Ngo Khoa Anh is running fifth.

APT Player of the Series standings