APT Phu Quoc 2024 Sets New Tour Stop Record

APT PHU QUOC 2024 SCHEDULE | OFFICIAL RESULTS | IMAGES | WINNERS | PLAYERS LIST

PHU QUOC, VIETNAM, November 17, 2024 — The numbers are in for the APT Phu Quoc 2024 with the ten-day series proving to be the Asian Poker Tour’s largest and richest Phu Quoc festival ever.

Run in partnership with the Vietnam Poker Tour (VPT) from November 8 to 17, 2024, at the Corona Theater located within the luxurious Corona Resort & Casino the festival saw 840 unique entries from 47 combined countries & regions generate 5,938 total entries over 78 Trophy Events and compete for a sizeable VND 104,420,824,349 (~USD 4,111,055) in series prize money.

This is an 86% percent increase in unique entries and an impressive 86% percent increase in series prize money over the APT Phu Quoc 2023 series making it the most successful APT Phu Quoc festival in tour history.

APT Phu Quoc 2024 By The Numbers

While the festival did not set any international or tour country records, it did break twelve Phu Quoc tour stop records: The Event #1: Vietnam National Cup, the Event #12: Sunday Super Stack, the Main Event, the Event #23: NL Hold'em - Freezeout, the Event #32: Women's Event, the Event #51: Zodiac Classic, the Event #56: Double Stack, the Event #66: Mini Main Event, the APT High Roller, the Event #75: Micro Main Event, and the Event #76: High Roller - Last Chance all set new tour stop records for entries, unique players, prize pool and first place prize, while the Event #50: Turbo - Super Hold'em set new records for entries and unique players.

For a breakdown of prize money, player numbers, and records set during the festival you can view the APT Phu Quoc 2024 Festival Breakdown by Prize Pool, Player Numbers and Records HERE.

View a graphic of Event Breakdown by Prize Pool, GTD & First Prize HERE

View a graphic of Festival Prize Pool Percentage by Event HERE

Close to a quarter (24%) of the series prize money was awarded in the Main Event, which saw 795 entries (400 unique) from 40 countries & regions compete for a VND 25 billion (~USD 1 million) prize pool, with Chinese poker professional Jinlong Hu taming the award-winning 24K Gold Lion APT Main Event trophy and claiming a career best VND 4.7 billion (~USD 185,000) top prize.

For Main Event Breakdown by Country/Region please CLICK HERE with a graphic available HERE

Outside of the Main Event, it was the APT High Roller that generated the largest prize pool of the festival, accounting for a further 9% of the total prize money awarded. This saw 139 high-rolling entries (85 unique) competing for a VND 9,707,760,000 (~USD 382,195) prize pool with Malaysia’s Jason Lau taming the Bronze Lion APT High Roller trophy and claiming the second largest first place prize of the series – you can read about this in more detail below.

The Zodiac Classic and the Event #29: High Roller - Double Stack were the next two richest events, both accounting for 6% of the total prize money awarded each.

Zodiac Classic champion Natalia Rozova’s VND 1,550,470,000 (~USD 61,040) top prize was the fourth largest first place prize of the festival, and High Roller Double Stack champion Avneesh Munjal of India took home the fifth-largest first place prize of VND 1,541,930,000 (~USD 60,705).

The APT Super High Roller rounded out the festival’s top five richest tournaments, accounting for a further 4% of the total prize money awarded, with Malaysia’s Win Meng Tan taming the Pewter Lion APT High Roller trophy and earning a career-best VND 1,728,540,000 (~USD 68,050) – the third largest first place prize of the series.

Third Time’s the Charm for Jason Lau; Wins APT High Roller for Career Best VND 2.3BN (~USD 91.7K)

After making three back-to-back-to-back APT High Roller final tables Malaysia’s claimed his maiden APT title

The APT’s largest Phu Quoc tour stop VND 80M Event #67: APT High Roller - VND 2,500,000,000 GTD saw 28 players out of an initial field of 139 (85 unique) return for the Final Day to battle for a share of the VND 9,707,760,000 (~USD 382,195) prize pool – the richest the tour has generated at the Phu Quoc Tour stop.

Only 20 of the returning players would make the paying positions, with Australia’s Dylan Foster, and John “Bert” Perry, Main Event finalist David Erquiaga, and Hong Kong’s Clement Chau just some of those to depart empty-handed.

The elimination of Hong Kong’s Si Ng Pun at the start of the fourth 40-minute level played at the hand's of Jennifer Cassell’s rivered straight flush burst the money bubble in style, guaranteeing all remaining players a cash prize of at least VND 130,080,000 (~USD 5,120).

It was Malaysia’s Jason Lau who tamed the award-winning Bronze Lion APT High Roller trophy and claimed the VND 2,329,880,000 (~USD 91,730) top prize—the largest cash of his poker career—defeating Taiwan’s Yu Chung “Nevan” Chang after a 14-hand heads-up battle spanning two levels.

