WPT Prime Vietnam Main Event: final 9 players determined; Ashish Munot among the finalists

The World Poker Tour will soon be crowning its first ever WPT Prime Main Event champion with the final 9 players now determined. The race to the title and the immense VN₫ 3,050,000,000 (~US$ 131,607) first prize gets underway on Monday, May 30th at the Crown Poker Club in Ha Noi, Vietnam. Cards in the air at 12pm local time. For those unable to catch the action live at the poker room, premier video production group ShareHand will stream the final table (30 minute delay) via WPT social media channels. You can also follow the action via live updates on WPT.com

The Main Event got underway on May 26 and after three entry days, it set new heights for the country and the brand in Asia with a record breaking 777 Main Event entries. In cash, the advertised guarantee more than doubled. The 97 players in the money were looking at a juicier VN₫ 17,131,373,700 pot. Coming final day, the largest cuts will be awarded with the eventual champion turning his VN₫ 25M buy in into a massive VN₫ 3,050,000,000 (~US$ 131,607) payout. Along with the dough is the first WPT Prime champion’s trophy and 700 Player of the Festival points.

Main Event review

Buy in: VN₫ 25,000,000 (~US$ 1,080)
Guarantee: VN₫ 8,000,000,000
Entries: 777
Prize pool: VN₫ 17,131,373,700 (~US$ 739,219)
ITM: 97 places

Breakdown of results

Day 1A: 18 advanced out of 145 entries – Trung Van Nguyen (chip leader)
Day 1B: 30 advanced out of 242 entries – Anh Duy Pham (chip leader)
Day 1C: 49 advanced out of 390 entries – Zarvan Tumboli (chip leader)

Final 9 players

Player	Country	Chip Count
Zarvan Tumboli	India	6,550,000
Minh Quang Nguyen	Vietnam	3,870,000
Trung Van Nguyen	Vietnam	2,865,000
Trung Nam Tran	Vietnam	2,795,000
Do Kwan Nam	South Korea	2,365,000
Tuan Anh Tran	Vietnam	1,620,000
Denis Pham	Vietnam	1,615,000
Ashish Munot	India	1,025,000
Tien Van Pham	Vietnam	545,000

Once again, India’s Zarvan Tumboli topped the counts, this time with a towering 131 BB stack that dwarfed the rest. Tumboli slashed numerous heads throughout the day including a crushing bad beat to Dung Anh Dong in 11th place with pocket Queens set over pocket Kings.

Tumboli‘s closest challenger, though quite a distance in chips, is Vietnam’s Minh Quang Nguyen with 77 BB. Out of all the finalists, Nguyen is in still contention for the POF title. He is considerably the most expressive player in the lineup and quite fun to watch. Nguyen is running red hot at the series with a 6th place finish at the opener. Another strong contender from the host country is Trung Van Nguyen who entered Day 2 as overall chip leader and went on to bag up a very healthy 57 BB worth. Four other Vietnamese pulled through namely Trung Nam Tran, Tuan Anh Tran, Denis Pham, and Tien Van Pham.

One player looking to seize his second WPT championship title is 2019 WPT India Main Event winner Ashish Munot. Munot is the only decorated champion remaining and the only player in the lineup to have ever reached a WPT Main Event final table. Munot carries in 21 BB. Both Munot and Tumboli are part of WPT Platinum Partner Thank God For Poker (TGFP) and are the most experienced players at the final table. To complete the final 9 is lone Korean player Do Kwan Kim with a very healthy 47 BB.

When the players return, they are all guaranteed a good chunk worth VN₫ 300,000,000. Here’s a look at what they will be gunning for at every step of the way.

Final 9 payouts (in Vietnamese Dong)

1st	3,050,000,000
2nd	2,025,000,000
3rd	1,500,000,000
4th	1,115,000,000
5th	840,000,000
6th	640,000,000
7th	490,000,000
8th	380,873,000
9th	300,000,000

At Main Event Day 2, the money flowed with all 97 qualifiers guaranteed a minimum cash of VN₫ 40,500,000 (~US$ 1,748). Notable players earning some pay were Pham Bao (18th – VN₫ 131,000,000), Huy Pham (19th – VN₫ 131,000,000), 2019 WPT Vietnam Main Event champion Vincent Chauve (20th – VN₫ 131,000,000), Vu Thai Bao (21st – VN₫ 110,000,000), Kunal Patni (22nd – VN₫ 110,000,000), Vi Khoa Duong (24th – VN₫ 110,000,000), Terry Nguyen (25th – VN₫ 93,000,000), WPT Japan Main Event champion Shingo Endo (25th – VN₫ 93,000,000), Huu Dung Nguyen (35th – VN₫ 120,500,000), online beast Gaurav Sood (36th – VN₫ 93,000,000), James Chavanarojrit (40th – VN₫ 93,000,000), 2021 WPTDS Hanoi Main Event champion Phinh Van Nguyen (51st – VN₫ 61,000,000), 2018 WPT Vietnam Main Event champion Dhaval Mudgal (57th – VN₫ 55,000,000), Anthony Cierco (59th – VN₫ 55,000,000), and WSOP bracelet champion Aditya Sushant (85th – VN₫ 43,000,000). During one of the first hands of the day, Sushant’s pocket Aces were cracked by Huy Pham‘s pocket Kings to drop to just 5 BB from which he never recovered. You can read up on the action via WPT.com live updates.

WPT Prime Vietnam kicked off on May 19 and after 11 days of games it enters its final day. The Player of the Festival title is up for grabs with points yet to be awarded in five other events. We will have those results for you. Currently ahead in the race is series opener champion Nguyen Tu Phuong aka Phuong Xu with 800 points, he is closely trailed by Duy Ho with 750 points, and Vu Thai Bao with 710 points. Nguyen Quang Minh has a chance to overtake the leader if he wins the Main Event. It is down to the wire. The player that collects the highest number of points will win a US$ 5,000 WPT Passport to any WPT Main Tour of choice.

Stick with Somuchpoker as we bring you recaps and highlights of the inaugural WPT Prime Vietnam.

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