HomeCongratulations to Stephane Carrier! He overcame the 116 runners of the opening Monster Stack 1 event to capture his first ever APT victory! It was also his first live career win. Carrier pocketed VND 279,670,000 (~USD 12,000) and the bragging rights opener trophy.
The Monster Stack 1 opened APT Vietnam 2019 at Pro Poker Club with 116 runners (104 uniques, 12 re-entries) fired up hoping to pad up their bankroll early. To enter, buy-in was VND 11,000,000 (~USD 480). This created a healthy prize pool worth VND 1,125,200,000 (~USD 48,500). At the close of the first day, only 30 survived with the money still ten spots away. Chip leaders were Xiaoyin He and Nguyen Chi Thinh. Both players went on to reach the final 8 table.
Final 8 live stream —-> APT Twitch and APT YouTube
Monster stack final day recap
Just one hour into the final day and already the money was reached. China’s Bin Zhang outdrew his opponent with A♦ Q♥ finding an ace on the board to dust 5♦ 5♠. With the money now secured, the final 20 players went on to race for the bragging rights title. Zhang finished in 19th place.
Bin Zhang
Another two hours in, the official final table was formed at the fall of Yoshisato Nakagawa in 9th place. Nakagawa was actually doing well until his pocket jacks were cracked by Ma Chun Yu‘s flush on the turn. This gave Yu a huge double up while Nakagawa plunged to 10bbs. Two hands later, Nakagawa shoved with Q♠ J♠ then busted to Xiaoyin He’s K♠ Q♣ straight on a board of J♣ 2♣ 10♠ 3♦ A♦.
Final 8 players
The race to the title kicked off with Stephane Carrier in the lead however it was Ma Chun Yu controlling the table at the start. Yu railed Sajal Gupta in 8th place then bumped out Hoai Nam Nguyen next in 7th place.
Now trailing the leader by a smaller margin, it didn’t last. Yu lost a chunk to Carrier on a failed bluff. Yu bet on a board 6♦ 9♦ 10♠ 8♣ 2♦. Carrier tank-called and won it with 5♠ 5♦ to Yu’s K♥ J♦.
Settling for 6th place was the last local at the table, Nguyen Chi Thinh whose A♣ 6♦ didn’t improve against Jerome Bradpiece‘s J♥ J♣. Mitsuru Sano followed in 5th place but not before experiencing a slight swing. He doubled up with 8♦ 8♠ full house, then dropped to 3 bbs when his second pair of eights was outdrawn by Xiaoyin He‘s A♦ J♥ that found an ace on the flop. Carrier put the finishing touch with A♣ Q♥ finding two queens to dust Sano’s pocket threes.
At four remaining, Yu won two sizable pots against Bradpiece and Xiaoyin then Carrier claimed his second victim by knocking out Bradpiece in 4th place with 7♥ 9♣ higher straight to A♣ 7♠ on a board 6♥ 4♥ 5♥ 8♦ K♣. Bradpiece shoved on the turn.
To take the lead for the first time, Yu eliminated Xiaoyin in 3rd place. Yu entered heads up with 1.9m, Carrier had 1.6m. After numerous hands with Carrier dropping slightly, he landed a huge double up with bottom pair. Carrier three-bet shoved on a board 6♦ 3♣ 5♣ with 4♥ 3♥, Yu called with J♥ 4♣ draw. The turn and river came 8♥ 10♥.
With Carrier up 5:1 in chips, it didn’t take long before the final hand arrived. Yu shoved with A♣ 2♥, Carrier had better A♥ Q♥, the final board was J♦ 3♦ 5♥ A♠ 10♣. With that, the first champion of the series emerged.
Final 8 payouts
1st Stephane Carrier – Thailand – VND 279,670,000
2nd Ma Chun Yu – Hong Kong – VND 186,450,000
3rd Xiaoyin He – China – VND 129,620,000
4th Jerome Bradpiece – UK – VND 93,620,000
5th Mitsuru Sano – Japan – VND 70,010,000
6th Nguyen Chi Thinh – Vietnam – VND 54,040,000
7th Nguyen Hoai Nam – Vietnam – VND 42,910,000
8th Sajal Gupta – India – VND 34,960,000
With the first series event completed, the APT Player of the Series race has begun. Stephane Carrier is the current race leader. All players in the money earned points so if you are one of them, make sure you check your standing via the link below.
APT Vietnam Player of the Series standings