Lau, who has made the tour’s last two APT High Roller final tables in Manila and Taipei—finishing fifth and six respectively—was determined to walk away with the trophy this time and Chang was unable to overcome the Malaysian player’s 4-to-1 chip lead.

“I mean, this event has been very special for me, this is my fifth final table for this event, and obviously the third one back-to-back from Taipei, Manila, and now Vietnam, which is my home, so it’s a much more special meaning for me to win it here,” an elated Lau stated in his post-match interview with APT host Greg Liow.

“It was actually my wife’s birthday yesterday so I definitely need to make up for it,” Lau confided with a chuckle.

“She’s already back in Saigon, but I will go back tomorrow and definitely celebrate very well. I really thank her for supporting me all this while,” Lau concluded before posing for his well-deserved winner’s photo.

Chang, who was on the hunt for a ninth career tour high roller title and his maiden APT High Roller title, congratulated Lau with a hug immediately following his elimination before heading off to the cash desk to collect the VND 1,582,360,000 (~USD 62,300) on offer for second.

India’s Amit Kaushik made his fifth cash and third final table showing of the series to bank his fifth largest career cash, collecting VND 1,043,580,000 (~USD 41,085) for third place.

Both APT Super High Roller champions Phanlert Sukonthachartnant and William Teoh were unable to secure a historic second lion trophy, although the both came close; Sukonthachartnant reached the final table before falling in ninth place to eventual runner-up finisher Chang, collecting VND 232,990,000 (~USD 9,170) for his efforts, while Teoh bowed out in twelfth place for VND 169,890,000 (~USD 6,690), also at the hands of Chang.

APT HIGH ROLLER FINAL TABLE RESULTS

Toan Chan Truong narrowly missed out on a final table for the second time this series after his tenth place cash in the Zodiac Classic and the Vietnamese player came in tenth once again, banking VND 194,160,000 (~USD 7,645).

Other notables to cash but come up short of the final table included Sweden’s Mikael Andersson (15th for VND 155,320,000), Thailand’s Kannapong Thanarattrakul (16th for VND 142,700,000), India’s Ankit Ahuja (18th for VND 130,080,000), and Japan’s Motoyoshi Okamura (20th for VND 130,080,000).

For APT High Roller Final Day Player List please CLICK HERE

For APT High Roller Results please CLICK HERE

You can read about all the high-rolling action via the APT Blog or watch the APT High Roller Final Day Live Stream via the official APT YouTube channel. All tournament information can be found on the APT High Roller - Final Day tournament page.

Runch Pornraksamanee Claims Career Best VND 600M (~USD 23.6K) Top Prize in Mini Main Event

Thailand’s Runch Pornraksamanee claimed his maiden APT title and largest career score in the Mini Main Event

Another record-breaking tour stop tournament to play out to a thrilling conclusion was the Final Day of the VND 12M Event #66: Mini Main Event – VND 1,500,000,000 GTD which saw 41 survivors from a combined field of 284 entries (163 unique) return to duke it out for a VND 2,975,184,000 (~USD 117,130) prize pool – the richest this event has ever generated in Phu Quoc.

All returning players were guaranteed a payout of at least VND 17,560,000 (~USD 690), but it was the coveted silver lion silhouette trophy, title, and VND 600,354,000 (~USD 23,635) top prize that all were gunning for.

It proved to be third time’s the charm for Runch Pornraksamanee, with the Thai player’s third final table showing of the series resulting in a maiden live tournament title and the largest score of his poker career.

Pornraksamanee bested Nguyen Duy Anh Trung heads-up, although the Vietnamese player will not be too disappointed with his first recorded APT cash with the VND 381,370,000 (~USD 15,015) runner-up prize representing Trung’s top tournament score.

Oh Kitae was another to bag a career best cash, with the South Korean player banking VND 285,870,000 (~USD 11,255) for third place.

Russia’s Sergei Korzhenko followed up his deep run in the Main Event by making his second final table showing and fourth cash of the series, collecting VND 102,270,000 (~USD 4,025) for seventh place, with the final table paying out as follows:

MINI MAIN EVENT FINAL TABLE RESULTS

Koangho Lee narrowly missed out on making his first final table appearance of the series, with the South Korean player earning VND 51,750,000 for tenth place – his third cash of the festival.

Other notables to make a deep run included Canada’s Shane Cutinha (20th for VND 31,730,000), Russia’s Dmitrii Belikov (23rd for VND 28,650,000), France’s Bastien Joly (30th for VND 22,490,000), and the USA’s Adam Greenlee (40th for VND 17,560,000).

For Mini Main Event Final Day Player List please CLICK HERE

For Mini Main Event Results please CLICK HERE

All tournament information can be found on the Mini Main Event - Final Day tournament page.