On January 15, the World Poker Championship (WPC) in partnership with the Hanoi Series of Poker (HSOP) concluded another stellar festival at the Grand Loyal Poker Club in Hanoi. The event got underway on January 13 featuring a confident US$ 1 Million guarantee. Locals and Koreans flooded the felt, joined by a scatter of international players from India, Singapore, Philippines, USA, to mention a few. After thirteen days of nonstop action, all the trophies were claimed including the Player of the Series title.
Although the room has since quieted, the excitement remains with the WPC having already announced its return. In just two and a half months, the brand heads back to the Grand Loyal Poker Club for a ten day series running from March 31 to April 9. Like previous, a solid US$ 1 Million is guaranteed. Players can expect another jam-packed room from start to finish.
As players await the next series, here are the closing figures and highlights of the recently concluded festival.
Festival highlights
Festival prize pool: ₫51,630,785,000 (~$2,203,430)
Trophy events: 26
Main Event prize pool: ₫14,244,075,000 (~$607,890)
Main Event champion: Thang Ngoc Dao – Main Event champion – ₫1,540,030,000 (~$65,700)
Player of the Series: Tuong Manh Ha – 1171.58 points
Most final tables: Yuta Izumi (4)
Most cashes: Jasven Saigal (6)
Trophies by Flag: Vietnam (12), Korea (9), Singapore (2), Japan (1), Hong Kong (1), India (1)
Main Event: THANG NGOC DAO
The Main Event fueled in the biggest prize money of ₫14,244,075,000 (~$607,890). Although it didn’t beat its inaugural run numbers, it still blew past its ten billion vietnamese dong guarantee. Impressively, the three Vietnamese players at the final table found themselves at the final three with Thang Ngoc Dao going the distance for his career first title and high score of ₫1,540,030,000 (~$65,700).
Player of the Series: TUONG MANH HA
Vietnam’s Tuong Manh Ha is remembered for lifting the first WPC Main Event title in Vietnam, and though he missed the mark at this series, he still made headlines by clinching the WPC Player of the Series. In a mad dash for the finish line, Ha shipped the festival’s final event – Megastack Closer – to steal the POS victory. Ha cashed in a total of 5 tournaments to accrue 1,171.58 points. He was awarded a Main Event ticket to the next WPC festival. Here are his series cashes:
3rd
Event 1: Kickoff Event
6th
Event 9: HSOP Main Event
14th
Event 17: NLH Freezeout
25th
Event 21: Monster Stack
1st
Event 24: Megastack Closer
Most final tables: YUTA IZUMI
While there were many players that reached multiple final tables, it was Japan’s Yuta Izumi who had the most with four final table cashes. One of those deep runs was a Vietnam maiden victory at Event 3: Hyper Turbo.
1st
Event 3: Hyper Turbo
9th
Event 6: Bounty Hunter
4th
Event 14: Hyper Turbo
5th
Event 16: Superstack Turbo
Most cashes: JASVEN SAIGAL
India’s Jasven Saigal has been a frequent flyer in the Asian circuit and is on a mission to make this year another lucrative one. He cashed at 23 events last year and is well on his way to breaking that number with six payouts at the festival. He also lifted his first title on Vietnam soil at Event 23: High Roller Single Day.
24th
Event 7: Superstack
14th
Event 14: HSOP Main Event
19th
Event 13: Mystery Bounty
12th
Event 17: NLH Freezeout
9th
Event 21: Monster Stack
1st
Event 23: High Roller Single Day
Festival champions
Event
Champion
Flag
Main Event
Dao Ngoc Thang
Vietnam
Super Star
Gab Yong Kim
Vietnam
1
Tai Anh Do
Vietnam
2
Tu Manh Nguyen
Vietnam
3
Yuta Izumi
Japan
4
Bao Thai Vu
Vietnam
5
Chinh Duc Tran
Vietnam
6
Sungmin Ahn
Korea
7
Kyoung Hun Kim
Korea
8
Seung Min Yu
Korea
9
Que Van Nguyen
Vietnam
10
Hyeong Yu Song
Korea
11
Hoi Wai Tam
Hong Kong
12
Suk Kim
Korea
13
Long Tho Ngo
vietnam
14
Hyun Sup Kim
Korea
15
Tung Son Ta
vietnam
16
Zhi Guang Zou
Singapore
17
Soo Rin Park
Korea
18
Trung Van Nguyen
Vietnam
19
Kyeong Rim Shin
Korea
20
Nam Hyung Kim
Korea
21
Hao Lin
Singapore
22
Son Huu Pham
Vietnam
23
Jasven Saigal
India
24
Tuong Manh Ha
Vietnam
Tags:
Live Poker, News, WPCHanoiLoyal2023
