The WPT Prime Main Event not only had a new champion but also broke several records. While many were expecting a big event, the rewards of this event went far beyond what everyone was expecting. The lucky winner, Vietnam’s own Duy Thuc Nguyen walked home with a cash reward of VN₫ 4,173,000,000 (US$ 177,764) for his first-prize win. This has become the highest payout for a non-high roller event in Vietnam’s history.
Aside from the prize money, Duy Nguyen also revied other rewards for his impressive victory. He will now walk home with the new WPT Prime Main Event trophy and a ticket to the WPT World Championship that will be held in Las Vegas this December. This ticket is worth an estimated US$ 10,400.
Details of the WPT Prime Main Event
For three days from May 25 to 29, the Crown Poker Club in Hanoi was filled with excitement as players had come from all over the world to participate in the WPT Prime Main Event. The organizers had expected hundreds of players, but thousands had shown up, reaching 1,151 participants. This wasn’t just the largest event of the festival, but the largest poker event in Vietnam.
Because of that, it was not too surprising to hear that the prize pool also grew in size. With each player having to pay a VN₫ 25,000,000 (US$ 1,065) buy-in fee, the prize pool soon reached an impressive US$ 1,079,6110 (VN₫ 25,343,869,000). This also made it Vietnam’s first-ever seven-figure prize pool.
However, only a fraction of these players would see any of this money as the prize guarantee only applied to players who reached the second day of the event. Among these players was Duy Thuc Nguyen who really began his rise in the second part of the WPT Prime Main Event.
He knocked out multiple other players and built a large stack. This success was enough to put him on the final table where he started by eliminating Satoshi Kuriga in 8th place. This established his position as the head of the back. With plenty of success and a big stack behind him, Nguyen was able to knock out other players like Jaeho Lee (6th) and Phillip Nguyen (5th) and create an even larger chip stack.
He finished off this winning streak by defeating Yuhan Liu, who had to settle for 4th place. This win put Nguyen in a firm lead and had a huge chip stack over his competitors.
When it came to the WPT Prime Main Event top three between him, Xizhen Huang, and Chak Lam Tsang, Nguyen did face some setbacks as his two competitors managed to score some wins and force him to pay double-ups. While this did slow him down, it didn’t stop him and Tsang was eventually knocked out into third place. This left Duy Thuc Nguyen facing Xizhen Huang.
Although Nguyen enjoyed a big lead, Xizen continued to fight hard and challenge him at every turn. When it came down to the final hand, both of them tried to perform a trap on the other. Tsang sent out his Jack and 8 of clubs against Nguyen’s Ace of Clubs and 10 of Hearts. The table has a Queen of Spades and a Jack, 8, and 9 of Hearts.
It was Nguyen who got the advantage of this deal and knocked out Xizhen, making him the official WPT Prime Main Event winner.
Since Day 1 of the WPT Main Event hundreds of players had already been hurrying to join the event, so seeing such a big turnout isn’t too surprising.
To get all the exciting details of this record’s first day, you can read our WPT Prime Update.