Another Strong Turnout for Day 1b of the WPT Prime Vietnam Main Event 2022; Anh Duy Pham Leads

Day 1b chip leader Anh Duy Pham

The inaugural WPT Prime Main Event at the Crown Poker Club in Ha Noi, Vietnam is eying a new record for a major stop of the World Poker Tour in the country. In the VND 25 million (∼ $1,088) buy-in nearly 400 entries have already been recorded and there is little doubt that the event will breeze past the VND 8 billion guarantee.

As expected, the second starting day put the marquee event on track for a potential record attendance and gathered 188 unique players who re-entered 58 times. These 242 new entries bring the total field size after the first two starting days to 387 entries and the busiest flight is still to come on Saturday, May 28, 2022.

Anh Duy Pham topped the Day 1b leaderboard by a wide margin after he advanced with a large stack of 726,000, which puts him in second place thus far for all Day 1 survivors. In the final stages of the night, Pham knocked out several opponents to cement his status as the run-away chip leader.

Second-placed Tuan Anh Tran had his work cut out after he was hovering with a below-average stack only to double up on several occasions. He was responsible for bringing the field down to the money bubble after he knocked out Vu Hoang Doan when both players flopped a set to advance with 416,000 in chips.

All but one player in the top for today hail from Vietnam with Australia’s Lok Ching Li (352,000) being the only exception. However, several other international players made it through as well including three former WPTDeepStacks Main Event champions: Ashish Munot (254,000), Vincent Chauve (156,000), and the winner of the last event at the Crown Poker Club, Phinh Van Nguyen (116,000) all bagged and tagged for the night.

Fellow former WPT Vietnam winner Dhaval Mudgal was not as fortunate and bowed out close to the money bubble. The same fate also awaited Frenchman and Australia resident Anthony Cierco, who recently finished third in the record-setting WPTDeepStacks Australia Main Event. A torrid run of all-in showdowns knocked out Cierco on the final five tables.

Anthony Cierco

So far, a total of 48 players have secured a portion of the prize pool and poker enthusiasts from near and far have one further chance to join them for the penultimate tournament Day.

Day 1a: 145 entries / 18 survivors
Day 1b: 242 entries / 30 survivors

The third and final starting day is scheduled for Saturday, May 28, as of 11 a.m. local time and tournament staff expects a bumper field. Among those expected to be back in action then are notables such as David Erquiaga, Florencio Campomanes, Kien Duc Tran, Cao Ngoc Anh, and Christopher Mateo to name all but a few. They all joined the rail throughout Day 1b.

Similar to the first starting day, the action for the night concluded in level 15 at blinds of 3,000-6,000 and a big blind ante of 6,000 when the last 30 players were reached. The unfortunate player to bow out on the money bubble for Day 1b was South Korea’s Jung Sang Hyuk, who had his pocket kings cracked by the ace-king of Linh Trong Phan.

The Day 1b bubble bursts

With the vast majority of the 22 official tournaments now completed, the second-ever stop of the WPT at the Crown Poker Club in Ha Noi is on the home stretch. Players can still earn vital points towards the annual WPT Player of the Year race as well as the Player of the Festival ranking, the latter of which will award a WPT Passport worth $5,000 to the contender with the largest points tally.

Tune back in for more live poker action right here on WPT.com as the 20th anniversary season of the premier live poker tour introduces a new brand format in style. The final table of the WPT Prime Vietnam Main Event will also be streamed on the WPT social media channels as well on Sunday, May 30, 2022.