Teddy Pham wins first APC Da Nang side event trophy; Main Event ₫8 Billion gtd starts tomorrow – March 1 to 5

Just before the morning light, Vietnam’s Quyet Tien Pham aka Teddy Pham captured the first ever Asia Poker Championship Da Nang side event trophy. Pham overcame the Warm Up event’s 90-entry field and the bigger stacked Chang Hwan Lee at heads up to pocket the cool ₫228,000,000 (~$9,600) top prize.

To join Pham in the winner’s club, today’s games, Tuesday, February 28, will see two trophies up for grabs – the Deepstack Freezeout (reg closes at 16:15) and the Hyper Turbo (reg closing at 18:00). These tournaments are good practice for the upcoming star attraction, the ₫8 Billion guaranteed Main Event. More on that at the bottom of the page.

The inaugural series kicked off at the newly opened Dragon Poker Club, which is the first overseas poker room owned by premier Korea poker organizer Korea Mind Game Members (KMGM). The Warm Up event drew 90 entries over nine levels for a prize pool of ₫698,400,000 (~$29,370).

At bubble time with 12 players remaining, eventual champion Pham was all in on the turn with flush, ahead of a shorter stack’s two pair. The board completed and with that, the bubble burst.

Leading up to heads up, it was Ho Sang initially in charge at the final table. Sang eliminated KMGM’s Young Seok Lee aka Tiger Lee (5th) and Jung Su Jang (4th). Three-handed proved tough for Sang as he doubled up Chang Hwan Lee. From there it was downhill for Sang who proceeded to lose the rest of his chips to Lee. This gave Lee the chip advantage at heads up against Pham.

The first big pot saw Pham’s nuts straight on a board take 20 BB from Lee’s stack. This gave Pham the lead which he maintained to the finish. The final hand was all in preflop, Pham , Lee , the board was .

Buy in: ₫8,800,000 (~$370)
Entries: 90
Prize pool: ₫698,400,000 (~$29,370)
ITM: 11 places

Payouts

Up next: MAIN EVENT ₫8,000,000,000 (~$336,420) guaranteed

The title everyone will be aiming for is none other than the featured MAIN EVENT with a guaranteed ₫8 Billion (~339,300) prize pool. The event runs for five days, March 1 to 5, with four chances to try to qualify into Day 2. Buy in is ₫22,000,000 (~$930). Come out and be the first ever APC Da Nang Main Event champion.

This is a deep stack tournament with a starting stack equivalent to 200 times the opening big blind. Last second registrants will find their stack still a decent 20 times the big blind. Each Day 1 plays down to ITM / 12.5% of the field

Buy in: ₫22,000,000 (~$930)
Guarantee: ₫8,000,000,000 (~$339,300)
Day 1A: Wednesday, March 1 at 11:00
Day 1B: Thursday, March 2 at 11:00
Day 1C: Friday, March 3 at 11:00
Day 1D (Turbo): Friday, March 3 at 16:00
Day 2: Saturday, March 4
Day 3: Sunday, March 5

Notes:

• Day 1A, Day 1B, and Day 1C will see blinds increase every 40 minutes
• Day 1D is a turbo format with blinds increasing every 25 minutes
• Opening blinds 100-200, 200 BB Ante, starting stack 40,000
• Registration closes at the start of Level 10
• Final table is 8 players, blinds increase every 60 minutes
• Tournament pays out 12.5% of the field

For greater value, players can enter the Main Event Satellites and try to win a seat at a fraction of the price. Six satellites are scheduled with buy in of ₫2,200,000 (~$93) and ₫4,400,000 (~$186). The first one is this evening at 19:00.

Links:

APC lights up Da Nang feat.₫10 Billion in guarantees – Key Events
APC Da Nang – Player Guide
APC Da Nang underway