The Vietnam Poker League (VPL) Hanoi Summer Series 2024 concluded yesterday with the series’ showstopper VND 12 Billion GTD Main Event crowning a champion in Australia’s Zhiyu Wang. Running from May 9 to 13, the tournament drew an impressive 899 entries, taking the prize pool to a whopping VND 19.62 Billion. In the end, the lion’s share of the prize pool finally went to Zhiyu Wang, who outlasted the massive field to clinch the coveted championship trophy and pocket a life-changing VND 3.60 Billion. Close behind him was Vietnam’s Dong Van Tan, who secured VND 2.43 Billion as the runner-up.
VPL Summer Series Hanoi 2024 Main Event Recap
From India, Baazi Games CEO Navkiran Singh led the charge. Singh was the only Indian to reach the final table. He started with the sixth largest stack of 34 BBs and did well, finishing in fifth place and adding VND 890 Million to his bankroll. This was the second cash of the series for Singh who previously made headlines for winning the Super Deepstack tournament of the series for a payday of VND 318,000,000.
Day 2 of the event saw 113 players return to the felts with India’s Avneesh Munjal starting as the chip leader. Unfortunately for Munjal, who had conquered Event #19: Short Deck in the series, he exited in 11th place a few places shy of the final table, securing VND 275 Million in prize money. Eliminations were quick during the day and the final table was reached after the elimination of local hero Mai Xuan Dat, who exited in 9th place for VND 340 Million.
Vietnam’s Dong Van Tan (6,000,000) began the final table as a chip leader, with Zhiyu Wang (5,600,000) following him closely in second place. Vietnam’s Phuong Usa, the shortest stack and the lone woman on the final table, was the first casualty, falling in eighth place. She shoved with pocket eights and failed to hold up against the chip leader Dong Van Tan’s pocket jacks. The latter rivered a set to bust his opponent from the final table.
Usa was followed by Ngoc Anh Cao (7th), Nguyen Manh Hung (6th) and India’s Navkiran Singh (5th). Indian poker player cum businessman Singh shoved his remaining 1.9 Million stack with Ad Kc from cutoff, following a raise of 400k from Dong Van Tan who held 5d 5c. Nguyen Huu Vinh, who held pocket sixes, tanked for a while before folding his hand. Nguyen Huu Vinh who held As Js also laid down his hand. Singh was at risk and needed some help from the board, which brought 9c 8c 4c 9s 9d, did not help Singh and he was eliminated in fifth place.
Nguyen Huu Vinh was the next player to fall. He raised with Ad Kd in the UTG and Dong Van Tan made a surprising move by shoving with Jd 3c. Vinh quickly made the call. The board gave Tan two pairs with jacks and threes and Vinh was eliminated from the table in 4th place. During the three-handed play, it was Wang Zhiyu who dominated and eliminated Phua Tzai Wei in 3rd place. In this hand, Wang raised to 800k from the button holding Ad 8s and Wei called with 8c 7c. The flop brought 5c 6s 2d and Wei shoved all-in for his remaining stack of 1.3 million. Wang tanked a bit before finally making the call. The turn 6d and the Jh did not improve Wei and he was eliminated in 3rd place.
After busting Phua Tzai Wei in third place, Zhiyu Wang (22 Million) started the heads-up as the chip leader against the start of the final table chip leader Dong Van Tan (14 Million). While the latter fought valiantly and was able to take the chip lead at a point, he could not go all the way. On the final hand, Tan shoved for 15 Million with 9s 7s and Wang snap-called with Ad 10d. The board brought three diamonds, giving Wang a flush to win the coveted title.
Among the other Indian players who made the money in the VPL Hanoi 2024 main event include names like Kabir Tandon (20th for VND 152 Million), Alok Birewar (48th for VND 66 Million), and recent Poker Dream 10 Vietnam Mini Main Event champion and Pocket52 Team Pro Dhaval Mudgal (99th for VND 40 Million).
Main Event Final Table Results (VND)
Zhiyu Wang – VND 3,600,000,000
Dong Van Tan – VND 2,430,000,000
Phua Tzai Wei – VND 1,600,000,000
Nguyen Huu Vinh – VND1,170,000,000
Navkiran Singh – VND 890,000,000
Nguyen Manh Hung – VND 685,000,000
Ngoc Anh Cao – VND 530,000,000
Phuong Usa – VND 420,000,000
Apart from the Main Event, Dhaval Mudgal also made his mark in the High Roller Finale, taking the fifth spot for a sum of VND 1,150,000. Coming to the Sunday Deepstack event, Mallika Sharma finished sixth for VND 14 Million, while Jatin Sablani took the 12th spot in Monster Stack, earning a sum of VND 50 Million. Prateek Sharma finished fifth in the Mini Deepstack, pocketing VND15 Million for his efforts. Overall, it turned out to be a memorable series for Indian challengers with multiple titles and plenty of deep runs across various prestigious events at the series.
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Image Credit: VPL Facebook
