The opening event – Event #1 Kickoff of the ongoing 2019 World Poker Tour (WPT) Vietnam is in the books. The event crowned a champion in Vietnam’s Le Ngoc Khanh who outlasted a strong field of 412 entries to take home his largest live tournament score of VND 1,231,890,000 (INR38.09 Lac). The runner-up to finish in the tournament was India’s emerging poker player Rubin Labroo who won a hefty VND 862,923,000 (INR 26.68 Lac), his career-best live score. His previous best score was INR 6,80,250, which he earned by taking down the DPT April 2017 Kickoff event at Deltin Royale, Goa.
The second and final day of the event saw 51 survivors return to the felts with all of them guaranteed at least VND 26,616,000 (INR 82,302). Returning to action on the final day were 7 Indians and among them Jayjit Ray was the first player to fall. Ray finished in 51st place for VND 26,616,000.
The next Indian player to finish in the money was another Ashish Munot who exited in 17th place for VND 71,336,000 (INR 2.20 Lac). Following him Akash Chandrashekhar who bubbled the FT, finishing 10th for VND 103,707,000 (INR 3.20 Lac). After Chandrashekhar, it came to the FT where there were four Indians – Akshay Nasa, Rubin Labroo, Lakshpal Singh and Jaideep Sajwan.
Final Table Action
The first elimination from the 9-handed FT came in local player Duc Toan whose pocket sevens ran into Nasa’s pocket queens. The next to fall was none other than the start of the final day chip leader Akshay Nasa. Despite getting a boost in chips, Nasa exited in 8th place for VND 160,356,000 ( INR 4.95 Lac) after his pocket threes failed to improve against Nguyen Pham The Quan’s pocket kings.
Falling in 7th was Nguyen Pham The Quan who had taken the chip lead for a while after busting Nasa. Not long after, India’s upcoming poker player Laksh Pal Singh got busted in the 6th place for VND 235,288,000 (INR 7.27 Lac). Following him 5th place was Indian-origin pro Jaesh Balachandran.
India’s Jaideep Sajwan was next to go and he got eliminated in 4th place for VND 369,267,000 (INR 11.41 Lac). He was busted by fellow countryman Rubin Labroo who then took the chip lead. Sajwan pitted his Qh 9h against Labroo’s 8d 7d. The board ran 9c 4d 6d 10s Ad to send Sajwan out in 4th.
After Huynh Tai falling in 3rd place by Khanh, it came to heads-up where Khanh had the advantage over India’s Labroo who won the first four hands and took the chip lead. However, the eventual winner came back strongly and took the chip lead back from Labroo to eventually win the title.
The last hand of the dual saw Khanh move all-in with As 6s and Labroo called with Ad Kd. The board ran 10c 8c 7h 9d Qd, giving Khanh a straight to win the coveted title for VND 1,231,890,000.
Final Table Payouts (VND)
- Le Ngoc Khanh – VND 1,231,890,000
- Rubin Labroo – VND 862,923,000
- Huynh Tai – VND 554,860,000
- Jaideep Sajwan – VND 369,267,000
- Jaesh Balachandran – VND 284,144,000
- Laksh Pal Singh – VND 235,288,000
- Nguyen Pham The Quan – VND 197,522,000
- Akshay Nasa – VND 160,356,000
- Tran Duc Toan – VND 123,189,000
