The Asian Poker Tour (APT) Vietnam is currently underway at the Pro Poker Club in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The series-opener VND 11 Million Monster Stack 1 of the popular poker festival concluded yesterday, crowning a champion in the Frenchman Stephane Carrier, who outlasted a field of 116 entries to win his first-ever live title for an impressive VND 279,670,000 (8.57 Lac) cash prizemoney.
The ongoing series is brimming with Indian participants and a total of four Indians were seen in action on Day 1 of the Monster Stack, namely Madhav Gupta, Ashish Munot, Sajal Gupta and Rubin Labroo. While Sajal Gupta, Munot and Labroo made it to Day 2, Madhav Gupta exited on Day 1.
30 players advanced to Day 2 and among them, the remaining three Indians fought neck-to-neck but it was not Labroo’s day perhaps as he exited as ‘Bubble Boy’ in the first hour of Day 2 play, ending his run in 21st place. WPT India 2019 Main Event Champion Munot who has been in amazing form over the last few months was the second Indian to exit on Day 2 play, finishing 16th for VND 16,860,000 (INR 51,658). The last man standing from Team India was Sajal Gupta. A very consistent player on both live and online felts, Gupta who collected 3 scores at the WSOP this summer and finished 14th in the DPT February 2019 Main Event exited in 8th place for VND 34,960,000 (INR 1.07 Lac).
With a total of 116 entries, the event generated a total prize pool of VND 1,125,200,000. Only 20 players received payouts with a min-cash of VND 14 million. Some notable players to finish in the money were the likes of Vincent Huang (12th for VND 20,230,000), Japan’s Iori Yogo (13th for VND 20,230,000), Peter Kim (15th for VND 16,860,000), and Chris Morrison (20th for VND 14,050,000).
The final showdown took place between Ma Chun Yu and Stephane Carrier. Yu began the heads-up a little ahead with 1.9 Million over Carrier’s 1.6 Million chips. However, Carrier played really well and eventually got ahead after scoring a big double-up. Finally, it was over with Carrier winning the title. The final hand saw Yu holding Ac 2h and Carrier with Ah Qh. The board ran Jd 3d 5h As 10c where Carrier’s queen-high kicker won him the hand as well as the coveted title of the ongoing series!
Final Table Payouts (VND):
- Stephane Carrier – VND 279,670,000
- Ma Chun Yu – VND 186,450,000
- Xiaoyin He – VND 129,620,000
- Jerome Bradpiece – VND 93,620,000
- Mitsuru Sano – VND 70,010,000
- Nguyen Chi Thinh – VND 54,040,000
- Nguyen Hoai Nam – VND 42,910,000
- Sajal Gupta – VND 34,960,000