HomeHO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam – Only two tables remain from the starting field of 722 entries and are each already guaranteed VND136M (US$5,848.00) as Day 3 of the APT Vietnam Ho Chi Minh 2022 Main Event came to a close at the Saigon Poker Club here.
Originally planned to play on until the Final 8, the decision to halt proceedings at the 18-player mark was made in order for competitors to rest and gear up for the last clash that begins at 1:30PM (UCT+7). Once the cards are in the air, the players will lock horns until a champion is known and become richer by VND2,707,930,000.00 (US$116,441.00)—the biggest chunk of the largest poker payout in the history of Vietnam.
At the end of Day 3, four of the top five combatants represent the host nation with Tun Nguyen atop the leaderboard with 1,670,000 in chips. Korea’s Kim Ki Woong is at second with 1,600,000 while Dinh Xuan Dinh (1,575,000), Nguyen Quoc Dinh (1,545,000) and erstwhile chip-leader Ha Van Thien (1,410,000) rounding the list out. Unfortunately for Club GG qualifier Loic Muller of France, he got eliminated at 22nd place.
Meanwhile, the return of the Side Events yielded three new winners.
Vietnam’s Do Quang Thang outdrew his lady opponent Dang Thi Hue for the title in the fourth Single-Day High-Roller (Event #14). Do called Dang’s All-in Pre-Flop (AIPF) shove with pocket fours and was shocked to see Dang brandishing rockets. Luckily for Do a four came out on the flop and his set held for the triumph and VND624,430,000.00 (US$26,850.00). Im Heesoo of Korea finished third.
In the Short Deck competition (Event #15), pocket aces this time went unscathed as Korea’s Park Chungmin dodged everything in the final hand to defeat Terence Lim of Singapore. The victory gave Park VND104,380,000.00 (US$4,488.00). Vietnam’s Nguyen Anh Minh took third.
Finally, in Event #16 (Deep Stack Turbo), Japan’s Yuto Hishikawa outlasted
Lim Young Kwon of Korea to take the trophy and VND185,810,000.00 (US$7,990.00). Third place went to Vietnam’s Vu Duc Trung.
The competition’s penultimate day will also see two more Side Events in Event #17—the 2-Day High-Rollers which starts the day off at 1:00PM and has a buy-in of VND50M (US$2,150.00), and the two flights of Monster Stack (Event #18).
Here are the Final 18:
