The Asian Poker Tour (APT) Phu Quoc 2024 VND 36M Main Event has crowned a champion, with China’s Jinlong Hu dominating the final table to claim the tour’s largest APT Main Event title. Making his fourth APT final table, he topped a record field of 795 entries and overcame a tough final table, claiming the coveted 24K Gold Lion APT Main Event trophy and the VND 4,710,000,000 ($185,430) top prize. This marked his career-best score and 13th international title, taking his live earnings to over $782k.
Hu Jinlong’s journey to victory was nothing short of spectacular as the 32-year-old poker pro entered the final table third in chips and got off to a great start by busting second shortest stack Pham Bao to the rail in ninth place. Bao was soon followed by Chuhao Zhang in eighth place. Hu then busted Deepankar Gupta, the only Indian at the main event final table.
The hand in question saw Gupta raise from the cutoff and Hu jammed for 6,500,000 with 10c 8c. Gupta, who held a strong As Kc, put his tournament life and his remaining 3,000,000 stack in the middle. The nine-high flop kept Gupta ahead but the 8s on the turn and the 10h on the river, gave Hu a two-pair to bring the final table down to six and retake the chip lead, which he never relinquished. The next elimination was scored by Vietnam’s Do Tien Vu who busted China’s Haozhao Wang in sixth place.
Hu’s momentum continued as he eliminated all his opponents one by one. The first to exit among the remaining five players was David Erquiaga of the Philippines who ran his pocket deuces into the ace-king of the eventual champion Hu to exit in fifth place. He was followed by Australia’s Minh Truong Thang and Vietnam’s Do Tien Vu, falling in fourth and third places respectively at the hand of Hu.
With three back-to-back eliminations, Hu took a 5-1 lead over his Korean heads up opponent Oh Junseok. Although the latter put up a good fight, Hu did not allow him to gain control and he was forced to settle for the runner-up prize worth VND 2,865,000,000 ($112,795) – his largest career score. On the final hand, Oh shoved with 8c 6c, putting him at risk and Hu made a snap call holding Kd 7d. The board ran out Qs Js 2h 3c 2d where Hu’s king held strong, winning him the coveted main event title.
The APT Main Event featuring four starting flights ran from November 11- 16 and saw 795 runners battle it for their share of the VND 25 billion (~USD 1 million) prize pool. The top 119 players made the money, with Jinlong Hu walking away with the lion’s share for his thumping victory.
Team India Performance
Several Indians made their mark in the main event with Deepankur Gupta leading the charge with his seventh place finish. Gupta came into the final table with the sixth largest stack and even moved to fifth place in chips at one point. However, his remarkable run eventually ended in seventh, earning him VND 642.50 Million ( INR 21.37 Lakhs) – his second-best live cash ever after his VIPT Hanoi victory which came in April this year.
Other Indians who cashed in the Main Event included the young talent Shardul Parthasarathi and Amit Kaushik, earning VND 87,500,000 each for their 41st and 46th place finishes, respectively. India’s Myron Pereira clinched 90th place for VND 65,000,000, while Kumar Kishor finished in109th place, taking home VND 56,250,000.
APT MAIN EVENT FINAL TABLE RESULTS
| Place | Name | Prize |
| 1st | Jinlong Hu | VND 4,710,000,000 (~USD 185,430) |
| 2nd | Junseok Oh | VND 2,865,000,000 (~USD 112,795) |
| 3rd | Do Tien Vu | VND 2,025,000,000 (~USD 79,725) |
| 4th | Truong Thang Minh | VND 1,525,000,000 (~USD 60,040) |
| 5th | David Erquiaga | VND 1,202,500,000 (~USD 47,340) |
| 6th | Wang Haozhao | VND 902,500,000 (~USD 35,530) |
| 7th | Deepankur Gupta | VND 642,500,000 (~USD 25,295) |
| 8th | Chuhao Zhang | VND 445,000,000 (~USD 17,520) |
| 9th | Pham Ngoc Quoc Bao | VND 352,000,000 (~USD 13,860) |
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Source: Asian Poker Tour
Image Credit: Asian Poker Tour
