Vietnam has been good for Indians! After Dhaval Mudgal winning the WPT Main Event here last year and Abhinav Iyer winning the APT Main Event this year, it is now Akshay Nasa who has won the APT Vietnam Main Event here. Today saw the final day of the APT Vietnam Main Event at the Pro Poker Club and it began with 8 players in contention, including two Indians in Nasa and Ankit Wadhawan.
The 8-handed final table of the Main Event featured some big names including 888poker brand ambassador Sofia Lovgren who was eventually eliminated in 5th place by Vincent Chauve whose A2 went on to beat Lovgren’s AJ. Luckily for Chauve, he found a 2 on the river to bust Lovgren from the FT.
There were quite a few Indians at the Pro Poker Club to show their support to Wadhawan and Nasa. France’s Vincent Chauve (3,063,000) who started the FT as chip leader was running hot and was almost taking everyone out. After Lovgren (5th), he went on to bust Indian challenger Wadhawan, who shoved with pocket Fives and Chauve called with AJ. The French player hit an Ace on the flop, busting Wadhawan in 4th place and entering the three-handed with 67% of total chips in play. For his deep run, Wadhawan bagged VND 608,730,000 (~INR 18.83 Lac), his first live cash outside India.
As for Nasa, it was a roller-coaster ride for him. He lost a few pots and was left with just 9 BBs at a time. However, he made a strong comeback and managed a useful double up with KQ against Choi’s A10 to get back to 1.7 million chips. Choi was eventually eliminated by Chauve after his K5 lost against Chauve’s pocket Jacks. That took Nasa to heads-up against Chauve who began as chip leader.
Nasa began heads-up with a massive chip deficit of over 1:4. However, Nasa remained calm and looked for the right spots. Very soon, he secured a useful double-up with A8 vs 65 as he won the hand with a pair of eights and doubled up to 3.5 million chips. Nasa continued to look for his chances and eventually managed to take the chip lead, winning with A6 suited over 89 suited. While chips went back and forth ahead, it was ultimately Nasa who won the coveted 2019 APT Main Event title for VND 1,486,560,000 (~INR 46 Lac) following an ICM deal. It was Nasa’s first major title outside India.
The final hand saw Nasa holding pocket Jacks against Chauve’s K10. The board bricked out with 9 8 2 9 A, giving Nasa the victory and VND 1,486,560,000 (~INR 46 Lac) prizemoney, which is also his largest live cash. Chauve earned a hefty VND 1,544,200,000 for his runner-up finish following an ICM Deal.
Nasa beat a field of 436 entries in the APT Vietnam Main Event to secure his best live cash. Vietnam has been good for Nasa. This victory is his second live poker title in Vietnam this year as the player had recently won WPT Vietnam Supserstack Turbo event (September). His previous live cash had come from the APPT Manila series last year, where he finished 2nd in the APPT National for $53,197.
Final Table Payouts (VND):
- Akshay Nasa – VND 1,486,560,000*
- Vincent Chauve – VND 1,544,200,000*
- Wilson Choi – VND 842,780,000
- Ankit Wadhawan – VND 608,730,000
- Sofia Lovgren – VND 455,230,000
- Bien Duc Nguyen – VND 351,340,000
- Cuong Nguyen – VND 279,000,000
- Jaesh Balachandran – VND 227,310,000