Main Event Opening Flight Draws 172 Entries; South Korea's Wanghee Lee Bags Biggest Stack

Ben Wilson / 28 Mar 2023

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Main Event Opening Flight Draws 172 Entries; South Korea's Wanghee Lee Bags Biggest Stack

APT PHU QUOC SCHEDULE | OFFICIAL RESULTS | IMAGES | WINNERS

PHU QUOC, VIETNAM, March 27, 2023 – The action at the APT Phu Quoc is heating up, with the arrival of the ₫30,000,000+3,000,000 Main Event bringing the Series close to boiling point.

Playing out in the Sapphire Conference Room at the luxurious Corona Resort & Casino, the opening Flight A kicked off at 12pm local time (GMT+7) with a total of 172 entries (124 unique) entering the tournament arena.

By the time the ten 60-minute levels played out, just 66 players were left in contention.

South Korea's Wanghee Lee bagged the biggest stack, seizing an early lead on the fourth level played – and it was one he would not relinquish. Lee concluded play with a stack of 379,600 and was the only player to crack the 300K-chip barrier.

India's Deepak Bothra also enjoyed a great day at the felt, climbing to second in the chip counts and finishing up with a stack of 298,700.

Vietnam's Tran Van Thanh (234,600) and Australia's Brendon Rubie (229,700) were the only two other players to bag over 200K, although the Philippines Joseph Talamayan ended up just 300-chips shy of this to round out the top five Flight A stacks.

Japan's Nobuaki Sasaki followed up his victory in the ₫50,000,000+5,000,000 Single Day High Roller – 8 Max by bagging the sixth largest stack of 198,800, with the top ten stacks as follows:

MAIN EVENT FLIGHT A TOP TEN STACKS

  1. Wanghee Lee (South Korea) – 379,600
  2. Deepak Bothra (India) – 298,700
  3. Tran Van Thanh (Vietnam) – 234,600
  4. Brendon Rubie (Australia) – 229,700
  5. Joseph Talamayan (Philippines) – 199,700
  6. Nobuaki Sasaki (Japan) – 198,800
  7. Phan Minh Duc (Vietnam) – 196,100
  8. Hung Cuong Phan (Vietnam) – 183,300
  9. Haoqi Xie (China) – 170,800
  10. Paawan Bansal (India) – 167,400

Other notables to make it through with decent stacks included Australia's John "Bert" Perry (153,700), Singapore's Benjamin Sai (123,600), Hong Kong's Hon Cheong Lee (84,600), and China's Dong Chen (76,400).

Three former APT Main Event champions also made the cut, with the Philippines' Mike Takayama (114,100), and Lester Edoc (101,800), and India's Shardul Parthasarathi (56,100) all finding a chip bag.

These 66 survivors will return for Day 2 on Thursday, March 30, and with three more starting flights left to play out over the next two days, there are still opportunities for those who were unsuccessful in their endeavors to win their way through.

Flight B – comprised of ten 45-minute levels – gets underway at 12pm local time (GMT+7) on Tuesday, March 28.

The final two starting Flights C & D both boast 30-minute levels and will get underway on Wednesday, March 29 at 12pm and 5pm respectively.

You can follow the action as it happened via the APT Blog.

For APT Main Event Flight A Survivors please CLICK HERE.

Event 14_ NLH _ PLO - Single Day High Roller - 8 Max.jpg Japan's Hayato Kitajima Wins Event #14 NLH/PLO – Single Day High Roller – 8 Max For ₫430.68M (~$18.5K) Japan's Hayato Kitajima claimed his maiden APT title in the NLH/PLO Single Day High Roller 8 Max

The ₫40,000,000+4,000,000 Event #14 NLH/PLO – Single Day High Roller – 8 Max played out concurrently with the Main Event, attracting a 30-strong field comprised of 21 unique entries and generating a ₫1,164,000,000 (~$48,888) prize pool.

The field's notables included Natural8 Ambassador Phachara Wongwichit, Japan's Ken Okada, and Super High Roller finalists Anarbayasgalan Sainjargal and Roman Hrabec; Of these, only Sainjargal would make the money.

