HomeThe Asian Poker Tour‘s first ever visit to Hanoi, Vietnam was a roaring success with guarantees crushed and big cash prizes seized throughout. Over the thirteen days of games that ran from June 7 to 19 at the Grand Loyal Poker Club, the series amassed a grand prize pool over VN₫ 39 Billion across 25 trophy events, and pulled in 2,176 entries representing 29 flags. Thank you to everyone that attended and congratulations to all the winners!
This festival may be over but the fun never stops. In just a few weeks, the APT returns to Hanoi for another thirteen day series running from July 12 to 24 at the Viet Nam Series of Poker (VSOP). Dubbed the APT Summer Festival Hanoi 2022, the event promises to be sizzling, featuring the biggest lineup ever put forth by the tour. A whopping 29 trophies are up for grabs and VN₫ 12 Billion (~US$ 516,575) in guaranteed prize pools. We look forward to seeing everyone there!
APT Summer Festival Hanoi 2022 schedule
As with every APT event, the festival wrapped up with the awarding of the Player of the Series. Coming out on top of the leaderboard was Tran Duc Son who entered the festival’s last day in the lead. Despite the threat of possible stealers, his cash at the last High Rollers Single Day event ensured the win.
Tran displayed one of the most impressive performances, cashing in six events, all final tables, to win the tour’s esteemed title. He was awarded the APT POS Trophy, APT POS Ring, an exclusive watch, and US$ 800.
2nd – Mystery Bounty
2nd – High Rollers Single Day (Event 9)
3rd – High Rollers Single Day (Event 14)
5th – Deep Stack Hyper Turbo
9th – Monster Stack
3rd – High Rollers Single Day (Event 23)
Festival highlights and final winners
Main Event: SHARDUL PARTHASARATHI – VN₫ 1,929,250,000 (~US$ 83,220)
The first ever APT Main Event title awarded in Hanoi, Vietnam was won by India’s Shardul Parthasarathi, a newcomer to the tour. Parthasarathi followed in the footsteps of Sangeeth Mohan, Varun Gupta, Abhinav Iyer, and Akshay Nasa to become the fifth player from his country to lift this prestigious title on the live front. The series headliner ran from June 9 to 14, attracting 471 entries for a guarantee crushing prize pool of VN₫ 9,137,400,000 (~US$ 394,159). Parthasarathi pocketed the VN₫ 1,929,250,000 (~US$ 83,220) first prize. He also went on to cash at the last High Rollers event to slide into 3rd place in the POS race. He was awarded a POS Trophy and US$ 100.
Championships Event: NGUYEN VAN SANG – VN₫ 1,823,500,000 (~US$ 78,500)
The festival’s second featured tournament was the Championships Event that attracted 216 entries for another smashing prize pool of VN₫ 7,333,200,000 (~US$ 315,540). This was the second largest pot amassed by this namesake event in Vietnam. After five days of games that ran from June 15 to 19, Nguyen Van Sang emerged victorious to capture his first APT major and a career high VN₫ 1,823,500,000 (~US$ 78,500). Nguyen also cashed at four other events namely Super Deep Stack Turbo (5th), Head Hunter (6th), No Limit Hold’em (14th), and Mystery Bounty (17th) to finish 2nd in the POS race. For this, he received a POS Trophy and US$ 100.
Battulga Janag wins three events
Newcomer Battulga Janag was another commanding force at the series. He raked in the most number of wins with three event trophies snatched up. Battulga topped the Short Deck, Deepstack Turbo, and on the final day, the Deep Stack Hyper Turbo. He defeated Japan’s Daiki Kohagi at heads up. India’s Zarvan Tumboli was another multi winner with two side events to his name. Tumboli won the Deep Stack Hyper Turbo and the Pot Limit Omaha after a three-way ICM deal.
Dennis Ng wins High Rollers marathon heads up
Hong Kong lifted its first trophy on the final day after Dennis Ng outlasted Pham Tien Dung at heads up of the High Rollers. Ng eliminated Main Event champion Shardul Parthasarathi in 3rd place to lead at heads up but with average still at a deep 40 BB, the trophy chase lasted over 3.5 hours. The match only turned overly aggressive when the average stack was down to 18 BB. By then, both players were seen shoving numerous times.
One of the best calls seen was a limped pot and a checked flop 7♦ 6♠ K♦. Ng bet the turn K♥ and Pham called. On the river 4♦, Ng fired 125k, and Pham called. Ng had Q♠ 4♣ bottom pair, Pham won it with J♥ 6♥ higher pair. With Pham ahead, he attempted to eliminate by snap-calling Ng’s 5♥ 5♠ shove but his K♥ 10♥ failed to hit the board to pay Ng a double up. Pham recovered when his K♦ J♥ straight beat Ng’s 9♦ 8♦ on a board Q♦ 8♦ 10♣ 7♠ A♠ with the shove seen at the flop.
Back on top Pham still couldn’t close it out, instead Ng doubled up twice with 10♦ 8♦ straight on a board 9-J-7-7-2 outdrawing Pham’s A♦ 6♥, then one that stunned Pham into confusion. On a raised pot preflop, and a board 7♣ 4♣ 6♠, aggressor Ng jammed 5♦ 2♦ and Pham check-called 10♥ 8♠. The turn 2♥ paired up Ng, and with the river J♥, Ng won it. In disbelief, Pham tabled his last hand with J♠ 10♥ busting to Ng’s A♦ 9♦ on a final board J♥ Q♥ 7♣ 10♠ 8♥.
The two-day event saw 35 runners cough up the hefty VN₫ 86,000,000 (~US$ 3,700) buy in for a prize pool of VN₫ 2,716,000,000 (~US$ 116,918). Ng shipped VN₫ 1,033,390,000 (~US$ 44,485) for his victory. Pham didn’t do too bad as well pocketing VN₫ 634,680,000 (~US$ 27,320) for runner up. Other players in the money were Parthasarathi, Hue Dang (4th), Huy Quang Nguyen (5th) and Hieu Ngo (6th).
Victor Chong wins the High Rollers Single Day
The last event in the lineup was Event 23: High Rollers Single Day with buy in at VN₫ 43 Million (~US$ 1,850). Out of the 19 entries, several jumped in during the last level to try to secure more points towards the POS race. Among them was Tran Duc Son who reached ITM in 3rd place to further secure his POS victory. Knocking him out was Victor Chong whose Q♠ 6♥ found two queens to oust A♠ 10♦. Chong then carried in an enormous advantage at heads up against Katsuhito Kawai but had difficulty nailing it shut. Kawai landed three fast double ups to give the Malaysian pro a sweat. Chong recovered some of the lost chips to stay ahead. A deal was eventually struck to split the money down the middle and award Chong the win for his bigger stack. Both players earned VN₫ 277,000,000 (~US$ 11,924) while Chong lifted the much desired trophy.
Makoto Fujita wins the Monster Stack
Japan also pulled through at the final hour with Makoto Fujita locking up the two-day Monster Stack title. Fujita outlasted the 70 runners to pocket the lion’s share of VN₫ 1,018,500,000 (~US$ 43,845). He walked away VN₫ 287,940,000 (~US$ 12,395) richer and lifted his first ever APT trophy. With no prior live cashes, this may well have been Fujiya’s first live cash.