HomeGood morning Vietnam! The Asian Poker Tour is back in Ho Chi Minh City!
The weeklong APT Vietnam 2018 starts today, October 5 and runs until October 11 at partner and host-venue Pro Poker Club. As always, we’ve got a fun-tastic lineup prepared complete with new events and the headliner, the VND 6 Billion Guaranteed MAIN EVENT.
Before we give you the lowdown, a few things to help make your visit truly enjoyable. It is rainy season in Vietnam so be prepared, dress accordingly, rain gear and galoshes perhaps. If you need accommodations, just head to our APT booking page, we’ve got special APT Player rates at select hotels. Book now before discounted prices are all scooped up. Also, Pro Poker Club requires a membership card for every player entering the room. If you already have one then just bring it. If not, membership costs VND 100,000. Membership is good for 12 months. You will need this to enter and to sign up to any of the APT events.
Now onward to what’s in store at APT Vietnam 2018!
Opening Day Events
For today’s opener, we jump right out with a crowd favorite, the Monster Stack event. This is a two-day event. Buy-in is VND 11,000,000. Players begin with a 30,000 stack, opening blinds at 25-50, blinds go up every 30 minutes. Registration closes at the start of Level 9. Cards in the air at 1pm.
At 2pm is the game for the big leaguers, the CoinPoker Super High Rollers event. This event is open to anyone looking to play with much higher stakes than usual. Buy-in is a whopping VND 107,500,000.
MAIN EVENT – VND 6 Billion Guaranteed
Then coming up tomorrow is the tour’s featured event – the APT MAIN EVENT. At APT’s first visit to Ho Chi Minh City we offered a VND 3 Billion guaranteed Main Event. On our next visit, we upped that to VND 6 Billion. On both occasions, we exceeded the guarantee with the previous Main Event attracting 499 entries for a VND 9.68 Billion prize pool. Local player Dang Xuan Canh shipped it and was the first Vietnamese to win a major international poker title on home soil.
For the upcoming Main Event, the guarantee is once again set at VND 6 Billion. Buy-in is VND 22,000,000. This is the most prestigious tournament of the APT, equipped with what is considered the best structure in the region. It runs a course of six days from October 6 to 11.
Day 1A: Saturday, October 6 @2pm
Day 1B: Sunday, October 7 @1pm
Day 1C: Monday, October 8 @1pm
Day 2: Tuesday, October 9 @1pm
Day 3: Wednesday, October 10 @1pm
Final 8: Thursday, October 11 @130pm
*The three starting days play a total of 9 levels. Registration closes at the start of Level 10. Main Event structure
Main Event Bubble Protection is in effect. For those new to this promo, it is a type of insurance policy during the bubble round. If a protected player busts on the bubble, that player will receive their buy-in back in the form of APT tournament credits. To be eligible, all you need to do is follow these three simple steps:
- Pre-register
- Draw for your seat before the starting time
- Have your chips put into play on the first deal of Level 1
*Eliminated players wanting bubble protection on the next starting day will have to qualify again.
CoinPoker Main Event promos
APT sponsor, CoinPoker, will also be extending great promos to our Main Event players. Players can receive their full rake back by simply emailing CoinPoker with a copy of your receipt. You will be credited on your CoinPoker online account. There is also the Last Man Standing promo. The last player in the Main Event wearing the CoinPoker patch will receive a free seat to the APT Finale Philippines 2018 Main Event.
CoinPoker High Rollers and the Shot Clock
In addition to the SHR event are two CoinPoker High Rollers event. The first one is on October 10 to 11. Buy-in is VND 54,000,000.
The second one is the last event of the festival, the CoinPoker High Rollers Single Day (Shot Clock). At our previous event in Manila, the Shot Clock was introduced for this event. Buy-in is VND 43,000,000.
Shot Clock rules:
- The Shot Clock will be introduced after the close of registration.
- Once the Shot Clock has been introduced each remaining player will receive three (3) sixty (60) second Time Bank chips.
- Once a player hesitates for 3 seconds, the Shot Clock will begin with an initial thirty (30) second countdown.
- Once a player exhausts the initial thirty (30) second countdown, that player will immediately owe a Time Bank chip and will owe another one after sixty (60) seconds expires.
- Remaining eight (8) players will receive two (2) additional Time Bank chips.
- The Shot Clock will be paused if a player that has been put on the Shot Clock requests for a count of a bet that has multiple chips or multiple denominations or stacks.
- A player’s hand will be killed immediately after the time on the Shot Clock has expired and the player is out of Time Bank chips.
New event: SHORT DECK POKER
As played by the big boys in Asia, Short Deck Poker – Triple Stack – is making an appearance at the festival. This exciting addition gets on the floor on closing day, Thursday, October 11. Buy-in is VND 7,700,000. The Shot Clock will be introduced at the Final 8. Read up on the Short Deck Poker mechanics.
Full APT Vietnam 2018 schedule
*Just a reminder, all our events (unless specified otherwise) utilizes the Ante Big Blind format.