A lot is happening now in the World Poker Tour (WPT) Prime Vietnam as the festival enters its 10th day. The most important event in this WPT Prime Update is the start of the WPT Prime Main Event. The opening day has brought together a record-breaking 238 entries for the opening flight. This was a huge increase from last year’s main event and far beyond the expectations of the event. But even this was just one of the many exciting events that will be discussed in this WPT Primte Update.
Aside from the main event, there are also important updates on the high-roller warm-up event which has already gathered a huge audience and has its share of surprises. Next to that, there are also updates on some of the side events including a few new winners.
WPT Prime Update on the Main Event
The most exciting part of this WPT Prime Update has to be the main event. While many were expecting the WPT Prime main event to be a strong competition, no one was expecting just how many players ended up attending. Of the 238 players who signed up, there were 182 unique players and 56 re-entires which made for a good mix of entries. All of these players had to pay a buy-in of VN₫ 25,000,000 (US$ 1,065) just to join the tournament.
However, while that is a large amount of money, it is nothing compared to the guaranteed prize pool of VN₫ 12,000,000,000 (US$ 511,180), a number that is expected to only get bigger as there have been many more players paying. Unfortunately, only a few players will get this money as of the over 200 players who signed up, only 30 players advanced into the next round of the tournament.
Among these players is the Australian poker star Richard Balkau who is currently leading the pack. He finished the tournament with a chip stack of 935,000 which puts him well above the competition. The runner-up is Anuj Yadav from India who only has around 643,000 and another Indian, Akshay Nasa is following with a chip count of 552,000.
WPT Prime Update on High Roller Warm-Up: Huynh Ngoc Cuong Wins the Event
In the next part of the WPT Prime Update, we turn to the high-roller warm-up event. In a surprise series of events, Vietnamese player Huynh Ngoc Cuong came out as the winner of the High Roller Warm Up. This win means he has a two-tournament winning streak, having earlier won the Mystery Bounty event.
Huynh outlasted 168 players and advanced into the second day with a massive chip lead. The final table was no different as he kept his lead and steadily eliminated other players until three players remained. He first got rid of Roman Kolotiuk with an Ace of Diamonds and 9 of Spades. This left him to face Alan Pham who only had 12 bb’s compared to his 71. Huynh only took a single hand to eliminate him, allowing him to leave with a massive VN₫ 2,854,000,000 (US$ 121,580).
WPT Prime Update: Other Event Winners
Aside from the major events, the WPT Prime update will look into some of the smaller events happening now. There was big news in the big bounty event as Indian rookie player Shuchi Chamaria won her first-ever poker tournament with this event. To accomplish this, she outlasted 182 other players and managed to earn an ICM deal payout of VN₫ 138,600,000 (US$ 5,900). With three players at the table, they all agreed to flip for it which Shuchi ended up winning.
But Shuchi wasn’t the only rookie winner today. Vietnamese player Duyen Thi Thuy Le won an impressive win in the Deepstack Turbo event. Despite this being her first WPT win, she put on an impressive performance, taking a few big risks that eventually paid off. Her daring won her a prize of VN₫ 140,500,000 (US$ 5,985).
The WPT Main Event isn’t the only event that has broken records with its guests and prize pool. The WPT High Roller Warm-Up also opened with a record prize pool.
To get all the exciting details about what happened, you can check out our post on the WPT Warm-Up Opening.