Nguyen Hoang Long
The VND 80,000,000 APT High Roller - 8 Max has been won by Nguyen Hoang Long of Vietnam after he was the sole survivor of the 161-strong field (91 unique) that saw him take home VND 2,614,280,000 (\~$110,360) for his win. Long defeated his countrymate Ngo Khoa Anh in a heads-up match that last twenty-five hands with Anh walking away with VND 1,770,970,000 (~$74,760) for his runner-up spot.
This was Long's second APT title of the series after he took down the Zodiac Classic for VND 337,200,000 (~$14,200) earlier in the week. Winning the bronze APT lion trophy and claiming the biggest share of the VND 11,244,240,000 (~$474,680) prize pool rounds off a perfect week of poker for the Vietnamese player.
Day 2 of the tournament started with twenty-five hopefuls coming back with the first objective being to make it passed the bubble. Only twenty-three places were being paid and the two unfortunate players not to make it were Nguyen Van Phuong (25th) and Ruizi Lin (24th). Some elite players were still in contention but the likes of Julian Warhurst (20th), Yu-Chung Chang (18th), Ashish Munot (16th), Julien Tran (12th) and Gakuto Oshiro (10th) would fall short of making the final table.
When the final table got underway, it was the eventual champion Long who held the chip lead with Terry Nguyen and Xiaosheng Zheng coming in as the short stacks. It was one of the short stacks, Nguyen, who busted first when his pocket queens couldn't hold against the king-five of Tran Trung Hieu after the dealer fanned a king-high flop. Nguyen took home VND 260,870,000 (~$11,010) for ninth place.
Nguyen Trung Quan was left crippled after his ace-queen came up short against the pocket jacks of Malaysia's Shung Er Sua. The very next hand Quan would hit the rail when his ace-nine was no match for the pocket aces of Anh which left the APT Phu Quoc Super High Roller champion out in eighth for VND 327,210,000 (~$13,810).
Yohei Kitazato
Yohei Kitazato looked to be enjoying himself on the final table but was soon felted after running pocket queens into the pocket kings of Anh. The Vietnamese player would end the hand with a full house after flopping a king which sent Kitazato to the sidelines in seventh for VND 445,270,000 (~$18,800).
Despite coming into the final table with the shortest stack, Zheng had managed to ladder up the payouts but on hand number forty-five his big-slick would fall to the pocket nines of Long. The hunt for Zheng's third APT title is still ongoing but the VND 601,570,000 (~$25,400) payday for sixth will help make the journey home a little more enjoyable.
Sua, who won the APT Super High Roller at the last Summer Series in Hanoi, would become the next eliminated after he three-bet shoved king-jack and ran straight into the pocket queens of Matthew Bevin. The board would bring no help to Sua which meant the search for the first double APT lion trophy winner continued as the Malaysian took fifth for VND 775,850,000 (~$32,750).
Shung Er Sua
Hieu had been incredibly quiet throughout the entire final table but had allowed his stack to dwindle away and he finally called off from the big blind after Anh had shoved from the small blind. Unfortunately for Hieu, Anh held pocket queens and his ten-three offered little threat to the overpair. Despite turning an open-ended straight draw, Hieu didn't manage to find any of his outs which meant he was eliminated in fourth for VND 967,000,000 (~$40,820).
When three-handed play began, it was Anh who held the chip lead with over half of the chips in play as Bevin became the table short stack with just ten big blinds. The Australian couldn't get anything going and three-bet shoved all in holding king-nine with Long making the call with ace-five. Bevin flopped a pair and turned two pair, but that same turn card gave Long a flush which was enough to send Bevin out in third for a career-best score of VND 1,180,650,000 (~$49,840).
Anh took a three-to-two chip lead into heads-up play and soon had a chance to win the title after he shoved with pocket tens and Long called holding queen-jack. A jack on the flop would double Long up and send him into the chip lead but just seven hands later he would hand back that advantage. In an unraised pot, the two got their stacks in after Anh flopped bottom two pair holding four-deuce and Long had top pair holding jack-eight. Anh would manage to hold and take over a four-to-one chip lead and put himself in a prime position for the trophy.
Ngo Khoa Anh
In the span of just three hands, the duel would turn on its head and be all over in quite extraordinary circumstances. Long would find himself a double up holding ten-nine after flopping middle pair against the eight-nine of Anh with the kicker of Long playing crucial to winning the pot. The very next hand a similar situation would arise after all the chips went in on a nine-high flop with Anh holding queen-nine and Long king-nine. Again, Long's kicker would play and suddenly it was his turn to hold the four-to-one chip lead.
As Long was still stacking his chips, he called off a shove from Anh with queen-jack and had a chance to win the title if he could beat the king-three of his countrymate. A flopped pair of jacks turned into a full house by the river for Long which meant he won the pot and eliminated Anh in second place for VND 1,770,970,000 (~$74,760).
Long was left with all of the chips and the title of APT High Roller - 8 Max champion and takes the bronze lion trophy home with him along with the VND 2,614,280,000 (~$110,360) winner's purse.
Congratulations to Long!
Nguyen Hoang Long
Ngo Khoa Anh
Nguyen Hoang Long