However, it was Japan's Hayato Kitajima who proved his mixed game NLH/PLO chops to take the title and the ₫430,680,000 (~$18,520) top prize.

Kitajima battled back from behind to clinch his maiden APT title after a grueling five 30-minute level-long heads-up battle against fellow countryman Motoyoshi Okamura, who collected ₫296,820,000 (~$12,760) for his runner-up finish.

Sainjargal proved his runner-up Super High Roller finish was no fluke, claiming bronze and ₫189,150,000 for third.

A total of five players made the money, with the tournament paying out as follows:

NLH/PLO SINGLE DAY HIGH ROLLER RESULTS

  1. Hayato Kitajima (Japan) – ₫430,680,000
  2. Motoyoshi Okamura (Japan) – ₫296,820,000
  3. Anarbayasgalan Sainjargal (Mongolia) – ₫189,150,000
  4. Manh Hung Dinh (Vietnam) – ₫136,770,000
  5. Bat-Erdene Erdenebayar (Mongolia) – ₫110,580,000

All prize pool and payout information can be found on the Official Results page.

Vietnam's Tran Huy Hoang Claims Second APT Title in Event #15 NLH – Single Re-Entry For ₫111.74M (~$4.8K)

Event #15 NLH - Single Re-Entry winner Tran Huy Hoang.jpg Vietnam's Tran Huy Hoang won his second APT title in Event #15 NLH – Single Re-Entry

The ₫15,000,000+1,500,000 Event #15 NLH – Single Re-Entry drew a 16-strong field (15 unique), generating a ₫232,800,000 (~$9,780) prize pool.

Originally scheduled as a two-day event, the players elected to play the tournament down to a conclusion, with Vietnam's Tran Huy Hoang the man to claim the ₫111,740,000 (~$4,800) top prize.

Hoang defeated Romain Morvan heads-up to win his second APT title, with the Frenchman settling for silver and the ₫74,500,000 (~$3,130) on offer for second.

Japan's Ken Okada was the only other player to cash, taking a payout of ₫46,560,000 (~$1,955) for third.

NLH SINGLE RE-ENTRY FINAL TABLE RESULTS

  1. Tran Huy Hoang (Vietnam) – ₫111,740,000
  2. Romain Morvan (France) – ₫74,500,000
  3. Ken Okada (Japan) – 46,560,000

All prize pool and payout information can be found on the Official Results page.

Mongolia's Purevdorj Erdenebulgan Claims First APT title in Event #17 NLH/PLO – Turbo – 8 Max For ₫174.6M (~$2.7K)

Event #17 NLH _ PLO - Turbo - 8 Max winner Purevdorj_Erdenebulgan.jpg Mongolia's Purevdorj Erdenebulgan won his maiden APT title in the Event #17 NLH/PLO – Turbo – 8 Max

All the Pot Limit Omaha action was not confined to the Single Day High Roller, with the ₫5,000,000+500,000 Event #17: NLH/PLO – Turbo – 8 Max drawing a 36-strong field (28 unique) and generating a ₫174,600,000 (~$7,330) prize pool.

It was Mongolia's Purevdorj Erdenebulgan who emerged victorious, defeating fellow countryman Gantail Gombodorj to take the ₫64,600,000 (~$2,710) top prize and his maiden APT title.

Gombodorj banked ₫44,525,000 ($1,870) for his runner-up finish, with New Zealand's Jonathan Henderson rounding out the podium and receiving ₫28,370,000 ($1,190) for third.

A total of five players made the money, with the tournament paying out as follows:

NLH/PLO – TURBO – 8 MAX FINAL TABLE RESULTS

  1. Purevdorj Erdenebulgan (Mongolia) – ₫64,600,000
  2. Gantail Gombodorj (Mongolia) – ₫44,525,000
  3. Jonathan Henderson (New Zealand) – ₫28,370,000
  4. Tan Luan Le (Vietnam) – ₫20,520,000
  5. Ham Dongmyung (South Korea) – ₫16,590,000

All prize pool and payout information can be found on the Official Results page.

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