HomeAfter five days of intense poker action, with a 213 field energized by some of Asia’s finest players, the APT Vietnam Ho Chi Minh Championships – Championships Event – concluded with Vietnam’s Cao Ngoc Anh overcoming the Final 8 round to seize the VND 1,304,030,000 first place prize money and take home the APT Championship Ring.
Cao Ngoc Anh, Championships Event winner
Final 8 recap
Final 8, Championships Event
With the Final 8 stacked with high caliber players, there was no shortage of action and thrilling moments all day. The first casualty, Wei Cheng Yin, was stunned by his defeat with his nut flush A♦ 7♠ denied by by Paul Hong’s 7♦ 3♦ straight flush on a board of 6♦ 7♥ 4♦ 9♦ 5♦.
Wei Cheng Yin eliminated
Next out was short stacked Thong Trinh who couldn’t get much going against the big stacks and took a final stand with his A-6. He was eliminated by Kit Kwan Kwok with Q-Q.
Cao on the move
The six handed round was the beginning of Cao’s ascent to victory. He first risked it all with A-J after getting pushed by the leader Hong who had 7-7. With a jack on the flop, his gamble paid off sending him straight to top rank.
Big stacked Cao Ngoc Anh
For the day’s entering chip leader Quang Phung, his mission didn’t quite pan out. He doubled up Hong with A-Q losing to J-J then lost the rest of it to Cao. On a flop A♥ 7♥ K♠ Quang shoved holding A♣ J♣; Cao tank-called with 8♥ 6♥ draw. The turn 3♣ was blank but the river 3♥ improved Cao to a winning flush. He amassed roughly around 40% of the chips in play.
Kit fell next, railed by Nguyen Tien Son. Son then finished off Nguyen Tuan Anh who couldn’t do much with his short stack.
Paul Hong eliminated
Hong was sent packing next; from the small blind his four-bet shove with K♣ 8♥ couldn’t push out the leader Cao who held Q♠ Q♣. The board bricked and it was heads up with Cao ahead over 3:1 in chips against Son.
Heads up Nguyen Tien Son (L) Cao Ngoc Anh (R)
The final duel didn’t last long. Cao shaved off half of Son’s stack with his set of queens. Son managed to double up but soon after, it was over. On a turn board 6♥ K♦ 8♠ 2♥ Son shoved with K♥ 2♣ two pair and Cao called with K♣ 9♥. When the 6♣ landed on the river, Son’s two pair was counterfeit giving Cao the Championships Event victory with his higher kicker.
That wrapped up the Championships Event. Congratulations to Cao Ngoc Anh for his huge victory!
If you missed the excitement, no worries. We’ve uploaded it on APT Twitch and APT YouTube for your viewing.
Final 8 payouts
Prize pool: VND 6,198,300,000 – Buyin: 33,000,000 – ITM: 36 places
1st Cao Ngoc Anh – Vietnam – VND 1,304,030,000
2nd Nguyen Tien Son – Vietnam – VND 869,330,000
3rd Paul Hong – New Zealand – VND 606,940,000
4th Nguyen Tuan Anh – Vietnam – VND 441,800,000
5th Kit Kwan Kwok – Hong Kong – VND 333,890,000
6th Quang Phung – Vietnam – VND 260,970,000
7th Thong Trinh – Vietnam – VND 210,190,000
8th Wei Cheng Yin – Taiwan – VND 173,870,000
You can view the results in the Event Results page
You can also read up on the Live Updates posts of Day 2 and Day 3
Minh Le departs in 10th place –