Zarvan Tumboli Storms to Victory in Record-Setting WPT Prime Vietnam 2022 Main Event

WPT Prime Vietnam 2022 Main Event winner Zarvan Tumboli

The first ever WPT Prime Main Event has come to a conclusion and will go into the history books of the World Poker Tour for more than one reason. In the first ever edition of the new mid-stakes brand and during the 20th anniversary edition, the WPT Prime Vietnam 2022 Main Event set a new record for an open WPT Event in Asia at the Crown Poker Club in Ha Noi.

A tremendous field of 777 entries in the VND 25 million (∼ $1,088) marquee event created a prize pool worth VND 17,131,373,700 (∼ $738,020), which was split among the top 96 finishers. Six players from Vietnam and one South Korean who calls Ha Noi his home for the last ten years were aiming to keep the trophy in the country’s capital. However, the heads-up duel featured two players from India in Zarvan Tumboli and Ashish Munot.

Munot was aiming to become the first player to lift the trophy of the WPTDeepStacks and its successor but he failed to overcome the large chip lead of Tumboli to finish as the runner-up spot. He narrowly missed out on topping his largest live cash for the victory in the 2019 WPTDeepStacks India at the Deltin Royale Poker Room in Panjim and earned VND 2.025 Billion ($87,237) for his efforts.

Fellow countryman Tumboli showcased a dominant performance throughout the entire tournament in which he held the chip lead after Day 1c and always stayed near the top of the leaderboard thereafter. His previously biggest cash was a runner-up finish in the India Poker Championship (IPC) in Goa but the top prize back then was more than tripled with his victory as he collected VND 3.050 Billion ($131,394) for the efforts.

Tumboli entered the nine-handed final table with the lead and only relinquished it for a very short period in which Minh Quang Nguyen pulled ahead. But that all changed shortly after in a pivotal clash when he flopped the nut flush draw in a three-bet pot against Nguyen and called a three-bet by Nguyen. The Vietnamese player jammed the turn with pocket aces and Tumboli had the easiest call of his poker career thus far.

From there on, there was no stopping to Tumboli’s overwhelming lead anymore and one opponent after the other hit the rail in quick succession as the Indian finished the job in under five and a half hours on the final day. Nguyen also missed out on taking over the lead in the Player Of the Festival ranking for a shot at the $5,000 WPTPassport after his sixth place in the opening event.

The final table also featured the Day 1a chip leader Trung Van Nguyen, who laddered up to third place, as well as Denis Pham. Born and raised in France, Pham is involved in the business activities of Somuchpoker, a website dedicated to the poker news distribution in the Asia-Pacific region. Furthermore, local player Tuan Anh Tran parlayed a $150 satellite ticket at the Crown Poker Club into a payday of VND 640 Million ($27,571). The first two casualties of the day were the local Vietnamese players Tien Van Pham and Trung Nam Tran.

This event has also seen WPT Feeder & Funnel Program in full swing with player groups attending the event from South Korea, India and also via Poker King. For this event WPT is very grateful to the support from Platinum Partners Hot Stone Venture and X-Pentagon from South Korea, Thank God for Poker (TGFP) from India and Poker King who in total have sent more than 70 players to WPT Prime Vietnam.

The eventual winner Tumboli and runner-up Munot represent TGFP, alongside other well-known Indian players such as Kunal Patni, Aditya Sushant and Dhaval Mudgal to name all but a few of those who cashed. Also in the money were the X-Pentagon players Junseok Oh and Bum Joon Kim.

With the inaugural series in Ha Noi now wrapped up, the new WPT Prime brand format is now preparing for the next stop at the The Star Gold Coast. From June 16 to 20, 2022, the AUD $1,500 Main Event will have high hopes to follow into the footsteps of the record-setting WPTDeepStacks at The Star Sydney in April 2022.

Further WPT Prime stops in Cambodia, Spain and Taiwan have already been announced and can be found on the WPT.com website.

Final Table Result WPT Prime Vietnam 2022 Main Event

1st Place: Zarvan Tumboli (India) – VND 3.050 Billion / $131,394
2nd Place: Ashish Munot (India) – VND 2.025 Billion / $87,237
3rd Place: Trung Van Nguyen (Vietnam) – VND 1.5 Billion $64,620
4th Place: Minh Quang Nguyen (Vietnam) – VND 1.115 Billion / $48,034
5th Place: Denis Pham (Vietnam) – VND 840 Million / $36,187
6th Place: Tuan Anh Tran (Vietnam) – VND 640 Million / $27,571
7th Place: Do Kwan Nam (South Korea) – VND 490 Million / $21,109
8th Place: Trung Nam Tran (Vietnam) – VND 380.873,700 / $16,408
9th Place: Tien Van Pham (Vietnam) – VND 300 Million / $12,924